Shay scooted her chair closer to mine. "My mom found out last night." She told me quietly. I gasped. "What happened?"  Her voice shook as she told me. "Charlie, she was hanging out." I nodded, not saying anything. I knew that Charlie practically lived at Shay's, and vice versa. "She saw  that I was hiding something in my sleeve." Her voice broke. "The stress of lately.. I couldn't handle it. I just needed one cut." 

I nodded again, though her words hurt. I knew what she did to herself, but the knowledge cut into my soul, as painful as if  she'd sliced one of her razors across my skin. "I wouldn't show it to her. I didn't want to hurt her."  That's ironic. I thought, somewhat bitterly. What you do to yourself hurts everyone. "She helped me quit the first time, and I was ashamed." She continued, oblivious to my thoughts.

"My mom, she heard Charlie yelling. She wanted to know what I was hiding. I panicked." She admitted, head bowed. "She pried it out of my hand. When she saw the razor..." Shay trailed off, unable to continue. "How did she take it?" I asked gently. I could tell it was breaking her, having to re-live it. 

"The look in her eyes.." She looked at me, then, and I saw an endless well in her eyes. Pain, regret, sorrow, fear, all shimmered in their depths. Tears began to spill over her lashes, and they ran over her cheeks, leaving tracks through her heavy makeup. "I've never seen so much pain in my life."