The first time she saw Nathan like this, she was angry – really fucking pissed off. How could he just ignore her for hours? How dare he just brush her off and think he can avoid her just because he was having a bit of a bad day, they were meant to be best friends, all that bullshit nonsense that apparently meant nothing to him! She didn't do that to him, she never would so what gave that boy the right to just-
It was only once she stood with Nathan at her feet did her heart sink – Nathan wasn't just messing around, it wasn't a once off thing. This was normal for him; the clawing at his arms and scalps, the first scar that tried to hide under his baggy sleeves that made her feel sick to think there was possibly more, the way his clothes hung off him in a way she never noticed. This so called "King of Blackwell" was just a kid like the rest of them trying to wade through waters too deep to swim alone.
So here she was once again, in his room that was just as destroyed by rage and sorrow as the first time, with her arms full of this sobbing wreck of a boy as he clutched her cashmere sweater and let it soak in his tears. Nowadays, she doesn't even complain about the dampness.
"It's okay, Nathan, let it out..." She murmured in a soothing tone, rubbing circles into his back; "Everything is going to be okay... say it with me, Nathan..."
She kept repeating the mantra until Nathan mumbled it back at her, his voice cracked and quiet still clinging to her like a lifeline.
"Well done, now let's get you cleaned up."
Nathan nodded and with Victoria guiding him, he ended up in the bathroom where he shut down as he focused on Victoria's face instead of the stinging pain from his self-inflicted wounds and even the phantom pain of the ageing ones. Her eyes met with his halfway through whatever she was ranting about or saying – he normally paid attention, it kept him grounded if it felt like they were just talking about anything, anything that was considerably normal.
That wasn't crazy like him.
"Nathan, Nathan don't you be spacing out on me again!" Victoria snapped her fingers in front of his face to catch his attention.
"Sorry, Tori... just tired. Carry on." he mumbled, giving her a lazy smile. Her frown narrowed further as she resumed to clean his arms.
With a sigh and the shake of her head, "I'm just pissed that there isn't anywhere for you to go with this, anywhere you feel comfortable... where you don't feel alone."
"I don't feel alone with you." came Nathan's response, his hand wrapping round her wrist. Victoria's heart sank once more, she loved Nathan; he was like a brother.
'I can't keep doing this, it's exhausting alone...'
She opted to nod instead and smile.
"You never will, Nathan."
Kate's room was warm and cozy, and to Chloe; a little too religious or 'too cult' for her liking. Not that Chloe would say that aloud at the risk of being stabbed with Max's bony elbows of doom. Hella' painful, and totally not worth it.
Chloe rubbed her arm, leaning on her right leg as she took in her surroundings – this was the first time she had ever been in Kate's room and it was way too tame for her liking, it felt too uniformed and too clean but apparently, this was messy for Kate. Chloe didn't get it, it looked clean except a few dirty clothes and was that a bottle of wine?
Maybe "Sunday Best" does have a wild side... Good job she kept that to herself too, Max would have probably hit her and gave that disappointed frown. She didn't really like that look, it made her feel guilty and Chloe mother-fucking Price doesn't do guilt – too punk for that shit. Maybe. Not really.
She turned her attention back to Max and Kate; Kate looked pale, fragile and exhausted. Her blonde bun had stray hairs starting to fall out and it was beginning to lose its shape. Chloe would have hugged her, if that wasn't weird or super awkward – it was just the feeling she got radiating from Kate.
Or was that herself? Maybe both.
Max on the other hand looked confident in comparison to Kate, clutching the blonde's hands in hers with a face of pleading – something about something, probably trying to cheer her friend up. Chloe tuned out long ago, she only came because Max said that more people meant more moral support so after introductions were said, Chloe's brain started to float.
"Chloe will come with us too!"
That brought her back.
"Huh? What ya' say?"
Max smiled, her eyes begging as she stared back at Chloe's confused face.
"This, you know, the Vortex Support Club. We'll be there, won't we?" Max handed her the poster, her voice had an undertone of 'You have no choice, Chloe, you're going and that is final' to it. Max grew a pair, Chloe prided herself in her influence on Max in the recent days. It was totally her influence.
She stared at the leaflet, the black and red swirling colours merging with one another into what was obviously a vortex with white text over the top stating the club times and where it would take place. Chloe really didn't care nor did she want to go but with Max staring at her like with expectedly and Kate's fragile demeanour that reminded her of a place she once was – scared, alone and clinging for anything that even looked like it would give her hope.
"Yeah, I'll go with. Whatever you think will help." Chloe murmured, nodding at Kate with a curve of her lips. Kate smiled back shyly as a response whispering a thank you to the two.
Max wrapped her arms around Kate pulling the girl into a warm hug, it made Chloe uncomfortable – she didn't really have to be here. It felt like an invasion of their privacy. She kept her eyes averted until Max and Kate parted and the daring duo went back on their way.
"Thanks for doing this, Chloe. I know you might get bored and all but Kate needs all the support she can and who knows? Maybe she'll be a good influence on you!" Max smiled, nudging Chloe a little to get a response. Chloe scoffed, her lips curving into a full-fledged grin that could rival the Cheshire Cat.
"Or maybe I'll be a bad influence on her."
Warren fumbled with his phone, sat on his plain bed-sheet; his eyes frantically scanned around his room for some grounding. Breathe in, breathe out.
What's the colour of the walls?
'White, with lots of sketches of mine I had painted. I wanted to make the room more me, instead of using tacky wallpaper or some dull colour. The characters are from my favourite games and movies.'
Okay, a bit better. What could he smell?
'I can smell the air from outside... and the weed from the dorm hallways, thanks to the mass of junkies in this school – well, it is an art school I suppose...'
The brunette made his way to the window, slowly and shakily, and looked outside. Inhale, exhale. Much better, calmer. More relaxed. More like himself.
Warren looked down at his phone and erased the message, replacing it with another; Hey Max, what you up to? - 11:00AM
There we go, normal old Warren just talking to a friend, who just happens to be the girl he is crushing on so bad. He laughed nervously to himself, before going to sit at his computer with a few raids in mind, to take him mind off of the urge to panic more over nothing. So he didn't have the biggest problems in Arcadia Bay, but that didn't stop him from having a lot of built up anxiety about general everyday things (like people, tests, parents, failure...) but he didn't really talk about it. No point after all, people have enough shit in their lives.
Why should Warren make it worse? He pondered, lost in thought that even the World of Warcraft music couldn't drag him out of his trance.
Oddly enough, his ghostbuster's text alert could. Probably due to the vibration function. He meant to turn that off so many times, Warren thought, as he jolted to life and smacked his knee on the under part of his desk.
"Ah fuck! Jesus, shit... damn, that hurt..." Warren whined, rubbing his knee like a magic lamp – no wishes from this, I'm afraid. He picked up his phone, biting his lower lip before deciding to unlock it and just read the message, it's not like Max was going to caps-lock him an angry text just for asking what she was doing.
Hey warren, just hanging up flyers for this support thing. Victoria kinda forced me into doing her dirty work, just shoved them in my hands and walked off. Weird right? - Super Max, 11:03AM.
He grimaced at Victoria Chase's mention; he didn't know her well but she pushed Max around a lot, bullying her and generally treated people like shit. That was a good enough reason for Warren to dislike her without even needing a peek from her Highness herself, but a support thing? Did she mean a support group?
It wasn't a bad idea, Blackwell didn't really have a counsellor within the school grounds and with students like Nathan Prescott around, who doesn't need some one on one? Or even just a group of students to sympathise with?
You interested? I'm taking kate with chloe - Super Max, 11:05AM
Another text. If Warren was completely honest, yes he was interested and if Max was going, it was just another reason to go himself. That's it, Warren made up his mind.
Sure, send me the dets? - 11:05AM
Warren smiled to himself, locking his phone as he stared out the window. Yeah, this was a good choice. He could feel it was, besides, more time to spend with Max and maybe even get to know Kate and Chloe better (Warren seriously needed more friends outside of Max and Brooke), what's the worse that could happen?
