The Kids Aren't Alright (Salem)

[Kailin Bishop]

Word had it that Salem Hirch had his heart broken by Carter Chevalier and he went into a spiraled depression, which, as it so happened, was no longer her business. Ever since the end of her junior year, Salem had been completely distant and she hadn't had a decent conversation with him in a long while.

Her prince charming had been anything but charming in the months that followed and really, there was little that the girl desired more than reconnecting with him. But in the end, Kailin was hurt, and some days she wished she could let him know, but instead she surrounded herself with other people so she didn't have to think about it.

Though in times like those, when Kailin was making an attempt at her Calculus homework, she found her mind wandering to places they haven't been allowed to go in quite a long time. Blue eyes glanced at the Koi swimming within the pond as she pondered the answer of the derivative of y=arcsin(3x).

[Salem Hirch]

Distant was not the word Salem would use to describe the way he'd been. He felt more like the biggest ass that ever existed. Especially when it came to his friends. Months ago he'd told them all to leave him alone. Yelled at them, but that was then. So far it seemed he'd made up with everyone, except one person. One very important person. Kailin.

He honestly didn't expect Goldielocks to believe him, but he would try. Someday...tomorrow maybe? Next week definitely. He was scared to see her, afraid of what she would say. Oh, he knew deep down she would yell at him. Especially when he knew he would tell her of the retreat, the cliff, and....Garrett. For a brief moment, his cheeks flushed a little red and he hoped no one noticed. He was making his way out of school, to go off school grounds, so he could smoke. Not that he'd never smoked inside school grounds, but that was a different story.

As he started walking past the pond, he stopped. There, just sitting there, presumably doing something academic, was the object of his current train of thought. Salem looked toward his destination, then down to the rectangle box in his pocket. "It can wait..." He whispered to himself and he slowly made his way over to Kailin. A fit of butterflies caught in his throat once he was within earshot and he sighed. Once again, he was scared, but he knew he had to. "Ahem.." Clearing his throat, he took a few steps forward. "Hey Kailin..." The blonde boy smiled sheepishly as he stood behind her, hugging himself with one arm.

[Kailin Bishop]

There wasn't much Kailin couldn't understand on the assignment at hand, but if anybody knew her, that wouldn't be much of a shocker, but even still, the blonde's frustration level was rising. Enough, in fact, that she ended up placing the homework into her backpack and shifted towards the pond that so easily captured her distracted attention.

The idle swimming of the fish had the blonde in a bit of a trance when a voice cut through the relative silence, one that wasn't expected in the least. If she were to be honest, it was also a voice she didn't want to hear. Kailin turned her head to see the somewhat familiar face. Instead of offering the same sheepish smile he gave, she turned her head away and gripped the backpack in her possession.

"Hey," Nothing more was said. If he stayed, he stayed. If he left, he left. Either way, nothing he did would surprise her at this point, or so she figured.

[Salem Hirch]

For a moment, Salem watched her staring at the water. She seemed so deep in thought, and he thought maybe this wasn't the best time to approach her. Then she turned. He really didn't know what to expect when she did, but the way she flatly said her hello, the turning her back to him...that said enough. That anger Salem still felt in him rose for a moment, but once again it wasn't pointed at anyone but himself. In fact, this was worse than normal. The illusionist's blue eyes puddled with tears, but he held them back. Kailin had every right to be mad at him.

He had hurt her, shunned her away. For what? To make himself better? Apparently, it only made him worse. Dropping his face to the ground he sighed heavily. "Kales...I.." Normally he'd know exactly what to say. Exactly what to tell her to make her feel all better, but it was different now. How do you make it better, when you were the one that caused the pain? Salem sure didn't know, but he was going to try. He had to at least tell her something.

"I know I can't make it up to you, but I'm really sorry." His voice cracked just a little as the little puddles in his eyes threatened to over flow. "Bad things happened, and I didn't handle them well...not well at all. I needed you, and I pushed you away. Nothing I can do or say can really express how sorry I am..." Clenching his fist, he managed to compose himself a little. Finally, he looked up and he finally really noticed where they were. "Huh.." He chuckled softly and mostly to himself. "This is where we first met..." Salem's voice was soft, and he didn't intend for her to hear that part, but didn't mind if she did.

"Well...I just wanted to say that...I'll leave you alone if you want me too.." It hurt him to say that, but if that was what she wanted, he would.

[Kailin Bishop]

Some people may have been considerate enough to try and stop Salem from crying in that moment, but where was he when she was crying? Hell, her tears were in part by him, especially when he did nothing but push her away in some of the most hurtful way possible. Her best friend, who was also her boyfriend, cheated on her and broke her heart. Then the only other person she felt she could trust, who she figured could never hurt her in the way Anthony could, managed to make things so much worse.

"No, you really can't," Kailin said simply, her fists clenching immediately as she returned his statement on making it up to her. There was absolutely nothing that could excuse leaving a friend in pain and causing them more pain in the process; even when the Illusion Manipulator hurt from the breakup, she still stood by Salem's side when he found out about his brother - Hell, she put up with Anthony's presence when he was there too. And yet she got the short end of the stick.

There was no denying he made a comment on how this was the spot that they first met, and in that moment it made her want to run, get away from the memory. A good memory, a tainted one. Instead, Kailin decided to ignore the fact that he even said it. "I needed you. I had lost one best friend, and you decided it would be okay to break my heart just as badly as Anthony did even after I helped you." No eye contact was made, not even a twitch of her head in his direction.

"And all you can say is you're sorry?"

[Salem Hirch]

Salem planted his feet in the ground a little. He wasn't sure what was about to come, but he knew it wouldn't be good. He was right. The blonde boy knew the moment she spoke again that she was going to let him have it. Though, he had to wonder if she remember she wasn't the only one he told to go away. He said it to everyone that was there, even Anthony. It was nothing new for Kailin to be a little self centered. Hell, he'd come to expect if every now and then, but he found it kind of charming. In an odd sort of way. It was like this sweet kind girl, who could seemingly do no wrong...had a bit of a dark side.

Another heavy sigh escaped his chest and he refused to look up fully. "You're right Kales...you're absolutely right...I wasn't there. You did need me..." There was a surprising bit of a bite behind his words. A little surge of anger that he quickly subdued and nothing more. "And yes, all I can say is sorry. I never meant to hurt you.... I just...I dont know what happened...or how i was supposed to handle things....it was my fault...all of it...I even..." He paused for a moment.

In that moment, his mind went back to the retreat, to the cliff and what he had planned on doing. " I even tried to...take out the common denominator....." Salem really hoped she got that, he couldn't tell her the exact words. "So, yell at me, scream if you need to. I deserve it...really."