A Collection of Short Stories

3

I drag my feet to class for the second time this week. It's been hard for me to find the motivation to get out of bed honestly. I never realized just how much I relied on Cordelia. It's not necessarily that I'm not happy without her but I'm also not whole without her. Of course I had days like this before but she was like my lifeline.

Anytime I felt myself slipping it's like she just knew. If I called her or knocked on her office door, she would invite me in. Not just in the room but into her heart. She would wrap me in her warm embrace and everything would be ok again. She wouldn't let go until she was sure I was ok and still, she wouldn't leave me alone.

I get to the greenhouse and immediately go to the back. Propping my head up on my hand and closing my eyes. I haven't been getting much sleep at night and I've been too afraid to go to the roof. I fear that she might be up there and I don't think I can handle being alone with her like that. Not in the place this whole thing ended.

As the door opens and closes I stay in my position. I hear multiple sets of feet shuffling across the floor. Stools lightly scraping against the concrete floor as the other students take their seats. I have a few friends here but I always prefer to sit alone. I don't like being distracted while I'm working and honestly, I prefer being alone.

Except when I'm with Delia, she's always been the exception to my rules. Now all I long for is a distraction from my constantly racing thoughts. "Alright, I don't have anything to you today so you can make anything you like. Just make sure to clean up after yourselves and don't kill anyone or anything" she states.

A few of the girls giggle and I watch as she softly smiles. I lower my eyes to my book, opening it to a random page. I flip through a few, trying to find something that interests me. "Hey, y/n" I hear and I look up to see Zoe smiling warmly at me. "Oh hey, Zo" I reply softly, "wanna help me make something?" she asks and I nod.

I honestly just want to be told what to do, I don't want to think about anything. Any time I try to have an individual thought, my mind drifts to her and I can't get anything done. Zoe brings her things over to my table since she shares one with Madison. She points to the page and I vaguely listen to her as she explains what it does.

We get up and grab the ingredients together, taking our seats again. It's a pretty simple concoction, one I've made plenty of times with Cordelia. Cordelia. I can never escape her. I push away my thoughts and mindlessly put together the herbs and liquids. "All done" Zoe chirps and I smile at her enthusiasm alone.

I see the blonde coming over to check on us and I lean into Zoe. I tell her I'm going to the bathroom and I she nods. I grab my bag and walk out, hurrying to the main house. I rush into my room and throw my bag on the floor, hearing it slide somewhere. I fall down face first on my bed and scream into my pillow.

This is a lot harder than I originally thought it would be. I suppose I underestimated how deep my love for her is. I flip over onto my back as it gets hard to breathe and I sigh deeply. I feel like punching a wall or kicking it until my foot falls through. Yet, at the same time, I never want to leave this bed again.

I watch as the light outside the window dims until it's almost completely dark. I just take deep breaths, preparing myself, though I'm not sure what for. A knock on the door interrupts my useless self-reflection and I turn my head towards it. "Open" I mutter tiredly and it slowly opens to reveal the face that haunts my dreams.

"I just—I wanted to check on you" she mumbles, "mm" I hum as I close my eyes. "I'm ok" I mutter and I hear the door close, assuming that she left, I open my eyes again. Only to see her hesitantly walking over and sitting on the edge of my bed. I stare at her and I can see she's heavily contemplating something.