Let It Out

Leave Me Alone

He turned the handle and shoved the door open. There were books scattered around the floor and the bookcase in front of the door. He stepped in and looked around the usually organized room. The room was dark, the only light coming through the rips in the closed curtains. The usually music-filled room was quiet. He almost left to go look for her, until he heard the small sniffle coming from deeper in the room. He walked in further and looked around the bed. There, he saw Alice. She was sitting with her knees pressed up against her, her back to the corner. She was shaking and rocking back and forth. Her lips moving, but no sound coming out. Her face would contort into a distressed expression before a few more tears would escape and she would press herself further into the corner.

He walked over, making sure to make some noise to make her aware of his presence. But it didn't seem to matter, she was too much in her head, she wasn't paying attention. He crouched down to her and gently called to her

"Alice. Alice, can you hear me?"

She made no noise of confirmation, but her lips had stopped moving.

"Alice, what's wrong?"

She shook her head, softly at first, but the movement grew more and more violent. She grasped her head and pulled it between her knees, sobs threatening to spill from her lips.

He gently placed a hand on her shoulder, and she tensed, freezing under his touch. He didn't notice.

"Alice, what's wrong?" He said, firmer this time.

It was silent for a moment, then two, then four. He was getting impatient.

"Alice-"

She threw her head up, knocking away his hand and meeting his gaze with wet eyes. Her voice shook as she spoke.

"Why would I tell you? The last time you asked that I answered honestly and told you how I felt. But you turned it around and made it about you. You twisted my words and made me feel guilty. You lectured me and left me standing alone in that room, crying and feeling worthless."

She looked down and tried to take a deep breath, her breathing still not completely under control.

"Leave me alone, and don't come back until you can deal with your own problems without taking it out on me. I have enough of them on my own, That I don't need yours weighing me down and making me feel more worthless than I already feel."