𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰𝒔 𝑮𝒐𝒍𝒅| 3

29: Cremation

Asa

It had been days since Tasha's outburst. Almost two weeks since I saw Tasha eye to eye.

I wasn't even sure if she was avoiding me or I was the one avoiding her. And with each day that passed, my exams inched closer and our slowly festering bond split apart.

I walked into my new room, my face, sticky and salty with sweat, and grime from transporting myself from the subway to our new home.

My hands wouldn't stop shaking, these days. My heart wouldn't keep quiet, my eyes wouldn't stop stinging... Every time I remembered Tasha.

I thought you'd care about how I was dealing with all these!

"You'd know if you asked! You'd know if you cared! But you don't! It was happening right under your nose and all you cared about was scholarship this or Dynamis that!

My knees buckled and I collapsed on the bed, hugging my torso and shivering from the cold air of the air conditioner.

I looked around the room, taking in the eggwhite walls, marble floor, tiny fancy lights and cream coloured vanity.

I walked to the mirror and sat at the vanity, taking off my wig and taking inventory of the aftermath of my ruined hair.

My hair had been badly damaged after the bathroom fiasco, and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it for a while. In the end, I had cut it off... Every single thing.

And actually liked it... For the first two minutes, at least.

Now, I wasn't so sure.

My hair used to fall to my neck and shoulders in tight, strangled curls that took hours to comb, even though I had relaxed hair. Now, I stared at my close cropped hair, wondering if a haircut was the best idea.

I frowned at my reflection. Sharp face, teary eyes, sore nose... I rubbed my face, again, again, again and again.

Cold air kissed the skin of my neck, drying the initial sheen of sweat and I welcomed the cold, tranquil fingertips, gracing my skin.

There was a knock on my door.

"Come in!" I yelled.

Yanis lumbered into my room, large and big bodied, stopping once when he saw how I looked, eyes lingering on my hair and I remembered everyone was still trying to get used to my haircut. They were the only ones I had gotten comfortable around with, exposing my hair the way I did.

"What is it?" I asked, sitting carefully on the chair and turning to face him.

"Hey... It's... Uh... I just came to talk to you about Tasha."

There was a pit in my stomach.

Dark. Deep... Aching.

"What about her?"

"I noticed... well... you guys don't talk anymore." He played with his hands, tracing a pattern in my bedsheet. "Don't listen to anything she said. A lot of things are going south for her right now. Her relationships, her career... Her life. Don't take what she said to heart, okay?"

I looked into Yanis' earnest eyes that looked like they were dipped in honey, his calm, unassuming face, and nodded. "I understand."