11:11 // Crankiplier

16.

Mark's POV

I laid on my bed and stared at the ceiling.

It's Tuesday night. Kristen wasn't home. I had my bedroom door locked just in case though. I rolled over so that my face was buried in my pillow.

I felt so alone. I knew I could talk to someone, but it felt they wouldn't do anything.

Ethan had asked me at lunch if I was okay. I said yes. I lied.

You lie to everyone.

You act so strong but you're really just a weak little baby.

You deserve the scars on your body.

"No." I clenched the pillow to my face. "No I don't. I don't. I don't." I felt tears well up in my eyes for the second time this week.

You're alone. Face it.

I turned and sat up, still clenching the pillow to my body. Every breath I took felt wasted.

I shouldn't be like this. I have friends who care about me.

They're just pretending.

"SHUT UP!" I yelled. I felt more tears roll down my cheeks. I closed my eyes and took a breath.

"Friday." I whispered through gritted teeth. "I won't do any harm to myself until then."

I hoped this would pass by then.

Ethan's POV

"Ethan? What are you looking at?"

I jumped when I heard Delilah behind me. "N-nothing." I stuttered, turning to try and hide my computer screen.

Delilah pushed me out of the way. Her expression went from curious to confused. She looked at me.

"I though you were gay." She looked back at the computer. "Or at least had better taste." I brought up my hands defensively.

"I am. I just thought I would check out Mark's girl." She looked at me with a small gleam in her. I groaned.

"It's not a jealousy thing. Mark was acting weird at lunch today." I explained. Delilah nodded, still looking at Amy's profile on Instagram.

"Well, she's hot I'll give her that. But she's a total hoe." She said in disgust. She closed the browser and looked at me.

"Weird how?" I looked at the floor. Delilah pulled me over to my bed and sat me down. She sat next to me.

"Is he the 'friend' you were talking about? When you were asking me about my depression?"

I put my head in my hands and nodded. The room went silent for a moment before Delilah spoke up again.

"Did he eat lunch today?" I shook my head no.

"Does he have any scars?" I ran a hand through my hair and allowed my eyes to meet hers. "I-I don't know. Um. I've never seen any on his wrists but-" I felt tears start to prick my eyes.

"Look at me." I chuckled dryly. "Crying over the same guy twice." Delilah pulled me into a hug.

"Remember how many times you've cried over me?" She whispered. "It just shows you care." I wrapped my arms around her tightly.

"But that's different." I croaked. "You're like a sister to me. Mark's just a friend."

I felt her kiss the side of my head in an attempt to comfort me. "I know, I know." She pulled away.

"Call him. If he's really... he'll want someone to talk to him. About anything."

Mark's POV

I picked up my phone. Ethan was calling me. I smiled sadly. Someone was calling me first.

"Hey." I said, trying sound casual.

"Hey Mark! Sorry to bother you, I'm bored and I was wondering if you wanted to talk."

I smiled a little. Kristen still wasn't home. I could probably talk for a little while.

"Uh yeah. Sure."

"Great! So have you played this game Oxenfree? It's really weird but also really cool!"

I laughed a little. "I haven't. I'll check it out."

"Also when do you want to work on our project again? You could probably come over to the home if you wanted to! The people that run this place are pretty laid back as long as no one dies or goes missing."

I laughed more. "That sounds good. I don't know when though." I though for a minute. "What about Saturday?"

"Yeah! That sounds great!...Delilah's asking if she can hang out too. She said she'll make cinnamon popcorn and we can watch movies! And have a sleepover maybe."

"Yeah that sounds like a lot of fun!"

I realized that I had set my goal for Friday, but if I was going to see Ethan on Saturday then I would have to stay clean.

I reset my goal for next Friday.

I can do this. I know I can.

For Ethan.

"So what movies do you think we should watch?"

I started to think. "We should watch cheesy rom-coms." I laughed. I heard Ethan laugh, too, along with what sounded like Delilah.

"That's my favorite genre." He said sarcastically. "What's your favorite genre? Mine's action!"

And if anyone asked me the next day why I was so tired, I told them I had stayed up all night talking to my friend Ethan.