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."

laugh. "You always ditch us whenever you see

Hendrix is like your gravitational pull. You

playfully rolled my eyes and made my way over to Hendrix's table, my eyes fixed on him. His roommates didn't

Hendrix's table, I could feel the 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.

mine. For a moment, I saw a flash of something - pain, or fear. But then, his mask slipped

Angel," he said, his voice

in pain. I felt a jolt of concern and asked, "Hendrix,

his expression tight. "Yeah,

winced as he moved. I tried to get him to open up, to tell me what was

a bad fall, that's all," he said,

but I didn't push the issue. Instead, I tried to make small talk, asking him about his classes,

hate about this place was the fact that it was making a liar out of Hendrix. He seemed to be perfectly okay keeping secrets from me now, which never happened

him, like he was slipping away from me and I couldn't do anything to stop it. The

withdrawing into himself,

up, "I wish I had a sister who cared for me

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

pull away. I could feel the tension in his body, but he seemed to

progress, Eddie chimed in again, "Or are you

from shock to annoyance. Except Thomas, who gave me a secret smile. I didn't want to misinterpret his interest, so

to say that? Now Hendrix was withdrawing again, shutting

the tension he was creating. "I mean, come on, Angel's always fussing