Left To Survive

XXV

The next day

18 May

English was so boring. I could feel myself falling asleep every now and then. At a certain point the teacher told me to stay awake and Jenna couldn't resist saying loud enough, so that the whole class could hear it, "She was probably up crying all night because of her stupid little friend killing herself!" And people laughed. Tears had welled up in my eyes, but then I heard how Jaden told her to shut up. I turned towards him and he smiled at me. I saw in his eyes that he still hadn't given up on me.

After class I walked up to Jaden. "Hey," I said. "Hi Lisha, how are you feeling?" he asked me. The stupid small talk was killing me. Instead of answering I asked him if we could talk. He agreed, and we walked together out of class. There was no one in the hallway, everyone left outside for our break. We stood there alone, just the two of us.

"I'm really sorry for ignoring you Jaden-" I started, but he interrupted me. "Stop right there. I know what happened Lisha, and it's all okay. I gave you some space, and I'm glad you reached out to me. I'm your friend, it might help to talk and all, you know."

I looked at him, hesitatingly. My gut feeling told me that it's not safe to be friends with anyone. It told me to keep away, to stay cold and unbothered. But my heart told me to trust Jaden.

I took a deep breath and looked in his eyes. His deep brown chocolate eyes. Suddenly I lost the ability to talk, standing there like an idiot with my mouth half open. "I-"

"Are you having a stroke?" he teased me. That made me return back to my normal self. I smiled at him. "I won't ignore you anymore, Jaden, I promise."

"I appreciatie that. Now let me walk you to your locker, I missed you. C'mon!" and he took my hand and dragged me in the direction of the lockers. I was surprised by his sudden affection and I felt my cheeks getting warm of blush. He didn't let go of my hand until we were at my locker, where I had to let it go to get my books of the following classes.

During the break we gossiped a bit about the teachers.

And for the first time in years, I wasn't alone during break.

For the first time in months, nobody was bullying or teasing me.

For the first time since Yara's death, I was happy. Even if it was only for a bit.

ꕥ ꕥ ꕥ ꕥ ꕥ ꕥ ꕥ ꕥ

The rest of the day went by quickly. Surprisingly, Jenna and her clique left me alone today.

Going home I was in a relatively good mood. I opened the door and an amazing smell filled my nostrils. Moussaka? I put my shoes and coat away and went into the kitchen, searching for the source of the smell. And I was right. My dad was just about to take the moussaka out of the oven. The smell filled the kitchen, and I saw my mom and dad kissing and giggling at each other like teenagers who just fell in love. It made me happy to see them like that.

"You guys are embarrassing" I greeted them. They both turned around, only noticing me now. "Hey sweetie!" they both said "look, we made your favorite! It's been ages since we ate moussaka and your dad got the idea..." More smiling to each other.

"Thank you," I told them. My life seemed good today. It felt like the sun was finally shining through a bit through the darkness of the past month.

Which immediately reminded me of Yara. The smile was wiped off of my face at the very instant.

"Lisha, are you okay?" my mom approached me, a worrying look starting to form in her eyes. I hadn't really talked to them about her death yet. I hadn't let my feelings out to anyone.

And I'm still not ready to do so.

"Yeah mom, I'm fine, thank you." I forced a little smile on my face. "Actually, today wasn't so bad! Remember Jaden?" And I told both of them about my day, and how I think, although the idea still scares me, I made a friend.

Later that evening, after dinner, Jaden wrote me.

And for the first time I answered his text. We talked until after midnight, until I fell asleep.