Chapter 22

Talia's POV
             When I woke up Krystina was already back, we talked about what happened on her date with Aiden and to be truthful it sounded really fun. I sometimes hope I had the ability to live so I can find something she has, people who stayed by her side day after day no matter how close to death she was. Someone loving her even when the death was right in front of her. I don't have anything to live for anymore, the person who kept me alive is more than likely dead. I walk into my room with Krystina; she lays on her bed and sighs.

            "Man, I really wish they had baths here. I really do wanna take a bubble bath, are those fun?" She looks at me.

            "How the hell am I supposed to know? I'm a shower girl."

            "I guess the comeback 'you need a bath' won't work on you then?" I laugh and lift my pillow still looking at her.

            "No, for two reasons, I shower quite often so I don't smell as bad as you'd think and the whole I don't take bath reasons." She sits up straight quickly.

            "That's an actually saying?! Damn it!" I raise an eyebrow to her. "I was hoping I made it up."

            "Oh and what, get a patent on it? 'Copyright Krystina Hammons'?" She shrugs her shoulders.

            "I was hoping. But whatever, maybe I'll be the next big name, like..."

            "Like?"

            "Hey I don't know who's popular! I've been isolated here and I didn't exactly watch TV when I was out." I laugh and looks down at where my pillow was. It's not here.

            "Krystina, have you been going through my stuff?"

            "No why? You missing something." I start to panic. I drop to the floor and search under my bed and come up empty handed. "Talia what're you missing?" I ignore Krystina and quickly walk to the commons area, I hear her calling after me but right now she's not my concern. I walk around the room scanning everyone.

            "Hey Talia," I look over at the new girl.

            "Listen I don't have-" I see her play with a silver chain around her neck. "They let you bring in a necklace?" She smiles at me and pulls out my dad's dog tags. I instantly feel my heart break.

            "No I found them. I think they really suit me. Except the name. 'Adam Stryder'? Oh well I can have the name removed when I get out." I push her against the wall.

            "Give me my fucking necklace back you kleptomaniac." I say deathly serious.

            "It's Courtney BTW."

            "Don't spell text lingo. It makes you sound like a fucking idiot." She rolls her eyes and shoves the dog tags inside her shirt.

            "I'm not the idiot here; I found it fair and square."

            "I'm my fucking room!" I feel Krystina reach my side.

            "Talia stop this. What's going on?"

            "This bitch-"

            "My name is Courtney."

            "This bitch, Courtney, stole my necklace." I hear Krystina sigh next to me.

            "Listen, Courtney can we just settle this somehow? Talia is a bit of an aggressive spirit." I glare at Krystina, she shrugs her shoulders casually, "It's true." I look back at Courtney.

            "Just give it back and I'll leave you alone." She grabs the chain again.

            "No! I found it."

            "In my room you bitch! You're a thief!"

            "Guys people are gonna call the nurses, can we not start this?" Krystina says looking around.

            "Not until she gives back what she stole from me."

            "Talia why are they so important to you?" Courtney says with a cocky smile on her face.

            "Cause they're my dad's, I don't have to explain this shit to you just give them back." She looks at Krystina and back at me.

            "No." I look at Krystina in desperation.

            "Krystina, help me get them back please."

            "Talia-"

            "Please? You made Trevan collapse in pain, you can make her feel guilty and give her my dad's dog tags back. Please." She sighs and looks at the floor.

            "Talia I want to help, but I don't wanna hurt her. We're here to get better and I jeopardized Trevan's recovery because of my-"

            "What kind of friend are you?" Courtney says to her. "Make me cry, make me give her necklace back. They obviously mean so much to her."

            "Courtney just give them back to Talia."

            "No. But I'll give you a compromise, tell me how you made 'Trevan' collapse on the floor in pain and 'jeopardized' his recovery and maybe I'll give you back the necklace."

            "Enough! Just give me the dog tags back and we will tell you whatever the hell you want." I say pushing her against the wall again.

            "No, I stated my conditions." Just as I'm about to say something Krystina speaks.

            "We're psychics, Talia has premonitions and I have, um..." She looks at me.

            "Empathy." She nods and looks back at Courtney.

            "Empathy. I don't exact know all the terms yet. Now will you give the necklace back to her?" I hold out my hand feeling a bit at peace. She takes my dad's dog tags out of her shirt and holds them.

            "Nah." I clench my fists.

            "What?"

            "I said no. It's cool how you guys are 'psychic' but I found these and they suit me better."

            "Bitch you made us a deal." Courtney holds up two fingers and points at the first finger.

            "One, we never shook on it," she points at her second finger, "and two, I said 'maybe' I'll give you the necklace back." Just as she smiles and struts away I grab her by the hair and punch her right in the nose.

            "Oh my god, Talia!" I feel Krystina grab my hand and release her hair. "Talia! Let her go now!" I pull her hair to the ground and release her, her head hits the ground and I feel Krystina pull me away. I feel myself being thrown onto the floor; I look up and see Krystina kneeling in front of me.

            "What the fuck Talia?!" She looks down the halls and sighs. "They aren't going to let you out if you keep hurting people."

            "I'm bipolar, sue me." Krystina sits in front of me with her legs crossed.

            "Well."

            "Well what?" She folds her hands and leans against the wall looking at me.

            "Tell me what the big deal is with those dog tags." I scoff and look down the hall.

            "Just let me be-"

            "No, I'm not gonna leave you alone. You're gonna go back and beat the Courtney girl-"

            "Bitch." I say interrupting her. She's a bitch; a girl would have the decency to at least be true to her word.

            "Whatever, you're gonna go back and beat her senseless like you did Sky. A good friend doesn't let her friends just get into trouble."

            "Actually they do, but they do it together." She smiles and sighs.

            "When we get outta here we can get into trouble together alright?" I smile and nod. After a few seconds of silence Krystina speaks again. "Can you please tell me about the dog tags? There has to be a reason you were so determined to get them back." I bring my knees to my chest.

            "They're my dad's."

            "Well yeah I got that much. But why are they important?" I feel my heart breaking.

            "My dad's in the Army. He was deployed about 3 months before I came here." Just then Frayia and Duncan walk up to us.

            "What happened to the new girl?" Duncan asks casually looking at me.

            "What makes you assume I did it?" Frayia raises an eyebrow, Duncan crosses his arms over his chest and Krystina laughs. I sigh and nod. "Yeah it was me." Soon they all laugh.

            Duncan sits beside me and Frayia sits beside Krystina. "So-" Frayia asks getting settled on the floor. "Are you telling us a story as to why you hit that poor girl?" Krystina smiles sadly at me.

            "Kinda. She stole my dad's dog tags he was deployed 3 months before I came here."

            "What branch?" Duncan asks.

            "Marines." He nods and smiles.

            "My mom's in the army. How is he?" I instantly feel my heart ripping to shreds, I feel a tear fall down my face. I see Krystina and Frayia scoot closer to me and I feel Duncan pull me into a hug. I hate feeling weak, I try to pull out of the hug but Duncan holds me tighter. "It's alright to cry Talia."

            "You don't have to tell us, but at least let out all the anger and sadness. We don't like seeing you hurt." That's not why I'm crying Frayia.

            "You're not weak for crying." I look at Krystina who reaches forward and pats my knee. "You're weak when you don't cry. You're a balloon that's ready to burst the more you hold in, that's when you're weak. You're strong when you release pressure every once in a while." I take in her words and cry.

            Cry for myself, cry for my dad, cry for my clinginess to the only object I have of his. Cry for everything.

Sky's POV
             "You're weak when you don't cry." I hear Krystina around the corner, she never knew where my room was, I was just about to go to the bathroom when I heard her and Talia talking. It's nice to know I'm not the only one on Talia's bad side now. I hear Talia let out an exasperated cry. I look around the corner, Krystina is rubbing Talia's knee, Frayia has her head rested on Krystina's shoulder and holding Talia's hand. Duncan is holding Talia tightly while she cried, they're a really tight knit group of friends. Dog tags. I walk around the corner, none of them realizing it's me. I need to make this right.

            I reach the commons area and see a girl, dark skinned and dark short matted hair, holding an ice pack to her nose. I wince at the thought, Talia nailed me in the nose too, I actually feel a little bad for her. But I feel worse for Talia. "Hey. Courtney."

Duncan's POV
             I hug Talia tightly and let her cry into my chest, I'm skinnier than the average guy so it actually kinda hurts having her grip onto my shoulders. I'm more than likely gonna have bruises but I honestly don't care right now. She needs comfort. I look up at Frayia and Krystina, both have solemn looks on their faces, Frayia looks up at me, her amazing green eyes give me a thankful look, I smile at her and Talia pulls away.

            "Are you alright?" She nods at my question and wipes her eyes with her sleeves.

            "Did I hurt you?" I shake my head.

            "Not really, it doesn't matter though. Just talk to us. We don't like seeing you like this. I think Krystina hates it more than the rest of us. Talia looks at Krystina and she nods.

            "I do hate it. We're best friends for a reason."

            "I'm hurt." Frayia says with a hand over her heart, Talia laughs and soon we all laugh. Hearing Frayia's laugh makes my day, I honestly hope she doesn't find out how crazy I am about her. Krystina knows and Talia knows, but luckily, Frayia doesn't.

            "Sky?" I look to my left and see Sly walking up. "What's up? We're a little-" Sky smiles and kneels beside Talia.

            "I believe this," he pulls out the dog tag off around his neck and holds it in his hand "belongs to you." Frayia, Krystina and I all share looks. Talia grabs the dog tag and tackles Sky to the floor hugging him and thanking him. Why the sudden change in personality?

Talia's POV
             After Sky held my dog tag in his hand for me to get I felt so many emotions, thankfulness was the main one. I grabbed my dog tag and hugged him but we both fell to the floor, it was a little awkward considering I'm on top of a guy I beat the shit out of a few hours ago. He laughed and wrapped his arms around me.

            "Not that you're making my lungs collapse or anything but can you get off?" He asks still laughing slightly, I pull away and I feel the tears flowing. I pull the dog tags over my head and hold them close to my heart. I feel two sleeves wipe tears on each side, I look up and see Duncan wiping my tears on the left side if my face and Sky wiping the left side of my face.

            "That was a bit awkward." I say after Sky and Duncan retract their arms. I smile at Sky again. "Thank you so much Sky." He nods.

            "I felt like I had to do something to say 'I'm sorry'. I felt bad saying all those things, but-" he glanced over at Krystina.

            "It's fine. I can't thank you enough for this."

            "How did you get it back?" Frayia asks.

            "Well, I told her that I knew a guy who can plant drugs in her room and send her to either jail or keep her longer than she's hoping." Krystina laughs.

            "Is that guy you?"

            "Actually I don't know a guy at all. She just really wants out."

            "Don't we all." I say in a sigh. That way I can be with you dad. "Why is she even here?"

            "I read her file." Krystina looks at Sky.

            "Who the fuck are you sometimes?!" Frayia, Duncan, Sky and I all laugh.

            "Well I was curious, she can't be sent here for just being a bitch but it turns out she can. She almost killed her parents because they refused to buy her shit for her sweet 16."

            "Oh my god," I say covering my face. "I just hit a minor." Everyone laughs and someone puts their hand on my knee, I uncover my face and see Krystina nodding her head.

            "I'm sure it's alright. She's a little bitch. Spoiled brat too. I mean really, she almost killed the people who have birth to her for not buying her shit for a birthday party?"

            "Well I almost killed my dad so-"

            "That's different Sky." Sky shrugs his shoulders and looks down the hall.

            "Anyway, they said she had severe bipolar disorder but I honestly think she has narcissistic personality disorder." He looks at me. "Are you alright though?" I grab the dog tag again and nod.

            "Yeah I am. And-" I smile at everyone lightly, "I think I'm ready to talk about it."

            "Do you want me to leave?" Sky asks, I shake my head and smile at him.

            "You brought me my most prized possession back. The least I could do is tell you why it means so much to me and why I'm so thankful to you." He smiles and gets situated at my side. I exhale slowly.

            "Like I said, my dad is in the Marines. He was deployed 3 months before I came here. When I was small he went to boot camp, he's served a couple of other places too. But anyway. The day before I attempted, I was at my house, cooking dinner for my grandma and I. Some guys in military uniforms came up and asked if it was the Stryder residence, I said yes and invited them in. I brought them coffee and you know I didn't know what was going on. I thought they knew my dad." I feel tears falling again.

            "After my grandma came out of her room she started crying, I asked what was wrong, I stupidly enough didn't see an envelope they were holding. That usually means that someone who lived on the household died in battle, I didn't believe it. They handed me the letter, I read it and it said he went MIA. My grandma felt a little bit relieved but I didn't, there's a great chance he's already dead or wishing he was dead. So that night, I decided to take pills. My grandma found out though. Took me here and here I am. I still want to kill myself. I just don't wanna live without my dad. He means the world to me, he's all I have. My mom left, he's literally the mom and dad to me. I love my grandma but my dad and I agreed before it was me and him against the world. And now that he's dead I need to die as well. He's waiting for me in heaven and all I'm doing is keeping him waiting. I can't leave him alone up there, I need to be with him." I can still feel the pain when the men came to my house and gave me the letter, now it feels ten times worse. I failed, he's still waiting, his body is rotting and I'm sitting here.

            "Talia," I feel Krystina grab my hand. "Don't give up. I know you love your dad, but he wouldn't want you to cut your life short. And who knows, maybe he isn't dead. I pray he isn't and you know how keen I am on praying." I laugh and shake my head, Krystina isn't exactly the religious type. "But dead or alive, he'd want you to live and be happy. Keep his memory alive," she reaches for my dog tag and holds it up. "And to do that you need to live, for his sake." I smile and nod my head.

            "It's hard; you have a mom and dad. You have people who love you, Aiden, Aubrey. They love you, not to mention you have all of us here, but I have-"

            "Don't." I look at Duncan. "Don't say you don't have anyone. You have us now Talia." Frayia nods and grabs my hand. I look at the floor and I feel Sky scoot closer to me.

            "How about you and I go beat that Courtney girl?" I can't help but laugh.

            "If she was legal age I would." Sky shrugs his shoulders.

            "I have her address; we can wait until her 18th birthday. We can pop out of a birthday cake and beat the shit out of her, draw a dick on her head and say 'happy 18th birthday', you in?" Everyone including myself laughs.

            "Sure, we will definitely do that." His face grows serious.

            "That guarantees us at least two years of you living. Please don't break that promise; I don't wanna be thrown in jail alone." I smile and nod.

            "Alright, you idiots convinced me. I won't attempt when I get outta here." Everyone smiles and Sky wraps his arms and legs around me.

            "Group hug!" He yells and I laugh, soon enough everyone is joined in a group hug. I shut my eyes and let a few stray tears fall.

            I love you dad, but whether you're dead or alive, I need to stay alive. I will find you in heaven one day, just not as soon as I was intending.