Eve

Rain fell onto our new metal roof. I could hear it splashing down, not caring that I was trying to sleep. I still held my razor blade firmly in my hand; I could feel the blood dripping down into the towel. The pain was so fierce, my body was numbed. The tears had stopped a while ago. I squeezed my eyes even tighter shut and prayed that no one would come into my room tonight. I was replaying the dismal day at school I had just experienced over and over in my head.

“Eve, c’mon we are going to be late for class!” My best friend Tripp was standing there in all of his glory, whining yet again. His real name wasn’t Tripp. It was William Cooper III, but everyone called him Tripp for short.

I was still pulling things out of my locker. I could never find anything in there.

I turned around and gave him my best smile. “You are going to have to wait one more moment. I won’t be long, and anyway, when did you become so interested in school?” I sighed and slammed closed my dark green, metal locker door.

Tripp rolled his turquoise eyes and ran his fingers through his jet black, shaggy hair. “I don’t like school, just to day I don’t want to be late. Okay?” He sounded impatient and looked around angrily when the warning bell rang. I rolled my eyes. What was so important to him that we practically had to sprint to maths? He hated maths anyway. He failed it almost every year. We walked into the class, and our teacher, Mr. Shirn, was lecturing people about drawing instead of working in his class. The front row was cowering away from the spit flying out at all angles of his mouth. We trudged up the back to our usual seats and began to pull out our books. I glanced up at Tripp; he was staring at something, no someone, in the middle row. It was the new girl, her name was Cassie, or something like that. She had wavy blonde hair; brown eyes and the smile that made everyone want to smile with her. I could see he was completely infatuated, just like every other boy in Year 11. My heart jumped as I realized this, a twang of something hit me, made me lose my breath. And then I realized what it was. I was jealous. This was just great, why after all this time am I jealous now? I sighed; sometimes being me was never easy.

I made my way through all of the questions set and sat there watching, waiting for everyone else to finish. I had never been good at maths but I was good at trig. A piece of my dark brown hair flopped down over my moss green coloured eyes. I pushed it out of my vision, twirling it around my finger. The bell rang and I was grateful. I got quickly out of my chair and ran to the bathrooms, hoping I could cut away my pain.

I heard my name being called and it snapped me out of my day dream.

“Eve! Tripp is on his way up to see you.” It was my mother. My body froze. I knew I wasn’t going to have enough time to hide the blood and the blade, as well as the bloody towel. So I didn’t move. I shut my eyes and hoped he wouldn’t scream when he saw me. I heard my door creak open; the light was blinding, even through my closed lids.

“Eve? You in here?” I heard him close the door and walk over to the bedside table lamp. It switched on and he gasped. I knew he had seen me. I was lying there, paler then my usual porcelain skin was, my hair scattered around my round face and my eyes were shut. He gently touched the inside of my neck, feeling my pulse.

“Hello Tripp.” I whispered, opening my eyes slightly. I could see he was scared, fighting his instincts to go and tell someone.

“Eve! Are you okay? What’s going on? Why are you doing this?” His words were as jumbled as his feelings, they were practically written across his face.

I smiled slightly, gently letting go of the blade in my right hand. I pushed myself up, wrapping my hand in the towel while doing so. I glanced down at my hand to see how much damage had been done. I could see my veins, pumping, and bright red liquid spilled out onto my skin. I quickly wrapped it back up in the towel.

“I’m not happy Tripp, and I do this to make me feel better. But I’m okay. You just caught me at a wrong time. Don’t freak out.” I reassured him. His hand gently picked up the blade that I had left sitting on my bed sheets. He examined it closely, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration.

“Eve,” he started, glancing back from me to the razor blade, “This is not healthy. And you’re not stupid so I know you know this. You need help. But I’m not going to say anything. If you promise it won’t happen again. Okay?” He looked at me sternly. I could see this was something he was determined about. He wasn’t going to let this one drop. He held my injured hand in his.

I sighed. If only he knew what I go through at home. If only…

“Okay. You have a deal. Just…don’t tell my parents…please?” I looked at him and my eyes started to water with the thought of Tripp knowing exactly what I spent my nights doing. The pain in my hand was growing and I wanted to scream out in agony. I just bit my lip and held the towel tighter, ignoring the blood seeping through the layers. The pain was worse then usual. Maybe I had cut something vital; maybe I had cut something important. Oh well.

His jaw was tight and he nodded stiffly. “Alright. Now let me look at your hand, its bleeding quite a lot.” He started to unwind the towel. I pulled my hand away, afraid of what he would see and what he would do.

“My dad’s a surgeon remember? He taught me everything he knows.”

I relaxed and tenderly gave him back my hand. The pain was almost unbearable.

He winced at the sight. My hand was split open down the center. The blood was stopping, drying up. My fingers were going numb from blood loss.

“We are going to have to act fast if you still want your hand in the morning.” He said gravely. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a needle and thread. This stumped me.

“Why are you carrying that? It’s not something most people keep in their pockets.” He grinned and examined the cut one more time.

“I’m going to have to go and get some antiseptic and gauze. Come with me back to my house…actually no. Wait here; I’ll only be a second.”

I nodded and smiled grimly. My head was starting to spin, my heart was thumping erratically. He only lived next door, he should be okay. Tripp smiled and ran out of my door.

As I lay in my bed, I heard the muffled conversation between my mother and him. I only got snippets of what they were saying.

“She… what?..” my mothers voice said.

“She….over…ill…back. Don’t Worry…” Tripp’s smooth voice spoke back. He sounded so convincing and sincere. He was a good actor. I heard the door slam shut.

The pain in my hand was making my head spin. It was like someone was slowly turning everything off. I was fading away into the gloomy darkness when Tripp burst in through my door, doctor’s kit in hand. I squinted at him and he let out a worried groan.

“You look awful, stay still.” He brushed my hair out of my face, his large hand lingered there next to me, cupping my face. While he stared, the oddest expression crossed his features. He shook his head and went back to his bag.

I gulped when I saw the syringe he pulled out. He was filling it with a clear serum and I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth as the metal was inserted in my forearm. But the pain of the needle was nothing compared to the pain coming from the gash. He numbed my entire arm, and then grabbed the bloody towel and blade and pushed them into his bag. After that he grabbed his needle and thread and went to work. I ignored the slight tugging sensation as my skin was pulled back together. I knew if I looked down I would pass out. I had never been good with needles.

After five minutes of careful sewing, my hand was bandaged and ready to heal. I smiled and moved my fingers back and forth, reveling in the sensation. I could feel the stitches and I stopped, wincing at the pain. I looked up at Tripp as he was packing away the last of his things.

“Thank you…I know if you had not have turned up…I wouldn’t be here tomorrow. Thank you” I mumbled. I knew I didn’t sound sincere, but it was the best I could manage. His head snapped up when I said the last sentence. I knew he now knew how I was feeling.