Shawn's P.O.V

I woke up to the horrendous train of thoughts tooting inside my head. I rubbed my temples to soothe the painful thrumming in my head but that didn't help.

I didn't have the slightest will to go to school today. Not that it was boring, I mean it was, but because I didn't know how to face her. What was I supposed to say to her when I see her? Was I supposed to feel furious because she lied to me about calling her dad for a ride? Or she just indirectly... dumped me? What was I supposed to feel? At this point, I didn't know anymore.

But I couldn't stay at home either. My house had become more of a nursing home in the past few weeks. I couldn't see family members' faces as much as I saw the faces of ward boys, nurses, and doctors, new ones every day. It was sickening to watch them shoving millions of injections into Chloe's veins as she would wince in pain every single time, complaining and sobbing to stop it whenever they approached her with a syringe.

I tried a lot to talk some sense into them about injecting her, but they knew better so there wasn't much that I could do about it. So, I would stay out the entire time she was under the monitoring of the doctors with either Maya or the squad or both and return with her favorite sweet and cookie.

Nonetheless, I climbed out of my bed and headed towards the bathroom to freshen up. I quickly donned my uniform, not bothering to tug it completely, and left the house.

The drive to the school was silent and intense at the same time. I dreaded to see Maya's reaction once she saw me next. I parked my car in the compound and after confirming that it was locked, I headed in towards the locker room.

As soon as I reached near Maya's locker, which was five lockers away from mine, I noticed something unusual. Maya's locker was left open. I wriggled my eyebrow in confusion and peeked inside it. It was empty. It was oddly strange but the possibility that she might have shifted her locker location pinched me more.

I huffed loudly and returned to my locker to take all the necessary books I'll be needing in the next three periods. I had a Math class in the first period, one of the periods I had with Maya. I inhaled a deep breath and walked towards the Math class.

The moment I entered the class, my eyes landed upon Maya's bench. The seat was occupied, which made me thrilled. At least she wasn't avoiding sitting next to me. But my delight was cut short when I noticed Quinn occupying her seat. I groaned under my breath as I walked towards my seat and sat down.

“Good morning, Shawn.” She greeted cheerfully. And I didn't know why but it annoyed me.

“What is so good about this morning? What are you doing in Tinkerbell's seat, anyway?” I questioned in an irritated tone. I knew it was wrong to vent out my frustration on her, but at this point, I didn't care.

Her smile fell into an awkward expression and looked around for some kind of escape. She returned to me after a straight one minute.

“Uh... I-I thought to sit here since Maya isn't coming, so...” she trailed off.

“What do you mean?”

Before she could answer, the teacher entered and immediately began to scratch the board by running chalks into an ear-splitting noise. I squeezed my eyes shut, thinking about her before zoning out for the entire three periods.
                                           ~

I sat alone at our favorite table in the cafeteria with other permanents of it, precisely Veronica and her minions. Usually, I would eavesdrop on their conversations and quietly mimic and roast them into Maya's ears. But today, it was the least of my concern. I didn't bother to listen to any of them until Veronica banged the table, calling out my name.

“Shawn!” Veronica screamed, forcing the neighboring tables to shoot us empty glares.

“I've been calling your name for so long! Where are you zoning out?”

“Oh... It's nothing. I was just thinking. What's up?” I asked nonchalantly, munching my lunch.

“Where is Maya today? Is she bunking school?” She asked as she munched her diced apples with a fork.

“I don't know. I haven't talked to her since last night. She might have caught a cold, perhaps.”

“I see.”

Olivia and Mason swept in our table and I widened my eyes in surprise.

“Sup, Shawn? I see you took my suggestion to stay away from Maya. Well, better late than never. At least you talked some sense into her and suggested the help that she needed.” Olivia quoted as she sat beside one of the minions of Veronica.

“What are you talking about, Olivia?” I growled in frustration.

“She came to my house last night, asking for a psychiatrist whereabouts and number. She was with you last night, wasn't she? I thought you'd know. Right babe?” She was surely enjoying my misery.

I looked over at Mason, and he shook his head in disapproval.

“She isn't a psychiatrist, babe. She's some renowned therapist, I guess.” He now looked over at me and took my hand, dragging me out of the cafeteria to the school playground.

He took me over to the parking lot near his car. I didn't notice until now that his car was a red Suzuki. The exact similar car that I noticed came to pick up Maya last night.

“It was you, wasn't it? Who came to pick Maya up?” I questioned, hoping to hear a no as an answer.

“Yes, it was me.” He informed in a soft voice.

Why would she call Mason out of all the people in the world?

“I was startled as well. The moment she got in the car, all she spoke was asking me to drive her to Olivia's. For what reason? I didn't know. She asked me to wait for her until she is done asking a favor from Olivia and drop her home, and so I did. I learned about it today's morning.”

“W-What did she ask?” I asked in hesitation, afraid of what the answer might bring.

“Nothing much. Just a phone number of some renowned therapist she met during her junior year on Olivia's suggestion. When she asked her why all she said was something about triggering and seeking help, something of that sort. I am not sure either. I think you should go to see her. She seemed pretty disturbed.”

I stood there still for a while, processing what I just heard. Triggering? Maya never told me about any of it.

The bell suddenly rang and everyone began to leave the ground and go back to their respective classes. I wasn't in the right mind to attend any more of the classes, so I ran. I ran to Maya's. I needed to talk to her.
                                       ~

The race towards her house was undoubtedly the longest I had ever endured. I gasped rapidly in an attempt to catch my breath as soon as I stood in front of the porch. I composed myself firmly, preparing for what was about to come. If that led to a fight, so be it. I was ready for a big fight, but I needed answers.

After gathering every bit of courage inside me, I rang the doorbell.

No response. I rang it again.

No response.

I looked aside and saw the car parked in front of the house. I walked towards it and rested my hand on the car deck. It was still heated, meaning it was used not so long ago and someone was indeed inside the house.

I jogged towards the porch and rang the doorbell again, continuously. As I was about to withdraw my hands, the door clicked open, and Mrs. Matthews watched me in a somewhat sad but blank expression. Her eyes were teary and looked at me with such empathy.

I was afraid to question anything, her looks made me nervous to ask. Nonetheless, I decided to speak.

“Mrs. Matthews, can I please talk to Maya? I need to talk to her.” I requested.

She stared at me more sympathetically in response, her tears almost blocking her sight.

“Mrs. Matthews?”

“Shawn... She... Sh-She is... Gone. I'm so sorry, and son.” was all she managed to utter.

“Gone? What do you mean by gone?” I questioned, refusing to believe what I just heard.

She swiped away her tears, taking my hand to sit with her on the couch as she began to speak, “She...”

*Flashback*

4 hours ago

Maya's P.O.V

I made the most reckless decision of my life.

I knew what I was about to do, I might regret it for the rest of my life and it was stupid. Nonetheless, this had to be done, or I would end up driving crazy for real.

“Are you sure you want to do this sweetie?” My mom asked for the umpteenth time.

“Yes, mom. And please do not try to deflect me. I have made my decision. It's not because I want to, but because I have to, mom. Please try to understand.” I tried to convince her.

“This is madness, Maya. Honey, why are you letting her do this insanity?” She questioned Dad in a shattering yet threatening tone.

“You do know I do not encourage the idea. But since she has made her mind, we can't do anything about it. That's her decision to make, regardless of whom she hurts in the process.” He looked away.

“Dad... At least you should stand by me, you've always been my support system. This won't work if you don't support me for whatever I am about to do. You know I can't if I know that you're not there to encourage me.”

“But I am doing it anyhow, ain't I? Just... Take care of yourself.”

“I will. I promise.” I hugged him very tightly, for one last time.

“Don't you want to say goodbye to your friends? To the group, to Shawn?” My mom asked softly as lounged the last bag in the boot space.

I wiped the tear that trickled down on the mention of his name. I composed myself, making sure that no one could comprehend what I felt from inside in my voice.

“No. I don't. Goodbyes just make it more difficult to leave.” I looked away.

I didn't want to. I knew because if I did, I wouldn't be able to stick up to the muddled mind that I made staying awake the entire night, crying and explaining to myself that it was the right thing to do.

“Alright, as you wish. Let's get going. We don't want to be late now, do we?” was the last thing my dad spoke during the entire ride to the desired destination.
                                   ~

After a deafening long ride, we arrived at my destination. I retrieved my suitcase and looked at my parents for one last time. I hugged them before heading in.

“Are you sure you don't want us to come in to see you off?” My mom asked as she wiped away her tears for the millionth times.

“Yes. I don't want you two sending me emotionally blackmailing eyes trying to convince me otherwise. Let's just not leave this on a bad note. I'm going to miss you guys.” I hugged them tightly for the last time.

“Take care, sweetie. We're going to miss you so much.”

“Me too. Bye.” I kissed them goodbye on their cheeks and walked away carrying my suitcase.

I exceedingly wanted to turn back to look at them one last time, but I knew I couldn't. This wasn't a point to turn back now. I inhaled sharply and headed in.

I looked around checking if I was somehow late when I was sure I wasn't.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the pre-board announcement for Flight 4D7 with service from Manhattan to New York. Pre-boarding will begin in a few minutes. Please proceed to gate 3. Please have your boarding pass and identification ready. Regular boarding will begin in approximately twenty minutes. Thank you.’

Right on time. I thought to myself.

I walked towards the baggage scan and waited in the queue.

I desperately wished I wasn't making a mistake.
**

Shawn's P.O.V

“Bu-But why? Why did she plan to go to New-York all of a sudden?” I asked in puzzlement. Nothing made sense.

“I wish I knew, dear. She came up to us last night after returning asking us to allow her to go somewhere that she didn't want anyone to know for some unknown reasons by tomorrow itself and it was a matter of life and death. We thought she was kidding about it, but she was serious. We had a long argument with her until we gave in.” She explained.

“Somewhere? Isn't she in New York?”

“She would take a train to somewhere from New York, somewhere she doesn't want anyone to know. Not even us. She begged us to not let anyone about her whereabouts and especially you since she knew you are... passionate enough to find her if you knew. She said she doesn't want to be found.”

“Is this a joke? Please, tell me Mrs. Matthews that it is because it sounds insane. What about her college? Her graduation? She wouldn't just leave it all for some childish wish. I know her, she won't.”

“That's what we thought too. She said that she would drop out for a year and do whatever she has to and return as soon as it is done or would join some other college wherever she would be. We didn't want to agree to her impulsive decision but it was the first thing she ever asked from us and her dad is very sentimental when it comes to his daughter. He let her go! I wasn't supporting their decision, but they would never listen to me once they gang up.” She whined, wiping away the tears.

I looked into her eyes more prominently. It slowly turned as red as blood. It was evident that she had been crying for a long time now.

“Is this because of the almost-kiss that was about to happen last night or because I confessed my feelings to her? Because that's when she started acting weird.” I asked.

I didn't realize I was crying, a wave of tears ushering out of my eyes.

“Sha-” I cut her in before she could answer.

“Just tell me if it is the reason. Because if it is the reason she is upset, I need to talk to her. I need to tell her that I am not sorry that it was about to happen or it did before because I am not. I am not sorry that I loved it because it meant something to me. That I am not sorry I confessed to her that I love her. I love her, Mrs. Matthews. So much. Why did she take such a step? She could have just told me that she didn't feel the same way. I would have walked away happily. Why did she have to leave me like this?” It was impossible for me to let out the tight pit that formed in my stomach with tears flowing out uncontrollably.

She hugged me tightly and said, “I know, Shawn. I know. I wish I had the answers to your questions. I wish we, her dad and I, were good enough for her to gain her trust to confide in us. She wasn't an easy kid. She was the brightest star in our darkest nights. She would bring joy and laughter wherever she went. She was such a cheerful and happy kid. I didn't know what went wrong, but one day she stopped. She stopped talking to her cousins, her friends except for us. She would lock herself in her rooms for days, stop eating for weeks until she fell sick and ended up being hospitalized. We never knew what went wrong. We felt our family broke apart. We tried to be as friendly and open-minded as we could to gain her trust, for her to finally confide in us what is she scared of.”

She paused for a while, collecting her composure. I could feel the hurt in her voice as she narrated more, “But she never did. Maybe we lacked somewhere we shouldn't have. Maybe. And so we couldn't say no to her when she asked us something for the first time, because that's all parents want right? To see their children happy. That's all I've ever wanted for my baby girl. That's why we let her go, and now she is gone. We failed as a parent, didn't we?” Her voice collapsed.

It broke my heart to see her that way. Maybe I was wrong. Not every family was happy and perfect as they seem to be from the outside. I hugged her tightly for reassurance, though I didn't know if that would actually work.

“You didn't. You are the legit best parents I had ever seen in my entire life. You could never fail as a parent, and Maya loves you two for all that you do for her. And don't think this even for a second that you are alone since she is gone. You have me, I am your son as well. I would visit you every day if you still doubt it. I consider my second mother wholeheartedly, so don't even consider thinking otherwise.” I playfully teased to lighten up her mood.

She laughed a bit, before wiping off her tears.

“Would you try to taste some cookies? I baked them this morning for Maya when she was about to leave.” She offered with a soft smile.

“I would love to.”

She smiled back in response and stood up, and then walked towards the kitchen, ransacking the jars.

But deep inside, I felt something missing. I felt someone took a part of me away. I felt empty.

Hey guys! Thank you so much for reading this far!
You have no idea how much this means to me.

On a serious note, I have to tell you guys something. So, due to some personal issues, first I thought of putting the book on hold but now I've decided that I would still continue it, but I would update it once a month, or at max 2.
I know it's absurd, but something came up and it needs my serious undivided attention, but I couldn't abandon the book so after this chapter, I would update once a month.

I am so sorry, but it is what it is :(

So, on a brighter point, what do you think about this chapter.

I can bet no one saw this coming. A major twist in the story. Things are about to get more heartbreaking, heart-melting, and surprising by the upcoming chapters.

Please, please, please drop down your thoughts about this chapter. I had been imagining this very chapter by the very beginning of the book. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Don't forget to tap on the star icon right at the bottom.

Feel free to vote and comment.

I'll see you guys soon.
Stay tuned♡.

~Loveya~( ˘ ³˘)♥