Toast

Chapter Ten // Scratches And Tears

- Elizabeth's POV -

I woke up at 5:00pm from my nap in an empty bedroom and the TV still turned on, on the lowest volume. I sat up and groaned at the awful headache that instantly caused me to cover my eyes with my hands. I got up and brushed my hair before deciding to go for a walk around the boarding house, knowing I'd probably bump into Amber on the way.

I locked the bedroom with my key and began wandering down the corridor with my hands stuffed inside my huge jumper, I still felt like I was asleep. I turned the corner and came to Carrie-Anne and Priya's bedroom, I really thought I was dreaming when I glanced inside as I walked passed. Priya was smothered with a blanket and she had her head lowered, her hair was messy and she looked pale and weak. I stopped walking and stared in shock as she looked so much different without all of her make up and fancy clothes on, Carrie-Anne appeared in front of me with an angry expression. I stared at her for a moment before asking a question.

"Is Priya alright?" I whispered to her, she ignored my question and her face suddenly lit up.

"Look Elizabeth, I need to run down to the kitchen to make some soup for Priya.. Could you watch her for a minute? Just sit with her until I get back?" Carrie-Anne asked me with a hopeful smile, how could anybody say no to her? She is so sweet. I nodded and she hugged me tightly.

"I'll be back as fast as I can!" Carrie-Anne shouted while running down the corridor in her fluffy pink socks, I sighed and looked into the bedroom where Priya was sitting. She still hadn't raised her head to look at me, I entered the room slowly and sat down on Carrie-Anne's bed.

"Hey Priya.." I said quietly, she looked up at me and my heart thumped. Priya looked.. awful. Her eyes were baggier than mine had ever been and I'm the type of person who would stay up until 4:00am watching random videos online. She had scratches on her cheeks and forehead, her hands were shaky and her skin was pale. For some reason I felt like crying because of her appearance, somehow it made me really sad.

"W-What happened to you?" I asked her in slight fear, she looked away from me for a minute before turning her whole body in the opposite direction so I couldn't see her face anymore.

"Priya?" I whispered, no answer. I sighed loudly and gave up with trying to speak to her, I pulled out my phone and began looking through all of my social medias in boredom. Can Carrie-Anne hurry up?!

I glanced over at Priya again to see that she was shaking more than she was a few minutes before, instead of her hands shaking it was her whole body. My eyes widened and I got up from Carrie-Anne's bed to go over to Priya but I didn't get there in time.

Priya suddenly burst into tears out of no where, she was screaming and crying so loudly and it freaked me out. I had no idea why she was like this or what was happening, did I say something to upset her?

"GET OUT OF MY ROOM! GET OUT! GET OUT!" Priya screamed while stomping her feet on the floor aggressively, I tried to comfort her by rubbing her shoulders gently but it made things worse. She jumped up from where she was sitting and began to push and shove me out of her room.

"GET OUT!" She screamed once again before throwing me out and locking her bedroom door as I hit the floor outside, I looked down the corridor to see Carrie-Anne standing with a bowl of soup in her hands. Once she noticed that Priya was alone she dropped the soup all over the corridor carpet and sprinted towards me.

"What happened?! She can't be alone when she is like this!" Carrie-Anne shouted while hitting on her bedroom door with her hands, we could hear Priya crying loudly on the inside. I got up from the floor and sighed loudly, I have never been more confused in my life.

"Why did you let her be alone Elizabeth?!" Carrie-Anne yelled angrily at me, I stared at her with my mouth wide open. Did she not just see me getting thrown out of their bedroom?!

Carrie-Anne continued to thump on the door to try and get Priya to open it but she wouldn't listen, she was crying and screaming too loud for anyone to hear anything.

"What the hell is wrong with her? What's happened?!" Amber shouted as she approached us, she stunk of cigarettes. I looked at her in confusion before reverting my attention back to Priya who was making my headache worse. I was scared for Priya because she was having an unexpected panic attack and definitely wasn't acting like herself. Carrie-Anne tells me and Amber to stop talking, she put both of her hands on the door and went silent for a moment.

"Priya? It's me Carrie-Anne, your best friend"

"Take deep breaths for me"

"You are safe, nothing is going to happen to you"

"It's all in your head"

It was as if Carrie-Anne had said the magical code and opened the door because when she had finished with her reassuring words Priya instantly unlocked the door and jumped on Carrie-Anne. They hugged tightly for a few minutes while me and Amber stared in disbelief, how did she do that?

Priya's face was scratched more than it was ten minutes ago when I entered her room, she must have itched her face badly when she was crying..

"I'm so proud of you" Carrie-Anne said to Priya as they embraced, it was lovely to watch. Priya had a smile on her face, she kissed Carrie-Anne's cheek and then they entered their bedroom.

"Wait! Are you going to tell us why-"

I was interrupted by the door being slammed in my face, Amber stared at me in shock. Did that really happen or am I still asleep?

Now we know why Priya wasn't at school today, she isn't well at all.

"Should we tell a nurse or something? I don't think she should be here if she's in that state.." Amber asked me, I shrugged my shoulders and looked at their bedroom door.

Ashley stumbled up the corridor with a bottle of wine in her hand, what the fuck is happening today?!

"EW! Who was sick on the carpet?!" She shouted as she stood in the spilt soup, she began shaking her bare foot to try and get rid of it. Me and Amber laughed at her struggling, she approached us and stared us up and down.

"What're you doing standing outside Priya's bedroom?" She asked while holding onto the wall to stay up, Amber shrugged her shoulders.

"We have had a drama filled evening" I told drunken Ashley, she stared at me weirdly before knocking on the door.

"You can piss off now, good night troll" Ashley said rudely while looking Amber up and down, I rolled my eyes and took Amber's hand before walking off.

"LET ME IN! IT'S YOUR BITCH!" Ashley yelled at the door, I don't think she knows what is happening with Priya. Do any of us though?

Me and Amber headed back to our bedroom, we both sighed with relief once we were inside and safe from the craziness of the boarding house.

"Something is seriously wrong with Priya, how did we not notice it before?" Amber asked me as she jumped on her bed and pulled her boots off her feet.

"I don't know, I guess she hides it behind the confidence and bitchy attitude" I said while thinking deeply about the situation, why wouldn't Carrie-Anne tell me what was happening?

"It's all a mystery" Amber muttered while admiring her record player, I grinned slightly and joined her.

"One question, why do you smell like smoke?" I asked her in shock, she rolled her eyes and told me about her conversation with Jade..