Shy Love *DISCONTINUED*

Panic Attacks

Listen to Shadows by Sabrina Carpenter on repeat when reading this chapter.

Ashleigh had awoken at around 3 am from a terrifying nightmare, causing her to awake in a puddle of sweat and tears. She pants, trying to catch her breath and settle her mind.

She texted her bestfriend, Sofia aka Sof, even though she knew she wouldn't answer till morning. She just like the idea of reaching out to someone even if the world seemed asleep.

Ashleigh had fall back asleep after about 20 minutes but awoken at 5:30am to get ready for school.

She felt a little shaken after the night before's scariness. She timidly walked to the bus stop trying to just focus on each step. As she climbed on to the large bus, she slipped a little and the bus driver threw her a dirty look. Ashleigh quickly caught her balance but not before her face turned a very dark shade of red. She stumbled into a seat close to the front. As she stared out the window, she thought about all the worries that were currently going on in her life.

Her grades, her family, her social life, and lastly,

Her love life.

The bus came to a screeching hault which caused Ashleigh to jump and snap out of her daze. She stumbled off the bus and walked through the double doors into school. She trudged up the stairs and down the hall to her first class.

Bird Set Free by Sia was blasting through her headphones.

She slid into her seat and organized her stuff. Her phone lit up and it was a text from her bestfriend, Sof.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sof : hey, sorry i couldnt help you right away when you had that nightmare. you know i didnt have my phone. but im here now i promise.

Ash : gm, its ok. im feeling a bit shaky right now though.

Sof : im here now, its gonna be ok i promise.

Ash : thank you

Sof : no worries 💞
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The feeling sudden hit her.

She felt it coming.

The shaky feeling sent shivers up her spine and she felt as if she was losing control of the world around her.

Which, in a way, she was.

She felt the hot tears stinging at the corners of her eyes. She had to get out of the class before anyone saw her.

Without alerting her teacher, Ashleigh quickly ran out of the room into the hallway. She immediately ran to the nearest bathroom and hid in a stall. She texted Sof, telling her to call her, that it was an emergency.

Sof, 979 miles away, had asked her teacher if she could "go to the bathroom" and she rushed outside and called her.

"What's a matter, Ash?"

"I'm having a panic attack."

"Its gonna be ok just try deep breathing"

Ash followed her bestfriend's instructions but it wasn't working.

Ashleigh burst into tears and it was the first time either one of them had cried during a call.

Sof listened silently, slightly stunned, but quickly tried comforting Ash.

Ashleigh's heart slowly started to calm down.

After about 10 minutes, Sof needed to get back to her classroom so her teacher wouldn't wonder where she went. Ashleigh hung up, freshened up in the bathroom and left. But as soon as she left she realized that she had run out of the classroom and said no word to her teacher. She didn't feel like explaining to her teacher why she had run out so unexpectedly. She paced in the hallway and stood next to the door to the class, careful no one would see her. She listened in.

"Would anyone like to go and look for Ashleigh?"

Silence.

"Um... I will"

"Ok, Athen, please hurry."

"Yes sir."

Ashleigh quickly panicked and just leaned on the wall and slid down till she sat down on the floor.

She felt a tear slip out as she heard footsteps standing in front of her.

"Hey...a-are you ok...?"

She kept her head down, too tired from the panic attack.

Athen stood there for about 5 minutes until heading back into the classroom, taking his defeat in comforting Ashleigh.

A deep sense of regret filled Ashleigh.