It took a while for Cook to calm her down. Even since before Freddy's murder, she had been so messed up mentally, that most people already thought she was too far gone now.
The only people she still had was her best friend Panda, her brother Tony, and Cook...she wasn't exactly sure how to describe the relationship between her and Cook.
They had never exactly been friends, but they never really went beyond fuck buddies either, except a few meaningful moments they had shared. So what were they now? She wondered.
"Are you alright Ef? I've been worried about you since before Freddy's death." Cook asked, his voice full of concern.
"One thing you should learn about me Cookie...I'm never completely alright." She replied in her usual informative tone.
It was true, and it was something that she wanted him to know. There wasn't many people who she let see who she really is, but those people that she did...well those people were pretty damn special to her.
She didn't quite know what to expect from Cook after they hadn't spoken in so long, but she needed someone who could help her through this and he was the perfect person, what with his brutal upfront honesty and his knack for pushing people in the right direction. Maybe he was just the person to push her in the right direction.
Though at this point she didn't even know if she could be saved. Was she beyond it or too far gone? It was just how she had always been. No one had noticed the early signs like her non verbal communication or her party hard habits. She had wanted so desperately for her mum, for Tony, for anyone to recognise the signs of her spiralling into a mental breakdown, but they didn't. They were all too busy with their own lives.
Tony had screwed things up with Michelle back then and was focused solely on trying to win back her affections.
Her mum was too busy spiralling into a depression after having an affair behind her dad's back to notice.
As for Pandora...well Panda was way too innocent and clueless to even begin to grasp the realities of this cruel world that they lived in. The reality would most likely crush her if she knew.
"Come on Ef, what does that even mean?" He asked. Since the first time they had met, he had never quite understood the way she spoke. Sometimes it was as though she was out of touch with reality, while other times, it was like she was fully aware of what was happening around her.
He wondered to himself if he could one day solve the mystery that is Elizabeth 'Effy' Stonem.
