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Chapter 23 – A New Friend Behind the Screen

It was late at night. The digital clock on the desk glowed red with the block number reading: 1:30AM. All the lights were off, but the screen of a small black laptop illuminated the face of a tired looking brunette, eyes big and blue.

Taptap…tap tap tap…tap tap…

Slender fingers ran over the key bored in rabid succession. Words being written out onto the screen.

‘I just feel so…empty. My friend fusses over me all the time and I can’t help but feel like I’m making him suffer. He’s my best friend…I just…don’t know what else I can do. It feels like I just walk around in a daze, not really…living. I can’t sleep at night because I just relive that night. It’s the same every time I close my eyes. Riku standing there in front of me, happy as can be and then…in a flash he’s on the ground in front of me, just bleeding horribly and I couldn’t stop it. I just end up waking up in a cold sweat…my eyes stinging from so much crying…Will I ever get over what I did to Riku? Everyone keeps saying that it wasn’t my fault…but they’re just lying to make me feel better I guess. I just want to fade away…I don’t want to exist anymore…’

He pushed Enter, the writing being posted into his online blog. He did that a lot. Just hide in his room at Axel’s apartment and work on his journal. It was the only way he dealt with things. He couldn’t talk this out with Roxas. The blond would just worry even more about Sora and that’s exactly not what he wanted. He couldn’t hurt his best friend like that.

Only twenty minutes later, the screen showed that someone had left a note on the entry Sora just made.

“Roses_have_Thorns11,” murmured Sora, reading the name on the screen.

He moved his thumb over the mouse pad and clicked on the link to the message he left.

“‘Wow, it seems like you’ve been going through a lot. I’m so sorry. You need someone that’ll really understand how you feel. I’ve been reading your journals for a while and you don’t deserve to hurt like that. You’re somebody too you know…they just don’t understand you,’” Sora read aloud in a soft voice, somehow being comforted by such a short entry.

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He was right, whoever this person was. Sora had to message him back.

‘Thanks for the message. It made me feel better and you’re right…not even my best friend understands how I feel he actually has someone there for him…It’s just not fair. I just feel so far away from everything….’

Almost immediately the person replied back, surprising Sora.

Roses_have_Thorns11
‘It seems to me that all you need is someone to talk to. I’ll talk to you Sora. My name is Marluxia but you can call me Marly...’

There was a knock on the door, startling Sora and he snapped his laptop shut.

“Wh-What?!” stammered Sora breathlessly as his heart hammered against his ribs, his insides jumping around as if electrified.

“Sora…are you alright?” came Roxas’ soft voice as the door cracked open some, a head of messy blond hair sticking into the room.

“Yeah Roxas, I’m fine,” replied Sora, trying to give a calm voice. “I couldn’t sleep so I thought I’d do homework.”

“Alright,” murmured Roxas sleepily. “Don’t stay up to late or else you’ll be tired tomorrow.”

“Yes Roxas…good night,” Sora said, his eyes glancing every now and then to his laptop.

“Night Sora,” yawned Roxas as he slipped his head out of the room and closed the door.

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Sora waited in the silence for a moment, just waiting to make sure Roxas was really gone. When he thought the cost was clear, Sora opened up the laptop again but was discouraged to see that the person he was taking to was offline. But there was a note left from him.

Roses_have_Thorns11
‘Sorry to cut our chat short Sora but we’ll talk very soon. Just send me a message whenever you need someone to talk to. Add me so we can talk more. ~Your Friend, Marly’

~To be continued…

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