Absent

Chapter 15: Not-so-good emotions

I could only think of how deep my hatred towards Gissele was, and my mood was building from that bitterness. The way she think she owns Chester is unbearable. Doesn't she knows of all the story he and I bear? All the love my scars breathe?

I just hope she moves on to someone else. Anyone, really.

Mom was too busy to make eye contact with me as she declared my one week punishment in the tone and emotion of a programmed robot. I even came to wonder if my mother was a human at that moment.

She left me home alone so the consecuences of my actions could pound on my soul. I know I'm not alone. Lindsey's still at her room, and for whatever reason, I decide to pay her a visit. I knew better than to knock. I enter and find her like I most profoundly feared.

There are the bottles of alcohol.

There are the blades in a pond of dripping blood.

There is her body; mistreated, seeking love, lacking affection.

But what matters to me is her soul. Is it disconnected from the body? Or is she still a survivor, still a fighter, still alive for the sake of it? I approach her carefully, and place my fingers on her neck. Thank God! She's breathing. But unconscious... what do I do?

My mother, as expected, doesn't answer any of my calls. Nor my father. Nor Galileo. Nor Jimmy and Vicky. Nor Javier and his grandparents. I'm left with only one hopeful option.

"Hey, Heather. Sorry I hadn't been attending classes, but I'm supposed not to be involved in actions or situations-"

"-Alex, help." I interrupt him feeling my despair in the shape of tears.

"Are you alright?"

"I am, but... oh my god..." I say, trying my best to explain, but Lindsey's scene is sinking in. "What did I do? What did I do...?"

"Heather, what the hell?"

"Lindsey's... We're at my house and she's.... I need to take her to the hospital." I explain, saying the last sentence without hesitation.

"Hold on, both of you."

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I hear a car parking outside the house. Seconds later, the bakery man storms into the room, and picks up Lindsey. Alex rushes to aid him. I follow them hastily, and to the hospital.

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The doctor offered us a program for addicted alcoholics for Lindsey to particiapte at, but I was quick to clarify that it had been her first and only time. He decided to trust me, and exited without further insisting. The doctor had seen us here, Alex and me. He knows what we've been through.

Lindsey's in bed, with her vital signal back into average. The bakery man, who I discovered a while ago is named Richard, made sure we had everything under control and left. I'm holding Alex's hand, and my head is pressed against his chest, and he has an arm tightly around me. I'm protected by his presence. I wish we had something serious between us; something to allow our proximity to be like this all the time.

He kisses my forehead and stroked my hair gently. We stare into each other's eyes for so long, I can swear our souls and energy are one.

"I think I'm in love with you." I let him know.

His eyes are piercing into my soul, existing only to know that I meant what I said. I did, and a sincere smile demonstrates that.

"I think I'm in love with you too."

We declare this feeling with simple, but meaningful words. We lie there, not daring to break the moment, for what felt like hours. Until Galileo arrived, gasping; completely out of breath after running for tha sake of his love. I gave one look at Alex to tell him we should leave them alone. But just before we exited, I thought it better, and whispered to Galileo; "Don't you dare think she doesn't love you, or that it's somehow your fault. It's mine. I never taught her about love before. Experimenting with it is unnatural, if your own sister never expressed it to you. I might never be enough for her again, but you are. So, tell her I'm sorry, and that I understand if the best for us is to mantain distance."

Alex and I walk away, hand in hand. We find an interior garden where we are accompanied only by each other. We don't say anything for a while.

"So... are we in a relationship or something?" He asks. I'd laugh if I wasn't sure myself.

"You're the boy. You tell me."

"Heather Peacock, do you want to be my girlfriend?"

"I'd be honored."

And with that, we smiled and kissed softly. And I knew this was merely the beginning of something.