Wow. So many things going through my head right now...
I'm sorry. I have so many things to apologize for, so many inconveniences, so many mistakes. First of all, I didn't look at my document. I didn't realize that I wasn't finished. This is still the prologue (also, I forgot to mention that this is, in fact, a prologue and very long), just a longer part two. Also, I didn't even put the chapter/prologue title in the actual writing (I should probably start doing that to avoid further confusion); I'll put it here. I could have split this into three short parts, but I felt that I should make up for my mistakes through story.
Anyway, I should have also put a trigger warning. It does speak about depression, angst, etc. Especially this chapter. This chapter is where you get to know a lot more about the two main characters and their troubles. I should have also mentioned that this is a series of one-shots and arcs. And an OOC warning. I'm so forgetful...
And if you haven't heard, the replies to reviews are at the end. Oh, and there's more of that poem in this. The last stanza, to be exact. It's a bit more... inspiring. And I think I'll start putting in line breaks before/after the A/N and the actual story just to make it look neater and avoid more confusion.
I think that's it. Probably forgot something else. Whatever. Bye.
The One I Never Knew pt. 2
That Monday was one of the worst.
Trent had apparently spent the whole weekend playing video games and forgot to beat anyone up, so he had to "make up for it." And guess who got that little gift? Me, of course.
As I stumbled out of the front doors of the school with a broken nose, black eye, split lip, and twisted leg, a movement caught my eye. I turned and saw Clara looking at me with fear and horror. "Chase…" she whispered, reaching to touch my face but hesitating. "Come here." She pulled me gently around the building.
We got to the nurse's office, where she somehow picked the lock. She led me inside and sat me down. Rummaging around in some drawers, she searched for something. "Ah-hah. Found it." In her hands were some cotton balls, a bottle of something, and some long white bandages.
She poured some of the liquid in the bottle on the cotton balls and held it close to my face. "This is going to sting, so brace yourself." She dabbed the fiber on my eye first, and I hissed with pain.
"That does a lot more than sting," I said.
"Stop complaining. Just be glad it was me who found you and not one of your siblings."
I winced both at the pain and the thought of explaining all this to Adam or Bree or Leo. Clara put another cotton ball on my lip, and I gritted my teeth. She gently felt my nose and leg. "Good thing Trent didn't break anything. You'll just have to deal with this and find some way to explain it to your family."
I shrugged. "I fell off my bike, and it landed on me."
"They'd really believe that?"
"They'd believe anything that makes me sound weak and more useless than I actually am." I couldn't keep the bitterness out of my voice.
"Sounds like my family." Her voice was so quiet I could have imagined what she just said. She started wrapping the bandages around my leg.
"Seriously? You're family bullies you and ignores you and makes fun of you and doesn't give you the credit you deserve?" I asked sarcastically.
"Yes," she whispered. Her tone was completely serious.
"Wow. I thought I was the only one like that."
"You're never the only one." She tightened the bandage, and I had to take a second to recover. "I think that about does it. Just try not to overuse that leg. I'd say a little rest and staying at least a mile away from Trent should do."
"Thank you, Dr. Dale," I told her jokingly. She smiled and got up to get some tissues for my nose. "So, how'd you know it was Trent?"
"Who else would it be?" she asked resentfully.
"Has Trent been giving you a hard time too?"
She had been putting stuff back in the drawers, but at my words, she stopped. "He hasn't touched me yet because even he won't hit a girl. But he insults me. Every day, he comes up with ways to verbally torture me. And I can do nothing about it."
I smiled grimly. "Sounds familiar."
She sighed and turned back toward me. "I have to go, Chase. I'm sure you do too. Your family will probably worry. Especially since you have training tonight."
My jaw literally dropped open. "How…how did you know…?"
Her smile was without humor. "You'd be surprised what I know about you, Chase Davenport."
And she was gone before I could say another word.
Somehow, Clara had convinced me to become my partner in our geometry project. Somehow, Clara had convinced me to invite her to my house so we could study and work on the project together. Somehow, Clara had convinced me to go up on the roof to work.
I hadn't really gone up on the roof often. I usually spent most of my time in the living room or the lab. I had never been an outdoors person.
But now that I was there, I knew why she liked roofs so much, especially in the evening. It was quiet and semi-dark, and there was a gentle breeze blowing. It wasn't strong enough to carry our papers away, but it was just enough to make the humid summer night seem cool and relaxing. Being out of earshot of my siblings was just a bonus.
We worked as the sun set. We talked and laughed and just had a good time. Clara was probably the first real friend outside my family I had made.
When we heard Adam singing a random song at the top of his lungs even from up here, we laughed harder than ever before. Then, we got into the subject of family.
"Your brothers are really crazy, aren't they?" she asked.
"Yeah, like you wouldn't believe. So, do you have any brothers?"
"One. He's the middle child. I'm the youngest. There's Amy, Ben, and me, always in that order. The others are always treating me like the youngest, even though I'm smarter than both of them combined. Amy's athletic but an airhead. Ben is really handsome and popular but doesn't really have much depth to his character. It seems like we all got one part of the three and none of the others. Amy got the sports, Ben got the popularity, and I got the intelligence."
I just shook my head, incredulous. "Story of my life."
Her brow furrowed. "No, it's not. You're different. You've got all three, even if you don't know it yet."
"It doesn't feel like it."
"That's just because you don't want to feel like it. You could be athletic and popular and smart. You just have to stop limiting yourself to one."
"What about you then?"
"I'm not like you, Chase. I know what you are. You can change; you can adapt. I'm just normal. I'm stuck like this. I don't get to train all the time and go on life-saving missions. I get to study and do my homework and watch my brother go on a date with his twentieth girlfriend to my sister's softball game."
I narrowed my eyes at her. "Clara, the only difference between us is a single chip. Take that away, and we're both the same person. If I can change, you can too. If you can't change, I can't either. It's as simple as that."
"You know it's not that simple. It's never that simple."
"Well, I'm making it that simple," I said stubbornly.
She blew a stray lock of hair out of her face. "You're impossible."
"How'd you become depressed?" I asked out of the blue.
She looked up at me, surprised. "I…I just did."
"That's not an answer."
Clara sighed. "It started with my best friend. I thought she was the greatest, truest friend ever, and one day she betrayed me. She started using me and hurting me, and one day I finally had enough. I began to ignore here, but she just treated me worse. Then, out of nowhere, she just stops. She starts ignoring me back, and I'm fine with that. But then my other friends start ignoring me as well, and suddenly, I'm all alone. No one really paid attention to me after that, and I felt really lonely and misunderstood and invisible.
"My family didn't make it any better. They ignored me and picked on me. I was miserable and started thinking about…you know. But I refused to give in and tried to go on with life, but it got harder and harder ever day it seemed.
"Trent started bullying me as well. I could barely stand it anymore. I wrote poetry about it and tried to pour all my emotions into them. Venting helped a little, but it wasn't enough.
"Then, you talked to me at the café that night, and everything changed. Suddenly, I had a friend, a real one. I had a reason to live for. I'm not entirely over my depression, but I think I can do it this time. As long as you're by my side to help me, of course." She grinned and nudged my arm.
"Wow." This was one of those moments that didn't need a reply. I thought about her last sentence and knew that I would always stay with her as long as she wanted me to. We could help each other. The concept was almost too much for me to process.
"So, what's your story?" she asked.
"I guess…it really started early. Even when I was young, Adam and Bree would team up against me and tease me and insult me and throw me around, literally. Then, Leo came and gave me the chance to go to school. I was excited at first, but I quickly realized school was more than just learning. There were social groups and unjust people and bullies and everything in between. To make it worse, Adam and Bree started drifting away and even when we would see each other, they were worse than before.
"There was also the stress. I always worried I would get something wrong, and of course my brain came up with every possible scenario. When Trent started bullying me, I became worried and afraid, which wasn't supposed to happen. I mean, I'm the mission leader; I shouldn't be afraid of anything. But everything was just eating away at me.
"Everything only got more complicated when Douglas showed up. It was so confusing. And to add onto it, I looked and sometimes even acted like him. I wasn't trying to, but I was just…being me.
"I don't know. I guess everything started stacking on top of each other: family, school, missions, all of it. Maybe it just became too much for me, and I couldn't handle it anymore. I don't think I'm over my depression either, but I think that us spending time together will really help."
I looked at her, trying to read her unreadable expression. Then, her face broke out in a grin, and she threw her arms around me. I stiffened, surprised, but eventually hugged her back. When we let go, I asked, "What was that for?"
"I don't know. I just…I felt like we needed something to start our new friendship."
I grinned back at her and shook my head, not sure what that meant or what was going through her head right then. "Whatever you say."
She nudged my arm playfully. "You're impossible."
We continued our work like nothing happened. When we were finished, she pulled something out of denim jacket's pocket. It was a folded piece of paper. She unfolded it and wrote something down on it. "Here, read this."
"What is it?" I asked suspiciously.
"You inspired me to write the final stanza of 'Smile.' Read it."
"Okay." I took the paper and read the five lines aloud.
"Depression leaves
It leaves you after a while
Let it go, release it, and don't let it control you
You just want it to leave you
So, smile and it will"
And I did just that.
Dirtkid123: Hello again! Thanks again for the advice. Here's your update!
Guest: Chara, huh? Nice. Thanks. Me too. It's really fun to write and pretty realistic.
Sunwolfee: Hello again! And thanks again. Here's chapter 2/pt. 2 of the prologue. :p
LovelyInspiration: Hello again! Here's some of that poem. Still waiting to get the rest of it. It should be sometime next week. Also, here's chapter 2.
BasketballQueen: Hello again! And hello, Katrine Davis. It's nice to meet you; you seem like a very interesting person. And I don't really blame you. Chase is a cool guy. Thanks.
daphrose: Yeah, I wish I could tell you I didn't know what those "nuances" are, but I've kinda learned from experience. Clara does have a lot of "me" in her. But yeah, thanks for the advice. I'll try to keep things real. And here is more! Thanks.
Guest: Well then... Here you go! Thanks.