corrupted lungs | d.w #Wattys2016

t w e n t y t h r e e

Thursday.

I rolled over in my bed to glance at the clock. 6:35 am. I had no motivation whatsoever in getting up. I didn't want to go to school.

That's a first.

I stayed in bed until my phone showed seven am on the screen. I then swung my legs over the edge and got up. I dressed in a pair of jeans and a Christmassy sweater that I had gotten from Josh.

I walked off to do my makeup. I didn't care to put much effort in it today. It didn't matter anyway.

Once I was done, I strolled downstairs and ate a sandwich with barely anything on and a half-filled glass of juice. I did nothing for the remaining time and very slowly left the house at eight am.

It was dark outside still, the snow glittering in the light from the streetlights. I usually enjoyed the snow, even if I didn't like the cold as much, but snow had always been appealing to me. But right now, I just couldn't appreciate it.

I arrived at the familiar school building just in time. I made my way through the crowds of students and up to my locker, eyes fixated on the floor beneath my feet the whole time.

I unlocked it, stuffed my things inside and grabbed my books. A memory flash of Dallon standing next to me smiling made me tense and I quickly locked my locker again and made my way away from there.

I didn't know where Sarah and Breezy were. And I didn't know if I even cared. The loneliness seemed more welcoming. There I wouldn't risk bumping into Dallon.

It was funny, in a way. Dallon had changed me so much that I slowly were becoming him. We had switched places. Now, he was the happy man and I was the miserable girl silently screaming for help.

+++

The day was running towards its ending, with only one class left of the day. Chemistry. Honestly, I didn't particularly enjoy that subject. Partly because our teacher was the most boring human on earth, but mostly because I didn't understand it.

I plopped down on a chair in the back of the room, Spencer ending up next to me. This was probably the worst class of the day, because all of my friends were supposed to be here. Even Dallon. It hurt that he wasn't the one sitting next to me right now.

But on the other hand, he wasn't even in the classroom. It was weird, because he was never late for class. Never.
I looked around the room some more and found that Brendon and Ryan were missing too. I started to worry.

"Spence." I hissed and nudged the boy next to me. He looked over at me and leaned closer.

"What?" He asked.

"Where's Brendon and Ryan?" I wondered and looked towards the door, almost as if they were to walk in just then. They didn't.

When I looked back at Spencer, he just grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know." He told me, but the expression on his face showed something else.

I turned towards the door again and anxiously tapped my hand against my leg. About ten minutes later, the door swung open and in walked two red-faced, panting boys. I stood from my seat.

"Where's Dallon?" I hissed at Brendon once I stood in front of him and first now I could see that his hands were wet and drips of water fell from his fingertips and landed on the floor.

The rest of the class started to notice the tension and curiously turned their eyes towards us, even though our boring teacher protested.

He just chuckled before pushing past me. That's when I opened up the door and ran out of the classroom. I heard the teacher yell my name, but all I could think of was Dallon.

I need to find him.

There wasn't many places to look at. I ran up to see if he were seated in the staircase I sat in a few days ago. It was empty. The whole school was practically abandoned since everyone was in class and all that could be heard was my own steps running around the halls.

I was planning on giving up when I passed the toilets. I could hear a muffled sound coming from inside, which caused me to stop. I listened. It could easily just be another student in there, nothing special. But it sounded like sobs. Whoever it was, they needed some comfort.

I pushed the door open and slowly walked in. The person must've noticed my presence because the sobs quickly cut off. I walked in more, looking at the empty stall's, until I reached one of them that was half-open. I carefully pushed the door open and saw someone drenched in water (possibly from the toilet) sitting on the floor.

My heart broke into a million pieces when I finally recognized the face under all the wet hair hanging in his face.

"Dallon..." I said, but it came out as a breath.

"Hi." He said, ashamed.

I fell to my knees next to him and with shaking hands I tilted his head upwards. I pushed the wet hair away from his face so I could look into his sad eyes.

"I'm sorry, Gabrielle." He said and looked down. "I'm so sorry."

I didn't know what to say. All the anger I'd felt towards him washed away and I shook my head.
"It's okay."

"I knew it was too good to be true.." He mumbled.

"Did Ryan and Brendon do this to you?" I asked carefully.

Dallon nodded his head. "I made a mistake trusting them. I made a mistake leaving you." His voice cracked and tears started running down his cheeks again.

"Dallon.. Stop.." I whispered and embraced him in a hug. His shoulders were cold from the water, but I didn't care.

"I'm sorry." He said again and hesitantly wrapped his arms around my waist. "Can you forgive me?" He breathed and leaned his head on my shoulder.

"I forgive you."