Contraindication

Twenty-Five | Car Lies

"Once a week, I like to slip into a deep existential depression where I lose all my sense of oneness and self-worth."
—Bo Burnham

"We're nearly there, Evelyn." The kind chubby lady from before walked me down the endless white hallway. Her name was Jenna and apparently, she changed my radioactive diapers when I was 5 months old and high.

That wasn't what she told me, but my mind only let me remember selective parts of her tremendously long story. That muscle in my skull was too busy going over everything to listen.

My life has been one big lie. I don't even know who I am anymore...

I'm not Evelyn, I'm a test gone wrong.

We ended up walking for a good five minutes until we travelled down 3 flights of stairs and exited through the other door in the front lobby. I didn't remember travelling that far with Steve, but at least I was out if there.

When I looked out in the front lobby, Darren, Felix, and Issac were still there. However, the two idiots who got hurt were patched up real good. Darren still twitched when he saw me, but he no longer looked uncomfortable with his bottom. And Issac, his buries from Charles, left dark marks all over his pale face. His green eyes were strikingly noticeable as a dark red ring formed around them. His lips were swollen, and he held an ice pack to his left cheek. As I got closer, I got a better look at his arms. His hives were down but the skin poking out his dirty ripped clothes where bright red and parts were covered in some white cream. Issac's free hand held his stomach as he sat far away from the other two boys.

I felt bad for Issac, but not enough to offer my condolences.

Felix's concerned face lit up as he saw me enter the lobby. He dropped his rosary beads on the leather chair and ran up to me. "Are you ok, Evelyn?" He rubbed my cheek, "You looked like you were crying?"

"I'm fine," I stepped back, "But I got my pills!" I took them out of my pocket and placed a fake smile on my face, "Now let's go, I want to go back home."

"That's it?" Felix held out his hand to stop me. "You've been up there for more than an hour?" He tilted his head, "And I highly doubt that it takes an hour to get pills? What happened?"

I rubbed the back of my neck and sniffled, "Nothing at all... it's not a big deal Felix," I met his brown eyes, "Steve just told me why everybody knows me and I—I don't want to talk about it, I just want to go home now."

* *<%) * *

The car ride back into town was silent.

No one questioned anything.

No one talked or even complained.

All that could be heard was the wind blowing in from my open window and the occasional honk from a car because it was rush hour. I was grateful for the silence, but I was not grateful for the company. I could just feel both Darren's and Felix's eyes bore holes into my head. I cracked a smile at Felix to break the tension, but he instantly looked away and focus on rubbing his beads.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Darren broke the silence.

I felt like slamming on the brakes and pulling over so I could crawl up in a ball, but I resisted the urge. Instead, I focused my attention on the endless amount of cars in front of me and took a staggered breath. "What is there to talk about. It's not a big deal?"

Felix placed his hand on my shoulder, "Evelyn, it feels like a big deal, you're on the brink of crying and I've never seen you cry before. What did Steve tell you? Did he hurt you—"