𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 ➪ 𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀 𝐃𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐒

VII. THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR

[TW - PANIC ATTACK]

"Remember, this is the most important exam that you'll ever do so make sure your pieces are composed to the best standard." said Mrs. Rossi, walking around the class as we sat in our groups, working on our pieces for the exams.

I felt a panic attack build up in me, these past two weeks at home had been horrible, absolutely terrible. Non-stop shouts, hitting, screams, it was all too much and with the stress of the exams coming up in a couple weeks everything just got even worse. I tried to think of the positives but there were many. It seemed that my wish that I made two weeks ago on my birthday had worked the other way; making everything worse.

I swallowed and started wiggling my hands as Mrs. Rossi told everyone to carry on with our work.

"Uh, I'll be back." I said and stood uo without another word. I saw Victoria look at me but I couldn't care less.

"I need to go to the toilet, Professoressa." I said and she nodded.

"Go ahead, dear." she smiled at me.

"Thank you." I whispered and walked out of the room.

I ran through the empty school halls and made my way to the bathroom.

Thank Goodness, it was empty so I walked in and put the cold water on, splashing my face as my breathing sped up. I sat on the counter and started trying to control my breathing, my shaking hands placed on my lap.

I started counting as I wiggled my hands and feet but then I held my breath when I heard the door open.

I faced backwards as Victoria walked in. She didn't look at me, she just took lipstick out if her bag and looked at the mirror, applying it.

"You're not meant to be skipping class, Lastra." said Victoria, chuckling.

"I don't have time for your silly comments." I said with a shaky voice.

She stopped applying her lipstick and looked at me.

"You alright?" she asked and I nodded, shutting my lips to muffle my sob as I shook and couldn't talk.

"Hey, hey." she turned me around and sat us both down against a wall on the floor. "Just breathe, alright?"

I nodded my head and started to try to control my breathing.

"Funny story, when I was younger I kissed my cousin on the lips and I could swear mate stuck his tounge out. We were at the beach and our parents were laughing and distracted so we kissed, we were only seven!" she said and I laughed through my tears. She wiped the tears with her thumbs and carried on talking. "I used to have a hamster and one time I tried to feed it my ice cream and on accident the scoop fell out of its cone and covered its head, before I took all the ice cream off, it was dead from the cold."

I smiled tightly at her, she told two more stories and I could feel the attack slowly passing.

I laughed when she told me the last story about how her parents tricked her into eating her own fish.

"I - uh, thank you." I said, hugging her. At first, she got taken by surprise but hugged me back.

We heard the door open and we saw a student from the youngest year open.

"Sorry, you're going to have to leave. We're here." she whispered the last part and the scared girl ran out of the bathroom.

"Poor girl, you just scared her!" I exclaimed, laughing.

"Meh, she'll be fine." shrugged Victoria.

Victoria searched for something in her bag and then took out make up wipes. "Your mascara got smudged, look up."

I looked up and she started wiping underneath my eyes.

"There." she smiled and I stood up to look in the mirror. "Thanks." I said.

She also stood up and said, "Listen, I don't know what's happening at home why had the attack before because I know that there's something happening and it all just built up and the stress was your breaking point today but I just want you to know that I may not seem like the nicest person and I definitely acted like a bitch towards you," we both laughed. "but I'll be here if you want to talk."

I smiled and turned to look at her. We were the exact same height. "I definitely acted like a bitch too and I'm also sorry. Thank you for what you did today and I'll talk to you when I need to, thank you, again."

"That's what friends are for." she whispered and I smiled, her doing the same back.

"That's what friends are for." I repeated.