A Chapter Completed

And then The Storm

Saturday dragged on after my visit to the park. As usual, I stayed in my room through the rest of the day. The moment I sat on my chair for dinner, however, my demons decided that their vacation was over.

I had no more than a glass of water, and some salad, and that too because dad insisted. I excused myself, not minutes later, mumbling something about homework, ran up the stairs and tossed myself on my bed after closing my door.

Homework. As if. I was way behind on my assignments. Before, I used to get Cs with a handful of Bs thrown in the mix, but now I was down to Ds. Thankfully, the teachers had not taken any action, like calling my parents. Yet.

I wondered what mother's reaction would be if, no, when, she'll find out about my grades. She'll probably be horrified. More furious that I was tainting Chase's legacy, and less that I was playing with my future.

Future - a foreign word to me. I never actually thought about it. Why? Because I doubt that I would ever have one. What's the point of thinking and wishing about something that shall never be? What's the point in having dreams which will forever be nothing than just...dreams.

My thoughts were cut short by the sound of my phone ringing. I just lay right where I was for the next few seconds, wondering if there was something wrong with my hearing. The light from the screen illuminated my otherwise dark room, as the phone continued ringing. I reached out and just as I was about to check who had the misfortune of dialing the wrong number, and would instead reach me, the screen went black, and the ringing stopped.

"Whoever it was probably realized that I was just a wrong number," I thought, just as I had expected.

"Aww, honey...Were you being hopeful for a second there? Don't bother, cause you"ll always only ever be a wrong number."

Unlike feeling depressed, as I normally would have, this time, I felt angry. I clenched my fists around my phone, as my inner voice continued mocking me.

"Look at you, feeling angry. You know that there's nothing you can do to change the truth, as bitter as it might be, because no one cares. No one."

I shut my eyes as tight as I could, trying my hardest to shut it out.

"You can't shut me out!"

A tear slipped from the corner of my eye, despite my attempts of keeping it in.

"See! This is you, the real you. Zoe, the crybaby. Zoe, the weak. Zoe, the unloved and unwanted. She was right when she left. Everything she said was true. You're best friend Elen..."

Before the sentence was completed, I lost it, and sent my phone flying across the room, where it hit a frame. The phone and the frame hit the floor. The phone, thanks to its case, barely made a sound. The frame however shattered upon impact.

As the sound of breaking glass rang in my ears, I stood motionless. My mind as clouded, as my heart numb. After all this time, this was the first time I had come close to thinking about her name. I always referred to her as her. Years had passed, and I hadn't heard of or seen her. She was gone, I hoped, forever. At the beginning, the mere mention of her name would be enough to make me burst into tears.

But now, I realized, I harbored a different emotion, or rather, emotions. I was angry, but I was also afraid, nay, terrified. For if she were ever to appear before my eyes, the few drops of meaning left in my water bottle of life would evaporate underneath her scorching hatred.

The door suddenly burst open and dad walked in.

"Darling, are you okay? Why are the lights off?" he asked urgently, worry laced in his voice.

"Oh, I'm fine dad. Nothing's wrong, really. I wanted to sleep, so I switched off the lights. But my phone rang, and I hit the frame by mistake as I was reaching for it. I'm sorry if I scared you," I answered.

Dad had switched on the lights, so I could finally see properly.

"Zoe, are you sure you're okay? You haven't been yourself much, these past few months - in fact, almost this whole year."

"Dad, I'm fine. Trust me. Nothing's wrong," I bluffed. Again.

"I'm sorry about your mother. I know that it bothers you. I'll talk to her, okay? Look at the positive, at least you still have good ol' dad, right?"

I smiled at his last statement, knowing that what he said was true. Mother might not care, but my dad was honestly the best dad ever.

He left a few minutes later, after tucking me in, and kissing my forehead. Yes I grumbled, as he did it, telling him I wasn't a child anymore, but secretly, I loved it.

Seconds after he closed the door, my phone's screen lit up again. It was a message. As my eyes scanned the text, my heart beat quickened.

No. It couldn't be true. It couldn't.

My mind raced, as all the memories hit me. My head began pounding as my thoughts increased, clouding my brain. Slowly, black patches of spots appeared in front of me, and the already dark room darkened, not unlike my life, as my vision was compromised. My phone slipped away from my hands, and just before I black out, I realized that it was the only source of light in the room, which was ironic considering the situation.

My phone lay on the floor the whole night, still switched on, its battery slowly draining, unable to do anything. I understood what that felt like. Because my strength and will was slowly being drained as well. Not by the phone being on, but by the text displayed on the screen of the phone. The text that read:

"Take care Little Zee. Storm's coming...or should I say Thunder ;)"

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And done. Another chapter uploaded.

What do you guys think? Whose the text from? And more importantly, who is this best friend that was mentioned? Why did she leave? And why is Zoe so terrified of her?

Please don't forget to vote and comment.

Speaking of comments, shoutout to @corey_2018 for the votes and comments on the previous chapters. Thanks once again.