CD: Sorry this has taken so long, we've had exams and…bah, why am I even explaining when only the people who know me are going to read this?
"Rei…" whispered Mariah in too much anguish to say anything else. The impact of what had happened mentally struck her. She didn't blame Rei for this, instead it was her own fault. She had always taken him for granted. It wasn't fair on him as he had always given her his full attention and care. Seeing Lori and Rei together made her feel so…so…shallow? No, that wasn't the right word for it…what she felt was indescribable. The two were enjoying themselves…together. Her glowing amber eyes brimmed and a single tear rolled down her cheek creating a crevice of salt-water on her smooth, dry, porcelain skin. Forgetting all about Angel's coat she fled to the only place that would be peaceful, she ran away from the embarrassment, the shock, the reality.
Rei turned his head in time to see Mariah sprint towards a toilet cubicle, his eyes widened as he realized what he had just done. Lori felt his grip on her loosen and eventually his hands fell away. Rei's head pounded, he had never intended for Mariah to get hurt. It was an accident…he hadn't done much but from Mariah's point of view…he got carried away…
Rei staggered a few steps backwards and then turned to dash after Mariah. He hammered on the door.
"Mariah! Come out! Please! I never meant to hurt you! It's just…" cried Rei, his voice trailed as he was unable to continue. It was his fault, Mariah shouldn't forgive him…a small voice in his head said that he didn't regret doing what he did but another said that it was wrong to hurt Mariah, a third said that he hadn't done anything that bad after all.
The door flung open, a puffy, red-eyed Mariah looked up at him.
"I'm sorry," whispered Rei.
"It's my fault, I shouldn't' have taken you for granted. I always thought that you'd just be there…" said Mariah, her eyes downcast.
"And I always will be, just not in that way." Replied Rei.
The two pairs of amber globes submerged into each other, Mariah shook her head slowly unable to believe what she heard. Rei was leaving her for some rich-bitch who couldn't blade. Tears unwillingly poured out of her eyes again, she scrunched up her eyebrows at him and with one last look she slammed the door in his face. It was just too much as deep down she knew it was her own fault.
Rei whacked his hand and forehead against the door and emitted a soft sigh.
"I'm sorry, this is my fault isn't it?" said Lori quietly, her gaze was on the raven-haired boys face which was fixed in a state of frustration.
Rei looked at her, her eyes were soft, warm and soulful.
"No," said Rei, he didn't want her to feel bad about what she didn't do. "It's my fault, I'm sorry I mis-led you. I'm not thinking straight today."
Lori nodded in acknowledgement and turned to walk down the hall slowly. Her heels taped on the cold vinyl. She acted calm on the outside but on the inside she was screaming with tears, it wasn't possible to love someone at first sight…right? He doesn't even like me…he's still in love with Mariah…but that isn't love…that's care…there is a big difference. She stole a glance at Rei again and her heart melted, it was impossible to leave him wallowing in self hatred and regret.
Rei heard the tapping of the heels, they faded away… but then the monotonous taps seemed to get louder. He lifted his head and glanced at Lori who had come back towards him.
She advanced a hand and with the back of her it, gently stroked his cheek.
"Rei, it's okay." Smiled Lori, she gave a weak but meaningful grin.
He shook his head in response. By now he had stood up and was facing her.
"Don't shake your head…you look much cuter happy, you know that?" joked Lori.
Rei forced a weak grin, "Thanks,"
It was him that advanced to embrace her, she was stunned for less than a second and then returned his embrace…her head cuddled in the nook of his neck.
Rei's hand slipped to touch the small of Lori's back and she wrapped an arm around his waist, the two walked towards Angel and the rest of the group.
"Hey guys," greeted Lori smiling.
"Hey Lor," replied Angel, "I was just inviting the rest of the guys to come on our trip to New Zealand."
"We have to pass our exams first," grumbled Tyson.
"Hmm… I suppose, that won't be too hard… except for you Tyson." Joked Mika.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Tyson, he frowned at her remark.
"Nothing, nothing at all…" laughed Mika.
The rest chuckled along, even Kai seemed to flash a meek grin at Mika's pathetic attempt at a joke.
(First person's view)
My head is pounding, there is a blinding pain in my head… I have never experienced such torture, not even at the abbey. I roll over to my side but the pain is even worse, it is unbearable… what is happening to me?! I try to lift my head but find it has somehow become stuck to the pillowcase… what in the world? I reached up and touched the warm, sticky substance that had started to dry… blood. This didn't create a huge impact on me, I had seen plenty of blood before. It didn't really matter, but I always knew the cause. Fighting the throbbing pain in my head I grabbed a soft towel near me and pushed it against the left side of my forehead where the pain seemed most intense. The room spun slowly, and then the walls were a blur… the furniture seemed to be bigger and more furry than normal. It was suddenly black… I don't know how I know this but the next thing that happened was that I collapsed onto the ground, so helpless… I wanted to laugh at myself, my pitiful state was almost humorous. I now remember that I had seen this before, a lot of times… at the abbey, none of the people that had suffered this had actually survived… I wanted to chuckle but my body was down on the floor, none of me could function except my brain… it was ironic, stupid really… I had wished to die painlessly but if I can still think and my brain is in working order then I will still be receiving messages of pain. The last thing I had clearly seen was the dull green flashing of my digital clock radio, it was 5:30 in the morning… only an hour until…
Angel arrived at the maple tree which was sporting gorgeous golden orange leaves, as if the tree was burning… Tala should be here already, he was always there before her. He always had a small grin on his face when he spotted her jogging down the concrete path, the small grin was always wiped off without a trace once he thought that she had acknowledged him. But she always saw it, it brought sunshine to her day. That gorgeous smile was what she always needed to start off her day. Five minutes passed… ten… maybe he was caught up with something… fifteen… he just missed his alarm… twenty… she was starting to worry, what did this mean? Did he want to break their morning ritual, did he not want to be with her anymore? A tear dribbled down her cheek… after five minutes of self grief she mentally slapped herself out of it, Tala wouldn't do this to her. There must be something wrong, this… isn't right… at full sprint, Angel rushed towards Tala's house. Hoping for hell that it wasn't anything wrong in their relationship… it really is just a friendship… but she thought it had been moving along at a steady pace… The gate swung open noiselessly, there was silence all around. The eerie silence sent a shiver down Angel's spine.
"Tala?" called Angel uncertainly, "Tala?"
She looked around and headed towards the back side of the building where his room was, the white and cream curtains were still drawn shut tightly… damn Tala for getting double-inforced curtains so that no one could see into the room.
"Tala!" cried Angel, she was getting extremely worried… something was wrong… she could feel it, it seemed as if death hung in the atmosphere.
She ran to the front door and revealed the spare key inside the secret compartment of his birdbath and fumbled to unlock the heavy oak door. Angel burst into the redhead boy's room to find a silhouetted figure on the floor, even in the dim light she could tell that it was Tala… Oh god, what happened… oh shit, oh fuck… no… this could not be happening… Angel sobbed loudly and knelt down towards him… his hair had mangled knots of dried blood in it. Having had learnt basic paramedics in school Angel dared to turn him over in the most gentle way she could and gasped at the site, dull red covered the whole of his left cheek and the white towel that he had used to try to ease blood flow was half drenched with the red liquid. She grabbed another towel and put pressure on his wound. This was the scariest thing she had ever done in her life… it was a painful task but she knew she had to do it. Angel reached out with two fingers towards Tala's neck to check the pulse, it gave…