Hey Guys,

Here's the update! I hope you like this; it's not one of my best. I know the story is going off track, but it will be back on as soon as I can get it.

Some of you have viewed my new story I Am Not Perfect that I have recently completed for Fashionablyobsessed Challenge. I would like to thank you, and if you haven't seen it, go on and check it out!

Enjoy!

~IfWritersCouldSpeak~

The next few mornings, I avoided Fabian, and went to school early, grabbing an apple to go. On the third day though, he was really hard to avoid.

I brushed past him on the way, my bag swinging the air. He was still in his pajamas, as he looked at me, a vacant expression on his face.

He was there for first period, and but his hair was messed up, and his tie was undone. The teacher commented on it, and said the next time it happened she would report to it Mr. Sweet as an act of misconduct by dress code. He nodded and slid into his seat next to Mara.

I couldn't help but notice that Fabian was shaking.

And that it had started when he sat next to her.

Before second period, I saw Fabian attempting to fix his tie across the hall. I knew he could do it in his sleep, but that something was distracting him. I saw him grunt, and undo it again. The bell rang for second period, and I saw Fabian groan before falling back against the nearest locker, sliding down, and covering his face with his hands.

I looked around twice, before striding over to him. I undid his tie, as he looked up at me. I stayed concentrated on the maroon and gold fabric, as I could feel his concrete blue eyes bore into my skin.

"We never finished that conversation before," he told me. "We could tonight, I'm free-"

"No," I stated, as I did the first knot, "um… I can't. I have to do something."

"Oh," he breathed, disappointed. "I understand."

I finished, and I stood up, and helped him.

"Thank you," he said.

"Don't mention it," I replied, "please."

He nodded, and walked away.

Yet I could still felt his eyes gazing at me, trying to learn my secrets.

When I came home that afternoon, there was no one at house. Everyone had something to do on Fridays, mainly go to town. I didn't feel like going out this week, but I promised next time to a begging Patricia and Amber, who felt the need to celebrate Patricia's excellence at the Science Decathlon. Despite their best attempts, I stayed back at the house.

I walked in through the door, and immediately dropped my books.

Fabian was lying on the floor, his body sprawled across the tiles, his bag and papers spilled across the floor. There was a bump on his forehead and scratches on his elbow, the blood seeping through his uniform. His concrete eyes were hidden, as eyelids were shut, and his breathing was dense.

"Fabian!" I screamed. I pulled my book bag off, and shook off my blazer. I pressed the tip of it to his wound, before balling it up and pressing harder, the blood still coming. I bounded for the kitchen, where I got a glass of water. I returned and splashed it in his face.

He woke up, spluttering, wiping water out of his eyes. The bleeding had stopped, but the bump forehead seemed to be getting bigger by the second.

"Nina," he called.

"Sh," I hushed. "Don't talk, now, ok? Tell me later." I slung one arm around his shoulders, and his went around my waist. I brought him to the common room, because I knew he wouldn't make it to his bed. I laid him down on the couch, his legs hanging over the arm, his hands dangling towards the ground. I crouched next to him and asked, "How do you feel?"

"Like a fake," he answered honestly.

"Why?" I asked gently.

"Because you've helped me more than the kids I've known since I was eleven, and you don't even know the truth," he said.

I sucked in a breath. "I don't want to."

"I highly doubt that, Nina," he speculated. He looked at me. "It's eating you alive. But, you don't want to ask me; you want me to tell. That way if you found out, it wouldn't be your fault for knowing the info, it'd be mine."

I wanted to tell him. I wanted to scream at him that I desperately wanted to know. That I wanted him to tell me. So I don't have to go up to Mara, cowering before her presence.

"Nina, if I told you, you wouldn't look at me the same," he stated. "You would look at me as a weakling, as a person who could never be trusted, or be your friend because I am that much of a coward."

"Fabian," I whispered his name. "I want to help you. Just tell me. Please."

He breathed out. "It was seven months ago. Mara and I were both single. It was nearly the end of midterm exams. I was really stressed out about Calculus, and Mara saw me. She offered me a chance out of studying, to go for a walk. I agreed.

"On that walk, I was so calm. All of my insecurities and worries went away, as I realized that life was too short to worry about all that. I was so happy that someone showed me that. I looked to my right to see Mara, smiling, her brown eyes crinkling around the edges, and I thought, Wow. How did I miss how amazing she was?"

I clenched my fists under the coffee table, which I was now sitting on. I was really wanted to punch my roommate.

"We started going out after that. I took her everywhere. She met my parents at a Parents Day, and they thought she was a bit off. That they had seen her before, and they thought that she was different. But they saw how different I was, and they were happy and approved of her. I was ecstatic.

"Then a week after that she called me to her room. I went in there and she started talking to me. She said-"

The door to the house burst open with giggles and laughter. They all ignored us, and went to their rooms. I gave Fabian one look that said, "Later" and called out to my retreating friends. "Hey!"

Amber and Patricia turned around while Mara and Joy acted completely oblivious and continued trekking up the steps. "Hey, Nina, why you still in uniform?" Patricia asked me.

"Oh, um… I just was looking for the textbook I lost yesterday; I wanted to get it done with. But, I can't find it, so I didn't get out of my uniform."

"Oh, do you want us to help?" Amber graciously offered.

"No, no, it's ok, it's around here somewhere." I rolled on the balls of my feet. "So, why are you guys back early?" I looked at the clock, and it read four-thirty. "School ended a half hour ago."

"Oh, Sweetie, wouldn't let us go. There's a storm heading our way. Maybe tonight or tomorrow, they're not sure," Patricia informed me.

Alfie came behind me. "I heard there is going to be power outages. I'm so excited."

"Why?" Amber asked him.

"It's the perfect opportunity to get all of you," he stated, hauntingly. "Beware…" Then, he walked, trying to fold into the shadows, but all the lights were on, and he just looked like a child trying to hide, standing against a wall, in broad daylight.

"We can still see you, Alfie," I told him.

"No, you can't," Alfie taunted.

"Yes, we can," I said, turning to the girls. "We all-" I looked back to where he was, but he was gone.

"That child, has to get into magic school," Amber stated.

I completely agreed.

That evening, I tossed and turned; as a nightmare etched it's way into my subconscious. I could hear the screams, the smells of the rotting corpse, his face… Oh my God…

"Nina!" my gran screamed, "Nina, shield your eyes!"

"Gran, stop trying to scare me," I laughed, following her joke.

"Nina!"

"Ok, I'll shield my eyes," I joked. I covered my eyes, as a strange aroma filled the room. "Gran?" I asked my vision still blinded.

"Hello, 911?" I heard my Gran's panicked voice stutter. "My son, he's just committed…" Her voice became distance as he moved farther and farther away.

I plopped down on the couch, as I heard the door burst open twenty minutes later. I heard the sirens, and the cries and whispers of the neighbors who gathered outside my house. I could hear the cows mooing at the unwanted visitors, but they kept going.

I heard shocks, as someone called out numbers. "110.…120...140…."

My Gran's sobs shook the room, and I said nothing. I was as quiet as my mother's dead voice, as it attempted to give me advice through the wind. Her dead soul was my shadow, but her voice was still nonexistent.

I could hear one of them declare a death, and I peeked just in time.

Just in time to see a body on a stretcher, a black bag covering his body.

His body.

My father's.

"Nina!"

I bolted awake, just as Mara leaned over me. My forehead collapsed with hers, and she fell.

"I'm so sorry!" I apologized, as Mara groaned in pain. I helped her sit up on my bed, as she rubbed her temple.

"It's cool," she said, her British accent slipping in. "You were thrashing and screaming, I was trying to get you up."

"Oh, sorry, I woke you up," I said.

"It's fine," she stated, waving me off. She looked at me. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I immediately shook my head. "I'm going to get some water," I told her, crawling off my bed. I headed for the door, and pulled it open before bounding down the steps, not caring if Victor heard.

I entered the kitchen, and I opened the fridge, pulling out the cool jug of water. I poured it into a tall glass, before leaning against the counter. I put the jug back in, before I settled down on the couch.

I sipped the drink, as I thought about the dream.

It's not a dream, it's a nightmare.

No, it was even worse than that, it was the truth.

I placed the glass on the table as I stared down at my fingers. I traced a line of darker skin than my pale tone, as it stretched from my index finger to my wrist. I had poured a chemical accidentally on my skin in Chemistry when I was fourteen. I remember when Tyler Lawrence, star athlete had noticed me for the first time, walking out of the nurse's office with a bandage on my arm.

The bell rang, but he ignored it, as he asked me if I was busy next weekend. A crowd had formed, but he paid no attention. I was ready to pinch myself.

I'm sure a bunch of girls were ready to pinch me to, when I said no to the most popular guy in school.

Some just clapped me on the back, and thanked me for not taking him off the market.

Last I heard of him, he switched schools. (1)

"Nina?" a voice called. I sat up, not realizing I had lay down on the couch, and curled up, in a sleeping position. "Nina, are you insane?"

I looked around and saw him rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Fabian?"

"What are you doing here? Victor would kill you if he found out you were sleeping out of your bed!" Fabian scolded.

"I just, I had a nightmare," I explained.

He muttered, looking at the ground, his arms crossed, "Been there." Then he looked at me, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," I said, as I shoved past him, and I headed up the stairs.

I didn't care how much I helped him; Fabian Rutter was not coming in.

So, anyone mad at me? I hope not, and I can't wait to see you guys again!

Next Update: January 4th 2014.

Happy New Year, guys! I hope you guys had a Merry Christmas too!

See ya!

~IfWritersCouldSpeak~