Darn Stupid Brother You Are by Mairee

Chapter 25

(Angel's POV)

I shook my head, trying to brush it off. "The superintendent... He seems off. I don't know why, but I just don't like him."

Hande raised an eyebrow. "Dr. Joe? He seems nice enough."

I sighed, trying to explain. "It's just something about him. He seems too perfect, too smiley. It's creepy."

Hande chuckled. "You're just being paranoid, Angel. He's probably just trying to make a good impression."

But I could see the wheels turning in her head. We hard ran into each other these days during the day because she had counseling sessions during class time, even though I suspected that she was pretending to have mental issues, to have alone time with Dr Christopher, the therapist assigned to her.

I tried to focus on my daily routine, but I couldn't shake the feeling that Dr. Joe's presence had brought a dark cloud over the center.

....

As I walked into the cafeteria with my friends, we made our way to our usual table by the window. We were chatting and laughing, catching up on each other's morning classes. I was looking forward to a normal lunch break, unwinding with my friends.

As we approached our table, I scanned the room, taking in the familiar sights and sounds. That's when I saw him - Hendrix, sitting with his roommates Eddie and Thomas. They were laughing and joking, completely carefree. But Hendrix...Hendrix was different. He was trying to hide it, but I could tell he was in pain. His shoulders were tense, his eyes fixed on his plate.

I felt a pang of concern and excused myself from my friends. "Excuse me, guys, I'll be right back. I just saw Hendrix over there and I want to go say hi."

"Of course, it's always Hendrix," Hande said with a laugh. "You always ditch us whenever you see him.

is like your gravitational pull. You can't resist

made my way over to Hendrix's table, my eyes fixed on him. His roommates didn't seem to notice anything was wrong, but I knew Hendrix too well.

eyes of his roommates, Eddie and Thomas, on me. But I ignored them, my focus solely on Hendrix. I carried my tray to his table, abandoning my friends' table, and sat down across from him. "Hey, I've been

moment, I saw a flash of something - pain, or fear. But then, his mask slipped back into place, and he forced

Angel," he said, his

out, touching his arm, and he shifted back, as if in

nodded, his expression tight. "Yeah, I'm

I knew he wasn't fine. I could see the tension in his shoulders, the way he winced as he moved. I tried to

a bad fall, that's

push the issue. Instead, I tried to make small talk,

to be perfectly okay keeping secrets from me now, which never happened before, and I was not really

I couldn't do anything to stop it. The thought sent a ferling of desperation through

was withdrawing into himself,

wish I had a sister who cared for me

ignored his comment, focusing on Hendrix. I reached out, touching his hand

the tension in his body, but he seemed to

are you two dating? You're always so cozy,

Eddie, their faces ranging from shock to annoyance. Except Thomas, who gave me a secret smile. I didn't want to misinterpret his interest, so I quickly looked away. Hendrix's hand jerked out from under mine, his face closing off. "Shut up,

say that? Now Hendrix was withdrawing

just kept going, oblivious to the tension he was creating. "I mean, come