Dressed for Despair

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞

A few months ago...

Tears streamed down her face as she read through the messages, the words becoming blurrier the harder she tried to read them. It was a lie. All of it. It had been nothing but lies all along. She let herself slip down to the floor, her back sliding against the wall. How was she supposed to go now? How do you stand up and smile in front of people who have betrayed you? People who were supposed to be your friends?

Letting out a cry she stood up again, turning around and pounding her fist against her wall. She wasn't going to go. Not anymore. She didn't care that she had promised her brother she would come. Did Tyler know about this? And what about her best friend? Deja had sent some of these messages too. Her stomach lurched as she thought about the menacing words she had just read, words that swirled around and pierced her mind.

So this is what they really thought about her. They hated her. They always have.

Anger suddenly started to rise inside of her, making her clench her fists.

Coral, this. Coral, that. Coral, you're my friend right? You're the best, Coral.

I love you.

It had been fake all along.

She began to survey her room, taking in the messiness of it all. But there was more to it than that. The pictures. She tossed her phone on her bed and rushed over to her walls, ripping down the pictures she had taped everywhere. Why should she keep them? They wouldn't mean anything anymore. With every picture she tore her sobs became heavier until she could no longer stand, and she was back on the floor. Why...? Why did they have to do this?

Her attention began to shift when she realized her phone was vibrating, and reluctantly she reached out for it. Jamie. Seeing his name made her scowl, but in all honesty it only made her sadder. Did he know about this too? She wasn't sure. But he was friends with the others before he was friends with her. Why wouldn't he know? She grabbed her phone, staring at the picture of the two of them beneath his name. Still, she couldn't ignore him. She picked up.

"What is it?"

"Coral, where are you?" Holding back tears she stared up at her ceiling, a frown on her face. Why did he sound so frantic?

"I'm not going. And don't try and get Tyler or Deja to come get me-"

"Coral... Coral, I...  They're dead."