⤐ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝.
"I need you to listen to me. When we're out there together, if I say run, run. If I tell you to leave me, then damn it, you le...
'these moments have soldered your soul to mine, and existing apart from you? I could not imagine.'
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⤐
The school bell rang sharply through her ears, snatching her away from her daydreaming. The halls were filled with teens scrambling between their lockers. The deafening chatter of groups paired together was giving her a migraine, and she flinched as Veronica slammed her locker next to her. "Shit," she grumbled. "Chill out."
"Sorry," Veronica huffed. "I got another C on my history test, my dad's gonna kill me."
Zepp sighed, dropping her books into her pack and slinging it over her shoulder. "You just need to focus," she mused. "You're always distracted by Mr. Parsons." She shook her head, partly in amusement, and partly in disgust.
She knew V thought the older man was handsome and mature, but all she saw was a man with a combover who smelled like bitter coffee.
"Blah, blah, blah," V scoffed, linking her arm with Zepp's as they headed towards their next class. Her ponytail bounced between her shoulder blades, perfectly matching the perky bounce of her cheer uniform. "You're so wise, Z."
⤐
Before the end of the world, Zeppelin rarely took the time to count the stars. Her days before were filled with working at the bar downstairs from her apartment, laundry, exercise, grocery shopping, and all the other bullshit people used to care about. Her nights were filled with the dangerous thoughts, the what ifs.
What if that creepy regular follows me home one day? What if the bar is slow and I can't pay my electric bill? What if my asshole of a stepfather found me in the city?
Now it seemed as though she had nothing but time.
Time to be human again.
But the dark thoughts were still there.
She could ignore them most of the time, if she tried hard enough to shift her focus to her group. Now, she laid in the backyard with Veronica, Rosita, Tara and Carl, teaching him the correct constellations and making some up to make him laugh. Veronica stayed close beside her, their thighs touching over the dewy grass.
Her family's laughter was a harmonic melody, overpowering the sound of crickets chirping around them. Carl's innocence and Tara's constant laughter and jokes made her feel young and carefree again, something she hadn't felt since... well, ever, really.
