The Hair Tie

Chapter 17

**THIS CHAPTER TALKS ABOUT SUICIDE, SO IF THE TOPIC UPSETS YOU OR MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE, I SUGGEST NOT READING THIS PART :) I'M SORRY IF I UPSET ANYONE!

I would have laughed at his expression if the moment wasn't so serious. His eyes were bugged out and his mouth was agape. I wouldn't be surprised if a bug flew in his mouth right now.

"Earth to Aidan?" No response. "Aidy?" I tried the nickname his mother gave him, but still, nothing. "Floopy! Snap out of it!" I waved my hand in front of his face to try to get him out of this state. It seemed to work.

"Oh, uh.. I.. You... Um," he stammered. This time, I did laugh at his flustered condition.

"It's okay. I knew you'd be surprised." Who wouldn't?

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," he finally formed a coherent sentence. "It's a sensitive topic, so I understand if you can't tell me."

I took his hand in mine and squeezed it in reassurance. "No, I want to tell you. Besides, I think this time will be better than the last one.." My mind became clouded with the memories of the first time I told this story to someone. I ended up looking like a mess; I was sobbing, my eyes were red and puffy, my hair was disheveled, my cheeks were flushed, and my nose was stuffy. It wasn't my best moment.

"What do you mean 'last time'?" he asked.

"Terence was the first one I told. My entire hometown knew, since it was in the papers soon after it occurred, but he was the first one to know the full story, not just something some strangers wrote about my parents." I turned to look at him and tried to make out his face in the dark. A strange emotion fleeted through his eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as it came.

Wow, it was just like those books I read. But of course, I believed it was just my imagination, or my eyesight was horrible and I was completely overthinking it. Plus, it was dark, so I couldn't properly see what he was feeling.

"Oh," was all he said.

I took his silence as a sign to begin my story. So, I took a deep breath and started retelling my past. "My parents were loving, caring, the usual traits you'd think parents would have. We had a nice house and lived in a friendly neighborhood. I thought we were the perfect family. My mom was a nurse at the local hospital, and my dad was an electrical engineer." I smiled as I recalled how my dad would go on and on about his job, how he would design things that could be useful to some people. He also described the feeling of seeing his creations being put to use, how it felt absolutely incredible. "He's the reason why I want to become an engineer," I summed up my thoughts simply. "On the outside, they looked content and happy, and my brother and I believed they were. However, at the time, I didn't know what was actually happening." I took in a shaky breath, my breathing starting to become labored. I was definitely doing better than last time, when I broke down after one sentence. However, I didn't know how long I could keep this up.

I continued, "Apparently, my parents were in a deep financial situation. They got involved with the wrong people, and they owed a debt that was probably worth more than my life." Yeah, I exaggerated, but that was how I thought of it. Aidan didn't say anything, which I was thankful for. I wanted to finish the whole story before he said something. "To this day, I still don't know how they ended up owing so much money to those people. Anyway, when I finally discovered what was going on, it was too late. It was August of last year." This was it, this was the moment the whole truth came out. I took a deep breath, my breathing more stable now. "My brother woke me up by shaking me. I kind of wished he hadn't though... When my eyes opened, he looked upset, frantic, and terrified. He asked if I was okay, but I didn't know what he was talking about. However, a sudden feeling of excruciating pain surged throughout my body. I was laying under a pile of collapsed cement with my stomach on the ground, and I couldn't get out. I later found out that the cement hit my head, preventing me from waking up in the first place," I stopped, feeling tears forming in my eyes.