A Girl Like Her

Chapter 21.

Beautiful Disaster

Life is often unpredictable. It's a series of never ending horror clips sandwiched between commercial breaks of happiness. It's the constant darkness that surrounds us whenever the sun sets. It's the deep chill we feel in our soul when there is an absence of warmth. As cluttered as life is, there is also organization. Because when each commercial break starts, it's a reminder that joy can still be attained. Whenever the sun sets, the darkness does not last forever, for there is always a sunrise that brightens over the horizon. Warmth will coat our bones once again in time. It is only dark when we don't look for the shining stars hanging in the sky. It's only cold when we don't seek the warm aura of happiness. It's only messy when we don't attempt to clean our life up. What people fail to see in life is the good that accompanies it. Light and dark cannot coexist without the other, which makes life the beautiful disaster that it is.

Song: Shallow by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper 

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NOT EDITED 

 The only thing that held me back from going into a blind rage and throwing my fists at Melanie was the fact that my body was beginning to feel numb. I felt like I was slowly dissociating from myself but I couldn't do that. I couldn't act up now when I needed to focus more now than ever.

Mel sat still next to me, her sobs quiet despite the shaking that was wracking though her body. I just had to calm down and think rationally. My very own nightmare is coming back in the form of reality and I didn't know if I was ready to face it. To face them. My mind flashed itself back to the gym, the shadow of a person standing just outside woods; the mark beneath their eye. And suddenly-

Adrenaline pierced through me as the pain gathered in every crevice of my body. I struggled and fought almost viciously, feeling relief when I felt one of my hands had finally escaped from one of the man's holds. I didn't waste time. Even in my drunk and weak state I flung my hands every which way I could, feeling skin beneath my fingers, but was unable to tell whether it was my own or their's. I kept thrashing until I heard a low hiss and someone got ahold of my hand yet again. They slammed it back on the concrete but I forced myself to concentrate on the man above me. It was one of the guys from the party. I recognized his short black hair almost immediately because I remember thinking how much he just didn't belong. I got him. Right beneath the brown of his eyes, was a deep scratch already smeared with blood.

I blinked sharply, letting out a deep exhale as realization dawned. It was him. He was here. Which means they were here. And they were a hell of a lot closer to me than I expected. So that's what Mel meant.

"That's what set you off wasn't it? When I told you about the person I saw at the gym, you figured it was them." It came out as more of a statement than a question, but I still let my voice trail off, waiting for some kind of response from Mel.

Beside me, Mel stiffened at my voice, nodding slowly. Y-yeah. Yes. It has to be them. They gave me a time limit to have you back by and I guess I exceeded the limit. I didn't know they were following me, Layla. You have to understand I just wasn't in my right mind I didn't even know what I agreed to until I was sober again the next day I'm so-"

"Apologies aren't really going to fix anything now are they, Mel?" I spit, the lethal tone in my voice making her cringe back just the slightest. She had never seen me this angry before and I had never seen her this broken before. She was never addicted to drugs in high school. She drank like there was no tomorrow and smoked the occasional cigarettes and weed but that was it. It still didn't make any sense to me. It's been years they shouldn't want anything to do with me. If I wanted to tell on them, don't they think I would've done it by now?