Blue Wolf Moon

8. Jupiter

Riya woke up feeling light the next day. She thought it was because she had gotten so much off her chest the previous day. She got ready for school and went down for breakfast not knowing what to expect from her parents. She convinced herself that no matter what happened, she would be okay with it. 

"Good morning!" she said as she once again found herself sitting on the barstool behind the kitchen counter where both her parents were.

"Good morning! Sleep well?" they reciprocated.

"Yeah. Just a little hungry because I didn't have dinner last night." said Riya trying to hold back a smile. They were fine; they were treating her normally. It was all she had wanted.

They talked about the news and all the usual stuff while Riya had breakfast. Yesterday wasn't even brought up once and Riya was okay with it because she never really liked it when her parents asked too many questions either. She was certain they would eventually talk about it, just not then. Riya finished getting ready and her mom dropped her off at school and waved goodbye.

Riya had been happy the whole time, until she reached school. She took a deep breath and shuddered as all of yesterday's events came rushing back to her head. She walked through the halls and entered her classroom, stopping for a second to look at where there was a pool of blood the previous day. She made her way to her desk and put down her bag before going to the bathroom to wash her face. By the time she was back, many people had already come to class.

"Hey Riya! How are you feeling?" she asked as she followed her back to their desk.

"I'm fine but not really. I told my parents everything and they were totally fine with everything so that's good. But, I came to school and I can't get yesterday out of my head. I can still feel that man's fingers tracing down my arms. It's not great." she explained with her head in her hands.

"Oh. I'm sorry Riya. I wish I could do something but I don't see how I could help. But good thing about your parents though." she replied with a soft smile.

"Thank you but I know. I just need some time. I'll be fine." she said calming down.

School was okay that day. Everyone was recovering from the events of the previous day and Riya felt nice seeing how they all made sure everyone was okay and knew that they would be there for them if they weren't. It was peaceful and Riya almost felt like staying there for a little longer but it was a Saturday, which meant they only had a half day of school. 

She went home feeling more like herself and even spoke to her parents a little more than usual. She had had a relatively nice day.

It was about twelve in the night. Riya was still scrolling through Instagram and texting her friends because she wasn't feeling sleepy at all; Plus, tomorrow was a Sunday. She wanted to take a stroll outside but she was sure she couldn't just waltz out of the house in the middle of the night. So she tiptoed around and snuck out, making as little sound as possible.

She smiled as the cool fresh breeze brushed across her face. She looked up at the full moon which could be seen right in between two tree branches, tearing up immediately but still with a smile on her face.

"It's been uh- quite a week." she told the moon sniffling as she wiped her tears and continued walking down the tree-filled street.

Her house was at the corner, unrecognized part of the layout they lived in. Complete with a rocky-road, trees covering most of the street lights and bushes overgrown. It was also the most beautiful and peaceful part though, for they didn't have many neighbors which meant way less noise. So all you could hear in the day were the birds cooing, and the owls hooting under the starry night.