r e s i l i e n c e

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(Distance - Ruel)
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I looked at my dull reflection through the mirror, that was more like a metal plate fixed on the wall with screws than an actual glass one, and thought, 'where did the joyful little girl go and left this empty and dark pit for a soul?'

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PURE HAPPINESS took over me as I reunited with my two best friends after so long of waiting for this very moment. For an instant, I forgot about everything and just enjoyed this small fraction of time without any care in the world. After what seemed like a while, we pulled away before walking towards the table Noah and Marwa were sitting at. As I passed by the table of some football jocks, I felt a sudden sting on my ass cheek. I quickly turned around and intensely glared at the guy who had the nerve to slap my ass. The stupid blonde boy snickered to his friends and before he could even understand what was happening, I violently punched him and he fell to the ground abruptly. I kneeled to the ground beside him and whispered lowly :

« If you ever touch me like that again, I swear I will beat you up so much that your own mother won't be able to recognize you. »

He then shakily nodded his head rapidly and he gathered his things quickly and he hurried out of the cafetaria with his head down looking like a beaten puppy.

After the small "incident", we finished our way to the table and I sat between Marwa and Noah.

"Oh my god, I still can't believe it's really you!" Marwa exclaimed.

"I believe you owe us some explications young lady, WHY THE HELL DID YOU GO M.I.A FOR TWO WHOLE YEARS?!?"James screamed,

"Woah chill, dude" I answered back. James sent me a harsh glare so I started explaining.

"My father got a job in a city that is a few hours away and decided to tell me the day we were moving"

"That still doesn't explain why we had no news of our best friend for over two years" James argued.

"My father smashed my phone into pieces when I tried to argue with him to stay and when I bought my new one I didn't have your phone numbers and I still don't have any social media."

"Wow... you truly became a beautiful grown woman, I feel like I succeeded in my duty as your mother!" Marwa cried. James and I laughed at her dramatic speech.

We continued to talk and as we were catching up I realized that pretty much everything stayed the same, except me. I was not the same Aurora they once knew, but I didn't want to tell them everything because I didn't want them to worry more than they
already are about me. In that instant, I was glad that everything still felt the same.

After our eventful lunch where we talked for a long time to catch up for lost time, I went to pick up my books from my locker. I looked at my time table to know where my next class was and I started to make my way to the classroom after a long deliberation of whether I have to go left or right.

I entered the class and immediately went towards the spot at the back of the class in the corner besides the window. I connected my airpods, (which I only have because it came with the laptop when I bought it with the student deal during summer), and I put on my favorite playlist with many small artists and good old classics. I bounced up and down my leg at the beat of the music and since the teacher and half of the students were still not there I decided to draw in my agenda. Let me just say that I absolutely suck at drawing but I like doodling little things on my work sheets to pass the time. The teacher started to speak and I looked up to see that every student that was missing earlier was already seated. I opened my notebook and started to write notes on the lesson.

After a while, my eyelids started to get pretty heavy. Last night I didn't sleep at all because I was still unpacking my dad and I's things and it was catching up to me. I let my head rest on my arm and when I felt myself start dozing off, I felt someone kick my chair causing my desk to press into my stomach. I angrily turned around to see who dared kick my chair and who I saw didn't even surprise me.

Elijah, my greatest enemy since the day he threw his football at me and it knocked over my ice cream, years ago. Since then, I hated him and he hated me. We are both really competitive so we made everything a competition from score tests, sports in PE and even some bets in the middle of the cafetaria, but that's a story for another time. Almost every girl in the school is utterly in love with him and his best friend, Logan. Elijah is considered like the "bad boy" of the school and Logan is like a crossover between bad boy and jock. He's a real manwhore and never sleeps with the same girl twice. Elijah is not that different, but he doesn't talk much and he also sleeps around with girls but not nearly as much as Logan.

I glared angrily at him and he looked at me in the eyes and smirked in amusement.

"What the hell?" I whispered harshly.

"You should thank me for that, you were clearly going to fall asleep." He said.

I raised my eyebrow and stared at him in disbelief.

"Whatever" I rolled my eyes.

"You know, I'm actually impressed that you recognized me, you know, since I grew so much and got hotter" he said.

"Yeah well as they say, you gotta recognize your mistakes" I replied.

"Well funny of you to say, cause we never slept together, but don't worry, since you asked so nicely, I might help you correct that" he smirked. I rolled my eyes and answered:

"You know, you're one of the things that I really didn't miss while I was away." I added.

"Don't worry, the feeling is mutual" Elijah said back. I turned back towards the board and actually listened this time.

The rest of the class went by really quickly and before I knew it, the bell was ringing and people were collecting their things and were getting out. Just to my luck, note the sarcasm, Elijah and Logan were in all of my other afternoon classes. Surprisingly enough, they didn't annoy me after Elijah and I's little discussion earlier, so at least I got to pay attention to the lectures without being disturbed. Also, Noah and Marwa were also with me in all of my classes. They had explained to me earlier that they actually stayed at Noah's house to sleep because they were hungover from some party that occurred yesterday night.

A few hours later, thankfully, it was finally time to go home. I was exhausted from my day and I desperately wanted to get some rest from my lack of sleep yesterday. After saying my goodbyes to Noah and Marwa, I went to my locker, took my bags and some of my books and left to go to the parking lot. I got into my car and drove away to hurry back home.