Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening/Night(whichever one it is in your part of the world),
Hi! I'm Kate and I'm here to leave a quick review!!
First Impression
Well this is quite the continuation from all of that. Good to see all of that horror getting properly explored and we can now see just all of those effects bearing down in full and just how badly its going for Christen trying to live with all of this right now.
Anyway let's get right to: Kate's Line by Line Reactions;
Behind the school, Christen stood perched on icy rails, watching his surroundings with a shaky hand. He drew for his lighter. Because of the snow, most students were inside keeping warm; however, not this imposter. Instead, he was sitting on white-covered benches, simply reading.
An exact mimic of what his ex-boyfriend would do.
Well looks like we're building off from that shocking moment from earlier and now we're learning that was perhaps an ex boyfriend which I don't know if we actually knew earlier.
What a damn weirdo, Christen thought, taking a long puff of his cigarette. He struggled to understand why he was out here; he could be warm and cozy inside, but nope. After everyone had acknowledged this—whoever this was—he hadn't seen them, probably in class. But screw class when this is more important than boring business basics!
How they are not freaked out by this is beyond him; doesn't it strike them as odd that some new guy, with a face mirroring Adrian's to a tee, is walking around school grounds?
Oooh well it seems they've all decided its not that much of a thing to worry about after all. And there's some hints that this is someone else just with a very similar or exactly similar face. Well that does looks it would present a lot of issues.
Christen gripped his abdomen and groaned, his cigarette falling to the ground as he crunched forward. "Fuck," he grumbled, eyes tightly shut. Coming to, he glanced up and jerked back, heart pounding out of his chest when he saw him.
"Are... you, okay?"
Well looks like Christen who was in total command in those earlier chapters is really coming up a little short in this one and reacting very strongly to this one phenomenon. Really left floundering and it shows how deep this effect has been at the moment.
That voice. He covered his mouth and shut his eyes tighter than before. He rapidly inhaled cold air into his lungs; his throat felt as if it was closing up. Something caused him to peek at this guy again. He slowly reopened his left eye, glancing through his thick lashes, and was met with blinding baby blues.
Christen's mouth filled with saliva, thickly sticking to the roof of his mouth and gums. However, what broke him was when Adrian cocked his head. He wrenched hard and turned swiftly, leaving.
He ran straight to the bathrooms, bumping into walls and doors. He kicked open a stall and emptied his stomach.
Definitely can't blame him for running away there. Christen really looks like he is barely surviving in this moment. If he has an actual conversation at this point man looks like he might just collapse and fully crash.
After what felt like an eternity, Christen batted his lashes, sniffed, and moved off the ground, disgusted. His vision was dazed; trying to move seemed to end with him colliding with walls. Eventually, he made it through the bathroom doors, carelessly swinging it open and stumbling out.
Students raised brows at his weird movements, some thinking it was the drugs. And maybe it was.
Well looks like the kind of thing he does on a daily basis isn't making it easy for him to actually get any concern out of everyone given this could also easily be a withdrawal from all of that.
He couldn't catch his breath as he staggered through the crowd. Sweat and a tinge of vomit smeared his face; he felt the blood rushing to his cheeks, the deafening sound of his heart beating like a drum in his ears as he darted across the hall. Mechanically stopping at Adrian's locker, Christen gritted his teeth at the image of that imposter taunting him, edging him, and turning his confusion into anger. He clenched his fist and bared it against the locker, over and over again, startling and drawing eyes from students who stopped to watch.
"Hey...! Hey...! Christen!"
He was pulled away, dragged into arms, and squeezed into a familiar chest.
Ooh well looks like as he was right about to hit that lowest point there he managed to resurface out of the whole thing with a bit of help there. I wonder what that'll be and if that's going to have an effect.
Michael
In the dimly lit classroom, the flickering light of the film casts a bluish glow on the faces of the students. Some are fully engrossed, their eyes fixed on the screen as they diligently jot down notes in their notebooks. Others, however, struggle to stay awake, heads nodding intermittently or resting on their folded arms.
Hm looks like a little POV change here into a much calmer little situation here. Just all of them a little bit more relaxed and it looks like for once actually doing some schoolwork too.
In the back row, Michael was deeply fixated upon the movie, yet his unblinking eyes said something else. He was stiff in his chair, relying on his elbow for support. His brown, dull eyes scooped up the characters shuffling around as he silently tapped his pen against blank sheets. He was never present to begin with when it came to this class; he thought the teacher's style of pedagogy was dead and difficult to follow, especially when the movies she put on weren't exactly attention-grabbing.
As the movie played, he thought back to earlier and couldn't help but cringe. A face he swore he'd never see again secured itself, claiming a place in his mind once more. The foreign memory of them driving around, getting drunk, and partying led to devastation, tears, and many, many court hearings. He had promised himself to never look back at that night, to simply forget it because that was the plan, a simple, easy plan.
Hmm well this is interesting. Looks like we're slowly linking a little bit back to where this all stems from. It seems even in the more calm collected moments here, everyone else is affected by that too, just on not as visceral of a level as Christen.
But that face, the mannerisms, everything was a perfect mimic of Adrian. It made him want to puke; only the sheer will to keep his cool in front of Christen stopped him. Christen... seeing that guy must have been hard. Well, no shit, he didn't exactly expect to see a carbon copy of his dead ex-boyfriend walking around today, did he?
He's worried about Christen; he always is. Who else would be if he wasn't?
The gritty sound of the bell snapped him from his thoughts. Michael swallowed and exhaled, standing as he quickly grabbed his things and made a hasty exit. He wanted to make sure everything was still intact as before, that everyone still knew the situation. So, in his rush, Michael pulled out his phone:
Well looks like they're going through a bit more than you'd think there. Michael feeling it too as all the thoughts come in hard and really hit down on them there. Can't exactly blame the poor guy.
He pressed send and took a deep breath. Continuing down the hall, he stopped, seeing an enraged Christen beating at Adrian's old locker. For a moment, he stood there watching as sadness and soaring desperation captured Christen's expression. He'd never seen him like this, so emotionally driven. Well, no—he had seen this side of him, and that too he wished to forget.
Wasting no more time, he acted. Rushing over, he pulled him away and tucked him into his chest, shielding Christen from peering eyes. Michael said nothing when he felt his undershirt wetting; he simply buried the brunette deeper into his chest and cooed silent nothings into his hair.
Oooh so Micheal was the one then, well that links the two POV's really nicely then. I was worried earlier it was going to be Adrian somehow and it was only going to make everything ten times worse but maybe now we're going to see some actual comfort.
The halls were thankfully emptying by the second. As they stood there, Michael gazed over a passing figure, and his clutch around Christen only tightened.
The figure stopped and worriedly coaxed his brows. "Is...is...everything okay?"
Michael's eyes widened, and he trembled, nodding. The doppelgänger took solace in his confirmation and walked away.
Well that's an interesting moment. The first actual interaction it would seem. Really went by quite a bit smoother than I was expecting that to and the way there was concern definitely only makes things a lot more curious now.
Even his walk, he thought dreadfully, it's the exact copy. Michael looked onward as he got further away. He glanced back at Christen and, if it was possible, held him closer. The ominous tightening in his stomach and chest told him something wasn't right.
His phone pinged. He sighed and successfully fished it from his pocket.
Michael eyed the message that followed, an attached image that turned his face pale white.
Well looks like this has gone a little worse than everyone expected there in that particular moment. Well we'll see what becomes of this as we keep on this path. Looks like things are getting crazier and crazier.
Aaand that's it for this oneee!!!
Overall
Overall I think this was quite a neat little addition, us seeing Christen in a different light, in this broken down state where every horrible thing we saw him do in the previous one haunts him so hard right now to the point we genuinely feel so much sympathy for him. Really powerful turnaround here, I'm excited what more will come of this.
As always remember to: Take what you think was helpful and forget the rest!
Stay Safe and Have a Nice Day!
Kate
Kate
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