Alters

Sixteen

~Lyric~

For the next couple weeks, Casper and I met almost every day after school, and spent almost the entirety of the weekends together. He and I became fast friends; literally nothing could separate us. It's funny to think that we could become friends in such a short amount of time. Maybe it's because it's been years since both of us have had a proper friend, so we grasped onto our chance as if we were lovers spending the last days of our lives together.

Minus the lover part.

Though I'm not denying that I would date him.

Through the time we spent hanging out, he and I hadn't ever visited his house again. Though I wondered, I never questioned. Casper is the kind of kid you don't want to get too straightforward with, nor is he someone to start butting in with on his personal life.

Being friends with Casper had slightly upped my level on the popularity at school. Casper is an undeniably attractive person, so once they laid eyes on him, all the cheerleaders were on him. They jocks slightly envied him, but slowly stopped after getting to know his funny quirks. Since Casper and I were basically a package at this point, all of them began treating me kindly as well. Appreciation felt good. They found me funny. Apparently Cecilia and Micah were adored to them instead of being the "Weird things in Lyrics mind" like they used to always be considered.

Then today after school, Casper and I were invited to a party for Friday night.

"It's at Jessica's house." Penny says, handing an invitation to Casper. "It's going to be crazy." She hands one to me as well, a smile sliding on her face. "It'd be great if both of you could go. Sort of like a pre-prom party, since we all know how that's in three weeks. All of us will be getting ready for it next week and won't have time for anything after that. After that, we won't have a party until grad, and we know it'll be like, the last time we'll all spend together."

Casper and I nod. It's weird for me being invited to a party, and it must be weird for Casper as well.

"We'll try to make it." Casper smiles.

"Perfect!" Penny exclaims, giving Casper and I each a kiss on the cheek. "See you tomorrow! Don't worry about dressing fancy at the party. Completely casual!"

"What's our parents gonna say?" Casper asks. "We've got Warped on Saturday with MHC, and a party on Friday? My mom will think I just don't wanna sleep."

"I guess therapy will have to wait a week." I laugh, though I can feel myself getting really worried and anxious about this already. Casper must realize I'm tense, for he wraps an arm around my shoulder as we walk down the hall.

"Don't stress. Parties are fun, though I haven't been to one since I was a freshman." Casper whispers.

"Yeah, but this is a senior party. We're eighteen." I practically hiss.

"Yeah, but nobody is going to force us to do anything." Casper smiles. "Anyways, why don't you call your mom and tell her that I'll get Zoë to take us out for dinner before MHC?"

"My mom likes me home for dinner. You could tell Zoë that you can come over for dinner at my house and I'll tell my mom to make dinner for one extra?" I ask

"Sounds like a plan." Casper says, pulling out his cell.

"Hey, have you gotten information from any of the alters yet?" I suddenly ask, which was completely unexpected to even myself.

"Yeaah." Casper says, not looking up from his phone. "Just Meg though. I plan on asking Cecilia next, then Micah, and I have yet to meet Endora."

"When will you tell me Meg's?" I ask as he continues looking down, though I don't think he's typing anymore.

"Yeah, when I get everyone's info and shiz." He says, continuing to look down at his phone.

"How come?" I ask him, tapping his shoulder in hopes he'll look up.

"Because." He simply replies, still looking down at his phone as we walk out of the school.

"Why won't you give me full replies?" I almost shout, feeling nearly neglected. He simply shrugs in response, which makes me frustrated, so I wind up grabbing his phone, which takes him by complete surprise.

"Lyric-"

"What are you even looking at?" I shout, jumping down all the front stairs at once, looking down at his phone. The name on the top of the screen says 'Morea', and the messages look like they're from over a year ago. I glance down at one that he sent, and I manage to read 'Well, you can always come over. We can watch a movie and' until Casper grabs his phone back.

"Who's Morea?" I ask as he violently shoves his phone in his pocket. He doesn't respond, though begins walking again. I walk beside him, waiting for him to respond.

"I read those messages when I'm feeling my mood fall. It falls randomly, but by reading her messages, it keeps me busy so I don't break down." Casper sighs, looking down.

"Who is she though?" I ask, putting a hand on Caspers shoulder. I feel him tense up.

"Morea was my girlfriend." He sighs. "The one who fell. I don't know how else I can describe it."

"Oh." I say quietly, shoving my hands in my shorts pockets.

Our walk home was really quiet. None of us really wished to say anything, especially after what happened. We let the sound of chirping birds and vehicle motors fill up the silence as we walked side by side down the pavement.

Being at home felt like a blur. All I kept thinking of was how bad I felt after what I did. I took some of the anxiety pills to help calm myself from possibly getting a panic attack from how Casper and I didn't really talk. My mom made supper for three already, as it turned out Maria ended up with unexpected plans. Casper conversed with my mom slightly as I silently ate a decent portion of my mashed potatoes, cooked vegetables, and ham. After eating, my mom drove us to MHC, which made me wake up momentarily, only to put me in a larger haze. I had looked over at Roselyn, seeing her arms completely sliced up, a bandage wrapped around her upper arm. Michael didn't ask her what happened in front of the group. He understood she wouldn't want to talk about it. Plus, he probably already knew.

The only thing I remembered fully was that Alec was calmer than usual, which was strange. When he got up, he was clearly in his outgoing personality, beginning to hit on Melina. Melina clearly found entertainment in it, flirting back jokingly. After a while, Alec had approached where I was chatting with Damon and Casper, taking the empty seat beside me.

"Is uh, Cecilia out?" He asked. I shook my head no.

"Oh." He replied, running his fingers through his hair. "I had some... impressing things to tell her."

"Oh? Like what?" Damon asked suddenly, leaning in.

"Uh.. things." Alec replied, looking down.

I knew that Alec had a crush on Cecilia. Just Cecilia, meaning he really likes her persona. He doesn't bother to flirt with myself or Endora, and he clearly wouldn't with Micah since Micah is a boy and Alec is heterosexual from what I know.

Really, the rest of the day and night went by so fast. I surely couldn't be feeling amnesiac. Maybe I'm just anxious from being invited to that party.

This morning was worse. I didn't want to leave the house, so my mom allowed me to stay at home from school. I just sat in my room clutching the pills, scared right out of my mind. Once school had finished, I knew Casper would be at home, getting ready for the night.

"I can't do this." I mutter.

*"Oh, aren't you going to a party though?" Micah asks suddenly.

"Yeah." I reply.

"EEK! SIGN ME UP!" Cecilia suddenly shrieks.

"Cecilia, no-"*

I feel myself leave.