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Chapter Ten

"Meredith!"

Sitting on the bed of the nurses' office wasn't unusual for me. No. It wasn't because of that. The only reason it felt weird here was that I had met the two dead people my parents killed. One was because my mother had no control over herself, and the other was because my father needed to stop him from causing a catastrophic end to the world. I looked up from my bandaged wrists, seeing my mother running towards me. Her hair was in a mess, the purple streaks tangled in the black. She was still wearing her black coat from this morning, meaning she just got off of work to see me.

"Mom..?" I whispered quietly, my eyes wide when I saw the tears in her eyes. She immediately wrapped her arms around my torso when she reached me, crying into my shoulder as she leaned over. "H-Hey, you don't need to cry."

Pulling away slightly, her hands held my face, just as she did when I was little. It hurt to see her crying in front of me. "I'm so sorry, Meredith..." she apologized, for what, I wouldn't know. Her voice cracked softly. "This is all my fault... It's always my fault..!"

Tears pricked in my eyes as she fell to her knees, her arms on my lap as she cried into them. I saw Papa peek out from behind the curtain, his eyes on Mom's crying figure. I gestured for him to come in, my other hand on Mom's head, comforting her. Papa sat on my left side, holding my hand.

"Are you alright?" He asked in a quiet voice, staring at the bandages wrapped around my wrists. Blood was barely leaking out, and his grip on my hand tightened.

I nodded. "I didn't feel it, so I'm fine." I looked up at him, and he glanced at me. "Papa. I have.. something to tell you."

"Yeah?"

Peering at Mom, who was still murmuring apologies under her breath, I closed my eyes, my hand on her head. Is now the right time to tell them? My eyes opened slightly.

Yes.

"Leo Holmes and Julia Fernandez say hello."

Immediately, I felt my parents freeze in their positions.

Papa looked up at me. "How.. do you know what they're saying..?"

I shrugged, shaking my head. "I have no idea," I mumbled. "But Mr. Holmes keeps insisting it's because of your attribute Dream Factory. He said it was his before, but only you were able to utilize it." Papa looked at Mom, who was now on a seat, wiping away her tears. "And because of that, it didn't transfer to me completely, only just a segment. Mr. Holmes said if I have training with it, I'll be able to wield it properly."

"Leo.." Mom mumbled under her breath.

Papa nodded to himself. "Alright then." He turned to me and smiled wearily. "As long as you're fine, I'm good with you communicating with him and Julia. Just be wary. Never know if they still want revenge on us."

Mom stood up, tired. Kissing my forehead delicately, she smiled. I was a little worried to see her smile so easily after crying. What if there were times that I never knew she cried because she covered it up with a smile?

"We'll pick you up today," she said, brushing my hair with her fingers. "Just call me, okay?"

I smiled slightly, nodding.

~~~

Everyone keeps distancing themselves from me because I don't have any of the handcuffs on.

My gaze lowered to the floor, trying to push away the pairs of eyes on me. I clutched my books tightly. After being let out of the nurses' office, I could feel the fear of my classmates radiating off of me. Unlike them, Ryan Duff's eyes held hatred. Burning hatred. This is why I don't have friends. Currently, I was walking to my last period, quiet and slow. People continued moving away from me, others ready to wield their attributes.

I'm not a monster...

...am I?

"Meredith! Hey! Wait up!"

My eyes widened, and I looked up from my staring on the floor. Turning around, Dexter was clumsily jogging towards me, an excited smile on his face. I couldn't help but feel just the slightest bit better. He finally reached me, breathing heavily.

"I'm surprised you're not scared of me," I mumbled, "with the video being up and all that..."

Dexter smiled. "That's not what friends do to each other," he said, his hand on my shoulder.

I smiled back. "Guess I'm not that knowledgeable about having friends, as you can clearly assume." As we started walking, many students began whispering, surprised— maybe even shocked— at how brave Dexter was to be so close to me. "So, what's your next class?"

"Biology," he responded, rolling his eyes. "The teacher's such a drag."

I laughed slightly at his answer, peering at him. "I have History with Miss Smith."

"Aw man! Lucky!"

I laughed again.

"Anyways!" Dexter said, turning to look at me. I looked back, my head tilted. "I was thinking that maybe you and I could hang out later after school tomorrow or something. Just to have fun, you know?"

My eyes brightened. "Sure! Of course, I'll have to ask my parents."

Dexter nodded, smiling. He turned around and began jogging to his class, yelling over his shoulder. "Great! I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Bye!"