A Note A Day

23 | on her chair in english

| 23 |

❝ I thought happiness started with 'H'. Why does mine start with 'U'? ❞

IT WAS NEARLY three in the morning when she got the call.

Her phone was buzzing, buzzing, buzzing, catching her mid-dream (which never happened; she was gradually getting better with sleep) and awakening her from her light slumber.

Her phone was stashed beneath her pillow, the trembling under her head startling her.

It was days after the kiss. A week, actually. Malcolm had been absent from school the whole time, leaving Shane to be the third wheel to shy smiles and side comments.

It had been a weird week. The pair was nowhere near close to a couple; most of the week they just so much as glanced at the other. It was strange. Both of them timid and not really sure of what to do.

Charlotte checked her phone. There had been text messages and voicemails she missed.

Teddy Orion: charlie

Teddy Orion: charlotte

There was a missed called right after that message.

Teddy Orion: charlotte juliet jackson

Another missed call.

Teddy Orion: charlie charlie charlie chrlie chalie chle chslie

She rubbed her eyes.

What the hell? Is he drunk or something?

Charlotte's eyes were all crusty and her short brown hair looked like it had gone through a tornado. She reached for the phone and quietly accepted the call as she put her earbuds on, not wanting to wake up anyone.

Her voice took the form of a whisper as she harshly hissed, "Teddy, please tell me you're not dr..." Her voice faded out when she heard sobs.

Sobs.

Shit. Shit shit shit. Shit SHIT.

"S-s-she was just laying there, l-lifeless a-and it flatlined, and I-I-I... She w-was gone, j-just like that," his rough, blubbering voice came. Charlotte's heart stopped. He was crying and crying and crying, she was shushing him, soothing him, trying to soothe him. His breathing was all choppy and broken, broken, he was broken. "Mal-Malcolm was heartbroken, h-he screamed and screamed, people n-needed to drag him outside b-because people were t-t-trying to sleep."

Charlotte was squeezing her eyes shut, holding her phone tightly to her ear, tears threatening to spill. Her head was sinking into her pillow, a tear leaking out, her hand trembling. All she could picture was the pale girl in the white robes, lifeless and detached from the world, Theodore Orion Higgins breaking down, piece by piece as he meticulously watched her disappear.

His sniffling and shaky breathing was becoming louder and louder, more unsteady and worrying.

"Fucking damnit, why couldn't she j-just... Stay, just hang on... Stay. Why couldn't she stay," he whispered, his voice getting quieter and quieter with each word, and she could almost feel his rage building. Nearly see his eyes almost closed, the tears streaming out from under his eyelashes.  His rosy lips quivering as he bit the bottom one, trying to control it. His blinking uncontrollably to stop the tears but the tears kept coming, coming...

"Teddy," she squeaked, wiping the tear, pressing her phone closer.

A scream shattered her eardums, making Charlotte glad she put earbuds on. It was a horrifying, numbing shriek that shocked all of her nerves, goosebumps erupting on her skin. The sound of something shattering made Charlotte wince, another tear escaping. With each sound, her heart tore a little more, each and every time.