Trigger Warning for this particular Chapter: Body image issues, eating disorders, anorexia, bulimia. No obvious or descriptive scenes; just brief mentions and glimpses of the above.

User discretion advised.

I couldn't pay attention to what our science teacher was reading. He kept talking about chemicals and how some collisions created sparks but all I could register in my mind was the last name of my first love.

Lyra Sparks.

In the two days she was gone, she was still everywhere. In my dreams, in my thoughts, in my class — right here between the pages of my chemistry textbook.

"Mr. Foster? Diego?" The teacher spoke louder each time but I was lost in a labyrinth of my own imagination. I wondered if Lyra was alright. Hoping Nicola would have understood and forgiven Lyra for what happened, I chewed on my lip and closed the book in frustration. Why was there no way to contact Lyra when she was miles away?

"Diego Foster?"

"Uh." I looked up from my desk to face the angry man who straightened the wrinkles off of this white suit and adjusted his glasses to glare at me. Was I in trouble? "Present?" I shrugged, not knowing what else to say.

"No you aren't." He accused. "I need you to be here. Focused. But you're lost, somewhere else. Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying." I lied again.

All of a sudden, the teacher's face morphed into Lyra's face. Her dead face, tears gathering up in her lifeless eyes. "Why would you lie to me, Diego? Why didn't you tell me when you had a chance?"

What the fuck was happening.

Rubbing my eyes, I looked outside the window and watched as the day blended into a dark, moonless night. Nothing made sense. Why were we still in class, at school, when it was already night?

"Tell me Diego, where are you?" The teacher's stern face returned and I pressed a palm over my mouth, thinking the way the world was spinning was going to make me puke.

Was I slowly losing my mind?

"Why did you do this to me, D? Why did you let me go? You could have saved me, idiot." Lyra was next to me now, running her index finger across my cheekbone as everyone else watched us with jaws dropped.

"Wha-"

"Wake up, Diego. Snap out of it." His voice creeped me out and I opened my eyes to find myself breaking into cold sweat on my bed.

The paint on the walls looked familiar and the bed was exactly where it was supposed to be, in the middle of the room. I could recognise the bedsheet from before and the posters on the side reminded me that I was at home, in the comfort of my own room. And whatever I had seen was nothing but a scary dream. Feeling my heartbeat thump on my jaw, I tried to take deep breaths to calm down. It made no sense as to why I saw Lyra in my class when she was supposed to be in another division altogether.

But who said dreams have to be sensible at all? After all, it were weird dreams like these that reminded me to cherish my reality, my second chance to live with Lyra.

Maybe the way I was apart from Lyra was slowly making me lose my mind. Because she was my light and now that she was out of sight for so long, the shadows of my haunting scenarios were slowly getting back to me again. I couldn't wait for tomorrow to see Lyra now. I hoped that she would be okay.

*

"Boo." I whispered in Lyra's ear from behind, startling her. She lost her balance and cursed me while the contents of her fruit juice spilled on the floor. "Shit, I am so sorry! Wait a sec, I will buy you another one from the canteen-"

"Never mind." Lyra's face fell. Was she not happy to see me? "I didn't want to drink it, anyway."

She headed towards the dustbin and dropped the tetra pack inside, sighing loudly while brushing her hair with her fingers and turning towards me again.

"Hey, there!" She greeted me with a smile, the stern look on her face, gone now. "You have been missed."

"Oh yeah? By whom?" I smirked at her, knowing all too well that Lyra always hesitated from putting her emotions into words for anyone to hear. Probably afraid of the outcome or being judged. Or maybe just because she was shy and liked to live in the world inside her head instead.

"Someone." She bit her lip to suppress a smile and my heart fluttered, beating loudly inside my chest.

Could she, possibly, feel the same emotions I felt around her? I immediately shook the idea off of my head. How could someone like Lyra ever like me back? She was perfect — in every way. And I was, well, flawed and broken — in every way.

Though I could always keep loving her till the world ended, it was purely idiotic of me to expect her to love me back. I had made peace with my unrequited love; that I was only meant to live with Lyra in sweet little moments like these. Because she might not want to be with me, in love forever and ever.

We found an empty table in the quiet corner of the canteen and sat there as I unpacked my tiffin. Silently, Lyra played with her curls and looked down at her shoes sadly. This was one sign that she wanted to say something but was contemplating whether she should.

To break the awkward silence, I cleared my throat and ask the very obvious question that still lay unanswered, still looming between us. "Lyra, um, why were you drinking that juice if you don't like it, by the way? I mean, it was watermelon juice and I know how much you hate watermelons."

She nervously shifted in her seat and giggled nervously. She opened her bag and pulled out a lip gloss and began applying a very thick coat, as if buying time to form a convincing reply in her head. The scent of coconut spread in the air and my gaze landed on her lips; her shiny, pink lips. Admittedly, it took me a while to shake off the thought plaguing my head and register her next words. "Mom says it's good for your health."

"You're a terrible liar, idiot." I pushed my tiffin towards her. The sight of a grilled cheese sandwich made my stomach growl, which reminded me that I had skipped my dinner the previous night.

All thanks to the girl sitting in front of me who I was crazily, secretly in love with. When away from her, I had lost my sleep, my sense of time and even my appetite. But now that she was with me, I found myself hungrier than ever. The lack of sleep, hunger and tiredness hit me all at once.

"No, thanks." She avoided looking at the food that lay before her and licked her lips instead.

"Are you trying to eat your lip gloss?" I joked, my index finger gently nudging the box in her direction again. "Come on, don't be formal or shy with me. I know you're a messy eater and I also know this is your favourite-"

"Stop this already." She cut in between with a harsh reply. "I can't eat this, Diego."

Realising that she might have come off as rude, her tone became gentler, apologetic this time when she explained. "I'm just trying to watch my we- I'm just trying to be healthy I guess." She shrugged, not making eye contact and something felt off.

"I doubt you had any meals on your flight. Just one bite won't hurt you, Lyra." I tried to reason with her.

Running her shivering fingers through her hair, she clenched her jaw tight and swallowed once before shakily exhaling and admitting. "It- It's just that this will make me flabbier, I guess? I mean look at this." She gestured towards the sandwich. "So much cheese and grilled bread- who would want to eat all that crap?"

"Uh." I was perplexed. Why did Lyra sound so different all of a sudden? As if she wasn't a person I ever knew but someone else entirely.

"No, no wait." She quickly corrected herself. "I don't mean you. No. I just- I meant me." She looked away as she spoke the next few words out loud. "Look, Diego. I've embarrassed myself enough already. And I really, really don't want to humiliate myself again."

"Is this about your ballet performance?

"Uh, yes. And no. Like, prom's in a few weeks and I cannot wear the dress I bought a week ago if I keep on eating like this. I don't want to look uglier than what I already am."

"You're n-"

"I- I mean- shit, what the hell is wrong with me?" She hid her face in her palms. "Why the hell am I rambling? And why the heck are you trying to be cute by not asking me to shut up already?" She let out a nervous laugh to mask just how scared she felt in that moment.

All I could do was recollect how much I loved this joyful sound that used to echo through the corridors and what all I could do just to hear it once. But this time, it was different. This time, she didn't mean it.

She picked up her phone again and checked for any notifications, slightly frowning when there were none. Ignoring her random anxiousness and the way she constantly bounced her foot, I pulled her hand and held it until she looked into my eye.

"D, I don't need your pity."

"Lyra." I let go of her hand. "Neither am I blind to agree with what you just said nor am I going to agree with you just to please you. Anyway, whatever I will say will either sound too pleasing or will be concluded as flattery."

Lyra kept mum.

"Because I cannot point out a single flaw in you other than the fact that you overthink and jump to the stupidest conclusions that could ever have existed. So, I'd rather shut up and listen to your talks about worthlessness than being called a sympathiser, thank you."

To my surprise, she giggled once before finally managing to speak. "You know what, D. This is why I love you. You are not someone who'll go ahead, sprinkling optimism and positivity in everything you say. You're just you, D. You're one of a kind."

Did my heart do a summersault inside my rib cage when she said this? Yes, it absolutely did. Looking me square in the eye, she continued. "You're not someone who would sugarcoat things. You're so honest, so-" She began chuckling again and I realised a little too late that something was off. That was when it struck me what this was all about.

"Lyra, oh hell no!" I shrieked when I saw that she had stolen half my lunch and began chewing it slowly, making annoying sounds on purpose as she ate.

I cannot deny the pang I felt when I realised that those words were just to distract me. But I was happy that she was feeling better about herself. I grabbed the remains, and began eating them, taking small bites of my own.

"Are you expecting a message or something?" I raised my brow towards the phone she was constantly checking.

"Kind of." She spoke between bites. "Applied for jobs in some places. Waiting for their replies."

The email on her screen flashed before my eyes. I couldn't recollect the three letter name of the company right now but that's what it was — a job application and a rejection letter. But why was she looking for jobs so desperately? When I asked her if she needed money — suggesting I might be able to help out with some — all she told me was that she wanted some work experience before school ended. Valid, I guess. So I chose not to ask any more questions about it.

She spoke, excitedly, with her mouth still full. "You're seriously the best, idiot! You are a lifesaver, seriously! You have no clue how torturous it was to stay without a good meal for a week. It's literally so much worse than the time you made me watch that horror movie-"

Lifesaver? Well, I wasn't one as yet but I was soon about to become one. The boy who saved Lyra's life. The boy who brought his crush back from the dead. I will make sure Lyra lives past that horrible day. I want her to find out about my feelings and I want to find out how the day would have played out if that one jump would never have happened. I was dying to see this new version of events.

"You idiot!" I frowned. "And you're welcome."

The bell rang, indicating that the break was over and I started chewing my piece of the sandwich faster.

She pulled my cheek, which was our usual ritual whenever I called her 'idiot' but the very next moment, her hand clasped her mouth and she quickly began sprinting for the restroom. Confused, I picked up our bags and ran behind her but stopped outside when she pushed the door that read 'girl's'.

Chewing the edge of my nail, biting through the skin around my nail, I subconsciously muttered all the sacred hymns I had learnt at Church, asking the Almighty to keep her safe. I could hear sounds of someone, Lyra, vomit across the closed door.

Should I go inside?

As my palm gripped the handle of the door, contemplating my next move, a boy came out from the 'boy's' washroom and smirked at me. Gosh, what was I thinking! I quickly took a step back and waited for Lyra to come out. That would be an appropriate thing to do.

It had been over fifteen minutes and the corridors were empty by now. Lyra was still inside but she wasn't puking anymore. Or even if she was, I couldn't hear her anymore. My fear started growing, multiplying manifold with each passing moment of time.

Was she okay? Was she safe? Was she alive?

The last thought made me shiver and I pushed the door open. Stepping inside, I came across one of the biggest shocks of my life when I saw what was going on inside.

* * *

Important Question - Which is your favourite scene in this book till now?

Random Question - Which one do you treat as the first day in the week; Sunday or Monday?

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Author's Note - Heya! Tell me what you think of this chapter. Do you like Lyra? Describe her in a word. What do you think is going on inside?

Did anyone get the pun? 'Lifesaver'? It wasn't planned when I wrote it the first time but look where we ended up (lol). Please keep showering your support via comments and votes to help this book get a better engagement and reach more readers.

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