Outcast

Outcast-14 pills

+Veronica+

I turned on the water to the shower as hot as it can go shortly after I had punched the mirror in my bedroom. My mom hadn't heard anything, which wasn't surprising. She was always to absorbed in her own life to notice anything. After a few seconds of waiting for the water to warm up, I quickly undressed and stepped in. I winced when the burning water had hit my pale skin but I slowly got used to it.

The blood from the cuts on my knuckles dripped down to the bottom of the shower floor, turning the hot water a light pink. I hadn't bothered washing at all. I just stood under the scorching water, letting it burn my skin until I couldn't take it anymore. I turned off the water and stepped back out of the tub. I kept my eyes on the floor until I had a towel wrapped around me and I looked back up again, observing myself in the mirror.

I didn't know what I had expected but each time I looked into a mirror I expected something different. I had wished that each day that something will change. It was always the same though. I still looked lonely, lost, and angry.

My skin was bright red from the hot water and my eyes were bloodshot and cloudy, as always. When i had gotten sick of staring at my self in the mirror I tugged at a small handle connected to the mirror, opening a small, cramped medicine cabinet. Only two things were inside of it, even though it had four functional shelves. Toothpaste and a small orange bottle. My fingers wrapped around the orange bottle and twisted the cap off. I poured out it's contents into my hands. Several round, dark, pills came tumbling out into my hands.

They were small, but powerful. Truth was that they were much more important then people thought. I counted them slowly, dragging out my numbers in my head.  I put a pill back into the bottle with each number until I had one left. 14 pills. Just like yesterday and the day before and the day before. They were all there. I dropped the last dark pill into the container, frowning. These pills were my safety net. In case everything went wrong.

I remembered my suicide attempt that no one knew about. I remembered how Cole had rescued me from it. I didn't want to be rescued though. It was just another thing that he messed up. I shoved the pills back into the cabinet with frustration and slammed the door shut. In a way I was almost happy that he had kept me from doing it though. It would've been messy and painful. I shook my head at the thought. The gun was locked away in a secure place. I wasn't ever going to need it.

I closed the door to the bathroom behind me and me and started to dig through my drawers for something to wear. I wasn't going anywhere for the rest of the day so I could care less about it. I pulled out a random pair of pajama pants and an over-sized t-shirt.

When I was dressed and my long hair was brushed out I threw myself onto my bed. I had homework to do but I really wasn't in the mood for it. Just like I hadn't been in the mood for it yesterday. I scoffed into my pillow. I was so far behind. Not doing my homework wasn't an option.

So, unwillingly, I slowly got up and dragged my backpack over to my bed and started to work on my homework. I had paper spread out all over my bed and I was working on Math when I had noticed a crumpled up blue piece of paper at the bottom of all the papers. I dug it out and uncrumpled it, scanning my eyes over the small print.

This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all.

 -----

+Cole+

My shoes squeaked against the tile floor in the hallways of the school the next day. It was raining a little outside but I didn't mind, I liked rain.

I had decided to walk to school this morning since I wasn't exactly in the mood for dealing with Veronica. She was awfully moody. I shook my head as I approached my locker and clicked it open. I had arrived a little earlier than I had expected. The hall was dead silent. I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the time.

7:45

15 more minutes till school started and everybody was outside, chatting away. When I had grabbed all my necessary books and folders that were required for my first and second hour, I shut the the locker carefully and started to walk towards my first hour.

As I got closer to my history class I heard a pair of voices getting louder.

"I'm not on the list." The first voice said quietly.

"Let me see." There was shuffling of paper and a few moments of silence before the second voice spoke again.

"You'll either have to find someone who doesn't have a partner yet or work by yourself." The second voice said simply, obviously annoyed.

I was standing in the doorway of the classroom, staring inside, feeling like a stalker. Veronica was standing in front of the teacher's desk with a blue piece of paper. I couldn't remember his name for the life of me. I bit my lip as the teacher turned, seeing me.

"Ahh, Cole. You don't have a partner do you?"

Veronica snapped her head in my direction, her gaze turning angry. Seriously, why does this girl hate me so much?

"W-What?" I muttered stupidly.

"I'll take that as a no. You are now partners with Veronica on the project." The teacher beamed up at me, then at Veronica, pleased with himself.

What project? There was a project?

I did a mental face palm as Veronica stuffed the blue paper in her bag and stormed out of the classroom without another word, brushing my shoulder roughly. I let out a sigh of frustration as I turned back around and started to follow her.

+Veronica+

I pushed past Cole into the hallway, without turning back. My day was already ruined and school hasn't even started yet. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from lashing out at him. At the teacher. At everybody who was trying to make my life a living hell.

The faint sound of footsteps reached my ears. He was following me. I clenched my fists and turned around to look at Cole.

"You pity me don't you?" My voice was strong and harsh. That wasn't how I felt.

He looked surprised by my voice and took a step away from me. He didn't answer my question. Did he think it was rhetorical or something? "DON'T YOU?!" I screamed at him, not really caring that we were standing in the middle of a hallway and teachers were sending us disapproving looks.

"Veronica, are you really that vain? You think everything is about you don't you?" He said through gritted teeth.

I blinked a couple times, furrowing my eyebrow. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You think that I moved here just so I could spend time with you! You think that I want to be friends with you. You think that I chose to be your neighbor!" He said calmly with a sarcastic tone dripping into it.

"Well, newsflash sunshine. THE WORLD DOESN'T REVOLVE AROUND YOU!" He yelled right back at me. I winced at his loud voice.

I simply shook my head and walked away. We hadn't noticed, but students had started to walk into the building to get ready for school and they were making a circle around us. People were watching our argument.

"Get out of way." The words escaped my lips in a dark tone. Way more harsh than I meant it too. The students in front of me scooted out of my way so I could pass.

I walked down the crowded hallway, trying to get to my locker as quickly as possible. Screw school. I could always come back another day.

When I had grabbed all my belongings from my shitty locker I slammed it shut and rushed straight out the door, running into someone. I didn't bother to look up to see who I had just knocked to the ground.

I heard a tiny thud behind me, followed by the person shouting out something. I just kept walking, my back turned to the school. The person probably just wanted to pull out my hair or something. I snickered at the thought. I would like to see him try.