"Anne...are you okay..?" Alex said, concerned.
I looked up at him, and I saw the worried expression in his eyes. Lord knows what he must've saw when I passed out. I nodded slowly at him, and he seemed to relax a bit.
"Jesus Anne, what happened? I came into the hallway you fell at and I just saw you unconscious on the ground." He stated, remembering back.
"...I don't know...I think I pressed on a button...and something happened…"
I couldn't remember what exactly happened. All I seemed to be able to think of is the dream and what I just saw.
It's the truth, just accept it.
I shook my head violently, which caught Alex's attention.
"You sure you're okay..?" He asked concerned.
I nodded, but this time it didn't seem like he was gonna ease up.
"I just have a lot on my mind right now…"
"We all do." Alex said, smiling lightly.
The next few minutes we're rather awkward, as Alex just stayed by my side, making sure I was okay. Meanwhile, I was just replaying the dream over and over again. It felt real to me...too real.
It was real.
My thought chimed in again and I was thinking about denying again, but at this point, it wasn't worth it. I bet it was true, and either denial or the amount of falls I've taken is preventing me to remember.
"...when I grabbed you, I thought you were waking up again.." Alex said suddenly, snapping me out of the trance.
"..why?" I quietly asked.
"Well, it sounded like you were talking to me, and i tried talking back, but you would keep talking over me...it took me a minute to realize you were talking in your sleep or something..?" He stated, looking at me with worry.
"What did I say…?" I asked. I knew what he would say, but it didn't stop me from hearing his answer.
"Well...you mentioned someone named Samantha..and you said something else too.."
He hesitated for a moment, looking down and looking at me, before taking a breath.
"You said that 'you were better being trapped down here'..what were you dreaming about..?" He asked quietly, while looking at me.
I don't know if it was because of him asking me triggered it, or that remembering it once more was too much, but after he asked me that, I couldn't hold myself anymore. I fought so hard this entire time not to burst into tears, but that was the last breaking point.
I lowered my head down and tried my hardest to keep my crying quiet and not noticeable...clearly wasn't gonna nail the second part, but I didn't wail like a baby.
Alex stood by my side, and stayed quiet as he placed his hand on my shoulder. I didn't think he was staying quiet because he didn't want to help..I don't think he had the words to try to calm me down.
I sat there, crying silently for what felt like 5 minutes, until I finally lifted my head to look at Alex and spoke.
"...I'm not here to explore….I'm not here to see what it was all about…..I'm here...to try to impress my friends.."
I took a moment to breathe and wipe my eyes, but this was ultimately useless. In this current moment, I was broken, and nothing was gonna stop me from crying until my eyes dried up.
"....but they don't care about me….they absolutely don't…...they would prefer if I stayed down here to rot…"
Alex listened in closely. He didn't talk during this moment, but it was for a reason. He wanted me to vent and to get it out.
"The dream I had…..it wasn't just a dream...it was something that happened hours ago….that girl, Samantha….she told me off, and said that if I don't have anything interesting to tell her, then I should just not talk to her or my other friends…."
I lowered my head once again….feeling all the tears that were cluttered on my cheek drip down on the rocky ground below.
"....I wanted to impress them...but now I realize that it won't matter….even if I do get out of here alive…I wouldn't have friends to turn to…"
…
"Maybe I am better off rotting down here until I die…"
I barely whispered out the last thing I said before sobbing hard once again. I didn't look up at Alex again but I could tell he was looking down at me with pity.
"Anne...I'm...I'm so sorry that had to happen to you…."
I stayed quiet as Alex tried to collect his words.
"Look….I may have known you for a few hours at most, and it's only because we're trapped down here, but let me just say, you are already a person with a fun personality.."
"....that isn't what Samantha told me….apparently my personality is...is annoying."
"I'd disagree with her." Alex said, firmly as if he meant it.
I felt his hand leave my shoulder and land on the top of my head.
"As much as that girl and the other 'friends' you used to hang with said these things to you...you gotta understand that isn't true.."
"You may be annoying to them, but that's only because they're stupid and bad people who only accept people that are stupid and bad. And for the record, you aren't stupid and bad." He started chuckling afterwards.
"I mean, if saving my life doesn't convince you that you're a good person, then I don't know what will."
I slowly lifted my head and looked at Alex, who was smiling at me. In everything I saw up to this point, that smile was the most amazing thing to see.
"Now, we will get out of this hell. We are gonna reach the surface again, report this place, and have it completely burned down. You with me..?"
He stood up, and held out his hand to help me up. At this point, the words he said to me were so good to hear...it's been so long since I've heard caring words like that...
I reached my hand out to Alex, and he lifted me up from the ground, but before he could step back, I pulled his hand towards me and gripped him in a hug. It clearly caught him off guard because he gasped with shock from the sudden movement.
"Thank you….so much Alex. You don't understand how much that helps me out.." I said, while letting a few more tears drop down on his shoulder.
"Don't mention it Anne. You're a person who deserves to hear things like that."
As much as I didn't want to let him go, I eventually did, and we walked out of the room we were situated in.
"I found a way around the hole you fell through, and for the record, I checked the rest of the hall and the floor was safe to walk on."
"That's good, what are we waiting for then.."
And as I said that part to Alex, I heard my thoughts chime in to finish off the rest.
Let's get the hell out of here.
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