The Beginning, The Middle and The End (COMPLETE)

Chapter Fifteen

Ever since then, Toby Rogers and Natalie Ouellette had stayed away from each other, as promised.

Never once, did one dare to sneak over to the other's home. They were both equally afraid of Matthew's threat along with the consequences, that followed. It was the only way they'd both be safe from his wrath. But the lonely days flew by, without incident.

Connie was forced to drive her son to school. As her abusive husband demanded that the teens were separated. Because of some sick belief he had, that Toby would be safe, being away from Natalie. But the mother dreaded to see her son so unhappy. He wouldn't eat nor sleep normally.

Lyra tried to help and to, hopefully, brighten her brother's melancholic mood. But like everyone else, Toby pushed them away. And the boy's hatred for the man increased. Toby hated being so alone. The days seemed to grow darker and more... emptier.

He couldn't take the bus with Natalie anymore, he couldn't even say a word to her.

Natalie wasn't doing so well, either. It was then, she began developing an unhealthy cycle. At first, it wasn't too noticeable, but Natalie started growing aggressive. She wasn't quite sure why she was always so mad at everything, she just...was. Lucas noticed this, not too long after, but tried to tell himself to give her some space. But he would soon, learn that that was far from the reality.

But everything just felt so...new. In a bad way too. The following mornings felt so depressing. Not seeing that button-nosed teenage boy that was her sun, on the cloudiest days. Natalie sighed, as the bus swayed whenever it stopped to pick up a student.

"Dude, do you see that? That Toby guy isn't with Natalie.." A guy's voice whispered.

"What, for real? Oh my god... it's true." Another voice added, seeing Toby's seat empty.

"Where the hell is he, though?".

"Eh, who the hell cares? Maybe I can get lucky with her, man.."

"Don't get your hopes too high, Jake. I heard Brendan and the guys got into some serious trouble, a few weeks back." His friend warned.

The teenage girl sighed, obviously pissed. These dudes were just talking as if they thought she couldn't hear them. 

She put in her earbuds and tried to block out their voices, by turning up the volume. All of a sudden, there was this feeling of emptiness. The girl didn't know how to repress this feeling though. Natalie gripped her chest, feeling her heart continuing to beat. Tears began blurring her eyes again. But she quickly wiped them away and just stared at her lap. For a moment, all the sounds around her, began to muffle again. And she just stared.

When the bus ride met the school, Natalie and a few others jumped out. There was a medium-sized crowd but soon departed, as the students ran to their classes. Natalie pulled out her phone after feeling it vibrate in her pocket. It was a text from her boyfriend, Chris. He had been out of the country, at a family reunion. But texted her that he had come back, just last night.

At least, her day wasn't gonna be completely bad. Natalie, slightly, felt a pang of guilt of not wanting to miss Toby. But it had been so much that she felt like she was draining up his time. 

That night was just as painful. But it was just as blurry as she had remembered it. When Matthew burnt right through her, with such frightening anger. Sometimes that left her puzzled, of how her friend could handle such a person.  The brunette sighed, but made herself text Chris back.

"It's good to know that you're back home, safely, babe. How was the trip, though?" Her text read.

Her phone vibrated, once again, but had a new reply from her boyfriend. 

"Eh, a lot of family things goin on and honestly, I'm just kinda glad that we're finally home. Like Granny Lola, seriously needs jesus. She's just been yelling at us, not to have our damn elbows on the table lol. How have you been, Nat?" Chris texted.

Natalie smiled at her phone and quickly texted back:

 "A lot has happened while you were gone, if I'm being honest rn. And...can we talk after period 1?" 

"Sure, see ya there!" Chris replied. 

The morning started out as an uneventful. Just having more and more of her peers, gaping at her new hairstyle. Maybe even some teachers. She went up to the third floor, to once again, collect her books. Ever since that day, she had snapped at Tinsley, Natalie hadn't spoken a word to her since. She was still furious of that insulting name she had given Toby.

"Twitchy weirdo.." 

The memory bled through her mind as she rummaged, on the inside of her locker. Regardless if Toby was there or not, she'd never let anyone disrespect him. Natalie sighed, sadly. That wasn't the case anymore. It was a big mistake going over there. Toby was right, she wasn't supposed to be there and now because of her supposed grievance of the crash, they were gonna move out in a few days. 

The clock that was hung on the far wall, of the hallway, seemed to tick louder. 

She stopped for a second and began her long blank stare again. That fucking clock was just so annoying to hear. Natalie exhaled a quiet sigh, trying to keep herself together. 

When will that damn clock shut the hell up? It kept ticking and ticking...and ticking...

She felt her aggressiveness flood back as she listened to it. By now, it was so loud, almost deafening. The girl finally snapped out of it. She snatched her books and shoved them into her bag and went on her way. Natalie just couldn't stand that clock, for some reason. 

As the morning progressed, Natalie sat in her history class, not really paying attention to the lesson. Instead, she just opened a small notebook and began drawing. It just felt like the pencil scraping against the paper and Natalie watched, her face in her hand. But she didn't really pay attention to what she was drawing though. She should've.

The teacher walked behind the students, observing his students. When he came across Natalie's desk, he came to a halt. "Miss Ouellette.."

The girl jumped as if she hadn't known that he was there in the first place. 

"Yes?" She asked nervously.

The teacher managed to catch a glimpse of her 'eccentric' piece of art. For a minute, the male just stared, blankly. It was the picture of someone being nailed to a tree. There was drawn blood, leaking from their hands and the character's face was clearly contorting with pain. Natalie immediately took note of the open notebook and quickly shut it. 

The teacher finally snapped out of whatever weird trance he was in and turned his attention onto the girl. 

"Please get onto your work, Miss Ouellette." He said, calmly. 

She wasn't sure why, but she was kind of surprised that the teacher didn't tell her off. The young Ouellette opened the book and stared at her art. That poor person that was nailed to the tree, in her drawing. But some sort of pleasure stirred into her head like a liquid, when she saw Mr Rogers being that person. She smirked, evily. 

. . . 

Toby twitched as he stared from the sidelines, watching the soccer team practice. 

It felt lonely, sitting by himself on the bleachers. Normally, Natalie would arrive earlier than him to watch the soccer players at interval. But he guessed both of them weren't playing against their deal with his father. Toby sighed, taking a bite of a sandwich. It was horrible, but he didn't like being a fusspot, nor did he like being teased about that. 

Why did it feel so lonely now? 

It was an awful feeling that Toby didn't know how to process. It started from deep inside his chest. It was perhaps, the feeling of loneliness.