The Point of No Return {sequel to The Arbitrary life of Avery Blake [teacher]}

The Point of No Return {sequel to The Arbitrary life of Avery Blake [teacher]}22

‘And I’m thankful…I am. But you do realize, don’t you, that you can also trust Avery. I know her…a little too well. I think she’d prefer to know than to be oblivious to her best friends suffering. Don’t you, Kiren? I think you do. I just think you’re afraid. You’re afraid that you’ll get all that sympathy from everyone…that you may be the cause of their suffering. Am I correct in my assumptions?’

I stayed silent. I turned my head away from him as a tear slid down my cheek. ‘Don’t.’ I warned him. ‘Don’t.’ I repeated, but more silently this time.

‘You need to hear it, Kiren. I’m sorry that this had to happen to you…that it had to happen to such an amazing person. But that’s life…life’s not fair. And I think you and Avery have learnt that faster than most teenagers. But you have people in your life that love you; what’s going to be left when you’re gone? Avery will never live it down. She’ll blame herself. So what I’m trying to say is take treatment, tell your friends and then you’ll get better and eventually be back to normal.’

‘Well I’m sorry, Cole, that my life’s not as black and white as that.’ And with that, I put a barrier up and ended the conversation.

‘Okay, well, I’m sorry Kiren. Now get some rest. I’m sure the doctor’s going to want to talk to you later. And I’m also sure Avery and Meghann are going to want to drop by later. They’ve been here this whole time. Especially Avery. But I forced them to leave…they needed some rest of their own.’ Cole said before leaving me in my hospital room alone.

I felt a bit overwhelmed because of the conversation. There were so many things to think about. But Cole was right; right now, all I needed to do was sleep.

**

When I woke up again, I looked to the side and almost had a heart attack. This was completely unexpected.

‘Oh Kiren! As soon as I heard I came straight here! Are you okay?’

‘H-hi Leon. U-uh, I’m fine.’ I said nervously, bitting my lip.

I hadn’t seen Leon –my ex-boyfriend – in a while. I felt so incredibly guilty because of it. I had just cut off all communication between the two of us. I had been neglecting our relationship. That was the bottom line.

He chuckled before sitting at the edge of my bed. Yes, chuckled.

‘Kid, you don’t have to be nervous around me. All is forgotten.’ He smiled, showing his dimples.

I might have blushed, even the slightest bit. My memory was fuzzy. Leon was like that.

Then it all came out.

‘Leon, I’m REALLY sorry! I didn’t mean to stop talking to you and ignore your calls and texts. But I had a lot going on. I was afraid to get too close to you…just in case I’d…um, have to leave. I hope you can forgive me. Maybe we could…’ I trailed nervously, putting a hand through my hair.

‘…we could what?’ he asked, acting completely oblivious.

‘Do I really have to say it?’

‘I don’t know what you mean.’ He smirked.

‘Fine. Maybe we could start again?’ I rushed it all out, before I could change my mind.

‘Sure thing, kid.’ He winked before standing up.

‘Oh…okay. Um, c-cool.’ I looked away, trying to hide my smile.

He chuckled again.

‘Kiren, I have to go. I’ve been here for twenty minutes, and my shift starts in about…negative five minutes ago. I just had to see you.’