A Message to Scott Cawthon: Reimagined

Chapter Seven

Baz watched Ryan hurry around the room, picking up mugs left on the table and sorting out the mess of the kitchen. Coffee beans were spilt over the counter along with splashes of water, and a used spoon laid idly. Baz raised his eyebrows, which didn't really change his facial expression thanks to the lack of colour in them, but after years of being friends, Ryan knew what he was doing. But he ignored it.

Baz knew that something had happened. But what? The older man watched his younger friend put the cups in the sink and begin to quickly wash them with controlled vigour.

"What happened?" Baz asked, already knowing the answer he would get. Ryan shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. Would you like a hot drink?"

The pink-haired man accepted and sat down on the sofa. He turned on the morning news on the TV just as the adverts had ended. The female news reporter, who was clearly fed up with the male news reporter sitting beside her, began to speak.

"The time is 07:02 and you are watching Good Morning Britain with Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan; thank you for spending your morning with us. The headlines this morning come from America, with an increased rate of cases of mental health disorders being developed in young people across the states. Figures released by "Mental Healthcare America" has shown a shocking rise of depression and anxiety between people in the 12-18 age bracket, along with the 18-24 age bracket. A significant rise has also been seen in other age brackets as well. This new information has reignited a debate about the effect of online activities on mental health. We will come back to that story later, but for now here is the weather with Charlotte Hawkins..."

"Morning, lads!" Rhys said groggily as he stepped out of his room, heading straight to the downstairs bathroom. There was the sound of a flush and he came out a few minutes later with straighter hair. "What was going on this morning?" he asked no one in particular. "It woke me up."

"Sorry, Rhys. Lewis and I were talking."

"Oh, no! The talking was fine! I was talking about the massive bang... it's fine, don't worry... where is Lewis then?"

"He's gone to get a shower."

"Is Will still asleep?"

"Think so," Ryan replied, pouring what was left of the kettle into two clean cups. "You want a coffee or something?" he asked. The Scotsman nodded, holding in a yawn. The three of them spoke quietly for a little bit, watched the news and drank their drinks. Ryan was remarkably quiet. After twenty minutes, Rhys and Baz went back to their rooms to get dressed for the day. Will came down soon after they left. It was clear that he wasn't a morning person, grunting at every question that was asked. He made himself a coffee, clearly irritated that he had to get new water, and sat down next to Ryan. Neither one of them spoke.

Baz came out of his room with navy shorts, a grey t-shirt and green socks. He also had his hoodie from yesterday in one of his hands, and he threw it over the arm of a chair. Rhys had light blue trousers from yesterday, a black long-sleeved t-shirt with red patterns on the arm and white socks. They greeted Will, got the same response as Ryan did, and sat back down to finish their drinks.

It was 07:50 when Lewis came back down. He was wearing practically the same thing as he had yesterday; black jeans and a dark shirt with grey socks. "Morning guys!" he said enthusiastically. Ryan stared.

"Morning, mate!" Baz replied. The others echoed him.

"How are you feeling today?" Will asked, speaking properly for the first time this morning.

"Ah, much better mate! An early night did actually help!"

Ryan stared.

People shuffled awkwardly, not sure how to phrase their next question. "So, what do you feel like doing today? As obviously, if you still want a little time to recover, we c..."