The Hungergamessin House

6. Multiple POVs (written by Zoe)

Elsa/Eden/Elliott's POV:

Demi left the friend group. That's the most recent message Z has sent me. 

Let me explain my unique POV by breaking the fourth wall a bit - my parents...don't really like the Internet. Or technology in general, excluding ways to contact them in an emergency. The Hungergamessin House is more like a metaphysical interface than a tangible thing. This matters because when I say "message," in Hungergamessin House language, I mean that a flash of energy has been delivered to me, containing a compressed version of the words and feelings that the sender intended, that explodes into the whole form of it upon contact with receiver. These flashes are all I get from the Salty Waffles now. Other than flashes, my only connection to the Salty Waffles is a white room where I sit, waiting. I'm not alone, but I can't DM them on Instagram, or text them, which means that I am left out of their mainstream form of contact. Zoe and I use Google Hangouts to keep in touch.   

This most recent flash of energy was dark purple, pulsating, and kind of damp: Demi has left. 

I send another flash back, orange and low: What? Why? 

Zoe tries her best to explain it to me. 

I am at a loss for words. 

Zoe's POV:

It is 2:00 AM, and I am still wide awake. Thinking about the past two days. 

The day before yesterday, the most stupid thing to fight about became a thing to fight about. 

Demi was upset because one of her ideas - an idea for one of the roleplaying DMs we have - was "edited." Seems tiny and meaningless, but for me, the point was - Demi was upset about it. And I care about her. She's one of my best friends. She's very, very emotionally strong, but sensitive. She's easily affected by conflict, is all. Which isn't necessarily bad... 

The person who was arguing with her about whether it even mattered happened to be the one and only Yfke. Very, very smart, political, good critical thinker, and she makes us laugh. She also happens to be insensitive sometimes, which is something I'm sure she is aware of, as one of the first songs in the playlist she made for herself is - currently - "Jet Black Heart," by someone called 5 Seconds Of Summer. 

As you can see, not a good recipe for peace and harmony. But this is obviously no one's fault. Just bad chemistry, in a moment of temporary crisis. The whole thing escalated before I could stop it. I was asleep for most of it. I talked Demi through a panic attack, and then went through the rest of my day. I woke up the next morning to find out Demi had left. 

Yesterday, (or rather earlier today, as I haven't fallen asleep yet) after I found out Demi had left, I marched into the living room, where Margot, Yfke, Abby, Myrthe, Nisha, Nadine, and Baylee were all sitting, and essentially screamed at them. 

I fell apart in front of them. I let loose for an hour, then came and sat on my bed, then came back and kept going, then went back into my room, and went back out. This process repeated itself pretty much the entire day. One thing I said, in particular, will not leave my head: "You morons! I was already crying myself to sleep for nights in a row, and nothing was even wrong! Now there's something wrong, and I'm considering suicide again! How dare you laugh at me being broken!" I had said that in response to Abby and Nadine's remarks that the fight was stupid. It was, but I thought they were calling my protectiveness of Demi stupid. As a mom friend, I offended. For literally no reason. And I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't have used my very real, very valid mental illnesses as a way for people to shut up and pity me. Because it never works, and it shouldn't ever work. That is bad.