Dark mind

Not So Dark After All

Juniper POV

The boy looked at me with worry and curiosity. I just sank my head further down, hugging my kneew's to my chest. I continued to cry, not caring if he was there.

"Go away." I mumbled high enough for the boy to hear, my voice sore and hard.

I didin't care about anything anymore. Life was just like living in a constant nightmare.

I felt something tug on my hand and I looked up. The boy pulled me up from the floor and gave me a hug, wrapping his arms around my waist. I stiffened a bit and tried to pull away, but the stranger wasn't having it. Moments passed and bit by bit my body started relaxing on its own accord, though I didin't return his hug. I breathed in his cologne, wich smelled incredibly good. My sob's eventually turned into sniffles. I calmed down, feeling his warmth and scent surround me.

I can't remember the last time I felt safe and protected, or the last time I had let someone hug me.

We pulled away and stared at each other. A single tear fell from my eye but he quickly brushed it away with his hand.

"Bad ass bitches like you dont cry." he said and I laughed, wiping my face with the sleeves of my shirt. I immediately liked the fact that he hadn't said something cheesy like Beautiful or Pretty.

His voice wasent low like the players at school , nor was it irritatingly high like the nerds. It was even, it sounded like the type of music you would put before falling asleep.

He stepped away from me and extended his hand towards me.
"Im Tyler Anderson." He said with a small smile.

I shook his hand "Juniper Thompson."

He nodded, "So you come here a lot? I thought I was the only one who knew about this place." he said, sitting down on the floor.

I leaned against the wall behind me, sinking down to sit next to him, and said "My thoughts exactly and yeah, I do come here from time to time. This place is kinda like my own personal getaway."

He nodded again and smiled "Cool, thought I was the only weirdo."

I laughed "Your not the only one of your kind." I joked. I was surprised of how I was acting. I was genuinely laughing and at ease, I wasen't being mean to him for not minding his business like I usually did with strangers. This was the first decent conversation I had had in a while, actually.

The feeling was... quite nice actually.

See? It doesn't kill if your nice once in a while. A little voice in my head mussed, and I internally rolled my eyes.

Tyler noticed I went quiet and asked
"This is probably a stupid question but, are you okay? I heard you shouting and... well you know."

I sighed and sat opposite to him.
"Its complicated." I said quietly.

"Try me, im sure I'll understand." he said, giving me an encouraging look.

"I dont know, I just feel lost. I stopped being me a long time ago. I changed completely just to not get hurt. Im going crazy. I keep everything bottled inside so nobody can see it. I hide behind rage, fear, anger. I live in a lie. 'Live the lie until the lie becomes your life.'" I added bitterly to myself but he heard.

"You can't just live the lie, it isn't enough, Juniper. You have to live too." he said quietly.

I sighed "Your right. Its just, half of the time I feel so fucking misunderstood. Like nobody gets me or understands me or is even there for me. Of course, they can try to help me, but in order for that to happen they'd have to know what its like to live or think the way I do. No one does, that's a burden only I carry." I said with a sniffle and a shrug.

"Being honest about all of it helps you not go insane, trust me. Give it a try." He offerd, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

"I don't believe in friends or love or hope. I lost my faith and myself a long time ago. I have become everything that I once was against, and I hate myself for it. The old me would be horrified with how her future self turned out. How's that for honesty?" I said, maybe a tad harsh, because all he did was look at me.

I sighed, my shoulder slumping. " I have never told this to anyone, not even my mother. I dont even know why im telling you this." I said quietly.

"Juniper look at me." I shook my head, tears forming in my eyes once more. "Juniper Thompson, look at me" I looked at him.

If it were any other stranger, I would have bolted. But it was him, this particular strange boy who calmed me even a little bit, without evening knowing me. His kindness compelled me to listen to his words.

"You are telling me this because you feel as if you have nothing else to loose, you have reached the point in which you have to talk or you'll explode and I get it. Keeping shit bottled up is like attaching grenades to your body. Your not crazy, your just battling your demons, just like me and just like everybody else. You will get through this, your not alone. You'll be ok, your a fighter. I can tell you've been through some hard times, but your still here. You will be absolutely fine." He told me softly, looking at me with warm eyes.

Wow.

I wiped away my tears and coudint help myself. I hugged him. Now it was his turn to stiffen but he slowly relaxed and hugged me back. "Thank you. You have no idea how much I needed that pep talk." I whisperd.

He ruffled my hair "Im always happy to help out a friend." he whisperd back and I swear my heart did a somersault. We pulled away and he stood up. He glanced at his wristwatch.

"Well its about 8:30. Wow times go by real fast. So um, you don't look so good" he said.

I laughed "I feel like shit."

"Well might I suggest you take the day off with me? I can't cheer you up if we're in the depressing place that is school." he had an evil glint in his eyes.

I stared at him in shock "You want me to skip the whole day, with you? The good boy's looking for trouble?"

He came close to me and stoped when his face was just inches from mine.
"I ain't no good boy, Juniper. If you want, I can show you how bad I can really be." He said huskily. Catch me cause I might fall, was my firth thought.

I rolled my eyes "Shut up Romeo, before I change my mind." I said and I playfully punched his shoulder. He pretended to look hurt and I laughed as I got up and collected my schoolbag. And so we left, talking and laughing. I can't remember feeling more happier.

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Edited