9| You Owe it to Yourself to Be Loved

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Depression.

The silent killer.

The illness that has no cure, and is always around.

Sometimes it takes over your thoughts, whispering things to you that make you do things to yourself or others.

And at other times it hides in the darkest part of your mind. Waiting for the time at night when your alone and no one is around. It is at that moment that it takes over you entirely.

-----

For the next couple weeks of school I acted as though I were okay. People asked if I was.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I replied happily. It sickened me. Why would I be happy after my mom is never around anymore, my dad died, I have to act like everything is fine for my brother's sake, and everything else that is going on. Everyday at school people would ask:

"So I heard you moved here all the way from California, and now you are hanging out with popular kids. But then your dad died and you don't know where your mom is. Is that true?"

"It's kind of complicated..." I trailed off. This is what I told pretty much everyone at my new school, and I was already getting tired of it. Although I don't know if you could call it new anymore.

+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

I walked through the halls of the big school. I felt alone. We barely had enough money to pay the bills, and I was going to have to get a job soon. Suddenly I was pushed up against a wall, shaken from my thoughts.

"Hey babe, I heard that your moms been dealing drugs out for cheap. Do you think she'd make me a deal?" He grins with a evil smirk. He's a jock whom I've never seen before in my life. My heartbeat quickens and so does my breathing. All that I manage is to glare coldly back at his gaze. Then I Impulsively spit in his face. For a minute he looked disgusted, but he just quickly wiped my spit off his face. "I see. Maybe you'll just have to make me a deal yourself." He's threatening me, and I feel my heart drop even lower. I close my eyes, not wanting to see what came next. He had at least 50 pounds on me, and with trying to save food I haven't eaten much lately. Then comes a 'shlick' sound. Tiny but frightening all the same.

"Let her go." I know him immediately. Zach.

"Or what D'Angelo'." He says bitterly. His voice sounded like metal scraping against metal.

"Let her go or else your losing your skin." I feel the jock hesitate, he's deciding whether or not to believe the bluff. He slams me against the wall hard enough for me to see the world spin.

"Your not worth it." He spits out and lets me slump to the floor. My ears are roaring and everything is still spinning. The jock turns around to see a knife right against his throat. Blood oozes out from the small wound he got when he turned his head.

"I would think even a stupid jock like you would know that not hurting her was implied." Zach said and his tone scared me. He was like a lion ready to pounce on his next meal. Even the jock looked scared. Slowly Zach made him back up. "I swear to god, if you hurt her again. If you even look at her the wrong way... I will slaughter you and the demons who spawned you. Is that clear..." He pauses for a moment and continues, "Darrel?"

Darrel nods quickly and slowly backs away. Then the boys jump up from behind the pillars with their knives and chase him down the hall. Surprisingly there were no teachers around. The next thing I know is strong arms pulling me off my miserable butt. My vision stops spinning enough for me to see my brother in front of me scared to death. Jax, innocent, sweet Jax. My brother who didn't deserve any of this. I know that Zach is the one pulling me up and instantly my eyes dart to my sleeve. It starts riding up and I stand up despite the pain, but it's too late. Zach senses something wrong. I pull my sleeves down without thinking and Zach immediately grabs my wrist. I attempt to writhe out of his grip but he pulls me to him and lifts up my sleeve and just stares at the scars for a while turning my wrist trying to get a closer look. He carefully looks up to meet my gaze and through the look are the unspoken words of 'why'. I look away but he pulls me to him. He smells like smoke and the salty ocean. Two opposite things that can be looked at as both calming and terrifying. It's funny to think that people can be afraid of what makes you the happiest. He hugs me tight as if I would slip away at any moment.

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