Hollow

Chapter 17

My mind flashed to Sebastian. Maybe he would, I thought. Why would he? I didn't even know for sure if we were considered friends.

That fact alone had me feeling more pathetic than ever.

~ ~ ~

I met Sebastian in the music room and sat down in one of the many chairs.

"Hey, Bella." He said with a smile. He was sitting behind the teacher's desk with his legs propped up on the surface. He had been flipping through the pages of a text book that tested on his lap, but stopped when I had walked in.

"Hi." I replied quietly. I placed my backpack in front of me and played with the straps and zippers.

"Bella," Sebastian called and my gaze snapped over to him. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "Yes, of course." I wasn't; he knew it. He could probably see it all over my face.

One thing I'd figured out about Sebastian was that he had an incredible talent for reading people. He could guess my emotions better than my own parents could. I couldn't keep anything from him, it seemed.

He closed the book before standing up and walking over to me. "You can't lie to me, Bella. I know something's  wrong."

He sat down in the chair in front of me and scooted close so that our knees were almost touching.

"Talk to me." He said, leaning forward.

His green eyes pierced into me with both curiosity and concern. Sebastian, with his ability to read others, also possessed the skill of hiding his own feelings. He kept his face void of genuine emotion outside of this room. I noticed, when seeing him around school, he had only a select few who he comfortably revealed himself to. In this room, I was one of those people.

It was a nice feeling, knowing that he viewed me as someone worthy of seeing his true self.

"Sebastian," I began, breaking the silence. "Are we friends?"

His eyebrows furrowed as confusion crossed his face. He stared at me for a few seconds before his features melted into an amused expression and a grin tugged at his lips.

"Well, I would like to think we are, Bella." He said with laughter lacing his . "Is that what this is about?"

"No-" I paused. Was that what this was about? I supposed partially it was. "Well, I just wasn't sure if this counted as friendship. It isn't something I'm familiar with."

"You aren't familiar with friendship?" He raised his eyebrows. "What, so you've never had friends before?"

His words were said jokingly, but they hit me hard. How strange, completely bizarre, must I be to have never had a friend- as far as I could remember anyway.

My silence must have answered his question for me because the smile slipped right off of his face.

"Wait a second, Bella, you have had friends before, haven't you?" He asked me seriously.

I pressed my lips together, debating whether or not I should tell him the truth or lie. Though, I'd never been very good at lying. There weren't very many situations in my lifetime where lying was necessary.

Only just recently, with the new story of my background, had I begun lying. It was difficult, dealing with the pressure of dishonesty.

"The, um, school I went to," I avoided his gaze. "It was very strict and fast-paced. Not very much time for friendships."

I could feel the weight of his stare on me. His eyes searched my face for any sign that I might be joking. He found none.

"Bella," He said softly, shaking his head in disbelief. "What kind of school did you go to? Why would your parents send you there?"

I ran my fingers along the soft, leather material of my backpack. It was white with black straps, still in pristine condition. It matched the white blazer of my school uniform.

I tilted my head, keeping my eyes on the book bag. "They didn't send me there, exactly. They didn't have a choice."

"They didn't have a choice? How long were you away?" He asked me.

I swallowed hard and let out a breath. How long? Too long. I laced my fingers together and squeezed them tight. My chest was tightening.

How long was I gone? When had my life been taken from me? When had my childhood ended?

"I was six." I hadn't meant to say it out loud, and the sound of my rasped voice in the quiet room caught me off guard.

I looked back up to Sebastian. His eyes were a storm of anger and confusion. I could tell that he was preparing to question me further, so I quickly cut in.

"I don't want to talk about this, Sebastian, please."

He stayed silent, keeping his hard stare on me for a moment longer. After a few seconds of silence he sighed and looked away.

"Okay." He nodded.

"Thank you." I said gratefully.

His face remained stoic a minute more before he forced a smile onto his face. It didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Come on, let's go." He stood up and held his hand out to me.

"Go where?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Your whole life without even one friend? We've got lost time to make up for."

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Hey guys, sorry it's short! I'm trying to finish this on my lunch break. This is not edited, so feel free to point out any mistake or typos.

I wrote this on my phone and for some reason it has the tendency to change correct words into things that don't even make sense.

Anyway, this is a shorter chapter, but don't worry, the next two chapters will be up very soon. I'm already working on them. Thanks for being patient!

Thanks For Reading :)

~Lori~