Lauren Sanders is struggling to rebuild her life with her aunt and cousin after her family's tragic death. But what no one knows is the truth about two things: how her parents really died and her battle with schizophrenia.
One day, Lauren stumbles...
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Thursday. When the alarm awakened me from my deep sleep, the first thought that sprang to me was that it was finally Thursday today.
Instead of allowing my thoughts and feelings about what Clarissa had just told me about my parents to imprison me, I diverted myself after our conversation by attempting to make some progress about locating the note, almost forgetting about the time that passed, reaching midnight.
Last night, Aaren and I were on a video call, helping me come up with possible places in California while we both searched the internet for all the galleries that possess a painting by my mom.
Aaren was absolutely quiet and appeared too concentrated and eager to finish this search as he silently browsed the internet on his laptop while I steal glances at him from time to time on the phone. I had been talking with him throughout the call, and he would just quickly respond to my questions if I had some.
"You seemed tense," I spoke as I gave him a quick glance before returning to my laptop to wait for the search results to load.
"I'm not."
I sighed in exasperation. I grabbed my phone from its stand and sat up straight on the bed, staring at him with all of my focus on my phone screen before I forced myself to ask him a question, "Are you mad at me?"
I asked in what seemed like a high-pitched voice as he gave me a quick glance before returning his attention to his laptop. I could see his eyes darting quickly from side to side and up and down as the laptop's light flashed brightly on his face.
"No."
"It seems like you are," I told him. "Ever since that time at the library, you've been acting a bit weird. It's like, you're not comfortable being around me anymore."
Maybe I'm just overthinking and he just seems preoccupied with things, especially knowing that his mom and dad just underwent surgery.
He sighs and it took him a while to say something, "I just think a lot, that's all."
"Well, I'm here to listen if you want to share your thoughts with me," I said as he smirks, followed by a scoff as if I said something bad that caused him to react that way.
He shrugs, "Thanks," he says as he looks at me through the screen, plastering a small smile on his face. "May I ask something?"
I nodded, but because I felt it was unusual that he was asking me whether he could, I simply waved the thought off rather than giving it too much thought, which may cause me to second-guess his actions.
"Have you..." He starts as I watch him bit his lower lip, seeming to hesitate but continued to ask anyway, "Read the letter I gave you?"
He was asking me about the letter, again. What is with that note that he seems to be so curious about whether I have read it or not? Does he want a reaction video from me as I read the letter or something?
