Forbidden Habit

Chapter 4

Author's pov

     As a consequence of her situation, Luna found herself locked inside her room the whole weekend, until Sunday night her father decided that he had punished her enough and let her out. Thankfully, she had found a half-emptied bottle of water and, being careful enough not to finish it at once- due to her hydration- she managed to keep it until the moment the door of her room opened, drinking drop by drop and making sure she will make it.

      She can't say the same about the food though. She hadn't put a single piece of nutrition inside her mouth since Friday evening, when she ate an apple on her way to her ballet lesson. She starved for more than two days but she couldn't say a word. How could she? Who would be there to hear her crying for help? it would only infuriate her gather's rage more.

     Hungry, sad, and lonely, Luna spent her two days counting down the seconds...186,894. That's how much time passed until she heard the characteristic click of a lock unlocking and raised her head to see the light coming to her room through the slightest slot between her recently opened door and its frame. She got up and rushed to her door just in time to hear the loud thud of another door closing coming from downstairs.

     So he didn't even want to look at me... is that how pathetic I am? a shame to my own father. That's what Luna kept thinking as she went downstairs and with an aching heart she opened the fridge and made something to eat. Yes, she was upset with her father's attitude but her body couldn't afford the lack of food anymore.

      On Monday, Lisa and Leo asked her why she didn't reply to their party message. Apparently, a party was taking place on the other side of the city and every senior student in their city was going to go. They texted her Friday morning, when they got informed about it, asking her if she would like to follow them, knowing very well how much their friend enjoyed staying home on Saturday nights, reading her favorite books, and relaxing with some classic music. So they didn't have their expectations too high. They knew she didn't really like parties, let alone going to one forty-five minutes away from her house.

     So they weren't really surprised when she didn't answer all day, imagining that she would have been lost inside the pages of her precious books, reading and rereading her most loving moments and becoming one soul- one heart with her fictional friends whom the lovely girl had felt, for a long time, like family; the only family that she knew would be there for her whenever reality came crushing down her door. Besides, it wasn't a rare habit for her to escape reality with the help of her books. Everything was so perfect there. You knew from the start that after every obstacle, every hitch, in the end, everything would be alright, the main character would be happy with her life. But what about Luna?

      Luna didn't know her end. She didn't even know her route. While she knew that in the books, after the sun it was coming a storm, or the other way around, in her life the storms were her routine weather. No sun, no rainbows, no light stars and, definitely, no happy end. After five years of living under the rage of the clouds, Luna had accepted her fate that in her grey world, the six colors that lightened fairytale's imagination wouldn't come to meet her, never again.

      However, when Sunday came by and she still hadn't answered them, they started worrying that something bad may had happened to their friend. They had gone to the party and had a really nice time dancing and singing at the top of their lungs along with so many unknown faces, but Lisa's and Leo's minds always returned to their lovely girl that was left behind and hadn't texted them yet.

     When she finally answered, Sunday evening, that she was being sorry and just lost track of time studying and reading, they vowed that the next time they go to a party, they will draw her with them, all jokes aside. They loved her so much and knew that sometimes she was lying to them but they didn't want to pressure her; when she was ready to tell them what bothered her, they would be there for her and would help her without a second thought.