Vampire Story

Depression

"Alright! We're in!" Justine announced inside the school which made everyone look their way. 

Justine unwrapped her arms from Val first and everyone else followed.

With all eyes on her, she felt a little uncomfortable. "Thanks, guys," she whispered as people started to walk away.

Finally feeling like she was able to breathe, Val looked ahead ready to take off before she took sight of Roland and Emery talking among themselves by a locker.

Feeling bold, she rushed up to the two and put on a fake pouty face.

"Why didn't you wait for me bozos?" she says as she play punches one of them on the arm then waits for a reaction. 

"Hey! Keep the hands to yourself!" A teacher from across the hall yells for all to hear. 

"Yeah. Keep your hands to yourself, Val. They're freezing cold." Emery told her as he dusted off her cold touch.

She subconsciously hides her hands.

"Val, hi!" someone greets in passing. For a second Val gets distracted from her previous conversation.

Roland and Emery start walking off to their first class of the day, not before she stops them by turning Emery to face her. "You could still answer my question," she says and waits for yet another reaction. 

She seems to notice that nowadays instead of trying to gain true friends it's become a desperate attempt for her to make them notice her the way she wants to be noticed.

"Well it was cold outside. You know how I hate the cold."

She puckers her bottom lip out and looks down jokingly.

Before moving away, Roland notices her actual sadness behind the incident and takes initiative in easing her mind. "It's not that serious. Come on, Emery." He grabs Emery by the arm and drags him off to class, leaving Val behind with the same facial expression. People take notice and reassure her before hauling her off to class with them.

*5 hours later*

"Hey come sit with us!" Some people invite Val to sit with them and she finds herself stuck. She doesn't want to reject the offer, but she also wants to sit with her close friends.

Sure enough, Val's friends spot her and call her over, ultimately saving her in a way. The inviting party sighs disappointedly but go back to eating.

"Hi guys!" she says and sits down super giddy.

"Hey. Why did you look so sad today? It's depressing," asks Rhonda.

The truth is, Val was feeling quite down lately and for reasons you can probably understand. Those reasons made her upset because she wondered why it bothered her so much. And the comment Rhonda made didn't really help.

Trying to think of something to say, Val notices Rhonda (and surprisingly Justine) staring at her from both sides.

Feeling trapped, she just shrugs in response.

"Anyway, how is Guy doing?" Justine's short attention span prevents her from noticing that something is actually wrong.

"He's good," Val says, not as happy as before. She starts to play with her food to avoid eye contact right now.

"Aww. I'm so glad. He's so cute!" she says in response.

"You think every dog is cute," Roland says butting in. "I'm telling you, that dog is butt ugly."

"Hey!" Val is actually offended by Roland's words and stops playing with her broccoli to look him in the eyes. 

Why would he say that her blind dog is ugly?