The Illusion of Us

Chapter 9

Pictures of Chris's face lined the halls of Palm Valley Prep. They were plastered on the lockers, the bulletin boards, the flat screen T.V's that flashed the morning and afternoon announcements.

Chris's face was everywhere you looked, and yet Chris was nowhere to be found.

Mina had never been the best of friends with Chris and, if she were being completely honest they had never really gotten along, yet all she could muster to feel was sorrow. The guilt of her blatant hatred for him weighed over her like a dark storm cloud.

The entire school seemed to mimic Mina's feelings because no laughter reverberated down the halls, no chatter seemed to float about the air, and not a single smile could be found on any of the three stories.

The entire football team had become a walking funeral for their teammate and, though Mina tried to be supportive, Asher could barely hold himself together over his best friend.

No one could believe the severity of the situation, no one could believe it was real.

Chris had never been a light drinker, but even while drunk he had always managed to retain an air of responsibility, an awareness of his surroundings, and yet he had still gotten so drunk that he had accidentally tripped and fell from the second story balcony of his own home.

These things didn't happen to Chris.

These things didn't happen at Palm Valley.

"Hey!" A small, timid voice greeted Mina as she silently slid into her usual desk near the back of her homeroom.

The room was eerily silent just like the rest of the school, and the few whispers that circulated around the room held echoes of Chris's name.

"Hey." Mina let out a loud sigh in reply, burying her head into her hands, the heels of her palms boring into her eyes, making her see phosphenes.

"How are you holding up?" Noah asked hesitantly, her voice low and controlled, completely unfamiliar.

Mina shrugged her shoulders, her head still buried in her hands as she spoke. "Ok, I guess."

"Asher?" Noah prodded, and there was a short uncomfortable silence before Mina began to shake her head back and forth in her hands abruptly, the mention of her boyfriend's name making her eyes burn and her vision blur as she attempted to hold back the tears threatening to fall at any moment.

"He won't talk to me." Mina managed to choke out without stuttering, but the burning sensation behind her eyes was steadily becoming stronger and harder to ignore as her voice wavered.

She attempted to clear the tears from her throat with a loud humph.

"Chris is his best friend." Mina could hear the shrug in her friend's voice. "He just needs time." She said.

Mina finally lifted her head from her hands. She was met with a soft and sorrowful look from her friend.

"I know." Mina sniffled, shifting uncomfortably in her seat as she writhed her hands in her lap.

"I just-" She felt herself choking once more.

"I just feel so useless when he's like this!" She admitted frustratedly. "I-I want to take his mind off it, make him feel better, but there's literally nothing I can do- nothing that'll make the pain go away. Nothing!" She finished defeatedly.

Noah pursed her lips into a tight line, leaning over to press a cold hand to Mina's arm.

"He'll talk to you when he's ready." She said assuredly, and Mina knew that she was right, that Asher would let out his emotion when he was ready.