Halo Of Fire: An Angel In Trouble

Diwali

After that absolute rager of a birthday party, we all went home to nurse our headaches with dim-lit rooms and low volumed tv shows. Or at least, that's what I did for the rest of the weekend. The group chat was quiet and the sleeping schedule irregular.

On my return to The Academy, I met with Jordan at the front entrance and we went to pick up Ophelia at her dorm room. When we arrived, we found her in her room cleaning like a mad dog. What once was a towering mess was now an organized, clean, tidy room.

"What ya doing?" We asked as she let us in.

"It's the first day of Diwali." She said, adjusting the angle of a book on her shelf.

"What's that?" I asked curiously.

"It's the Hindu five-day festival of lights that symbolizes the spiritual good over evil. The first day my mom and grandma would always make us clean every nook and cranny in the house," She said, putting her hands on her hips and looking around herself, "It felt weird not being home for it so I started yesterday so I could make sure that my room was spotless by the end of the day today."

"I mean, it looks perfect."

She shook her head, "I still have my bathroom to do and the other side of my bed. But yeah, it's a good start."

"I didn't know you were a practicing Hindu," Jordan said looking at Ophelia and then at the bedroom which had been decorated with Christmas lights over the windows.

"Well, it's weird, I'm not super religious because I haven't been home for Diwali in a while and I don't have a community to celebrate these things with, but it's like having Christmas without a Christmas tree to me."

"Oh! You never told me," Jordan said, looking hurt, "I would've celebrated with you."

Ophelia smiled and hugged them, "Thank you. That means a lot, maybe we can do the second day together." She said, picking up her backpack, "Now let's go before we are late."

I followed them like a ghost trailing behind. It was nice to see them interact, Ophelia was so quiet all the time that it almost felt like she wasn't there sometimes, like a wallflower, but she was there and Jordan brought out the loudest part of her.

But watching their interaction also reminded me of Tatiana. There was a pairing in our group that was very deliberately delineated, Tyler and Cecily, Jordan and Ophelia, and I was the odd one out. The fifth wheel. The spare. I suddenly felt a surge of negativity running through me and I wondered if I was even meant to be there. The feeling became so strong that I had to stop and take a breath as we walked in the frigid air that permeated the campus. There was a knot in my chest that threatened to take my breath away.

"Hey, you ok?" Ophelia said, noticing I wasn't with them and turning around.

I shook my head, "I just need a second." I said, clutching my chest, "I can't breathe."

They came rushing over and Jay gave me a once-over, "Do you have asthma?"

I shook my head no and let them lead me to a bench where we sat, the cold permeating through our clothes, the damp wood making it even colder. "What do you feel?" Ophelia rubbed my back.

"Tightness in my chest. I. I can't breathe."

"She might be having an anxiety attack," Ophelia said to Jordan, and they walked me through a couple of breathing exercises. "What happened?" Ophelia asked once I'd calmed down.

"I- I don't know. I was just thinking about home and... how I don't really belong because you two have each other and Tyler and Cecily have each other and I'm just monkey in the middle..."

"Why do you think you don't belong? I mean I know we've only known each other for like what, two weeks now? But you've brought us together and we wouldn't have ever gotten to be friends with Cecily and Tyler if it wasn't for you, and we probably wouldn't have ever even started the History and Mystery club back up either." Jay said with a smile.

"Yeah, you're a good friend and you do belong here," Ophelia said with a serious face.

We hugged in an awkward, three-way, sideways hug and I felt the weight of my thoughts lift off of me. Then the bell rang ruining the moment and we ran to class laughing about our tardiness.

Hello Hello reader! Welcome back! Please drop me a vote if you liked the chapter!
Veronique