RowenaWhen I finally found refuge beneath the stairs, there were tears in my eyes for reasons I couldn’t quite understand. I huffed to myself as I sat down, dropping my leather satchel onto the tile floor.“Dammit,” I muttered as I wiped my eyes with my sleeve.I couldn’t believe I was skippin
RowenaI couldn’t believe my ears when Emma actually said yes to my request to get hot cocoa together. After purchasing our things, we found ourselves sitting at a small corner table in a nearby cafe, our shopping bags piled around us and two steaming mugs of hot chocolate on the table.“So,” I said, trying to sound nonchalant, “how have you… how have you been?”
RowenaThe sound of fists pummeling leather filled the air as Eric stood with his back turned to me, sweat running down his skin. He almost seemed to be hitting his punching bag with a primal, feral intensity—almost as though he was trying to get out his anger, or perhaps his frustration.I wasn’t sure why I just stood there, staring at him. Maybe it was simply fascination with his form.
Eric & RowenaEricMaybe my anger toward Rowena was misplaced—I realized that as she ran out of my room, clearly hiding the tears in her eyes. I knew I would have to apologize, of course, once things calmed down a bit.But part of me had a reason for pushing her away. Part of me, separate from the a
RowenaThe line stretched on endlessly ahead of me, a snaking queue of uneasy students and staff alike. My grip tightened reflexively around the strap of my satchel as I watched another cluster of students get ushered away by the grim-faced guards stationed at the checkpoint, their hazmat suits gleaming dully beneath the morning sun.An icy trickle of dread wormed its way down my spine. The girl in front of me had briefly mentioned something called ‘Wolf’s Fury’, but I
RowenaThe week passed in a blur of security checkpoints, disinfecting stations, and growing anxiety.By Wednesday, a knot of dread had taken up residence in my stomach. Talk about the ‘Wolf’s Fury’ virus was spreading faster than wildfire, and students were being pulled out of camp left and right—not just for quarantine if they showed even the mildest hint of symptoms, but also by concerned parents and guardians.
RowenaThe minutes seemed to tick by torturously slow, the flickering candle in the middle of the table slowly melting further and further down. I wasn’t sure how long it had been exactly, because part of me was too terrified to check the time, but I knew that he was late.He’ll be here any minute, I kept telling myself, shaking my leg nervously beneath the table. He did say he was running late, after all…
RowenaEric held the umbrella over my head, his jaw set hard beneath his skin.For several long moments, I just stared at him, watching as his eyes fixed themselves on the pavement between our feet. And for those moments, part of me wanted to tell him to leave me alone—to go to hell with his umbrella, to get out of my sight after the things he had said.