Damaged

Part 17

Allie PoV

I saw Christen and Tobin in class and something was definitely going on between them. I saw Chris chase after her. And that pissed me off to no end. How the fuck would something be going on between them if Christen knew about her. Alyssa told her what happened with Tobin. She has seen how Tobin has hurt all of us, especially Alex and I and yet she still would talk to her. So yes I was pissed.

What ever it was I was done trying to give her space, done trying to be patient with her. She is was going to make her tell me what happened. Make her explain to me why she would even be talking with Tobin and about what happened. She is going to tell me everything whether she wants to or not when we go out to lunch together. At least that was the plan.

The problem is it is past lunch time already and Chris never met me out by my car like we usually do. At first I thought that was her just telling me she didn't want to talk with me. And of course that pissed me off to no end, but I wasn't that surprised to be honest.

Christen often disappears from school. At first we all kind of took it personally. We thought that she doesn't really like us, but the more we got to know her, we realized how, well I don't want to say broken, but maybe how scarred she is emotionally. Everyone at school who doesn't really know her just sees this new mysterious girl, who has money, is super beautiful and is beyond talented. But a few of us like Alyssa, Ali, Kelley, and I we see her for what she really is and I think that really scares her sometimes.

We did get her to talk about what happened with her mom, but we all know there is more to her story that she hasn't let us in on. I don't know if she just doesn't trust us yet or what but  I know there are things she isn't telling us. Something that has happened in her past that has really messed her up. Despite that we were all willing to be there for her when she needs it, even if we don't know all the facts no matter how long it takes for her to open up to us.

After she got back from camp and Alyssa found her at her house I knew something was different. This wasn't like we have seen her before, the pain she was feeling right now was fresh, it wasn't her scars causing pain like before. There seemed to be a new cut that was causing her pain. Alyssa refused to tell me what was up, but I knew that she knew by how all over she was on Chris. And I could live with being in the dark as long as someone was comforting her, but when I saw the interaction between Christen and Tobin this morning in class, and Alyssa's reaction I knew something happened with them.

But now that I am thinking about it more the more I am starting to worry. Because the more I thought about it, the more I realized how sad she seemed this morning. Even when Kelley was telling her dumb jokes, I could see deep down she still wasn't happy. And when she and Tobin made eye contact, I could tell how hurt she was and that's when I realized that this was Tobin. The queen of manipulation, the person who can cause so much hurt. Why was I mad at Chris? I shouldn't I should be worried about what Tobin did to her.

When there was a couple minutes before lunch was official over I realized that for sure Chris wasn't coming. I knew she didn't have her car, so that meant that she was still on campus. There are only two places she would go, one the soccer field and from where I was standing in the parking lot I knew she wasn't there. Two, the art studio.

I practically sprinted over to the building which was of course the furthest from where I was. I don't know why i was in such a hurry, but I just had this feeling that she really needed someone right now. I was really worried about what I would find, I didn't really know what to expect when I found her, but I didn't expect to find what I found.

When I opened the door to the art teacher's office, what I saw broke my heart. Christen was slumped on the ground in front of an easel it looked like she was working on. There was paint all over her clothes, in her hair, and on her face, like she forgot that she was painting and she tried to pull herself back together. She was curled up into herself, and she was rocking back and forth on the ground, mumbling to herself and there were tears streaming down her face. When she looked up and made eye contact with me, her eyes widen in surprise.