It's been a few weeks since Reese and Mitchel last saw each other and hung out for the first time. Neither have bothered to text or call. It was as if they didn't know each other at all. They continued their days like they did before they met; Reese went to the beach from time to time as she always did, and Mitchel stayed at home as often as he could.
Mitchel constantly thought about how awkward things got between him and Reese very quickly. He also kept thinking about her breaking down crying as she drove out of the parking lot. The sight seeing her look so sad just for a quick moment made Mitchel... concerned. It left him wondering for a while and he's been tempted to reach out to her. However, he managed to hold himself back from doing so.
Reese, on the other hand, kept thinking of how Mitchel somehow already guessed what she does. It left her confused and scared of her secret suddenly being out. Nobody besides her family was aware of what was going on with her.
Currently, Reese was hugging a pillow as she stared at the wall. There were no feelings rushing through her body, and all she felt was her heart beating softly against her chest. She let out a breath and felt her body relax slightly, even for a short moment. The poor girl slowly felt her eyes become heavy, tempting her to fall into a deep sleep, but she did her best to fight it. It was late in the night, and while she should try getting some sleep, she couldn't do it.
A few nights ago, she had a nightmare. It prevented her from falling asleep at all that night. She couldn't close her eyes due to the fear of the nightmare happening again and again in a never ending loop. The brunette didn't want to go through that again.
It was like her mind was playing tricks with her. Whenever she'd have nightmares, it'd involve her family. However, this one was different. This time, Mitchel was involved. Like all the others that she's had, the people in them would have something bad happening to them. But Mitchel... nothing happened to him. The bad things mostly happened to her family as usual, but Mitchel was there, comforting her. He was there as she cried.
Reese didn't know what any of this meant, or why it was happening, but she didn't know how to feel about it either. She wasn't exactly happy about it, but neither was she complaining. It felt weird considering it felt so real to her. All the thinking she was doing made her grow increasingly exhausted as time passed by. She sat up and checked her phone as if she would receive any notifications from anyone.
The girl chuckled to herself, shaking her head as she did so. She realized how ridiculous it was of her to check on her device when nobody would even be there. Now that she thought about it, she didn't know why she even had a phone if she had no reason to use the device. The sudden urge to break her phone rushed through her body, causing her to grip it in her hand tightly. Soft breaths left her lips as she reminded herself to calm down and to stop trying to give into the temptation.
Moments went by before she actually loosened up her grip. Due to the silence in her bedroom, her phone going off made her jump slightly. She turned her phone over as the device came to life, the brightness of her screen hurting her eyes. The girl flinched and turned down the brightness quickly. The notification – pretty much the only one there – was a text message from Mitchel.
Mitchel
Hey
Reese's heart began to race as she read the simple, one worded text. She swallowed and looked around her dark bedroom, thinking of what he could possibly want. She had to remind herself to calm down and just be nonchalant.
Reese
oh hey.
Mitchel
What're you up to?
Reese
nothing, struggling to sleep.
Mitchel
Well I can help with that ;)
Mitchel
No I'm joking. But I do have a way that'll help you
Reese
what is it?
Mitchel
Smoke
Reese
i don't do that so i'd rather not.
Reese didn't understand why she actually hoped for a real, helpful answer. In fact, it kind of surprised her that Mitchel said such thing. It began to make her think as she waited for an answer from the braided Australian. Did he smoke? She wanted to ask him about it, but decided to hold off on it. Maybe the answer will eventually come out, so she decided to wait.
Mitchel
Ah, alright
Mitchel
Sorry if it's weird that I decided to hyu after a few weeks lol
Reese
no worries. why'd you decide to do it though?
The moment she hit send, she felt herself panic. She regretted sending it without thinking immediately, but what more could she do? Reese ran her fingers through her hair as she waited for a reply, her heart quickly racing in her chest. She didn't know why she was so scared.
Mitchel
Wanted to check on how u were doin since we haven't talked yk
Reese
ah, alright. well thank you.
Mitchel took a while to respond, leaving the girl to stare at her phone screen for a few minutes. A knock at the front door made Reese jump slightly. She sighed as she got out of bed. As she opened her bedroom door, her mom and dad were rushing down the hall. They were muttering as they spoke to one another, not noticing Reese open her door to look.
Reese's brother, Luke, opened his door as well, poking his head out and looked around the hall. He made eye contact with his sister and furrowed his eyebrows, tilting his head to the side slightly. Reese shrugged, breaking the eye contact and exiting her room. She walked a few feet out of her room and stood against the railings at the top of the stairs, seeing her mom and dad's feet in front of the door. Luke soon joined his older sister and stood next to her. The siblings stood in confusion as they listened to their parents talk to a stranger.
"I don't think today's a good day for this," their mother said as quietly as she could. "She never wants to be bothered."
"Honey, that's the point," their father jumped in. "She never wants to be bothered, and we're trying to help her."
"If you'd like to do this another day, we can set something up," the man at the door said. His voice was deep, a lot lower than their father's voice. "We don't have to get started right away. Maybe you could tell her this is happening and have her adjust to it. You know, just so she doesn't get surprised." A moment of silence fell between the three adults.
"You think they're talking about you?" Luke whispered, leaning in slightly.
"Maybe," Reese whispered back, sighing softly. Her heart sank in pure anxiousness. She already knew what her parents had planned and why the man was there. They wanted to get help for her again even if they've tried everything they could.
"Yikes," the younger boy said, shaking his head slightly. "I'm sorry, Reese."
"You have no reason to be," she replied, starting to zone out. "It's not your fault I'm like this." Luke said nothing afterward, choosing to just listen to what was being said downstairs.
"Thank you again," the father of the two said, sighing loudly. "We hope it works better this time around."
"I'll do my best."
With that, the door was closed. A long moment of silence was present between their parents. Once the two heard footsteps heading their way, they quickly scrambled back into their bedrooms, quickly closing the door as silently as they could manage. Reese sighed, leaning her back against the door and looked down at her feet.
The realization that she was most likely going to go through what she did before again hit her like a truck, and she felt a wave of stress and panic rush through her. She pushed herself up and started breathing heavily. The brunette began to pace around her room, thinking of a way to not only calm down, but to change her parents' minds somehow. She ran her fingers through her soft hair and gripped it, feeling tempted to yank the handful of hair out of frustration.
Her eyes quickly jolted to the device on her nightstand as it vibrated. Reese swallowed hard and ran over to her phone, plopping down on her bed harshly. The name that popped up on her screen helped calm her down slightly.
It was Mitchel.
Reese quickly tapped on the green answer button and let out a heavy breath. Her heart was pumping quickly, she was able to feel it against her chest. It took her a moment to finally speak up.
"Hey," she said before pursing her lips together and closing her eyes.
"Hey, Reese," Mitchel's voice was heard from the other end, sounding slightly happy. "I'm glad you picked up. Started thinking you were ignoring me or something."
"No, no," Reese laughed breathily, rubbing her face with her left hand. "I wasn't ignoring you. I'm sorry. I was just... doing something."
"Oh, okay," Mitchel let out a breath. He felt relieved. "But anyway, what are you up to?"
"I'm just laying down really," she said. "Nothing special or anything. How about you?"
"Watching TV," he replied. A moment of silence fell between the two as they both tried to find something to talk about. Mitchel was first to speak up as always. "Hey, um, are you busy tomorrow?"
Reese slowly sat up, "no, I'm not. Always free."
"Nice," Mitchel muttered to himself. "Okay, well, do you want to go out? Like, to a party?" Another moment of silence took over as Reese thought of how to answer. Did she really want to go to a party? Especially with someone she didn't know very well?
"Where would this party be?" Reese asked slowly, sitting up properly. She rubbed her arm which was something she naturally did when she was nervous.
"One of my friends' house," he replied nonchalantly. A slight rustle was heard on Mitchel's side of the call. Reese wanted to ask what happened, but thought against it. "Shit."
"How long would we stay?" The young girl asked. "I'm not sure if I can stay out long."
"Wait, how old are you?" The braided boy asked out of pure curiosity. The question caused the brown eyed girl to tense up.
"I'm, um, nineteen," she said quietly, looking down at her crossed legs. Mitchel stayed quiet for a few minutes, making Reese think she messed up. She opened up her mouth to start talking, but Mitchel cut her off and spoke up instead.
"Barely turned nineteen or are you going to be twenty this year?" He asked slowly as if he was scared of her answer.
"Turning twenty this year," she replied. A sigh of relief escaped Mitchel's lips. It was almost as if he was smiling as he spoke.
"Alright," he said. "But anyway, do you want to go to the party?" The wavy haired girl sat for a moment. She finally decided to just do it, despite her anxiety telling her to say no to his offer.
"Sure," she sighed. "Just let me know what time and where."
"Got you. Thanks for deciding to come along, Reese."