Hello everyone! Sorry for the long time between updates, but college has been keeping me fairly busy. This chapter will come with a trigger warning, as it deals with the very sensitive topic of suicide. Please do not read if this makes you uncomfortable in any way. Also, as a little PSA, if you are having suicidal thoughts, please seek out someone to talk to and for them to listen to you. I promise that there is someone out there who loves you dearly and will be deeply hurt if you are gone. Now, enjoy reading the latest installment of the story.
Chapter Eleven: A Test of Friendship
Miku sighs and drums her fingers against the desk. Class just seemed to be droning on today. Or perhaps it was the phone call that she had received a little over a week ago? A phone call that had riddled her mind since then. The bell rings loudly, making Miku jump in her seat. She grabs her things and heads out of the classroom. As she rounds the corner, she bumps into someone and drops her books.
"I'm sorry," Miku mutters as she moves to pick up her things.
"Still a klutz?" comes a voice that made Miku shiver. Slowly, the tealette rises and she faces Lily. The blonde is glaring at her harshly. Miku swallows thickly and stands tall.
"I can't change in the bat of an eye, Lily," she speaks, putting as much sternness in her words as she possibly could. Lily raises an eyebrow and hums. She moves closer and Miku squeaks. Miku looks around quickly and panics, finding that she is alone. She didn't want to be with Lily alone. That was dangerous. Without Paris here to keep Lily in check, the blonde was running rampant in the school, just about every student growing fearful of her.
"Is that so? Maybe I should ask Paris about your ability to change?" Lily bites out. Miku's heart pounds and steps back, hitting the wall behind her. That stung a little bit as Miku was still mad at herself at the way she treated Paris. Especially after she learned that Paris was just looking out for her.
"Lily that isn't fair," Miku gets out. She had never been so scared in her life. She quickly looks around, hoping to find someone in the halls to help deter the blonde from her. The bell rings loudly in the halls, signifying that the two girls were now late to class.
"Really it isn't fair Miku? What isn't fair about it? This is all your fault. You know that. I wouldn't be this way if someone was here to keep me from ruling the school. I could have been your friend, Hatsune. Now, you've made an enemy," Lily warns, pressing really close to Miku, "Just remember what I can do Miku." Lily then moves away and heads off to class.
Miku trembles in her spot and sinks to the ground. This just got way harder. Miku covers her eyes as she begins to cry. Why did Paris have to go? Why did Paris need to have such a huge impact on literally everything in the teallette's life? It just wasn't fair, but then again, nothing had ever been fair.
…
Miku shakes as she holds the phone. She is in her room, having endured the rest of the school day. For the first time since they got together, Miku was not around Luka. Luka isn't there for her today. The room is dark and cold, making Miku shiver, but her actual mind is numb to the feeling. She is teetering on the edge, something that she hadn't done since Paris had come into her life. She never realized the impact that Paris had on her life. She had taken the French maiden for granted and she was regretting what she had done.
Miku searches her contacts as the darkness began to invade her mind. She gently taps the contact with the name "Best Friend for Life". It starts to ring and Miku shakily puts to phone to her ear. Would she answer her? She wouldn't blame Paris if she didn't. Miku felt herself tear up as the phone continues to ring. Surprisingly, the phone clicks signifying that it has been answered, and a voice that Miku had been begging to hear comes over the speaker.
"Bonjour, mon ami," comes the thick French phrase from none other than Paris herself. A lump forms in Miku's throat and she shakes. Tears fall down her cheeks. Even after everything, Paris had answered her phone and Miku couldn't speak. She couldn't say what she wanted to say.
"Miku?" Paris asks, her tone growing worried. Miku shakes and swallows thickly. She clutches her phone and swallows thickly.
"I-I'm sorry!" Miku blurts out and she hangs up. She puts her phone down as Paris calls back. She couldn't do it. She couldn't talk to Paris. Not with the plans that she currently had. She ignores the ring tone as Paris keeps calling her. Miku stands and goes to her closet. She stops when she realizes that her phone had stopped vibrating, indicating that Paris had stop calling her.
"Good," Miku murmurs aloud. She grabs a rope that she had kept in her closet for a long time. She ties a noose in it and then leaves her closet. She goes to her desk and grabs her chair. She was numb with no feeling. She was going to do what she had been planning to do for a long time. She turns on her stereo, not wanting to hear the deafening silence any longer. The song the plays is "Cough Syrup" sung by Young the Giant. Her lip curls a little in a sideways smile. What a fitting song…
…
Paris scrambles to search through her contacts. Panic had ensued within her. She knew what was going on. She had heard Miku's voice like that only once before. It was the time she had to save Miku from making the biggest mistake of her life. She stops over Luka's contact and taps it. She swallows and hits the call button. She puts the phone to her ear and waits as it rings. Each second felt like an eternity with the weight of what was going on.
"Paris?" Luka asks curiously, sounding tired over the phone.
"Luka, this is serious. How fast can you get to Miku's?" Paris speaks frantically in the receiver. There is some ruckus on Luka's end.
"Luka?" Paris asks over the receiver, her heart aching with each painfully long pause.
"I'm in my car heading there now, what is going on Paris?" Luka asks, her voice now mimicking Paris' concern and panic.
"You need to drive there as fast as you can. Miku just called me…and her voice…" Paris was getting choked up. It should be her going to Miku and rescuing her. She shakes and tries to calm herself to get out the rest of her words.
"Luka, her voice was only like that once before…" Paris practically whispers, "And that was when I had to keep her from going off that ledge…" Paris knew she didn't have to explain that ledge to Luka as soon as she heard the pinkette's breath hitch.
"You have to get to her…Luka…please…" Paris begs over the phone. Her heart aches as she prays for a miracle. She hears a click and the line goes dead. Now, it was yet another waiting game.
…
Miku puts her chair in the closet and slowly gets up onto it. She puts the noose over her head and around her neck as the song changes to "The Scientist" from Coldplay. She huffs. It was almost like her stereo knew what was going on. Not a single tear falls from her eyes as she ties the opposite end of the rope around the clothing bar hanging in her closet. She takes a deep breath and tightens the noose a bit. There was no emotion present within her, no fear, no sadness. Just numbness. She closes her eyes and starts a mental apology to everyone that she loved.
…
Miku's dad paces in the kitchen with the presence of his ex-wife. This was so frustrating.
"Why do you all of a sudden want something to do with your daughter, Melanie?!" he exclaims. It didn't make sense to him and he just couldn't live without Miku. She was all he had.
"Since I found out you let her skip school and you let her befriend criminals!" Melanie fires back.
"Paris isn't a criminal! She was protecting Miku! Something you wouldn't understand because you've never had to do it! You can't just unenroll her from this school that she's been a part of for her entire life! You'll force her to make brand new friends and the ones she has now were hard enough for her to get!" Miku's father continues arguing. Melanie opens her mouth to speak when there is a loud knocking on the door.
"Who is coming to your house this late at night?" Melanie questions him, "Hiring hookers to fulfill your needs?" Miku's father grits his teeth at the accusation.
"No, Melanie. That is probably our daughter's girlfriend," he bites out as he heads to the door.
"Girlfriend?! You are definitely an unfit father if she is dating girls!" Melanie exclaims and she stands abruptly, heading to the door with him. Miku's father opens the door and Luka looks at him frantically.
"Is Miku in her room?" she asks as politely as she could in this kind of situation.
"Yes, go ahead-" he begins, but he is quickly cut off.
"You will not go to her, you filthy dyke," came Miku's mother's sharp words. Luka flinches at the sound, but she tries to be polite still.
"Listen ma'am, you don't understand," Luka tries to reason, but the older woman have it. She continues to repeatedly berate Luka and doesn't let the pinkette get passed her.
…
Miku takes a deep breath and jumps off the chair in a fashion that kicks in out from under her. However, she severely miscalculated her noose and instead of an instant death like she wanted, she was painfully aware of the lack of oxygen she had. Panic fills her body as she desperately claws at the rope around her neck. She kicks out, but the chair is just out of her reach. She tries to scream, but no sound comes out. Tears fill her eyes and begin to fall as her lungs begin to burn with the lack of air she was taking in. Blackness began to fill the edges of her vision and move in, indicating that she was about to pass out, but it didn't bring her any closure. She hadn't planned to suffer, though she figured she probably deserved it.
…
The loud crash of the chair is heard downstairs and Luka panics more.
"What the hell?" Melanie questions and gives Luka just enough room for her to bolt up to the tealette's room, Melanie and Miku's father hot on her heels. Luka tries to open the door, but it is locked.
"MIKU!" Luka screams through the door, full panic filling her now. She slams herself against the door, repeatedly screaming her girlfriend's name. Miku's father is now aware that something is up, as Luka was never like this.
"Luka what's going on?" He questions, be the teen doesn't answer him. Instead she screams and throws herself into the door as hard as she can, busting it open. She rushes into the room and to the closet just as Miku's eyes close and she goes limp. Miku's parents freeze at the sight of their daughter hanging in the closet. Luka gets her down as fast as she can, taking the rope of her neck.
"Miku!" she shouts, tears pouring down her face as she shakes the girl. She presses her ear to her chest, releasing a breath of relief when she hears the girl's heartbeat. Miku was still alive. She watches her chest and fully relaxes as the girl's chest rises and falls with shallow breaths. Her girlfriend was okay, she was alive.
Miku's parents couldn't speak a word. They were stunned and a bit ashamed of themselves. Had they been less focused on their argument and more on their daughter, none of this would have happened. They could have prevented this near death experience for Miku.
After a while, Miku wakes up with a gasp. She feels around her neck for the rope, but it isn't there. Was she dead? That question is quickly answered by a death grip of a hug and pink hair.
"I thought I lost you…" comes Luka's tear filled voice. She shakes with each sob as she hangs onto Miku for dear life. Miku shudders at the thought. She had caused so much pain to her girlfriend when she had been trying to do the world a favor. She couldn't speak. She could only hold Luka tight.
"I'm so sorry baby," Miku squeaks out. She glances at her parents, and flinches as she realizes her mother was there. Her mother sighs.
"I'll be on my way. It seems there's some things that need to be settled before I come into your life Miku. Please…I just….I just want my baby girl happy…and…if that means…if that means…you have to date a girl and stay with your dad….then so be it…" Melanie speaks out, still shaken up about what she had just witnessed. But who could blame her? Her daughter had literally been hanging in front of her about an hour ago. She grabs her purse and storms out without another word said.
Miku's father gently presses a kiss to the tealette's forehead. He then pulls away and smiles weakly at her.
"I'll be downstairs if you need me. I'm going to give you two some space and calm down myself," he says softly and he heads downstairs.
Miku jolts as her phone starts vibrating again. She slowly reaches for it after Luka releases her. She looks at who is calling her and swallows. It was Paris. Slowly, she answers and puts her on speaker.
"I'm okay," she tells Paris right away, before the French maiden can even speak.
"Thank goodness, Miku. If I had lost you I don't know what I would have done," Paris practically whispers into the phone, "That means Luka got to you in time. I'm glad. I should be there. I'm sorry Miku."
"No…I'm sorry Paris. I'm the reason you left and didn't want to come back. I was so mean to you and you didn't deserve any of it. I'm so sorry. Please come back to me. I need you," Miku begs over the phone.
"We all need you, including Lily," Luka speaks softly.
"Lily…" Paris repeats and she trails off for a bit, before returning with, "I'll see when is the earliest I can come back. Until then, be safe. And Miku, get your depression under control and keep it there, at least until I get back."
"Yes ma'am," Miku says shakily, "Anything, to make up for what I did for you." There's a soft sound over the phone that didn't quite sound like it was from Paris before it clicks off, suggesting that she hung up. Miku sets her phone down and sinks into Luka's arms.
"Get some rest Miku," Luka says gently as she runs her fingers through the tealette's hair. Miku nods and snuggles into her girlfriend. Slowly, she drifts off to sleep, exhausted from the evening's events.
Whew! Another chapter in the books! I hope you all enjoyed it, even though it is a rather serious chapter that covers a difficult and challenging topic. As always, rate and review!
