River
I waltzed down the halls in determination. I was about to do something stupid, but to hell with it.
The bell for class had rung and everyone had dispersed to their designated areas. The halls were empty.
I stood outside of the office and paused. I couldn't believe I was going to do this. I glanced around and after making sure the coast was clear I slipped into the office.
I looked around the dark office and made my way toward the desk. Pictures and posters liked the wall of the small counselors room. I glanced toward the door and sat in the chair scanning the desk. I leaned over and grabbed the cool handle of the drawer and opened it looking at all the files.
"Okay then." I said sifting through the names. Welp he wasn't in this one.
I opened another drawer and tensed when it made a loud metallic noise. I bit my lip nervously I shot a look to the door before opening it. My fingers ran over the names and I came to a halt when I found his.
Princeston, Daimen S.
I cautiously slid out the file, mentally noting that he was between Evan and Quint since it wasn't in alphabetical order.
My eyes scanned over the file before I opened it. I went to the noted paper.
____________________
DAIMEN S. PRINCESTON
BIRTH DATE: 10/23/1997
HAIR CLR: brwn/blk
EYE CLR: amber
RACE: Caucasian
HEIGHT: 6'4"
MOTHER: Kimberly Princeston Contact: N/A
FATHER: James Princeston Contact: Deceased
THERAPIST: Dr. Harrison J. Keiley
ALLERGIES to PEANUTS, high risk of episode if coming in contact with any substance i.e. Peanut[oil, butter, etc.]. Seek immediate medical help if he is exposed.
DIAGNOSIS:
IED - 02/15/2008
[following diagnosis goes in hand with I. E. D./ treatment for it will suffice for other conditions]
DEPRESSION - 06/08/2009
PSYCHOSIS - 09/16/2013
MEDICATION to be distributed to if needed.
____________________
I read the paper and frowned. His dad was dead? He was allergic to peanuts? He had depression and psychosis, I guess he really was crazy... Shouldn't he be at a health facility then, instead of this damn school? And what the hell was IED?
I stared at the paper for awhile and sighed before putting it down against the desk. I glanced back toward the door and tensed as I saw someone walk by. Quickly my hand grasped the file and shoved it back to where it was originally at.
I hurried out of the room and into the hallway before making my way fast down the corridor.
"Where are you running off to?" I froze at a voice and slowly turned.
"Oh, h-hey Daimen." I said stuttering and he narrowed his eyes at me. Chills ran down my spine and my palms started to sweat.
"Sup?" He asked eyeing me suspiciously and I gulped.
"Nothing!" I squealed loudly and he just tilted his head.
"Sure. Come on Sparrow. I know how to make a bird sing." Daimen said waltzing over to me and grabbing my arm.
He pulled me into an empty science laboratory and shut the door folding his arms and leaning a few feet away from me against a table.
His back was to me as he messed with something on the tabletop before saying casually, "So, what're you hiding?"
River
"What's IED?" I blurted out and Daimen froze. Way to be subtle River. He whirled around to face me and his eyes were squinted in suspicion.
His jaw clenched and he fixed me with an unnerving stare.
"How do you know about that?" He growled. He took a step toward me. I looked away from his vicious eyes.
"How?" He barked and I bit my lip.
"I... I went into the counselor's office and looked at your file..." I whispered. He let out a huff and ran a hand through his hair. For a bit he was quiet.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?! Huh?" He yelled suddenly and I backed away.
"Daimen I just--" I tried, but he turned away and cleared the counter with a swipe of his arm. I yelped as glasses broke against the floor and papers scattered everywhere.
"Shut the fuck up!" He ordered and I began inching away from him.
He abruptly turned back to me and grabbed my arm before slamming me into the wall. I let out a squeal as he began running his hands along my waist.
I gasped as he gripped my hips before running his hands along my thighs and for a moment everything went blank. I was frozen, why was he feeling me up?
My stomach churned as his hands moved on and I squirmed uncomfortably as his hands moved along before slipping to my backside.
Okay, I'd rather have him trying to kill me.
"Daimen--" I said softly and he ignored me as his hands ran against my butt. Finally he stopped and stepped back holding my phone. Then it all made sense.
He wasn't trying to feel my goods; he was looking for my phone. I couldn't help sighing with relief.
Daimen typed away at my lock screen and in seconds was in my phone.
"How'd you know my-"
"You don't guard it well. Now shut up." He growled and started going through my pictures. My eyes widened, but I was too stunned to tell him to stop. I watched as he went through my bundles of quotes and random pictures before he paused on one. His eyes studied it showing nothing but the same stoic expression he'd been wearing for the past few moments.
"Who was this going to?" He asked and I frowned. I couldn't see what he was looking at until he turned the phone to me. I bit the inside of my cheek at the picture of me in a bikini and pretty much died inside of embarrassment.
"N-no one." I said and Daimen frowned and turned the phone back to his eyes.
"You know River, people tend to stutter when they're lying. It wouldn't be wise to lie to me." He said and I frowned.
"It went to no one." Why does it matter if it had? I wanted to add that last part, but I didn't.
"Whatever," Daimen said and opened my messages. He scrolled through them and after a while closed out and tossed my phone back to me. I caught it, thankfully.
"You didn't tell anyone did you?" He asked and I shook my head.
"No." I said and he gave me a long look.
"If you're lying to me I swear I'll make your life hell." Daimen spat and I looked at him with a soft frown.
"I'm not lying." I said breathily.
For a while he was silent and my heart pounded with nervousness.
"IED stands for intermittent explosive disorder." Daimen cleared his throat.
"'Intermittent explosive disorder involves repeated, sudden episodes of impulsive, aggressive, violent behavior or angry verbal outbursts in which the person reacts grossly out of proportion to the situation. Road rage, domestic abuse, throwing or breaking objects, or other temper tantrums may be signs of it.' I can't tell you how many times I've heard that sentence. Apparently therapists and doctors read from the same bullshit." The boy gave a bitter smirk and part of me almost felt bad.
"In other words, I just snap." Daimen said and gave me a long look. I nodded slowly.
"So... you don't mean to?" I questioned.
"Why the fuck are you so interested?" Daimen spat and glared at me. My mouth ran dry as he turned away from me and began sifting through the mess he'd made.
"I'm just wondering." I said and he shot me a look and began rummaging through a pantry. He came out with a broom and began sweeping up the shards and debris. He swept a while and grabbed a dust pan and collected the pile he'd accumulated. He dumped the mess in the trash and after putting everything back into place turned his gaze to me.
"Don't look at me like that." He snapped and I frowned in confusion.
"What?" I breathed.
"You're looking at me like I'm some charity case. If you think that, you're more of an idiot than I thought." Daimen said and sneered at me.
"I don't think you're a charity case, I think you're an asshole." I said truthfully, surprising myself. Daimen looked surprised too.
"Good." He said after a pause and gave a curt nod. I shook my head softly and gnawed on my bottom lip.
"Sure." I said and continued to bite my lip. I looked at the ground. This was starting to get awkward.
Not that it wasn't awkward to begin with.
"Okay then. Well River, how about we just stay out of each other's way for the rest of the school year?" Daimen said and I nodded.
"That's fine with me." I said feeling relieved.
Daimen gave a curt nod and sucked on his teeth. He gave another nod and started toward the door. He paused before he left, his back to me, and started to say something. I frowned at his back waiting for whatever he was going to say, but instead of talking he just gave a shake of his head and walked out the door.
So that's how it went. For the rest of the school year we walked by each other like we'd never spoken. We ignored each other in classes and at lunch. We became invisible to each other.
The only time we aknowleged each other again was at our graduation and only because we'd been seated alphabetically and my seat was, surprise surprise, right beside Daimen's. Which I found shocking that either no one at our school had last names beginning with "Q" or "R", or they all decided to skip graduation.
Beforehand, we'd all had to wait in a gym and Daimen and I weren't really pleased to find we'd have to sit beside each other for three hours... moreover that we'd have to stand there side by side while the faculty made sure of who all was present.
That shouldn't've taken that long right? Wrong. We were in there, standing-doing nothing-we couldn't even have our phones, for an hour and a forty-something minutes.
"So... how ya been?" Daimen asked and I looked over to him, trying to see if he was actually talking to me or not. He was.