Verdant II

Six

Sila's POV 

Today's my birthday.

I am legally an adult. I could pack my bags and leave, and no one could force me to return. The day I've been counting down to is finally here, but instead of filling my backpack with clothes and my passport, I grab my textbooks and the book Grace gave me last week. I've already read it once, and she has good taste in books.

Just one more day. Then I'll go.

I made it to class and sat down five minutes before the bell rang. My blood hummed, I felt wired and anxious for some reason. As soon as Grace came in I couldn't take my eyes off her. There was nothing different since yesterday, but for some reason, she looked more beautiful today than ever before. She smiled at me as she sat down in her seat, and I swear my heart leapt out of my chest.

I wanted to touch her.

I don't know why, but I felt the most intense need to touch her. My hand lifted before I even realized what I was doing, and stretched towards her. I snapped it back and placed both my hands on my lap. 

Grace turned to me with a questioning gaze, but I kept my eyes on my textbook and my hands to myself as the teacher droned on.

After class ended, I quickly packed up my things and rushed towards the door, but the teacher stopped a person in front of me creating a bottleneck of students trying to get to their next class. Grace came up behind me, and my fingers brushed her arm without me realizing what just happened.

As soon as I touched her I felt this weird sensation. I couldn't let go for a moment because I was so mesmerized by it. I just looked at my fingers touching her arm.

It was weird... these little tingly sensations going up my fingers, all the way up my arm. Then it seemed to just shoot through my body and made my chest feel all warm and fuzzy.

Embarrassment coloured my cheeks, and I hurried out of there.

The rest of the day went excruciatingly slow. I counted down the minutes until my freedom. But once the last bell rang I hesitated. I didn't want to go. Not if it meant I would never see Grace again.

I could stay. It wasn't safe, but then again I had become an expert at avoiding my dad's bad moods, so things had been good lately. Granted, we never spoke and he probably forgot all about my birthday, but that was okay. Better he forget than realize I'm an adult and he can't claim taxes on me anymore.

So when the next day came, I once again put my textbooks in my backpack and went to school. I smiled at Grace, and she smiled back, and that was worth all the risk I decided.

The next day I asked if she wanted to sit with me during lunch. She agreed, and we had a great time. It was the hardest I'd laughed in a long time. Like seriously, my cheeks hurt. Grace's sarcastic sense of humour fit my own perfectly, and I loved making her smile. 

I also learned more about her, like that she wanted to travel and study law. I told her about my dream of going to med school, and she impressed me with tales of volunteering at the community health center with her aunt. Throughout lunch, I saw she was also attentive and caring, and seemed genuinely interested in everything I said, even when I talked about the most boring things.

She told me a lot of stories about her family, which made me smile. "I'm an only child" I explained to her. "My mom died when I was young, and my dad worked a lot, so the idea of a full house that's never quiet is very foreign to me. But I do want a big family in the future." 

Grace seemed relieved. "Yeah, me too. It was just me and dad for the first six years, which was great, don't get me wrong, but I love being an older sister. Having siblings takes some of the parental pressure off, and you're never bored." I laughed at her description. 

I wanted to ask about her biological mother, but got the sense that it was a sore subject, so instead I asked about what living in Canada was like. 

Grace explained how cold -50 degrees was, and how their eyelashes froze and hair turned white on the way from the house to the car in less than two minutes. How anyone would want to live in a place that cold was a mystery to me. 

But the way she talked about it made me realize that she wanted to go back. There was longing in her voice, and her eyes drifted to a spot past my shoulder as she got lost in her memories. I carefully touched her hand to bring her back to the present. Sparks erupted again down my arm, so I drew my hand back quickly. What was up with the static electricity in this school? 

After lunch I had honours science, and that went quick. Gym class did not go quickly. I stayed late to help the teacher put the equipment back, so when I made it into the locker room it was almost empty. By the time I was done showering I was the last one there. 

I walked towards the town center and Luna's Library, and noticed that the roads were quiet. There was nobody around. Not a single person. Usually I would see adults driving home from work, and kids walking home from class. But nope, only I was on the road. Weird. 

I noticed a bundle of jackets and backpacks on the sidewalk. The quiet air gave me goosebumps. Seriously, where was everyone? 

Suddently  I heard a wimper, and I ran towards it. It was a little kid, he was lying on the grass bleeding by the entrance to the forest.