A Warrior Of Youth

Lissa's POV

I rolled my eyes at Sandra. "Trust me, you don't want to know."
"The more you prolong this, the more I want to know" she whined.
"Fine, but I'll tell you later. I don't want people overhearing us."
Sandra looked at me strangely. "That bad, huh?"
"You have no idea. You wanna skip the rest of the day?" I asked.
"Ooo, new girl's a rebel" she teased.
I rolled my eyes again. "I'm not, I'm just really pissed off. Come on, I'll give you a ride home."
"Thanks."
I drove Sandra home and it turns out she lived around the corner from me.
We got out of my car and she produced a key for the front door.
Her mum was standing in the kitchen chopping up vegetables.
"Hey, you're home early. Who is this?" She asked curiously.
"Hey mom, this is Lissa. She's new to the school. We're just gonna go upstairs" Sandra said passing the kitchen to the staircase.
We walked down a short corridor and entered a typical teenagers bedroom. Posters covered the walls and clothes speckled the floor.
Sandra closed the door and sat crossed legged on her bed. I joined her and braced myself.
I was about to speak when I noticed scars on Sandra's wrists. They looked old, but there were a lot.
She caught me staring and tried to hide them.
"Why did you do that to yourself?" I asked sympathetically.
"I went through a hard time last year, I'll tell you later cause you're stalling. Spill! Why did you really move here?" She asked cheekily.
"What do you already know? I wanna know what is being spread."
"All I've heard is that your brother passed away. At which I am sorry" she said giving me sad eyes.
"Thanks. But yeah. He wasn't just my brother. He was my twin" I paused to see her facial expression.
Her eyes widened in shock. "Were you guys close?"
"Not really. We grew apart when we started high school. Now I really wish we didn't. I feel like its my fault sometimes" I said putting my head in my hands.
"How could it be your fault?" She asked worriedly.
"Cause I ignored the signs! I saw them and didn't help him!"
"Lissa, what happened?"
"Benji committed suicide by cutting."
Sandra's jaw dropped. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea! Lissa, you know that's not your fault."
"But it is. We grew apart yes, but i-it got to the point where my friends would bully him. At my old school I was the popular one and Benji was like an outcast. He stopped paying attention to his friends at some point and really threw himself into his music. Forcing me to play piano along with h-him. I played with him for a bit, but he got angry and frustrated with me. I-I tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't. About six months before Benji... I caught him cutting. I watched him let the blood run down his hand and drip off his fingers. When he finally noticed me, he freaked out. He tried to shut he door on me, but I forced him to talk to me. He told me that it was the only way to take the pain away. He said the bullying got that bad that he believed what they were saying. I-It caused him to spiral deep into depression. After that I told my friends to leave him alone, but others took their place" I said starting choke up. I swallowed hard and wiped away a tear. "Just over a month ago I got home from school and our parents were out. I knew Benji had stayed home that week, but I didn't ever think he would take his life. His wrists were destroyed. Blood just surrounded him."
I glanced at Sandra's face and she was in disbelief. "What happened? How did it get so bad for him?" She asked.
"I'm honestly not sure. He was just different. People didn't understand him. They noticed his quirks and picked at them. More people noticed and it became a thing. Once I knew about his cutting and told my friends back off, I noticed other things happening" I said full on crying.
Sandra placed her hand on my arm and stroked it softly. "It's okay. This isn't your fault. Some people have strong demons that over take them and they can't fight them anymore."
"It's all my fault! I should have helped him!" I said through my sobs.
"Lissa you did! You tried to help him. You can't blame yourself."
"I'm sorry. I haven't talked about Benji to anyone. My parents don't even know about the letter he left me" I said sniffling and wiping the tears from my cheeks. "It's hard to talk about. That's half the reason my parents wanted to move. Talking about it. It's like they are ashamed to have a kid that killed himself. That and we have some family here."
"Are you okay?" Sandra said giving me a small smile.
I nodded. "Yeah. Thanks for this" I said motioning at us.
"No problem. I'm always here if you wanna talk."
"Thanks. It's hard being the new kid in this town. Let alone why I'm here."
"I can imagine. And it's okay, I won't tell people why" she said giving me a sympathetic look.
I smiled back. "Appreciate it. Well I better get going. Parents are gonna wonder where I am. I can pick you up for school tomorrow if you want?"
"Beats walking. We're gonna be good friends" she said giving me a cheeky smile and giggling.
I giggled back and shook my head. "Okay, I'll see you in the morning" I said as we walked out of her bedroom and downstairs.
"Okay, see you then" she said walking me out.
I waved at her as I drove off. I felt relieved that I had talked to someone about Benji. I think running into Sandra was the best thing to happen to me so far.

Notes

I'm sorry this took ages. I started this chapter 2 days ago and I have been soooooo busy this weekend. But enjoy!
Lissa and Sandra becoming friends? How will this affect things at school?
-Tina xox