EMOTIONALLY ENTANGLED

Chapter 05.

CHAPTER 05: be safe. i'm here

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I never thought that after what happened on Saturday, I wouldn't want to be in school, but here I was absolutely dreading to even walk inside.

I only have to endure this for a few hours and then I can sit on the field and just not think about anything. Releasing a shaky breath, I headed inside and straight to my locker to get my books out for class.

The halls were bustling, which only made me feel worst about coming in, but I've never skipped a day off school because of my parents. I've been feeling nauseous all day, but I'd really just prefer to be here rather than endure being at home.

How the hell am I going to cope today?

"Brielle?" I turned immediately, catching Jaxon off guard as I closed my locker quickly. His brows furrowed at my demeanour, "you okay? You look a bit pale."

I simply nodded, giving him a small smile before walking off in the opposite direction. My friends were in different classes so there wasn't any way for me to talk to them as of now, though I was grateful I had art today. It helped me relax for an hour or more and was actually quite therapeutic; the school counsellor mentioned it was helpful that I was an art student.

We were planning out our final projects in which we picked out a theme a few days prior. I began on my sketches, a surprisingly peaceful silence drifting through the room. Normally, the place descended into chaos, but that was when we were all actively completing the final piece.

I managed to sketch out a few ideas that I liked, placing them to one side as I worked through a variety of materials that I could use. Noting down the ones I wanted to try, I heard the bell for the end of the lesson. With a sigh, I packed my stuff away in my folder and headed out to my locker.

You'd think with halls the size of a stadium that it wouldn't be so busy all the time, but alas, it was rush hour and making it to my locker seemed like a miracle.

Of course, Owen's group made their way through with ease. People practically moved out of the way out of fear for their lives. When I looked over, he had that same grumpy look on his face that always has. It was like he was allergic to smiling, I thought, noticing the way he leaned back against the lockers on the other side of the hall.

His eyes drifted over everyone around him until they settled on me, causing me to turn back to face my locker. Great, just great. He probably thinks I'm a weirdo now. That's all I needed today.

I still had chemistry with him today as well. Last lesson. Oh, of course, give me something to look forward to.

Today, I skipped lunch, letting my friends know that I felt overwhelmed in there; the cafeteria was daunting sometimes, especially when I felt like I wasn't strong enough to hold everything in. The pressure of my parents was on my shoulders and I couldn't tell anyone—not when it was my shit and not their's.

However, I did do my sketches on the bleachers, finishing some final touches on the last draft of my plan for the first project. I wanted to do something that represented how I felt even when I didn't know what feeling I experienced sometimes.

Sometimes it seemed so easy to pretend it wasn't there like a dark cloud could be looming over my head yet I'd still be capable to put on a smile, but today, it felt particularly difficult.