Possessions
Chapter 10
By: Makena
Makena walked into the restaurant she was supposed to be meeting Aaron at - something called Johnathan B. Pub in the middle of the Waldorf mall, right across from the movie theater. She ignored the disapproving and questioning stares she received from those that appeared "normal" around her.
She wore a short black dress with long sleeves that flared out past the elbows as well as large black boots that had eccentric buckles up and down the boot. She wore the normal black eyeliner around her eyes, but this time wore a black, spike choker around her neck.
She glanced around quickly before walking towards Aaron's table, aware of the eye's that followed her.Aaron glanced up at her, his bored expression melting into surprise and slight disappointment.
"What did you do to your hair?" he asked her as she quickly took her seat near the window.
"Hello Aaron," she said, adjusting her chair. "Nice to see you again."
Aaron rolled his eyes. "What did you do to your hair?" he asked again. Makena sighed and glanced at him before taking a sip of water.
"I decided I needed a change," she told him, glancing down at her menu. "Hey, they have buffalo wings!"
"The wedding is in less than two weeks," Aaron pressed, lowering his voice slightly. "Please don't tell me that black dye in your hair is permanent." Makena shrugged and took another sip of her water.
"Okay," she said, still looking at her menu. Aaron stared.
"It's permanent?!" he asked finally in a half whisper, half yell. Makena glanced up at him.
"Yeah," she told him. "So?"
Aaron sighed. "The wedding is less than two weeks away," he told her, repeating himself. "What the fuck are you thinking?"
Makena pouted in mock hurt. "You don't like my hair?" she asked, not hurt at all. "Why not? What's wrong with black?"
Aaron didn't respond at first but narrowed his eyes at the wooden table, deep in thought. When he didn't reply right away, Makena began to search for a waiter.
"Where's the damn waiter?" she questioned, searching the crowded room. "I need something to drink."
"What the hell is up with you, Makena?" Aaron asked finally. "Why have you changed? Why the fuck are you so damn depressed all of a sudden?" Makena looked back at Aaron, surprised at his sudden outburst. Her eyes fell to her water glass and she suddenly lost interest in finding alcohol.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she muttered, reaching for her glass. Quite suddenly, Aaron's hand lashed out and caught Makena's wrist, causing some of her water to splash out the sides. She tried to pull away, but his grip was too strong.
"Ow, Aaron," she gasped. "Let go. LET GO. What the hell!?"
Aaron frowned at her in suspicion. "What's wrong?" he asked in a semi whisper so those who were close by didn't hear. "Why do you want me to let go so bad?"
Makena didn't respond but relaxed a little. Aaron glanced at her long sleeves for a second before slowly pulling them up along her arm. He paused once he had revealed three long, deep slits in her wrist across her veins. She allowed her hand to go limp and her knuckles softly hit the table. Aaron glanced up at her before looking over at her other wrist. She shook her head and held it up, showing that it had been cut free.
"Makena... what...?" She sighed and shrugged slightly.
"N-nothing," she began, trying to push the tears that had begun to flow back in. "It's nothing."
"Makena, if there's something wrong, you can talk to me."
Makena shook her head. "I can't," she told him, jerking her hand free from his grip. "You wouldn't understand."
Aaron sighed as Makena stood up and shook her sleeve back down.
"I have to go to the bathroom," she told him. He watched her walk away and sighed again. He knew that, if he wouldn't understand, some one else would. Quickly, he grabbed his cell phone and dialed the seven digits.
"Hello? Paul? Do you know Benji's phone number?"
---
Benji was lying on his bed with a pencil in one hand as he scanned over his song. Suddenly, he crossed out a line and began to hum to himself. He was about to make a slight change when his cell phone rang on the bed beside him. He stared at it for a moment before realizing that it was ringing. Quickly, he set his guitar down and picked his phone up.
"Hello?" he answered, hoping that it wasn't Paul.
"Uh... hi," a somewhat familiar voice said, slightly reluctant. Benji frowned slightly in confusion.
"Aaron?" he questioned. There was a pause.
"Um... yeah," Aaron replied. Benji sat up a little, surprised that Aaron of all people was calling him. He snapped his note book closed as if Aaron would be able to read it from over the phone and he poked his pencil through the spiral before setting it on the night stand.
"Uh... hi?" Benji said, unsure of how to act or what to say; Aaron had left Good Charlotte, cursing and furious at Benji and Joel and now he was calling Benji? This was getting bizarre, even for Benji.
"Hey," Aaron said. "Uh, I know it's been a while since we talked cause I - you know - hate you and all..."
"Yeah, thanks," Benji said sarcastically.
"... but I gotta talk to you," Aaron continued, ignoring Benji's sarcasm. "About Makena."
Benji groaned. "You have got to be kidding me," he muttered.
"Look, she's... she's worse than I thought," Aaron continued, again ignoring Benji's last comment. "I would imagine Paul and Billy talked about it with you?"
Benji groaned. "Yes," he replied. "Over and over again."
"Yeah," Aaron said under his breath. "Well... I think it's worse than what they've been telling you."
Benji frowned in confusion and sat up a bit, his attention caught. "What do you mean "worse"?" he questioned. Aaron sighed.
"I had lunch with her today," he began to explain. "I... I saw her wrist, man; it was fucked up. I don't know what the hell happened, but..." he trailed off before pausing. "I think maybe she tried to kill herself."
Benji's stomach fell as if he were riding a roller coaster as Aaron's last sentence sunk in. He took in a breath and stared at the bed slightly. "Oh..." he began. "I... I guess I'll talk to her then."
"Yeah," Aaron agreed. "Please do. We just finished lunch - she should be at the hotel soon, so... yeah. Do that soon."
"Um, yeah." He paused. "Thanks for telling me."
"Don't mention it," Aaron said. "Seriously - don't." He paused. "Well, bye."
Before Benji had a chance to reply, the line went dead and he realized that Aaron had hung up. Shrugging, Benji put his cell phone back on the night stand beside his bed. Suddenly tired, he rubbed his hands over his face and yawned.
Standing, he strode over to his door and opened it slowly, checking for any signs of Makena. Sure enough, Makena was standing on the other side of the hall, slowly digging a key out of her black bag. She was dressed completely in black and her hair was now quite short and also black.
He hesitated before quickly making up his mind slipping out of his hotel room and across the hall, leaning quite suddenly on the wall next to Makena. She jumped, screaming slightly, before she realized it was Benji.
"Hello," he said with a grin. Makena cocked an eyebrow at him before she began to dig through her bag again.
"You weren't this giddy last time I saw you," she told him. "Actually, I don't think you've ever been this giddy. Exactly when DID that bug in your ass die?"
Benji shrugged. "When did that bug crawl up yours?"
Makena rolled her eyes and slid her key into the door and opened it, glancing up at him.
"Good bye, Benji," she said. Benji grabbed the door handle and slammed the door shut, making Makena jump back in surprise. She looked up at him in confusion as he casually folded his arms across his chest.
"What's going on with you, Makena?" he asked bluntly. Makena frowned.
"Nothing," she muttered, trying to unlock her door again. "Go away."
Benji stepped to the side, blocking her door completely. Makena glanced up at him, baffled as to why Benji was attempting to stop her from entering her own room.
"Benj - what are you doing?"
Benji shrugged. "Just wanted to talk," he said boldly. "See what's up and stuff, cause we haven't talked for a while."
Makena sighed. "Look, all I want is to take a nap because I'm a little tired right now, okay?"
Benji cocked an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"
Makena frowned. "What?" she asked with a small laugh. "You're not making any sense."
"Come on!" Benji tired, beginning to beg. "Can't we just talk for a minute?"
Makena hesitated. "Umm... what about?" she asked. Benji eyed her wrist for a minute. Makena followed his gaze and rolled her eyes.
"Fuck..." she muttered. "Aaron told you, didn't he?"
Benji shrugged. "He might have mentioned it."
Makena rolled her eyes again and held her wrist up, rolling her sleeve down so Benji could see what she had done to herself. Across her left wrist she had made two large cuts; deep but clearly not deep enough to have killed her. Benji stared at it for a minuet before glancing back up at her face.
"You know, I found aspirin and alcohol to be much more effective than trying to slice myself open."
Makena narrowed her eyes at Benji. "You're such an ass," she muttered, though tears were starting to swell in her already sad looking eyes. "And if you were wondering, I DO, in fact, drink a little, okay? I know SOME ONE must have mentioned that to you because I'm apparently a good topic to discuss when I'm not around."
"That's not..." Benji began, but paused slightly. "Yeah, I guess so." He paused again. "Can I come in?"
Makena sighed.
-----
Aaron hung up the phone and sighed to himself slightly. He hated talking to Benji because he hated Benji - but he loved Makena and he knew Benji was the only person to tell.
"Who was that?"
Aaron's head snapped up and he noticed Raemie sitting at the kitchen table, books and notes spread out in front of her. He hesitated.
"I didn't know you were sitting there," he told her truthfully with a slight smile, hoping to change the subject slightly. Raemie smiled, tapping her pencil softly on the wood table.
"Who was that?" she repeated. Aaron sighed.
"Benji," he replied. Raemie cocked an eyebrow.
"I know it's not my place to pry," she began, "but don't you hate him?"
Aaron sighed again. "Yes," he replied honestly. Raemie nodded.
"And did you tell him that Makena tried to kill herself?"
Aaron nodded. "Yeah," he said.
"Well... did she?"
Aaron frowned. "What?"
"Did she?" Raemie asked again. "Or did you feed Benji some kind of bull shit for the hell of it?"
Aaron frowned slightly. "Well..." he began. "I wasn't fucking with him, if that was the question. I don't know if she tried to kill herself, but... it's pretty possible." Raemie nodded.
"Oh." She paused. "Do you... you know... still love her?"
Aaron sighed. "Don't worry about it," he said, striding over to her and giving her a hug. "I love her like a sister, okay?"
Raemie nodded and smiled slightly. "Okay," she replied, letting Aaron kiss her on the cheek.