Find your faith

Chapter 89: What can I do to save you?

Crystal's POV
Chloe: So, what can we do to help him?

Crystal: I can't say for sure. Maybe...let's text him regularly but not too regularly. We should pay attention to his needs just so he doesn't slip into suicidal thoughts. If he wants someone to talk to about the issue, we can listen to him. If he wants to talk about something else, we will talk about that something else with him. If he needs space, we give him space.

Chloe: You should make some chicken tenders for him! Ethan said he is a huge fan of KFC!

Crystal: That? It's great you thought of that, but we need to stay within our means. You know mum, she doesn't want us to sacrifice ourselves for others.

Chloe: Oh right!

Crystal: And what else can we do? Ah...I can't think of anything...
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I thought back to my own struggles when I was in the top class in primary school. Could it be that bad? I'm sure everyone is wondering that. But I've always struggled in maths and science, getting to 3 Faith was but a mere testimony to my own hard work, the right strategies and grit. The struggle back then was much worse, and I found myself fighting to excel like all my friends. Yes, I used to be like Chloe when I was a kid.
Flashback
In Primary 5 and 6, my maths teacher had a system in place for us where we did questions for our rows on the board. I struggled a lot in maths back then, and when I was asked to do questions on the board, I never got them fully correct. Eventually, my classmates acknowledged me to be a burden to their groups because we were the last group among 3.
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"What can you do?!"

"I really hope your parents throw you out of the house."

"Yea, you don't belong here! Go back to where you belong—the mental hospital!" I boldly packed up my belongings and left the classroom without turning back, holding back tears. I wasn't going to waste my energy on a crowd that only talked me down and out of maths after all, and I knew that was the moment I was coming close to giving up.
Present day
Crystal's room
Ah, that was Lucas' ringtone. I set a unique ringtone for everyone because I'm a social butterfly who texts a lot. I checked the text and he texted me: What can we do for Ethan?
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Crystal: I'm thinking

Lucas: deleted message
Deleted message
Bear with me, I'm having trouble with my words right now.

Crystal: No worries, me too!
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You may think I'm as chill on text as I am in real life. That couldn't be further from the truth. I wanted to help Ethan, but how could I when I finally realised I had some unresolved issues from the past? Maybe I should arrange a last minute hangout with Simon, he could give me information about what could cheer Ethan up. They have been closer than me and Ethan, so I'm sure Simon has witnessed Ethan in distress.
Simon's POV
Uniqlo
"He grew really quiet, huh?" I replied to Crystal's statement. "That is very normal for him. Like I realised extroverts have a tendency to isolate themselves when stressed. But maybe rather than diving head into saving him, don't stress it and think about the problem from another perspective. It's like two shirts in different colours, right?" I threw the shirt in her direction, and she caught it. Anyway, I was going to buy some clothes for my dancing activities so we thought it'd kill two birds with one stone. Crystal stared at me.
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Crystal: That's not important. What helps him feel better? An activity...or a certain group of people he's comfortable with.

Simon: I don't know; you might be prepared to give him space.

Crystal: Did he ever reach that point where he needed space or he'd have a breakdown?

Simon: Yes. You see, Xingqiu had an anonymous stalker last year and he was feeling pretty unsafe. He didn't want to go out for a while thinking that girl would stalk him outside, so we ended up having to give him the space and not hang out with him. When it continued the next term, Lucas had to get Xingqiu a counsellor.

Crystal: What?

Simon: It's your first time seeing Xingqiu fall apart, so that's normal. Also, make sure your other friends keep an eye on him. Rumour has it that his collective performance drops under stress. Anika is in National Police Cadet Corps, so you're going to need her more than ever.

Crystal: Alright, I'll do my best!