Elide stiffened a little but soon relaxed, taking Phoebe's hand bellow the table. She looked to Jane with a small look as if to say 'it's complicated' or something along those lines, "Maybe… maybe we should skip the rest of the day. Go to the park or somewhere relaxing…"
Jane nodded in agreement, but Phoebe bit her lip, unsure. "I don't know… won't we get in trouble?" She cast her friend across the table a glance that was a paragraph of explanations in itself. Jane gave her a tiny nod.
"Who cares if we get in trouble. Stress is going to make everything worse and none of us need that." Elide said gently, giving Phoebe's hand a reassuring squeeze.
Phoebe's breath hitched, the realization of what they were doing in public finally hitting her. "Y-Yeah. Yeah, I guess." She sighed, looking over at Jane. "We might as well finish eating and go before any teachers catch us."
Elide nodded slowly, "Good idea. The quicker we leave without suspicion the better."
They finished as quickly as possible and headed out to their lockers. Phoebe slung her backpack over one shoulder, grabbed her phone, and turned to see if the others where ready. Jane was already waiting for them by the front doors, checking for teachers every now and then.
Elide very quickly put her excess things into her locker, grabbed her backpack and headed back to Phoebe, nodding to say that she was ready. She glanced over her shoulder once to make sure everything was fine and they weren't going to get caught.
They slipped out together, running around the side of the school so that they were out of sight from the field and the junkies that hung around the back. Phoebe's brow stayed creased with worry, a slight headache building. Josh… oh god, Josh…
Elide swallowed a lump in her throat, climbing over some rubbish in the middle of the pathway. Once all three were over and on their way, she took Phoebe's hand in hers, rubbing her thumb over her knuckles reassuringly.
Phoebe squeezed Elide's hand tightly, bumping shoulders with Jane. Jane smiled down at the two's intertwined hands, nodding reassuringly at Phoebe. "Where to?"
"We could always go back to mine," Elide suggested, shrugging, "No ones home so we won't get caught."
Phoebe and Jane both nodded, happy with the suggestion even as their shoulders bore an unseen weight. "Good idea… I'll try to call Josh once we get there. Then we can just relax… I'm so tired…."
Elide nodded slowly, “Yeah. You guys can sleep if you want to, do whatever really I don’t practically care.”
They soon arrived at Elide's familiar front steps, and Phoebe sank down on the couch as soon as they were inside, sighing exhaustedly. Jane took out her phone, dialing Josh's number.
Elide sighed and took of her jacket, worry embedded in every feature, “Do you- Do you guys want anything to eat or drink?”
"Just water," Phoebe said, going over to Jane with a thankful smile at Elide. After seven rings, someone answered.
"Jane?"
Elide bit her lip and quickly scurried off to the kitchen. She sighed and grabbed a few glasses for some water, filling them up.
Josh's voice sounded hoarse, rough, like he'd just been crying. Both girl's crowded around the phone.
"Josh! Oh my god Jane just told me– holy sh*t are you okay??"
Josh took a moment to respond. "No," he replied honestly. Jane chimed in. "Josh, what did they do?? What did they say??" There was no more clarification needed.
"Mom– mom wasn't happy. Neither was dad. I'm locked in my room right now, they're only out for five minutes so I'll have to hang up when they come back. I'm not allowed to eat until tomorrow."
Elide very very nearly dropped the glasses she was holding at what Josh said. But she took a breath, biting her lip and headed back to her friends, placing the glasses on the table.
"What?????? That's ridiculous!! Josh, you've got to let us—"
"No. I can tell what you're thinking, and the answer is no. I can't leave my little brother alone with them, and if they get in trouble with the law it means we go to my aunt, and you know how much worse they are. And I'll be fine, they haven't beaten me yet."
Jane was close to tears. "Josh, how many times do we have to tell you that you're in danger there! Please, just–"
Elide sat down next to Phoebe, taking a breath and giving the two a small look as if to say, We’ll get through this, everything will work out. She didn’t know if it would but they had to hope that it might.
Josh cut them off. "We can talk about this later–" His voice broke, and Phoebe took the phone. "Hey, listen to me. I want you to take care of yourself, okay?" He hesitated, and Jane spoke into the receiver. "Please, Josh. If you can't do it for yourself… then do it for me?"
Finally, Josh relented. "I won't do anything past scratching. That's all I can promise."
"Oh thank god. Have you–" Phoebe bit her lip, squeezing Elide's hand in a silent thank you. "Have you already— you know?"
"No."
"I don't believe you."
(sorry for the heavy topic. I can stop if you want)
(No, you don’t have too)
Elide swallowed and spoke up, “Josh? It’s Elide. I-“ She sighed, “I know I haven’t known you for long but— harming yourself doesn’t get you anywhere, trust me. It may feel like it, might feel like a release to help with the other pain but… it will only make things worse in the long run. All I- we ask is that you try to not go to far, please.”
Phoebe's eyes found Elide's, brow creasing with worry. What had she been through? Maybe their experiences weren't all that different….
Josh was silent for a moment. "Hey, Elide. And thanks. I— I won't do it again today." Jane and Phoebe both tensed. "Again??"
Elide released a breath, “Okay, thank-you, Josh. Stay as safe as you can and call us when soon, alright?” She tried to ignore the feeling of uneasiness that became known to her, and crossed her arms to stop herself shaking.