@blue_topaz
“Thanks guys. Okay, give me second, my brother needs something.”
Phoebe switched to her chat with Elide.
“I don’t know what to do. Should we call the police??”
“Thanks guys. Okay, give me second, my brother needs something.”
Phoebe switched to her chat with Elide.
“I don’t know what to do. Should we call the police??”
"… I don't know. If we do Josh will get mad at us for going behind his back but if we don't things could get worse…"
"But that's the thing. It would get better in some ways, but much worse in others. He and his brother can't prove how shitty their whole family is… they'd end up with someone worse, eventually. And even if they didn't….. Telling someone else didn't go well when El tried it.. I don't know anymore."
”Let’s just ser what Josh says when he’s back. If he says it’s worse we’ll have to call the police… um, Damien is a lawyer, that’s why I mentioned it so he could help if it comes to that…”
"Sounds like a plan."
Phoebe bit her lip, waiting for Josh to return. Eventually, a little '…' appeared to show that he was typing.
"I'm back, sorry. My brother needed help."
”Is everything okay there?” Elide leaned back in her bed.
"The shouting has died down. Sort of. It's better."
Phoebe sighed. "Thank god for that. What do you want us to do?"
"Just.. talk, I guess. I don't know. I miss Jane."
”Why don’t we wake her up ;) Spam her phone until she does?”
Phoebe could almost see Josh stare at the text, move to type something, stop himself, then repeat.
"Sure. Thanks. I don't mean it as an offense to any of you– Phoebe knows what I mean. She can calm me down better than anyone."
Despite the predicament, Phoebe smiled. "We get it, don't worry. Anything to make you feel better,"
She immediately switched chats and began to spam Jane.
Elide giggles quietly, ”It’s fine Josh.” She then began to rapid fire text Jane.
Lying awake in her bed, Jane heard a soft pinging coming from the kitchen. She sat bolt upright. Her phone. She'd forgotten to turn it on silent. Not a single noise came from her mom's room, which was lucky, she hadn't heard anything yet. Holding her breath, Jane slipped out of her bed and into the kitchen, praying she wasn't heard. Due to Josh's situation, she'd tried to 'forget' her phone in her room, but her mom had been relentless, and she'd been left with nothing to do but try (and fail) to fall asleep.
In more ways than one, her mother embodied the Asian stereotype, which annoyed her, and right now, it frightened her. If she was caught out of bed with a beeping phone…… That's when a thought struck her. Josh. It had to be Josh, Something was wrong.
She couldn't unlock her phone quickly enough, the first thing she saw being the texts from Elide and Phoebe. Stomach knotting, she texted them both the same thing. "What's wrong??? Is josh okay??"
”Kinda. But he said he’d calm down if you text him sooooooo, yeah.”
"He's….. well, he was terrible, but he's a little better now. He needs you." Phoebe texted.
Jane bit her lip, texting them both the same thing again. "Sorry I wasn't on, take the Asian stereotype and apply it to my mom and you've got the reason I haven't been texting." She quickly turned her ringer on silent, tip-toeing back into her room just as Phoebe added her to a group chat. Scrolling through the earlier messages, she furrowed her brow in concern.
"Hey guys, I'm on now, mom was being difficult. Josh are you sure you're okay???"
Elide breathed a sigh of relief when she was Phoebe text back. Gosh she hoped everything would work out fine.
Josh sent back a quick reply. “Hey, Jane. Sorry about your mom. I’m.. better, I guess.”
“1-10?”
“1.5.”
“Shit, okay, what do you need right now? Comfort, or space? A distraction? Or do you want to talk about it?”
Elide bit her lip and suddenly felt really tired. She sighed and text Phoebe privately, "Hey, I'm feeling kinda tired, I think I'm gonna go to sleep, sorry."
“No problem, goodnight Elide. Sleep tight <3”
"You too xx" Elide turned her phone off and placed it beside her, quickly falling asleep.
(Time skip?)
Yeha sure, before school or during?
Uh.. idk, during?
Lunch or before?
Lunch sounds good
Phoebe set her tray down at her usual table, glancing around. Neither Elide nor Jane were anywhere to be seen, and both Josh and El were away. She sighed, taking a seat and opening her sketchbook.
Elide got out of class late and hurriedly tried to make her way to the cafeteria. She noticed Matt on her way there and stayed away from him. She swallowed and smiled when she noticed Phoebe, walking up and sitting beside her quietly.
“Hey,” Phoebe greeted, shyly peeking up at Elide through strands of messy brown hair. She ducked her head back over her sketchbook, tracing a few rough lines before sliding it into the other girl’s lap. “I, uh, drew you. It’s messy, sorry.”
Elide smiled softly down at the drawing, then glanced at Phoebe, "I love it." She looked down at the drawing again, biting her lip as the smile grew a fraction.
Phoebe ran a hand through her hair, slightly embarrassed. “Thanks— I, um… I was bored in class, I couldn’t stop thinking about you, so—“ She gestured messily to the sketch, a blush rising to her cheeks.
Elide nodded, "I wish I could draw as good as you…" She said softly, admiring he picture and taking in every detail about it.
Phoebe bit down on her chapped bottom lip, ducking her head again to hide her flushed face. “Thanks— I wish I could take pictures as well as you.”
"Thanks, Phoebe." Elide handed her sketch book back, her soft and small smile still there as she did so.
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