Come Inside

Intervention

Chelsea kept on having the same nightmares every night. She saw Stella being taken away by someone. On one hand, she needed to talk to someone about it and on the other, she knew there was no point in sharing how terrified she was. The nightmares can be the manifestation of her pain she feels due to Stella's absence.

She didn't sleep for days. She chose to avoid talking to people. It was the fourth day of dodging calls from her parents. She made excuses so she wouldn't have to go to Stella's house. She wanted to forget everything but she knew it wouldn't be over until and unless Stella returns.

Andrew was disturbed with the way Chelsea was behaving for the past few days. He grew more and more worried about her. She was his responsibility. He wanted to help her, to comfort her but Chelsea never let him in. Andrew called his mother to sort the issue but they ended up arguing. He wanted to give Chelsea some space but at the same time didn't want her to feel alone. He wanted her to know that no matter what happens, he will always be there for her.

He felt a little guilty for not feeling bad for Stella. He wasn't surprised when he first heard the news. He never really liked her. She was an attention seeker after all, even tried to flirt with him innumerable times, but he never really complained about it to Chelsea. He thought that his reaction would give Stella something to lead on. Seeing her with a different guy each week, it appeared to him that she didn't really care about anybody's feelings. She even loved to insult people. Andrew now wondered why did Chelsea make a friend like Stella. She didn't deserve a good friend like Chelsea.

Meanwhile, Chelsea got up and left early for the fifth time this week. She wanted to avoid Andrew and his intervention that he'd been planning for weeks now. She didn't want to hurt him but couldn't bear to listen to him either. Reaching the school before anyone else, she sat in the cafeteria. All she wanted was to be alone. She didn't pay attention in any of her classes and pretended to write notes whenever she made eye- contact with her teachers. After her last class was over, she took off and went to the cafeteria again. Margaret saw Chelsea sitting at the corner all by herself. Her tray lying untouched in front of her.

'Hey.' Margaret said and took a seat beside her.

She picked up the apple from Chelsea's tray, 'This apple looks really good.'

'Look, you can have whatever you want.'

'You didn't answer your phone. Is this about Stella again?'

Chelsea hid her face with her hands. 'How could she do that to me, to her mom, to everybody? She can't just take off like that. God knows where she is now.'

'Wherever she is, she is safe, Chelsea.' Margaret said tried consoling her. 'You can't just stop eating or talking because of all that.'

'How do you know that?'

'I just know. You need to take care of yourself.' Margaret smiled and pushed the tray closer to her. 'Just eat something.'

'Thanks for being here.' Chelsea picked up her spoon and began eating. 'Hey, you wanted to talk to me and Andrew about something? I saw your text yesterday.'

'Yeah, about that, can you and Andrew meet me at the coffee house near the school tomorrow?' Margaret asked.

'Is it about Eric?'

'Definitely not.'

'So, tomorrow at 6.'