Categories > Original > Drama

Asthenia

by Mistressxwinter 1 review

Is somebody out there, will somebody listen?

Category: Drama - Rating: PG - Genres: Angst, Drama - Published: 2007-07-17 - Updated: 2007-07-18 - 2883 words - Complete

1Insightful
Today was probably like any other hyperborean school day. All the teenagers sat in their worn down desk with their dull uniforms. It was the height of fashion here, but the same couldn't be said out in the real world. And as in every typical school scene, all eyes could be found focused on the crippled school clock that was sworn to be off by a few meager minutes. The bell sounded and shrilly left a melodic imprint in the young adults' minds. The clueless cliques scrambled together and pushed each other through the narrow doorway, three by three. As if nothing had happened, a normally rebellious gothic girl sat in her wobbly chair, still copying down notes.

Her pallid face was stained with the nastiest of smiles when she realized she was the last one around for the second week in a row. She was the type of person that struck you as a girl who lived inside her head and rarely came out, the classic recluse. The pages of her books were all dog-earred and her homework assignments were filled out, but never turned in. A quick nod to the teacher and she, too, was seen running to find the group of friends she belonged in.

Over by the disgustingly yellow buses her friends resided, most of them taking a quick drag on their cancer sticks which they found surprisingly delicious, yet fatal to their social and mental health. It didn't faze them of course, but what did faze them was the shadow of the gothic girl who was forever running towards them. Everyday they woke up, put on their faces, and pretended to like this girl. If they told her the truth, you'd see her in pure denial. Sweet, sweet denial. They all knew it well and faced it about three times a day: morning, noon, and night.

"Hi guys!" The gothic adolescent smiled. Everyone exchanged a worried glance and bit their lips simultaneously.

"Hey Lily..." Their voices droned on like they had everyday. Not bothering to spare her a smile or some sort of approval, they resorted to walking near the bathrooms, in hopes that she'd follow so they could lose her. In fact, their lunch time was spent trying to find ways to get rid of her ghastly presence. It made them look bad, or maybe even worse. "That Mr. P must be a creeper or something, because he kept dropping pencils and looking up Jamie's skirt!" One girl tried to start up a conversation. Everyone chuckled and giggled loudly, but Lily stopped dead in her tracks and cried "Eww!"

Heads turn and feet skidded. Lily pointed at all of them and tried to confront them. "How can you find that funny? Jamie is a perfectly nice girl and yeah, I've noticed that he's been doing that lately, but how can you laugh? Why won't someone tell her?" All the teenage bodies shuffled around and shrugged.
A blonde girl with a bright emerald clover stuck behind her ear stepped forward. "Lily, we don't care what you think. I'm sure everyone agrees with me when I say that we don't want you around. No, not for just today, or tomorrow. Maybe not ever again. We don't like looking at you!" She snapped at Lily.

Lily took a few steps back as the group menacingly stepped forward themselves. As if they were a pack of angry lions, they snarled and barred their teeth. Holding back the tears that showed her weakness to the world, Lily turned her back and ran the opposite way of her home. Sure, the group could've jumped her or beat Lily to bits, but this was just a warning. For today at least. Lily tried to catch her breath as she ran to a house with a generic white picket fence.

As ordinary as it was, Lily couldn't help but find something special about the home. It was a light lapis lazuli color and the window shutters were painted with a eggshell white. A crimson red roof accented the horrible color scheme, and the smell of the freshly cut lawn wafted around in the air, catching Lily's nose by surprise. She pushed the front gates open and squinted her eyes around, trying to find the presence of another person. Although it seemed no one was around, Lily couldn't help but ask herself "Should I go back? I feel alone and tired..."

She shrugged her bad feelings off and knocked on the front door. Her boney fingers laced around her bag's strap while she tried to proudly hold it up like she was selling whatever the contents in it were. Not every family would like to buy homework, she giggled to herself, while the door opened just a crack. Lily let out a little yelp of surprise and a little nose and a set of eyes slid out from the door. If anyone had thought Lily was the sickest looking human being around, they had not seen this boy. By now, Lily was ready to run, but as the boy exposed more of his anoretic body, she felt more calm and more willing to come closer.

"W-Who are you?" The boy managed to stutter. Lily's bag dropped to the cement pathway as she smiled brightly. The boy seemed slightly confused, but somewhat happy that he had a visitor. "Did you come to see mom or dad?" His little bit of happiness washed away. Lily shook her head. "Did you come to see me?" Lily shook her head once more. The boy withdrew back behind the door and put the chain lock on. "Wh-Who did you come to see?"

"No one really. I just came here. You have a nice looking house," Lily stumbled with the words she tried to say. Her forearms trembled enough for him to notice and she began to sweat profusely. Even her tears were coming back. The boy sensed her weakness and unlocked the door. "Come inside, you look a little tired. Maybe a little thirsty. Is it hot today? I don't get out much..." He overwhelmed her with his fast talking while he pushed her inside and grabbed her bag.

Upstairs they went and down her bags went as she leapt upon the bed. "Your bed is way too feathery... They're pokin' me!" Lily cried out. The boy giggled a little at Lily's misfortune. She growled at him in turn and sat up with her legs crossed. "You seem a little too welcome to a stranger who randomly knocks at your door. What would your parents think?" Lily wondered as the boy handed her some tea.

"It's nothing really. We don't get many visitors and my parents live downstairs, in their own part of their house. They have their own kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, living room and all that junk, while I have mine. They come out through the garage so they never have to see me. It's awfully lonely up here in this icy house. I don't know where the heater is..." The boy sighed and examined his feet.

"Uhm, okay... That's really depressing. This house seems to be void of all emotion, I can really feel it. But you, your skin! It's so pallor and creepy. Have you ever looked in a mirror?"

"Afraid to."

"When you talk, your mouth hardly moves!"

"Thanks? I'm kinda ill, thank you very much. What is your name, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Lily... You?"

"G-Gerard." He acted as though he was ashamed of his name and he sank deeper into his plush chair. Lily winced at how bare his room was. One chair, one boring bed, a table, a headboard with all he owned on it, and a lamp. "It must be boring when friends come over..." Lily accidently said. As soon as it slipped out, she cupped her hands over her chapped lips.

"Friends? Ha, that's a good one. Remember? I'm ill. Actually, cancer's what I got. They didn't give me details, so I don't even know what it is." He softly spoke. She could see his words in the air, that's how cold it was. She walked over to him and laced his hands with her. "We need to get you out of here. You're only going to get sicker. Maybe... Maybe another day I'll tell you what cancer is, Gerard," Lily tried to comfort him. His lime green eyes softened up as he let out a little laugh. "So we're friends now?"

A week later, Lily trotted over to Gerard's house, just as she had been everyday. No one ever really cared about where she had been going everyday, and that suited the two friends just fine. She brought over little things to keep Gerard busy as she learned more about him. As a child, he was taken out of school and was self-taught. He loved to write, but ran out of pencils and such to write with. Somehow, he was perfectly content with how things were going, but as Lily told him of her life and all the things he didn't know, he grew angry and envious.

"I don't get it... If I'm not at a hospital, what I have can't be that bad, right?" Gerard asked while they were reading on his bed. Lily looked up and panicked. His question demanded to be answered. "Gerard, dear... Cancer is life-threatening disease. You really should be at a hospital. You say it's been like this since you were little, and we're both the same age, then yeah, you should be at a hospital, but it's a wonder you're not dead," Lily shattered his heart.

"D-Dead?" He whimpered. She wrapped her arms around the frail boy, whose cries now made him seem younger and more childish. He cried for his parents and wailed so hard, this time, they actually responded. Two dark looming figures appeared in his doorway, slightly alarmed. "Who's this girl? Why is she here? Don't let strangers in, you know that!" They barked at him as they tried to show Lily the door.

"No wait! She's my only friend... Mom, dad, you lied to me! I could be dead!" He whined. A chill went down the mother's back as everything grew awkwardly silent.

"Don't be silly, son, you won't be dead for quite a long while," The dad smiled and patted his son on the head, ruffling his short blonde hair. Gerard uneasily shifted his look from his dad to his mom, but shook it off and pretended to believe his dad. "Whatever dad. Just leave Lily be." The unruly parents took their filthy hands off her shoulders and retreated to the place from whence they came. Lily brushed her shoulder off and peered around the corner of the door to see a fleeting glimpse of his shadowy parents. "Those guys were your parents? And I thought I had a bad home life..."

"Maybe they just care a lot or something. They don't want me exposed. Maybe they know I'm gonna die and don't want anyone to know or something. I'm all they've got!" Gerard laid down on his bed and stroked the clean blue and white striped sheets.

"All they've got?! I find that hard to believe because they don't even love you," Lily shook her head and grabbed her bag. Gerard cocked his head sideways. "Where are you going?"

"Away from here. I can't stand it! Nothing against you, but you're parents annoy me."

"But we hardly even see them! C'mon Lily... Stay!" But his last words fell on deaf ears as she shut the bedroom door. She regrettably stormed out of the not-so-humble home and hurried home. Gerard stared blankly out his window, waiting to see her turn and come back. "She won't even have to apologize..." He whispered to himself as he curled up into a ball and hid under the sheets. If he told himself she'd come back, then he was sure he would. No one would deny a dying kid, right?

Two weeks flew by for Lily, and school was lonelier than ever. Her grades slipped under and she often resorted to falling asleep. People took notice of this and tried to offer her help and friendship, which she promptly refused to accept. Eventually, she was sent to the counselor. "Lily, are you just going to drop out of school?!" Her counselor slammed his fists down firmly on the table. Shoulders shrugging, Lily slid to the left and gazed out the window. The sun didn't seem to shine here anymore. Her thoughts somehow managed to wander off into a sea of nothing, while the counselor fought to bring her attention back.

It struck her. "I have to see Gerard. It'll make things right again!" She exclaimed aloud. The counselor scratched his bald head and relaxed back into his chair while Lily made a break for the door. He didn't try to stop her. Swiftly, she made her way off school grounds and to the front of his house. An ambulance coldly sat in the driveway. Fear and panic surged through Lily's veins as she placed her hand on the front door knob. Slowly but surely, she pushed her way forward and slunk down the hall to Gerard's room. Voices could be heard floating up from downstairs.

She lightly knocked on Gerard's door and heard him hacking on the inside. "Come in," He weakly yelled out.

"Hey! It's me again," Lily whispered to him. Gerard tried to hop out of bed to greet her, but wires and tubes restricted him. He looked away from her, sadly struggling against the chains that binded him. "You want me to help with those?" Offered Lily.

"It's no use. I have no time left. I'm a ticking time bomb to society." Lily winced as each word barely escaped his lips. His eyes seemed to have melted away into the whites, and his skin was ghostly cold and lacking of color. Bones were more visible than the last time she visited and his breathing was labored. "Gerard, dear, are you going to be okay?" It was a stupid question, but she asked anyways. He shook his head and leaned back into his tower of pillows.

"I'm glad I could see you again. I wish I didn't have to be like this though, it hurts me for you to see it. Those people in the big car, I know they've come to save me, but heaven help me, I don't want to go. Couldn't I just spend the rest of my days here, waiting for you?" Gerard continued to cough and clutch his hollow chest. Lily pressed her thumbs against his cheeks to catch his falling tears. "I have all of these memories, but now they're all useless delusions. I have none to keep, none to bring with me..."

The questions in their minds swarmed around the room, slowly being drowned out by their heartbeats. Gerard snatched Lily's hand and held it with his own, trying to stay awake. "I think I'm gonna sleep Lily... But I don't know if I can wake up again. Promise me you'll wake me up. Don't let them hurt me," He pleaded with his eyes. Lily tried to back away but all the strength left in his left hand kept her in place. "I... Gerard, I'll do that for you. Anytime you need me, I'll wake you up," She kissed his forehead lightly and backed away.

His grip was deteriorating, but this time, Lily held on. She closed his eyelids and watch him put on a smile. A lovely smile to be buried with, she thought, and then... He let go. It took Lily by surprise, but when his hand fell limp and his arm dropped, slapping against the bedside, Lily cried out. "Gerard! Wait!" She shook his shoulders. A hand fell on her own shoulder. Her head twisted back and glared into the eyes of a man in white. "It's okay now Lily. He's in good hands."

Up onto a gurney, Gerard was covered with a wispy white sheet. Lily grasped a corner of the stretcher and tried to haul it back, but they only slapped her away. They moved without sound and before she could catch them, they loaded Gerard up into the ambulance. "Aren't you going to even try to save him?!" She screamed. No one paid her any notice while she collapsed into herself on the porch. Not even bothering to wave goodbye, Lily picked herself and dragged herself home.

That night, she blankly stared out the window, holding her knees tightly. She sobbed quietly while letting the moon beams dance across her face. "Is somebody out there... Will somebody listen?" She asked as she swore she saw his face in in the stars. The room was bored of rehearsal. "I'm sick of the boundaries, I miss you so much..." But he only smiled to her. Remembering her promise, she settled into bed, trying to shake away images of him still healthy and alive, and muttered things to herself. "I hope I won't forget you..."

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AN: Based off of a Blink 182 song =]
Rate and Review if you liked it XD The story is a bit old and a tad rushed, but I think it's one of my better stories.
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