Gone

Settling In

It's amazing how quickly things can change in a year. Mark and Annabelle became so close that she practically became his second sibling. She had warmed up to his brother Jason a little slower than she had with Mark, but they became fast friends nonetheless. The start of their junior year of high school was actually amazing, contrary to anyone's initial suspicions. Mark introduced her to his friends, Wade and Tyler. Tyler, of course, she promptly befriended and started a relationship with.

And Mark's dad was diagnosed with cancer.

It was an uphill battle from the get-go, but everyone kept up hope nonetheless, and as he always was, Mark was blindly optimistic. Annabelle was concerned, and the only person she felt could understand her worrying was Tyler.

"I know it's good to have hope, but... I just feel like it'll crush him even more if he doesn't even consider the possibility of him dying," she partially whispered, her whole body faced towards him. They were the only two at their lunch table, but they were still sitting directly next to each other.

"It's still his dad. You have to keep in mind the fact that he probably doesn't want to face that possibility. I wouldn't want to think about it either. He's your uncle anyways, so maybe just try to see what he's seeing," Tyler suggested. Annabelle sighed and shook her head, resting it on Tyler's shoulder.

"God, I cannot believe Mr. McNamara scheduled a whole unit test for today and didn't even tell us beforehand," Mark huffed, taking his seat next to Annabelle. Jason sat on his other side, placing his books down a little aggressively on the table, and Wade sat on the other side of Tyler. Mark glanced at the empty spot in front of Annabelle, noticing that she was the only one at the table without food in front of her. "You gonna get lunch?"

"I ate in 3rd," she shrugged. Tyler, who was with her in her 3rd period, and knew full well that it was gym and she couldn't have eaten if she wanted to, put an arm around her and squeezed her shoulder. He knew she didn't eat the day before either, so the fact that she had gone two days without eating concerned him more than anything.

Honestly, she would usually get the school lunch because she didn't really have much food at home to begin with, but she just didn't feel like throwing up that day. She could never keep it down. She couldn't really keep much good food down either, but that was beside the point. Maybe she'd eat something at the football game. She didn't really have much of a choice in going to it. Well, she did, but Tyler was just so excited to go, and Mark would be playing his trumpet with the band at half time and she refused to miss a single band performance. Besides, it was the homecoming game. Looks like she'd just have to sit through the game.

~~~~~~~

Tyler's beat up hand-me-down car squeaked as it pulled to a stop in the student parking lot. Annabelle stifled a giggle as she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car.

"How do you still find that funny? It's been that way literally the whole time," Tyler inquired, locking the car. Annabelle circled around the car and took Tyler's hand in hers as they made their way to the school stadium.

"It just is, I don't know!" She swung their arms back and forth while she dug into her jacket pocket for a few dollars to get into the game.

They took their seats with Wade where they always did: as close to Mark as they possibly could be. There was a metal railing that separated the band from the rest of the stands, so they sat on the opposite side of it. They waved to him, and he waved back, the hat of his marching uniform almost falling off because of the ridiculous, overdramatic motion. As the stadium filled up, things got much louder. Annabelle felt safe to confide in Tyler for a moment.

"I didn't want to freak you out or anything earlier, but that car was in the parking lot again," she said somewhat quietly. Tyler snapped his gaze to her, then immediately to the limited area of the parking lot that was visible from where they were sitting. He was holding her hand, and when she said that to him, his grip got a little bit tighter.

"Are you kidding me? Are the cops really just gonna wait until something happens to you to do anything about this creep? Jesus christ. They know he's not a student and they know he's been stalking you for months. I'm gonna-"

"Tyler, hon, please breathe for me. Nothing is gonna happen to me. I don't even know why I mentioned it in the first place. It' stupid, I'm sorry..."

"Hey, no no no. It's not stupid, pup. You're in danger, and there's nothing being done about it. I still think it would be a good idea to tell Mark-"

"Tyler, no. We've talked about this."

"But-"

"No. He has enough on his plate already. He doesn't need to be worrying about me, too."

"...is that why you haven't told him about the anorexia?"

Annabelle hung her head, refusing to look at Tyler. She had told him countless times to never bring it up anywhere near Mark, or even Wade fo that matter, but of course he couldn't help reminding her. His intentions weren't harmful. He just wanted her to find help, but she didn't want to accept it.

"Please, just... drop it..." She shifted her body slightly away from him, and he waited a moment before putting his arms around her. She tensed up a first, her frustration getting the better of her, but soon enough she melted into it as the depression grew. She just wanted to bury herself in his hold and stay there forever.

"I love you, ok?"

"I love you too..."

As every other game that season, the homecoming game was just another loss. Just because everybody was feigning school spirit for homecoming didn't mean they had a better chance of winning. Annabelle was practically asleep by the time it was over.

"Annabelle, baby, hey. Don't fall asleep on me. I don't want to have to carry you into your house," Tyler said softly, shaking her slightly. She rubbed at her eyes and sat up, the blanket he had covered her with slipping off of her shoulders. She took in her surroundings and sighed when she registered what the score board said.

"Big surprise."

"Yea, to no one. Come on, let's get you to the car before you pass out." He helped her stand and put an arm around her for support. She was so light, but somehow seemed heavier whenever she was tired. They both said their quick goodbyes to Wade and Mark before leaving the stadium. Tyler ended up having to carry her on his back to make sure she didn't fall over on the way to the car.

He shut the door to the passenger's side and started to circle around the car. He stopped in his path as a vintage black Chevy drove past a little too slowly.