CHAPTER 9

"Oh, look who it is," Anna said derisively.

Mikayla paused in the process of sitting down. Oh, oh, Anna did not look happy! Her friend was the kind of person who was always an open book. If she felt something, she said it loud enough to hear. She's happy? She's a bright butterfly brightening everyone's day.

She's feeling prissy? She's pissing everyone off all day. She's unhappy? You're unlikely to miss it. Thankfully, that didn't happen often. The girl seemed to have a real gift for unending optimism and happiness.

The issue starts when she's pissed at you? You would know it. She would tell you off quickly and sharply.

Mikayla was nothing like that. She's learnt at a young age that her emotions were things to be kept hidden. The only way to survive was to be as nondescript as possible.

Explosive outbursts of emotions would get her unwanted attention. Whether she was happy, sad or angry, she approached everything with a hard-won calmness.

Anna was the opposite. She'd never learnt th