Surviving the Life Dax (Smythe #2)

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Dax," Mr. Garner said suddenly, making me look up at him. "Can you repeat what I just said?" My only reply was to shake my head. One of the few things I liked about the teachers at my school was how understanding they were, considering what he said left. "Do you need to go for a walk?"

Without another word, I stood up from my desk and walked out of the classroom to go for the walk. I had little to no sleep last night because of the stupid voices. It didn't help that nothing could have woken Seb last night. He had been so busy lately planning the wedding and was always so tired.

I had nobody to talk to at night, so I had to resort to listening to music, which worked, but I couldn't fall asleep while listening to music.

I got a drink from the furthest water fountain before heading back to class. Everyone was now working on a vocabulary package we got the day before.

"Are you okay?" Isadora asked me once I sat down.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm just tired. I didn't get any sleep last night."

"Is everything okay?" she asked, sounding worried.

I gave her a reassuring smile. "The voices were just keeping me up. But don't worry. I'm used to it. Normally, I talk to my brother in the night, but he has been so busy planning the wedding and nothing could have woken him up."

"Oh," Isadora said. "You know, if you ever need someone to talk to when your brother isn't there, you can always call me. Even if it is in the middle of the night."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "No, that's not fair to you. Sometimes it happens at two in the morning."

"So?"

"It won't be fair for me to wake you up just because I can't fall asleep," I said.

"Dax, it would be fine," Isadora said. "I've told you before, I've known someone with schizophrenia and she told me that it was always best for her to talk to someone and tell her that the voices are wrong. And I've witnessed something when the voices were too much for her. And I really don't want that happening to you. I'll be there for you if you ever need someone to talk to, even if it is two in the morning."

"But...." I began, but she wouldn't let me finish.

"Dax, I'm serious," I said. "The girl at my old school who was schizophrenic just needed someone to talk to here, but she didn't and something scary happened. So if your brother is asleep and won't wake up, call me. I'm a light sleeper, so I'll wake up to my cell phone ringing. Okay?"

I gave her a faint smile. "Okay," I said.

We started working on the vocabulary package together. We had to put some of the words in a sentence, which wasn't too hard. We each thought of a sentence before agreeing on one.

I stared at the next word we had to put in a sentence. Demolished. I couldn't think of anything, probably because I was too tired.

"Ooh, I got one," Isadora said. "How about the car was completely demolished after a fatal car crash?"

"Uh....yeah, okay," I said as I picked up my pencil to write it down on my sheet. After the first word was written down, my hands were becoming shaky as the voices returned.

It was your fault.

Your mother would have been alive if it weren't for you.

It should have been you.

I tried my best to ignore them as I continued writing down the sentence. However, they were repeating those sentences, over and over again. It was my fault.