Zariah hadn't said a word since Jasmine pulled her out of that bathroom.
She sat on the floor of her room now, wrapped in a blanket, knees pulled to her chest. The sleeve of her hoodie was pulled down low over her wrist, hiding what both of them already knew. Jasmine sat across from her, cross-legged, watching her like she was made of glass.
The silence wasn't peaceful. It was thick. Suffocating.
Jasmine's eyes flicked to the clock. School was halfway over, but neither of them had mentioned it.
"I'm scared," Jasmine said finally.
Zariah didn't look at her.
"I'm scared that one day I'll knock and you won't answer. That I'll be too late."
Still, Zariah said nothing.
"I can't lose you. Do you get that?" Her voice cracked. "You're my person, Zariah. You've always been. Since the third grade."
Zariah's voice came out hoarse. "Then why does it still feel like I'm alone?"
Jasmine's eyes filled with tears.
Zariah wasn't trying to hurt her. She just didn't have the strength to lie anymore.
"Every day I wake up and I wish I hadn't," she whispered. "It's like… I'm underwater. Everyone's above the surface, breathing, talking, living. And I'm just sinking."
Jasmine crawled across the room and sat beside her. She didn't speak. Just placed her hand gently over Zariah's.
The blanket of silence returned, but this time, it wasn't quite as crushing.
Until Zariah spoke again.
"I didn't feel it," she said, staring down at her covered wrist. "When I cut deeper. I didn't feel anything. That scares me more than the blood."
Jasmine shut her eyes.
Zariah turned to look at her, for the first time that day. "I think I'm disappearing," she said. "And no one's noticing but you."
And Jasmine didn't know what to say to that.
Because it was true.