Chapter Twenty Four

* Slight Warning - Things do get a little touchy, and references to cutting are made in this chapter. Some memories may be brought back by reading this, and if you don't feel comfortable enough to read it, message me and I can simply tell you what happened. I want none of you to feel upset or disturbed by this chapter, so I figured I would inform you of its contents ahead of time, before you read it. Anyway, please enjoy this chapter, and if you need me at all, my inbox is always open.*

*Andi's P.O.V*

"Hello, this is Mindy in the teen clinic! How may I help you?" Answered a cheery voice on the other end of the phone.

"M- Mindy, are you alone?" I whispered as I got up from my seat in Starbucks, and hurried into the hopefully vacant girls bathroom.

As I entered, I checked each stall to make sure I was alone. Thankfully, I was. Mindy answered as I locked the bathroom from the inside, "Uhm, yes, I'm alone. May I ask who is calling?"

Returning to the stalls, I enter the last one and shut the door behind me. Sitting on the wet floor, I held my cell phone to my ear, "It's Andi, Andi Griffin."

"Oh! Hello there Andi! How are you feeling back home?" She asked me with an awkward and uneasy tone of voice.

"I'm doing bad, and I need your help again. Please," I spoke into the receiver. She had told me earlier in her office, that she would help me and be here for me when I needed help. And it was now that I needed her help the most.

"Oh, okay. What do you need help with Andi? Are you hurt again?" Mindy asked in a worried voice.

I thought about my answer before I responded. I didn't want to lie, but I needed to convince her to help me. I finally replied. "You know about what happened with me, Niall, and Tony the janitor, right?"

"I do, and it's such a shame...Niall seemed like a good kid. And Tony was always a joy to speak too," she said shamefully.

My eyes grew wide and my jaw dropped, "Oh my god Mindy, that is the biggest load of crap I've ever heard," I whisper yelled, censoring myself for her sake.

Mindy quietly chuckled on the other side of the line, "Why do you say that honey?"

"Do you remember when I came in with all those cuts and bruises? You told me my ribs were cracked?" I prayed she knew what I was talking about, and didn't try to act dumb and 'forget'.

She sighed heavily sniffed, "Yes, I do remember that. I was worried about you for the whole rest of the week after that. You never came back for me to check on you," she scolded.

I scoffed, "I'm okay now, trust me. But, I lied about what happened to me. I mean, I did get beat up, I just didn't tell you who did it," I took a deep breath, "It was Tony. It was him the whole time, I was just to scared to tell anybody."

Mindy gasped, then lowered her voice, "Are you telling me the truth right now? Because that is a big accusation to make Andi, it could get a lot of people in trouble."

"Tony is already dead,' I murmured sarcastically.

"I heard that," she responded at a normal volume.

'Well good! Tony was an asshole who got what was coming to him," I retorted back.

Mindy huffed into the receiver, "Watch your tongue missy," pausing briefly, allowing me to mutter an apology. She went on, "All I've heard on the news is that he was found dead on the side of the building, with Niall's prints on his body. I didn't look into it much, but I'm guessing you did?"

"Yeah I did," I said matter-of-factly. I stopped my speech to listen to the voices outside of the bathroom. When I came in here, most of the customers were leaving, probably going back to work or something. And so far, nobody had knocked on the door, or tried to get in. So for now, I was safe.

I continued my story, "I looked into it and there was absolutely no videos found of Tony hurting me, none at all. And every time he harassed me, it was a place with cameras present. And there always on, right?" I asked.

Mindy grunted a sound of agreement before I went on, "And every time, I was either in the café or in the teen hall."

"Are you sure those were the only places he hurt you?" She said loudly as she shuffled through what seemed to be papers and files.

I sighed to myself, "Yeah, other then the roof the night everything went down, that's it. Are there camera on the roof?"

Tapping her fingernails in a rhythmic way, she thought for a minute, "I think, because there use to be a few patients in the past try to jump off themselves. So we installed cameras up there, in case they got up there, we would be able to  stop them before they jumped."

Exhaling happily, I replied, "Okay good, that's good news." I stopped and thought back to when me and Niall were confronted in the main office by Karkoff. "Wait a minute, the lady in the main office, Karkoff, told us there was no found footage. Do they not check the videos?"

"That- that cant be true Andi," Mindy stuttered out, clearly confused at my statement. "The security staff checks the videos every morning and night, to make sure the patients aren't trying to hurt themselves or worse. How could they not have seen the footage?'

I picked at my chipping aqua nail polish," I don't know either. I mean, you said you talked to Tony before, did he seem a certain way?"

"Now that I think about it, he did seem a little secretive about the janitorial closet on your floor, down by the café entrance?" Mindy said slowly, as if she was thinking out the statement as she said it.

I sat up quickly, swiping water away on the floor with my jean clad butt, "Do you think you could get into the closet without anybody knowing? It would really help Niall out, you know he's being charged for murder, right?"

As she shuffled around her office, it was getting harder to hear, "Yes, I know. I don't think I can get into the closet right now, but I can try to get into it at night. I'll have to ask the main office for the keys though. Any ideas on an excuse?" Finally the sounds stopped and it sounded like she had sat back down in her chair, taking deep breaths. She must have been rushing around, looking for anything to help.

"Uhm, what about telling them that you need more peroxide from the closet? You wanna stay stocked up and they have extra in there?" I suggested hopefully.

"That's good, that's really good," she answered, "I'll try that, and get in there tomorrow night and see what I can find."

I smiled to myself, "Okay, and you'll call me if you find anything?"

"Of course, we're in this together now. Like I told you before, I'm here to help you and Niall," she told me caringly.

"Yeah," I mumbled to myself.

Ever since I left the hospital, I had been feeling some kind of empty feeling. It's not that I didn't love and want to spend time with my family, its just that I had felt better when I was away. There was no family drama, or issues with friends at the hospital, and of course, Niall. Niall had changed me in so many way, I couldn't even list them. And being in that hospital has helped me in more ways then I had thought it would. And now, I was feeling a sudden need to return as soon as possible.

Mindy's voice brought me out of my trance, "Andi? Are you still there?"

Sniffing, I responded, "Yeah, uh, hey Mindy? Can I talk to you about something?"

Her voice went from sneaky to concerned, "Sure honey, what's got you upset? Are you scared about me trying to find evidence? 'Cause I'll be fine, don't worry," she said reassuringly.

I grinned softly and wiped my surprisingly moist eyes, "No, it's not that. I just really miss the hospital."

She chuckled and sighed, "Is that so? Your therapist told me you hated it here at first. And from what she told me earlier, your happiness level has improved rapidly. I take it has something to do with Niall?" She asked knowingly.

I nodded even though Mindy couldn't see me, "Yes, a lot of why I miss it is because of him. But, the thing is that, everything was easier there. And its not like I've slipped into some kind of depression since I've gotten home, I'm just not happy," I confessed.

"Because your away from him," Mindy guessed.

"Not just that, but yes. To put it simply, I don't think I'm ready to be home yet. Even though Lorrie said I'm ready, and I'm not doubting her judgment, I just don't think I am. Do you see where I'm coming from?"

Something along the lines of a squeak came across from the other end, so Mindy must have leaned back in her swivel chair, "Yes, I do. But what's the problem, cant you just tell your parents your not ready to be home?'

Rolling my eyes, I pick the rest of the nail polish off my fingers, "Not really. You see, my parents are to proud to accept the fact that I'm the way I am. And if I did tell them I wanted to come back, they would say no. They hate the fact that I was at a hospital in the first place."

Mindy was silent for a moment, trying to think what I just said through. She clucked her tongue before answering me, "What did you do to end up here Andi?"

Didn't she already know? I scrunched my eyebrows, "I uhm, hurt myself purposely?"  

"And how did you leave here?" She asked again.

"Lorrie said I got better?"

"Hmmm," thought Mindy, "Now I wonder what your parents would do if you started hurting yourself again," she said slowly, sending me a secret message.

"But, I don't wanna relapse," I muttered, thinking back to the promise I made Niall when we first met.

"I didn't say you had to relapse," she whispered slowly, "But there are other ways to get your family to believe you did."

And that's when it all clicked in my head. Quickly getting up off the dirty bathroom floor, I wiped my free hand on my jeans and responded, "I got it, and I'll try something. Good luck with Tony's closet."

"Took you long enough," she laughed, "Good luck to you too, I'll call you soon."

"Alright, bye," I say ending the call. Exiting the stall, I approach the sinks and wash my hands of all the germs on the floor I was just sitting on. Once I finished, I grabbed a paper towel and began to dry my hands. Just then, as I was throwing away the towel, a loud bang came from outside the bathroom, "Uhhh, Miss? You need to leave, we're closing in, like, five minutes!"

Unlocking the door, I pulled it open and flashed the obviously embarrassed teen aged boy a smile, "I'm done!" Turning his face to the floor, I moved past him and began my long journey home.

*Later*

Getting home was a tiring, but I had to get there in enough time to sneak into Becca's room.

Using my house key, I quietly unlock the door and step in as silently as possible. Closing the door behind me, I relock it and turn to head up stairs. "Where were you," called a voice from the kitchen.

"AHHHHH!" I screamed, clutching my heart. Taking a few deep breaths, I move off of the stairs and walk into the kitchen, only to be greeted by the narrowed eyes of my family eating dinner. It was pasta night.

"Were where you?" My mother asked again, wiping her mouth of pasta sauce.

I had to think back to my lie I had told her before, "Uhm, the movie took longer then we expected. And then we got dinner at Panera, sorry I'm late," I said, trying my hardest to look shameful.

Shrugging his shoulders, my dad smiled at me, "It's alright. You only got back a few days ago, you deserve a wild teenager night," he said looking at my mom for approval.

She shook her head, "Your fathers right, but you should have called or texted us. You had us worried."

"I know, but I'm sorry. I was just having a good time with my friend I haven't seen in a month," I retorted.

She opened her mouth to respond, but quickly closed it. Taking another bite of her pasta, she swallowed and turned back to me, "It's alright," she said calmly, "Did you have fun? Did you get enough to eat? Becca made extra, incase you came home early," she informed while, pointing toward my big sister, who chuckled at my mothers "20 Questions" attitude.

I smiled back, glad that we were starting to recreate our small sisterly connection, "Yeah we had fun, the movie was good. And no, I'm not hungry, thanks anyway Becca."

"Are you sure?" My dad questioned.

Taking a few steps back toward the stairs, I shook my head, "Yeah, I'm pretty tired anyway. I'll just see you guys in the morning?"

My parents nodded, taking more bites of their food, "Alright, we're glad you had fun sweetie," my mom said, "We love you, goodnight."

I weakly smiled back, hating what I had to do in a matter of hours, "I love you guys too, night."

I returned to the stairs, taking two at a time, stopped at Becca's room first. Thankfully, her door was wide open, so I didn't have to risk her old wooden door creaking. Tip-toeing over to her desk, I slowly pop open her makeup bag and begin my search. Shuffling through the different pockets, I grab what I need; red nail polish, purple eye liner and eye shadow. Reclosing her bag of goodies, I turn my attention to her desk draw, pulling it open as fast as I could, as I was already hearing the sinks running water, which meant everyone was done eating.

Shoving my hand back into the drawer, I search and finally grab the old pencil sharpener in the back of the compartment. Looking at all of my collected objects, I close the drawer and look to see if anything looks out of place. So far, so good. Pulling myself away from my sister's room, I exit and turn to make my way to my own room when a voice stops me, "What are you doing?"

"AHHH!" I scream once again, "Jesus! Why does everyone feel the need to scare the shit outa me?"

Becca laughed, "It's just to easy to scare you Andi. What were you doing in my room?" She asked looking at me suspiciously.

"Uhm, I was just borrowing some makeup," I said awkwardly, showing her the makeup I stole, but not the sharpener.

She raised her eyebrows, "And why do you want my makeup? And especially those colors?"

Tapping my foot, I looked down the stairs, looking to see if our parents were listening, "When I was out with Faith today, we met some guys and we're gonna meet up with them again. Faith has this really cute white dress, and she thought the purple would stand out?" That was a surprisingly good lie for me.

Becca gasped and smiled widely, "So that's why you were late? Oh my God, that's so cute! Is he cute?"

I nodded awkwardly, "Yeah, he's really hot."

Becca sighed and leaned on her door frame, "Well that's good, your getting yourself out there. You've never really had a boyfriend, have you?"

I squinted my eyes at her, "I have too!"

Rolling her eyes and laughing again, she patted my shoulder and turned into her room, "Whatever, night little sister."

Turning my back and walking toward my own room, I called back, "Goodnight big sister," silently thanking God that I got by that lie so easily.

Entering my room, I locked it behind me and got to work. Changing into a pair of athletic shorts and a plain tee-shirt first, I sit down on my bed and lay all of my tools out in front of me. Pulling the blade out of the pencil sharpener first, I throw the plastic part across the room, aiming at the trash can. I missed.

Unscrewing the nail polish, I dip the brush in and out a few times, then begin to paint the sharp part of the blade.

Once it was nicely coated in the thick mixture, I began to press the cold metal onto my skin. Not cutting, just leaving the mark the red nail polish left. I only pressed it on my skin four times, as not to go too overboard on my "costume".  

Deciding it looked good, I screwed the brush back on the bottle, and placed the blade on my shorts. Waving my arm around quickly, I blew on the paint until it was fairly dry. Then, I grabbed the purple eye shadow, and brushed it around on my thigh in a circle, creating fake bruises. Lightly outlining them with the liner, set down my tools and looked down at my work. It looked real, real enough to convince my parents at least.

Sliding off my bed, I held the sharpener in my hand and let the paint stain my hand. As I inched closer and closer to my door, I thought about that reactions of my family. Last time, only my mother had shown me her wrath, and I wasn't sure I was ready to see my father's.

"You can do this," I whispered to myself as I pulled open my bedroom door and began my short walk to my parents sleeping quarters. With the sharpness in my hand, I felt real blood trickle on my palm as my hands squeezed tighter and tighter due to my growing fear.

As I finally approached my parents bedroom, I took a deep breath and knocked on the door three time, then waited for somebody to respond. "Come in," called my dad from the inside.

Gulping, I twisted the knob and entered slowly. Both of my parents were sitting on their bed, happily watching some dramatic movie on Lifetime. "Hey honey, do you need anything?" My mother asked sweetly before yawning.

Tears were now blurring my vision, and my legs were beginning to feel like Jell-O. I knew if I tried to take a breath, a sob would escape my mouth.

She sat up, tilting her head to the side like she always does when she's concerned, "Andi? What's wrong?"

Wiping a few tears away, I squeezed my hands one last time, "Mom, Dad?" I asked shakily, "I have something to tell you."

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Oh my goodness you guys, that was a pretty intense chapter if you ask me. If you read the whole thing, thank you very much. And if you didn't, that's perfectly fine, because I don't wanna make you guy upset or uncomfortable. I love you all very much, so message me anytime you need a friend!

Anyway, what did you guys think? Did Mindy do the right thing by giving Andi the idea in the first place? Do you think she'll be able to get into the closet, and find anything? How do you think Niall is doing? Will Andi ever find out what he did in the last chapter? SO MANY QUESTIONS, SO LITTLE TIME!!!!

So last chapter, I asked what I should start calling you guys, and I really like the nickname "addicts". What do you guys think of that one? I love it!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer, because it's going to be over soon! As always, vote, read, share, comment, and.....

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STAY BEAUTIFUL! <3

-TaylorMarie