if by chance | ✓

23 | ursa major

[ 23 ]

C O R A

✦

"So who was it?" I ask nonchalantly, causing Acacia to flinch and stop in her tracks. Although I couldn't find a better way to bring up the question, I also wished I hadn't scared the poor girl like that. Her chocolate hair is tied up into a messy bun and she blows a rebel strand out of her face.

We had been standing near the cliff for about thirty minutes now, watching the sun rise above the horizon, painting the sky of dawn in warm shades of orange and pink. I look back to see Archer and Rhys step out of their tents ─ being the first among the others to wake up. I wave at the both of them before facing Acacia again.

"What do you mean?" She perks up a perfectly shaped eyebrow, appearing as unwavered as she could. I don't answer her question immediately and continue to stab the pencil in my hand onto the tree bark, in an attempt to carve my initials ─ C.E ─ on it.

"Coraline?" She repeats, shifting the weight between her legs. I could tell she was nervous but unlike most people, she didn't want to show it. And that is one of the many things about her I admired.

"The person you were calling so urgently back in the forest" I explain and notice her gaze instantly fall to the ground. So my gut feeling wasn't entirely wrong . . .

"It's my dad. And, Cora, there's nothing fishy going on, trust me" She blurts out, pinching the bridge of her nose. From the corner of my eyes, I see Rhys knit his eyebrows in suspicion. Last night, he had warned me to not urge her to tell me what was going on if she wasn't willing to. Keeping that in mind, I open my mouth to speak again.

"Well, I won't force you to tell me but ─"

"He just wants to make sure I'm safe" She cuts me off, tears starting to build up in the corner of her eyes and I feared she might lose her mind for whatever reason it was. "The last time I went on a trip, back in school, I was ─"

"You were?" I frown, watching a single teardrop slide down her right cheek. God, sure I had hit a still fresh wound.

"I was raped, Cora" She breaths and hold my breath, praying to dig my own grave. I certainly should not have pressed her further.

"Acacia, I'm sorry I didn't ─"

"It's okay, not your fault. It's just . . . I had to move an entire country to start over and I don't want anyone knowing about my past. But I trust you, I guess I can, right? In fact you're the only friend I have made here so far" She tries to smile but it falters.

"You can trust me" I assure her, taking her hand in mine, "Where are you from ─ you said you moved countries?" I didn't know what else to do but I had always been good at comforting people.

"Edinburgh, Scotland" She purses her lips, wiping her cheek with the back of her free hand. For a minute, I don't find words ─ realizing why she always seemed so closed off, had a tendency to go unnoticed and possessed a slightly different accent than the most of us. I allow my eyes to wander up to the sky again, now so blue and fresh that one could hardly say it was London.