“Come on Spindly, you got this." Leilani's scarlet curls bounced with her movements where she stood, crouched over the sweaty and panting mess which was her new friend. "Just two more."
"You make it sound like it's such a small thing," Adana grunted straining her arms to carry her weight once again.
She succeeded this time and finally completed the twenty pushups assigned to her by Leilani. Making sure to lay on the floor for as long as she wanted, Leilani exited the room and came back with a bottle of water which Adana accepted and gulped down most if not all the contents greedily while eyeing Leilani's rounded frame sway with the tune in her head.
"I need a long, hot shower. I feel like dirt," Adana said and hauled herself off the gym floor.
When she had said all the fat was coming off, 'easier said than done' was exactly what she had gone through.
After endless throw ups and exclusions of various harmful good items from her diet, she had finally lost a good stone of fat and she wanted to loose more but as Leilani would always say, 'baby steps', she was trying not to go to the extreme end with pushing herself.
Arctic rims which outlined the slate grey eyes under the sun shone as they made their way home. "You always feel like dirt," Leilani muttered in a deliberate loud voice resulting in a playful punch on the shoulder from her a silent chuckling Adana.
"Don't be mean." Leilani pouted and she stopped walking to hold onto Adana's shorter form and shook her with all her might. "Can you believe tomorrow in my actual first day?"
Adana's lush brows pulled together in a frown, "you've said that like a gazillion times already."
"I know, I know. I'm just really really really re—”
"Okay, I think I get it now," Adana quickly butted in. "You're gonna do great."
Unknown to Leilani, Adana wasn't only encouraging her but also herself.
Junior high wasn't friendly to her at all. She had lost count of the number of times her back would connect with the lockers when their hands shoved her into them. She had also lost count of all the faces but one face stood out. In the ocean of faces which has abused her, the pale face of the golden haired boy stood out like a sore thumb.
"... Are you listening?" Leilani snapped her fingers inches from her face. "What are you even thinking about?"
"Uh, it's nothing. Just stuff," she responded quickly. A little too quickly. "See ya tomorrow."
She turned away from a slightly confused looking Leilani and without a single backward glance, made her way to the creaky porch.
With her sneakers in her hands, she tiptoed into the house and closed the door silently and saying a silent prayer that her mother was passed out or not in.
She had only stepped on the first few steps when the scatty cracked voice of the woman she had come to loath since her very existence, rang out from the kitchenette counter. "Where you going lass?"
Adana should have seen this coming. Her eyes searched the woman at the counter from her spot in the stairs and she contemplated ignoring her but noticed she was as sober as a stubborn donkey. With a lowered head, Adana inched closer to the woman.
"I asked a question girl," She repeated while her tightly balled up fists shook with every step she took that brought her closer to her daughter. "I need an answer."
Adana hesitated while weighing the pros and cons of answering the question but all her thoughts were wiped out when the clinging of metal from the wardrobe material around her mother's wait filled her ears.
Not another whipping. The purplish hue from the earlier slashes from this morning were a testament to how far she was from healing.
The woman ate up the distance between then until the air was filled with relentless whips. Every whip caused the metallic scent in the air to grow heavier and Adana's clothes to rip open and be stained again with the cranberry liquid that was her blood.
"P-please mother."
That seemed to infuriate the woman further because she only increased the intensity of her ministrations. Sometimes Adana would wonder if this woman was even her mother in any way.
Ever since she was brought into this world, she had only been showered with love and care from this same woman but as soon as she clocked twelve, the pain crashed down on her like an angry torrent of rain which attacked her skin in every possible way.
"Now, stand up."
Adana's knees wobbled but she managed to stand and the woman came forward to drag her by the wrists, up the stairs and into her room where she commanded her to sit on the floor, close to the bed and bounded Adana one of the legs of the bed.
"Now I don't want to hear a single sound from you," She warned with a raised finger and wide eyes. "I've got a guest visiting and I don't need them to see the pathetic excuse of a daughter I have. Got it?"
Adana nodded weakly, her hair, long escaped from the bun, obscuring the glazed over depths of sad orbs which now spilled out salty liquid. "I understand."
Satisfied with what she had accomplished, she exited the room. Once again, Adana was left to cry up a river in silence. She just hoped her 'mother' would untie her soon.
They winced along with each stroke of the brushes that ran through their tangled mane as Sara Richards and Celia combed as gently as they could."Oh, it isn't that bad," Sara persuaded trying to reach for Lake's darker shade of chestnut hair when he swatted her hand away. "Just a few more strokes and you're all good to go.""I think that's enough or we'll be late," Storm reminded before hauling himself into a standing position and checked the screen of his phone.Celia hands reached upwards, standing on the tip of her toes to run the tip of her fingers through the thick strands, "oh, I'm so proud of you two. Looking so gorgeous on your first day."Lake eyed his sister's reflection before rising to his feet and stretching his arms out, "who
Dread filled Adana when a familiar building loomed over the school bus. She wasn't ready to experience the shocked expressions of all her grade mates.She straightened her back and smoothed the thick material of her cobalt blue denim pants in an attempt at distracting herself from her nerves.Leilani's usually dark eyes lightened with curiosity which Adana couldn't help but admire. She wished she was also curious but nothing about those pigeon gray lockers and their owners stirred her curiosity."Omg, omg, omgeee," Leilani's fiery curls which she had decided to leave loose, bounced while she hopped in her seat beside Adana. "We're finally here Ada, can you believe it?""Yeah I can't believe it either," Adana's voice laced with sarcasm at h
She shifted in her seat when those jade orbs continued to bore a hole into the side of her head."What do you want?"He didn't respond but only scooted closer then placed his hands under his chin.
After dragging her friend off another new student, they hopped into the school bus."Oh, great," Leilani muttered after motioning to the occupied seats. "Where do we sit now?"Adana scanned the seats before her eyes brushed over two empty seats at the extreme back row of the bus. "Hey, those look empty to me. Let's go.""But—" Leilani wasn't given time to object before Adana started to pull her.She later realized there was another occupant of the row of the seats. A boy who was taking more than his fair share of space occupied a seat with head angled downwards at the mobile in his hands.Why did he seem so familiar? Adana shook her head to get rid of the thoughts. "Did you get the last part of the assignment?"Arctic rims darkened when Leilani broke from her trance to give her a blank stare, "you didn't get the assignment?"She didn't
Lake didn't expect to win but yes, he won this bet and he would rub it in Storm's face till he got agitated."It's fine okay," Storm blurted and waved his hands over his head. "You won. Happy?"Lake rose and did their infamous chicken dance. "Nah, I'm not happy. I'm freaking proud of myself."Storm lowered his head and muttered, "yeah, don't get too comfortable."They had placed a bet on which house their mother would pick for them to live in. Storm had gone for a beach house while Lake had gone for a house not too big and not too small but comfortable and right in the middle of town.Storm, being overconfident of the two, had been convinced his choice was the best but alas Sara Richards went for Lake's pick."Okay my beauties," Celia clapped twice and ambled into the room clad in her usual morning attire; an oversized cotton tee and short shorts.&nbs
Seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours. Two periods must've passed because the loud chime of the bell penetrated the door twice.Fiddling with her fingers, the thoughts of what her mother would do to her if word got out that she skipped classes and with a boy at that, made Adana's insides shudder."The window." Storm half exclaimed and heaved his weight off the floor and took hurried steps to the window.His long fingers played over the windowsill. How had he missed it earlier?With all his upper body strength, he managed to push it open causing the humid air to fill the small room. A stream of relief washed through him. He wouldn't have any problems with squeezing his way out. How Adana was going to squeeze through was his concern.The window level reached his chest region. He could just hop unto the sill, sit and balance, then fold up his legs to turn
"Okay, I think we all know why we're here." Mr. Albert pushed his thick-rimmed glasses up his thin nose and crossed his ankles. "I want no talking, gossiping, littering, and most importantly, don't try to take your phones."Not too long after his instructions were given, he nodded off, snoring heavily. The class consisted of eight students in total. They were to be here till late evening.
First, I'd like to say a huge thank-you to you, the reader for still reading. Yes, even the silent readers. I love y'all.You may read on...Mrs. Briggs relayed the day'