At 04:52 pm, May stepped into the familiar room of the community hall. She didn't want to be there, but she didn't want to have another argument with her father either, so that was why she was still going to support group and still went to Dr. Walker every Wednesday.
May looked around and she found Nate sitting on one of the chairs. The brunette boy looked back. He watched her walking towards him. He immediately knew that May was nothing but a fragile structure held together by a fake smile. Something was still wrong, but she tried to hide it.
The green-eyed girl took the seat right next to him, she glanced at him as she handed over the note she had written for him a few nights ago. Nate gave her a nod and May forced her lips to form into a smile. The boy unfolded the paper and read what it said.
Of course! Who doesn't know Blink182, duh? What's your favorite song by them?
Well, I'm not what one could call a straight-A student, you know.
Support group sucks, what else is there to say about it? By the way, why are you even going? Do you parents force you?
May
"That's everyone for today, let's start then," Mr. Evens said, asking everyone to take a seat. Nate folded the paper and put it into his trouser pocket and Chris closed the door before he sat down himself.
"Where's Sharon?" Jamie questioned and everyone in the circle looked around, noticing that the blonde girl was missing.
"So the walking skeleton finally managed to starve herself to death," Brian barged in. An indignant murmur went through the circle instantly.
"Don't talk about her like that, you fucking prick!" the girl with the auburn brown hair shouted at the man with the thin lips and crinkly, blue eyes.
"What did you say?"
"I said 'don't talk about her like that. You. Fucking. Prick.'"
"You little bitch, I swear..."
"Jamie! Brian!" Mr. Evens intervened loudly. He then paused a second, to calm his voice. "We don't talk like that to each other... Why don't we tell each other about our progress or latest happenings?" The blue eyes looked around the group, waiting for hands to be lifted.
"I will start!" Dylan said.
"Wait, you didn't tell us what's wrong with Sharon," Jamie stated and Chris nodded slowly.
"Sharon is sick. It's nothing serious, just an ordinary cold. That's it." The girl with the chrysolite eyes thanked him with a nod.
"Alright, Dylan?" Mr. Evens said and the boy with the brown eyes began to speak.
By the time it was May's turn to tell the group about her week, she had completely zoned out once again. It took Chris a while to get her to look at him. When her green eyes finally met his blue ones, he repeated his question. "How was your week, May?"
The girl shrugged her shoulders and her wavy brown hair swayed slightly.
"You don't feel like talking today, do you?"
"Right. I don't," May managed to get out of her dry throat.
The blue-eyed man nodded acknowledging and went on without bugging her about it.
Once the session was over, May said goodbye to Nate and left the room. She went down the corridor and stepped out of the building soon after. By the time May was about to cross the second street on her way home, the feeling of a soft tapping on her shoulder made her cringe. She turned around immediately, staring at the brown-haired boy she had sat next to for the last one and a half hours.
Can I accompany you? May shrugged her shoulders before she started to walk again. Nate followed her and the two of them walked side by side. He thought, this walk is even quieter than the one last week.
A gloomy silence spread out from the girl next to him and he wanted to change that. He pulled his cell phone out of his trouser pocket and began to type something into it. When he finished he gently poked the arm of the girl to his left.
"What?" she snapped quietly. She stared at the rectangular bright screen in front of her. Do you wanna go to the park?
"No."
Why not?
"Because."
C'mon. Just for a little while?
"You don't have to waste your time on me, you know," she replied plainly before she continued to walk.
After a few seconds, he held his cell phone right in front of her face one more time, which caused her to stop again.
"Tchah." A sound of annoyance escaped from between her lips before she gave him a look. Then she grabbed the phone and read what it said. But I would like to go to the park with you.
The girl with the wavy brown hair glanced up at him, her face in a frown. Nate's right eyebrow lifted upwards and his lips formed into a faint but still friendly smile. May couldn't help but return a feeble one. This was the first time that she had actually seen this boy smile.
"Fine," she finally agreed. "Let's go to the park." Her mood was slightly lifted and Nate was glad to see that his plan was working.
A few minutes later, they reached a small park that was illuminated by the orange light of the setting sun. Nate looked up to the sky that was dotted with pinkish clouds as they both took seats on a bench underneath a colorful tree.
Bright orange leaves covered the dark brown branches. The world was dying as winter was on its way. And soon everything would be just as dead as May felt. For her, the seasons didn't change. It had been winter for a long time. She was drowning in the coldness of a dark winter night and there was no sunlight in sight. She had been struggling to stay afloat for so long that she wondered if she should let go and simply swallow the water to drain the oxygen from her body.
A sigh escaped her lips and the waving of a hand in front of her face brought her back to the present. She blinked a few times before she looked at the boy next to her.
Are you okay? His brown eyes asked quietly, which seemed to glow golden in the setting sun. His eyes searched for an honest answer on May's sad and pale face.
"I shouldn't have come here in the first place," the girl mumbled almost audible before she got up from the bench, leaving Nate behind.
Where are you going? The boy's look questioned as he caught her up. She hurried down the path.
"Go home, Nate. You're wasting your time." Her voice was harsher than she intended it to be, but she didn't care. Nate's expression didn't change, though. He just looked at her as he pulled a neatly folded paper out of his trouser pocket. Here you go, his eyes told her as he handed her the little note. May finally stopped walking and so did Nate.
That's a hard question. I like so many of their songs, for so many different reasons. They have so many beautiful songs, it's hard to pick just one, but I go with "Anthem Part Two". And yours?
Yeah, I wasn't a straight-A student either, but that doesn't make us stupid. ;)
No, my parents don't force me. They just thought it'd do me some good to join a support group. So I'm going to please them, you know. How about you? You said your father forces you, right? That sucks.
Nate
"I'm sorry," she said with a deep sigh following after she had read the letter. "I didn't mean to, you know, be so rude... I'm just... I'm just having a bad day, you know," she admitted quietly and Nate nodded acknowledging.
It's okay. He gave her a soft smile and she thanked him with a faint one in return.
By the time, the two started walking again, making their way home, the street lamps turned on. It was getting dark outside.
Nate and May reached the white, two-story house soon after, and when Nate was about to turn onto the path that led to the front door of his home, he pulled his cell out of his trouser pocket one more time. He handed May the typed words he couldn't get out of his mouth.
Can I have your number?
The green-eyed girl perked her eyebrows up as she looked at him. "Why?"
He signaled her to wait a moment before he grabbed his cell phone and began typing the answer to her question.
We can text instead of writing letters to each other.
"But I kinda like the exchanging letter thing, you know." She pouted before a soft smile crept across her face. She then typed her number into his phone ere she handed it back. "Here you go," she said and then she walked off. "Text me whenever you feel like doing so. See you next week," she called from a few steps away. She flashed another smile before she vanished behind a corner.
Nate smiled as he went up to the door. He unlocked it and stepped in.
"Nate?" the concerned voice of his mother, Nathalie, rang out instantly. Not a second later her brunette head protruded out of the kitchen. "Where have you been, honey? Wasn't support group supposed to end at six thirty?" Nate glanced at the watch above the kitchen door. 07:23 pm.
Nate didn't answer his mother as he passed her, stepping into the room that was filled with the smell of rosemary.
"Well?" his mother voiced, obviously waiting for her son to answer.
Nate wrote the response down on a piece of paper that lay on the kitchen counter. There was always something to write on for him, in case he needed to say something or his mother wanted him to answer a question. The woman perked her head up, trying to read the written words, but Nate covered his words with his hair. Nathalie waited until her son finally handed her the note.
I went to the park.
"Alone?" she questioned and Nate shook his head slightly. His mother smiled at him before she gave him a look that told him to tell her more about the person who he spent some time with. So Nate picked up the pencil again and began to write down the name.
"May?" his mother read out loud before she glanced up, looking right into the eyes of her son. "The girl you talked with in front of our house last week?" Nate shot her a look.
"Who talked to you," she corrected a little annoyed. "You know how I mean it, Nate."
"She's from support group, right?"
The boy nodded and his mother smiled. "Next time you invite her over for dinner," she said as she went back to prepare the meal.
Nate shot his mother another look, rolling his eyes. His action caused his mother to let out a small laugh. "It's nice that you made a new friend."
As if I haven't got any friends, he wrote down and his mom glanced at him. "You don't hang out with them as often as you used to, though," she stated as she started to slice the peeled potatoes. Nate didn't reply, he turned around and stepped out of the kitchen before he disappeared up the stairs.