Chapter Ten: The Intervention
Tori
"The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong." ~ Carl Jung
"TORI!"
Sigh. What now?
"What is it?" I call back as patiently as I can.
Trina stomps down the stairs and shoves her phone in my face, her wet hair dripping all over my PearPad.
"Look what you did!"
All I can see is Trina's call history. "What did I do?"
"I missed a call from Nathan Lewis!"
"So? Just call him back?" I push her off me and continue playing Grumpy Gerbils.
"I tried, but he isn't answering! He was probably calling up to ask me out! I knew he liked me! And YOU didn't answer my phone while I was in the shower!"
I highly doubted that's why he'd called. It was probably a pocket dial.
"I didn't hear it." My PearPad lets out a triumphant noise and I pump my fist in the air. Level 78 complete.
"Ugh, you are so useless!" Trina throws her hands up in the air and storms off. I just ignore her and prop my feet up on the coffee table, ready to begin the next level, when the door bell rings.
"Get the door!" Trina yells from upstairs.
"I am!"
I toss my PearPad down on the couch and open the door to find Andre, Cat, Beck, Robbie and Jade on the other side of it.
"Hi guys, what's up?" I ask, leaning against the frame,
"Hi! Can we come in?" Cat bumbles inside before I can answer, the others following close behind.
"Hey Tori," Andre sits on the top of the couch, "Are you parent's home?"
Odd question, but okay. "Nope, just me and Trina. Our parents are out to lunch with some friends."
At that moment Trina appears and nudges past me through the door.
"Where are you going?"
She shrugs on her coat. "I'm going to Nathan's house to see what he wanted. His phone's obviously stopped working." And then she's gone. I roll my eyes and turn back to the others, clicking the door shut behind me.
"Okay, it's just me then. You guys want something to eat or…" They're all staring at me with solemn expressions, and it's quite unnerving.
"Guys," I say slowly, "What's going on?"
"You're been acting really weird for a while. We want to know what the hell's going on." Jade; as blunt as ever. Beck shoots her a look and hastily counters. "We're just worried about you."
My cheerful mood instantly deflates. I had actually been feeling good about my 'situation' for the past few days. I'd only experienced one or two since I'd fainted, and they had only been the few-second flashes, luckily even just occurring in places such as the shower and my bedroom.
"Why would you be worried? Nothing's wrong?" My voice lacks any confidence; even I'm not convinced. So I'm not surprised when no one relaxes.
"We just want to know what's wrong. Cause something's wrong." Andre says.
"Wait, what's wrong with Tori?" Cat pips up, cocking her head to the side.
Jade purses her lips, trying to control her annoyance, so Robbie answers instead, "That's why we're here, to find out what's wrong. We don't know."
"We just want some answers." Beck adds, "You can tell us what's going on, it's okay."
"Nothing is wrong." I emphasis slowly. I'm starting to panic. My fingers grip the kitchen counter, knuckles white, completely at a blank of how I'm going to explain everything. I'm really just trying to buy some time for my mind to come up with something brilliant. I hope it can soon.
"Bullshit." Jade crosses her arms over her chest, and Cat gasps. Jade rolls her eyes. "You fainted in class the other day. And you've been zoning out. All the time."
"I've been feeling sick, like I've got the flu," I grasp at very thin straws, "it's just screwing with my attention span. That's all."
Nobody answers. Everyone is just staring at me, dubious, waiting for me to crack. I try to keep my resolution up, even though I swear my legs are shaking. I'm so nervous, I just need them all to back off. I don't need the added stress of others breathing down my neck whilst I'm attempting to sort out the craziness in my head.
Determined, I stand my ground. "I'm sure once I'm over it, I'll be fine. It's just taken me a while to shake is all. Maybe I'm just stressed about the showcase coming up. I haven't picked a song yet."
"A song for the showcase, and the flu. That's what you're going to go with?" Why can't Jade just leave me alone? Why does she have to question everything? She's basically the main reason I'm in this mess. I deal with her enough in my mind.
"I don't see why it's not believable." At least I've managed to convince Robbie. I just wish the others were as naïve.
"It's the truth!" I'm getting more frustrated than panicked now, anger starting to bubble up. They all need to just mind their own business and fuck off, too be honest. "Why don't the rest of you believe me? What's it going to take to get you to trust me?"
"We do trust you." Andre can see that I'm getting worked up, and he tries to diffuse the situation, before Jade can speak up and make it a hell of a lot worse. "As Beck said, we're just worried."
"Well, don't be." I say shortly. I begin to glare them all down. Beck and Andre both shrug, accepting my answer, finally. Jade still looks suspicious, but is wise enough to stay silent. I'm just going to have to be much more careful around her. She's the last person I want catching on to my 'condition'.
Honestly, I just have to get better at hiding it.
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Trying to keep a 'sane' face had suddenly become a lot harder than anticipated. My attempts at disguising it we're becoming almost fruitless; Trina had even started to notice something was going on.
I really didn't want a repeat of that stupid intervention though. One was painful enough.
I haven't fainted again, thank God, but worse things had started happening, things I hadn't predicted. I've started getting headaches, hearing voices in my head, making it almost impossible to concentrate. I know that I need to tell someone; I need help. But when I try to figure out what I would say I completely blank. How do I tell my parents, let alone anyone, that I've been having dreams and trances involving Jade in…odd scenarios. I blush just at the thought of it. And if it got out it would mean the social death of me.
I know I shouldn't be focused on these things; especially now it's upped the ante to headaches and almost constant whispering, as well as much more frequent 'episodes'. But I just can't help but think it will all go away and I will have worried, and made a fool of myself, for nothing.
For now, I really just need some temporary relief.
Tonight seems worse than the before. The voices have been going since dinner, and just seem to get louder and louder; frustrating me further as the words never seem to become legible, my headache becoming increasingly painful as well, despite many aspirin.
After about an hour of tossing and turning, with no respite, I shove my blankets off and go downstairs, hoping some TV might help. I first shuffle over to the fridge craving some orange juice. Someone's left an empty carton inside, which I slam on the counter in a huff. Nothing else looks that appealing at the moment; mum needs to go shopping. Soda water, apples, oranges, cheese; nothing particularly interesting. As I'm closing the door, my eye catches a bottle of champagne sitting in the doorshelves.
It seems cliché, but the bottle is just sitting there. And if movies are anything to go by, it might just dull the voices in my head and be a much better pain relief. Mum won't suspect that that I'm the one who's taken it. It's even a screw top, not a cork, which just has to be a sign. With hesitant fingers I grasp the bottle and strip off the plastic from the top. I unscrew the lid and take a small sip, blanching at the dry, sour taste. But I've started it now.
Since I can't just stay and drink it here, I sneak out front door as quietly as I can. I don't really have a destination in mind; I just need to walk around for a while.
I didn't realise how cold it was going to be outside, and I'm only dressed in pyjama pants and a thin sweatshirt. I cross my arms over my chest to try and warm myself up, swallowing small amounts of the alcohol as I go. I don't take in the surroundings, or what I'm passing, and after a while it really doesn't taste so bad. It's also helping my head; the voices have turned into a nice warm buzz instead, and everything seems to be moving in slow motion.
I've been walking for ages, and somehow I find myself at Beck's house. I contemplate continuing on, but I'm cold, can hardly stand straight, and somehow I've finished the whole bottle of champagne. I drop the empty bottle into the recycle bin out the front and stagger over to his RV, banging louder than necessary on door.
I hear some shuffling inside, and then the door swings open and Beck appears, bleary eyed and confused, "Tori? What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"
"Have I ever told you that you look great shirtless?" He's dressed just in boxers, and I reach out to touch his chest, but he grabs my hand, causing me to sway a little.
"Are you drunk?"
"Is that a problem?" I slur, giggling at the way my voice sounds, so slow and concentrated.
He eyes me for a second before responding. "Just come inside, it's freezing out here."
He helps me up inside, and I do a sort of stumble walk over to the bed and collapse on top, groaning at the unexpected nauseous feeling in my stomach.
A glass is shoved into my hands, and Beck orders me to sit up and drink.
I mumble a thank you and skull the water, handing back the glass when I'm finished. Now I'm lying down, my eyes feel all heavy, like lead, but the room spins whenever I try to close them. I really don't want to throw up all over Beck's floor, but I'm afraid it's exactly what I'm going to do. Sensing this, Beck grabs his bin from against the wall and drags it over to beside the bed.
I need to sleep. That's all that I need. Everything will be okay if I just go to sleep. Beck pulls the covers over me, says goodnight and tells me to wake if up in I have a problem. He pulls a spare blanket from the bed and makes himself comfortable on his couch. I feel really bad that I woke him up and stole his bed, but at the moment I'm much too tired, and drunk, to think about such things. So instead, I simply lie there and relish in the quiet, peaceful corners of my mind.