Despair, darkness and desire

Annie's got mono

A week later the bruise on my face is an ugly yellow color, but fading fast. I've convinced mom and dad that it's time for me to go back to school. I never thought the day would come when I actually missed school, but here it is.
"Isolde!" Liz and Rebeccah attack hug me when they catch up to me by my locker. Mom refused for me to take the bus, at first I was annoyed, but the crowded hallways are creeping me out and the bus would have been worse.
"Ohmygod! I didn't think you'd be back yet! And why don't you answer your phone! It's like you don't want to talk to anyone!" Liz takes a step back and shouts in my face. A couple kids within hearing distance turn to stare.
Rebeccah smacks her arm. "Gee, could you be more annoying!" Then she tilts her head and gives me a sympathetic look. "You okay?" I thought I was, but there's a tightening in my chest and I can feel my pulse in my fingers. I can't break down now. I'm at school. I'm safe. The bad guys are either dead or chained to a hospital bed.
"I'm fine."

A black hoodie is walking in my direction and my green eyes lock with a pair of blue ones. I feel my body relaxing, my heart rate slowing and my mouth answering the crooked smile Parker is giving me. He doesn't stop. We decided to pretend everything was back to normal at school, and that means not talking.
"Oh!" Liz grabs my arm. "You were kidnapped with Parker Wolfe! How was that? Does he still hate you? Was he nice? Does he like, smell sooo good?"
Rebeccah smacks her again. "Shut up!" Liz looks insulted and confused.
I shake my head. "I'm not allowed to talk about it. Investigation and all that." I asked my therapist if I had to talk to my friends about everything and he said I didn't. It's not as if I know what to say anyway. "Aaanyway, where's Annie?" Liz and Rebeccah look at each other and giggle. "What?"

Liz' eyes are shining with amusement. "Remember Annie's crush on Leo?"
"Well, yeah duh, it's been a thing since forever."
Rebeccah's grin is nearly splitting her face. "They hooked up last weekend at Tara's and now Annie's at home, sick with mono!" They hold on to each other and cackle like mad. My laugh is more a spluttered surprise.
"But they hooked up? Do we know anything? Are they an item? What's going on?"
Liz gestures vaguely. "We don't know. Both of them are sick and Annie is like super vague and I don't know, but I think maybe she's over her crush..." Rebeccah hooks her arm through mine and Liz takes the other. "We'll just have to tease the truth out of her when she's back." The bell rings and we head off towards our first class.

Parker keeps chatting with me over Messenger. It's like he wants us to be together or something, but he never says it outright. I don't ask. It would be beyond embarrassing if I'm wrong about that.
"I saw you through the window in the Chem lab today. You looked happy." I think back to Chemistry, and all I can remember is Oliver being an ass, and us laughing at him.
"maybe, idk what i was thinking about" I'm conflicted about our conversations. I like them, because they assure me he's alright, but at the same time I don't like them, because I want to be able to breathe easily without first having to check that Parker's safe. We don't say anything for a while. I have nothing.

"I got my phone back today." I look over at my desk, where my phone's been ever since mom picked it up from the police station.
"me too. haven't checked it tho" I know there are several distressing texts and voicemails and snaps on there. "i can't read or listen to all those messages" The dots appear, but it takes forever before he hits send.
"I haven't checked anything either. I'm thinking I'll just delete everything. Factory reset and start over."
"u'll only get it all back when it syncs. u'll have to get a new number and new accounts to get a fresh start" He reads it, but there are no dots showing him typing a reply.

Minutes go by, but nothing. I close the chat and watch two seasons of The Office before I fall asleep, my laptop balancing on my bedside table.