The Boy Band Who Adopted Me!

Chapter 23 - Hedges

AN: The following chapter is triggering at the beginning and a little gruesome. Skip the italics if you want to avoid it. 

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Alex walked through the house with her backpack on. It was bright. Summertime.

"Matthew?"

Alex was confused. He was usually at the kitchen counter. Maybe he was in his room. His mom was never home.

She went upstairs. The steps creaked... the hall seemed to go on forever ...

Alex went into the room at the end of the hallway.

"Matthew?"

Bedroom empty. Bathroom door open? The light was on....

Alex went around the corner. Matthew's body was on the floor. Bloody vomit. Spilled bottles. The whole room was spinning. His face... his face was so close; it was the only thing Alex could see.

Alex screamed and fell through the doorway.

Matthew caught her. There was nothing beyond the bathroom. She dangled in blackness.

 He smiled at her. Suddenly, he was Gavin.

"I'm dead! Get over me!" He opened his mouth. Crushed pills were on his tongue. He was laughing...

--

I shot straight up in bed, panting. I was already crying. I curled up in the corner of my bed, suddenly afraid of the dark. This was the first nightmare I'd had in several weeks like this. It was different than all the other times.

I glanced at my phone. 12:05. Jesus, I'm more exhausted than when I went to bed.

Reaching to turn on my lamp, I rubbed my eyes. I stood up and quickly put on some shoes and a hoodie over my pajamas. I needed to go outside for some fresh air. The room was too small for me right now, and I didn't want to relapse into an anxiety attack like the ones I'd grown out of last year.

The regulations at Carroll were loose, and I thanked God for it. We had rules, but almost nobody to enforce them.

I ended up outside, behind my dormitory. I sank against a wall in front of a small thicket of trees.

In... out... breathing calmed me.

"Are you okay?" came a voice. I was so startled I hit my head on the brick wall.

"Whoa... calm down."

There was a boy leaning against the wall to my right. He was smoking, with his hood up. I couldn't see what color his hair was, but his sharp, handsome facial features were clear enough by the burning red glow near his lips.

"Want some?"

"I'm good, thanks. Not a fan of cigarettes." Why was I being so friendly? I had literally never seen this guy before!

"It's weed, but suit yourself." He took another drag, and held the smoke in his lungs before expelling one long, white breath. I wasn't too fond of smokers, but I didn't judge.

"Who are you?" I asked cautiously.

"Mason."

"How come I haven't seen you before?"

"Not really big on school." Mason shrugged passively and ground the stub of his joint out on the ground before putting it in his pocket.

Before I could say anything, he continued: "Why haven't I seen you?"

"Not really big on skipping school," I admitted.

"So you, what, just enjoying the night breeze? There's a curfew."

"I needed to take a break from, uh, sleep."

"Pfft. Didja have a nightmare or something?"

I must have winced visibly, because Mason furrowed his brow at me. "Seriously? You alright?"

"Yeah," I said. "It happens a lot."

"Damn, a kid like you should be on some medication for that."

"I was," I said. Mason gave a low whistle.

"You've really been through some shit," he said. I just nodded absently. I must have been pretty lonely to be talking to someone I met behind a school like this.

"Well, I'm sorry I offered you weed. Probably would have screwed you up worse. You, uh, need anything? Like a drink?"

"Um..."

"Of water," Mason emphasized. "Geez."

I got up. "No. I have no idea who you are. You could be a serial killer, or a thief."

He smiled. "Smart move. Get outta here, stop talking to strangers."

I made my way back to my dormitory, and laid down in my bed, in silence. The entire experience felt almost unreal, as if I had been talking to some specter of my imagination. I fell asleep with the light on, almost wishing that Maisy Davids was snoozing in the opposite bed just so I would feel less alone.

--

The next morning, I checked behind the dorm to see if anyone had really been there. Sure enough, where Mason had been standing, there was a small rub of ash on the rocky ground. I sighed with relief. I wasn't that messed up.

The guys texted me asking if I wanted to hang out, but I politely declined. I was going to take a little walk to refresh my mind. Admittedly, I was a little lonely, but I felt like I'd be weird around them. I didn't want to worry anyone.

I strolled off campus and down the street. Next to Carroll were some shops that kids frequented. I'd never been to any of them, so I decided to browse around. While changing songs on my iPod, however, I got a little lost...

I ended up on a street with a name I didn't recognize. I could see Carroll in the distance, however. I decided to cut through an alleyway since there were plenty of people walking around and it was broad daylight.

As I walked through the shadowy alley, I heard a familiar voice:

"Whatcha doing on my side of town?"

It was Mason. He was leaning against a dumpster in a conjoining alleyway, but he wasn't talking to me. He was instead talking to three older, buffer looking guys who seemed to definitely not be Carroll students. I instinctively backed into a shadow.

"You don't have any friends. Who's gonna stop us?" One of the guys, his voice husky with mindless arrogance, stepped slightly forward. I tried even harder to shrink from view. I should have just turned and left, but I wanted to be there in case I had to do something - call the cops, help somehow...

Mason gave an audible huff. "Keep your criminal activities away from campus, loser. Little kids bike through here."

"I'm tired of this," one of the smaller guys said. "Shouldn't we just beat him up?"

Oh, God...

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AN: Sorry for the cliffhanger! Update soon!