I couldn't help but stare at my phone, wondering if the mysterious messenger would contact me again. The one who seemed to know everyone's secrets and enjoyed posting them for their own entertainment.

With hesitant fingers, I picked up my phone and turned it on. My heart skipped a beat as I saw a notification, but it wasn't from "The Person." It was just an email from the hospital notifying me of my father's discharge. I had forgotten to mention that he woke up from his coma yesterday. Not exactly a cause for celebration...

"Are you okay?" Samantha's voice pulled me out of my thoughts as she sat down across from me with a cup of coffee and a bagel from the cafe.

"Yeah, just have somewhere to be. I'll talk to you later." I waved goodbye and hurried to my car, grateful that Samantha's dad knew how to fix cars and had checked mine. Turns out, all it needed was an oil change, which didn't cost much in our small town.

Skipping ahead in time, I arrived at the hospital feeling anxious about seeing my father again. I decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator, hoping to waste some time.

After what felt like ages, I finally reached the fourth floor, panting and drawing strange looks from people who probably thought I was crazy for not taking the elevator. At the reception desk, I patiently waited for the gum-chewing receptionist to finish her loud phone call before turning to me with a snarky look.

"May I help you?" She asked, her hands already poised to type in any information needed.

"Yeah, I'm here to check on a patient."

"Name?" She prompted, chewing her gum even louder now.

"Evan Peters." I stood there fidgeting with my fingers in awkward silence as she handed me a familiar piece of paper and a pen.

"We really need to stop meeting like this," Someone said, getting a questioning look from me. "I'm not here to see you," I clarified with a smile before focusing on filling out the paper. "Why are you here anyway? I always see you around."

He just looked away, pretending to be interested in a painting on the wall. "A friend," he said shortly, avoiding my gaze. "Car accident." It was clear to me that he was lying, but I didn't press the issue. Instead, I simply offered my condolences and went to visit my father.

“What are you doing here?” 

“My father was in a coma. I'm taking him home today.” I said nervously, playing with the corner of the paperwork in my hand. “Oh, I need to submit this before I forget. See you at school.” I stood up and quickly handed in the release forms before heading to his room. He was sitting up in bed wearing shabby shoes, baggy pants, and an oversized t-shirt that reeked of alcohol.

“I've been waiting for you. What took so long?” He stared at me intently.

“I couldn't find a pen,” I answered hastily, attempting to grab his bag. But before I could, he grabbed my wrist and squeezed it so tightly that I felt my blood circulation slowing down.

“Please, Dad, stop hurting me!” I cried out. “Looking at you hurts.” He immediately released my wrist and stormed out of the room. I grabbed my bag and left, tears still streaming down my face.

“What happened?” The mysterious boy named Alex asked as he noticed me crying. He reached out to wipe away my tears, but my dad's angry voice made me turn my head.

“Is this why you took so long?! Some boy?!”

*Slap*

I didn't even have time to process what had happened before I felt a sharp pain in my cheek and fell to the ground. My vision was blurry and I struggled to stand up. I saw Alex rushing towards me to help, but before I could register anything else, my dad punched him and everything went dark.