The Willson brothers

Chapter 4

I wake up lying on the black leather sofa. I am covered in a warm blanket.

"Maybe she got overwhelmed by my beauty," I hear the jock one saying.

"Yeah sure, now you can ask her to marry you," one of the brothers says.

I open my eyes and I quickly sit up. They all look at me.

"I have to go home," I say in a scared voice and stand up from the sofa. My head spins again but I find my balance. They watch me with worried and confused looks.

Then I remember my pills. I should have them in my pocket. I can’t go home risking I will see something as horrible as before.

I run to the bathroom and get my clothes. I take out a box with my pills, take my clothes and run back to the living room. They are still standing on the same spot. I take out two pills.

“Wait, what are those?” the wise looking boy asks.

“Um...my pills,” I mumble and look at them.

“Why do you take them?” he asks with an interest in his voice. 

“Well…” I never told this to strangers. I don’t even know what I am still doing in this house.

“Maybe you could explain to us what scared you so much today,” the boy that I bumped into came closer. I tightly close my eyes from fear.

“I am Tyler by the way. We didn’t start the best way,” he says in a softer voice. 

“April,” I whisper and sit back on the sofa.

“And this is Bryan,” he points at the wise looking one, “Ethan,” the jock one, “and Carter. I guess you know him already,” Tyler smiles warmly. I wouldn’t say he is so nice at first. But now he seems different. So they are not strangers anymore. Guess I can tell them something.

“I don’t really know what those pills are. I just need to take them because of… my mental illness.” Here it comes. The moment of truth. They all sit down in the armchairs around the sofa, looking at me and listening to every word I say.

“My mom’s friend is a therapist. He gave them to me. Now you probably think I am crazy. But I take them only for one reason. I have hallucinations,” I say quietly, looking at my feet. They look confused, waiting for an explanation.

“I am seeing some black shadowy figures. I mean, they are not real, only my brain is making them up,” they all exchange looks like they knew something I didn’t. Maybe they finally understood I am crazy and I need real help.

“Tom, my therapist says I can see them because of some traumatic situations that happened in my life. I didn’t stop seeing them after taking those pills, so he recommended me to move away. He said I could try something new that wouldn’t bring back bad memories. So I came here to live with my aunt for half a year. It helped at first, I stopped seeing them but today-” I don’t finish the sentence. Tears start running down my cheeks and I sob loudly. I am crying. I can’t help it, the confession and memories hit me strongly. 

They look at each other, not knowing what to do. They know I am not able to continue talking. I am covering my face with my hands. Suddenly I feel someone touching my shoulder. I lift up my wet face. It’s Carter. He smiles awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Also Tyler and Ethan come closer and they sit next to me. They look at each other and then they hug me. Bryan joins our group hug. I can’t help it and I smile.

I am hugging total strangers, in a house I had never seen before.  I don’t even know why it is so easy talking to them. Why is it so easy saying the truth, not lying to them. I learned how to lie about my life. If I tell someone I have a mental illness, they will go away, scared of me. Something helped me when they hugged me, like they are sharing something similar with me. Like they understand how horribly I feel.