Our Soul Divided

03| Remember

Athena

I stare at the wall across from me, and though I still feel like I am falling apart at the seams, I feel a little better after talking with Stetson. Apparently, I missed a lot.

The strange girl who had brought me food a couple of times throws the curtain back as she enters the makeshift bedroom.

"Hey, you. Stetson said you were awake. I brought you something," she sings.

I move my gaze to take her in.

Her skin is brown, the lighter shade of brown that you would think of when you think of an almond and it is glowing. Her wacky colored dread locks are grown out a bit and piled on top of her head to stick up like a rainbow palm tree.

She wears some sort of metal corset that looks awfully uncomfortable and a piece of cloth that might have once been a t-shirt but is now just a faded black rag tied over one shoulder. Her jeans are also tattered and don't quite reach her heavy combat boots which are laced up in such a random way that it's almost odd.

She has a smile that would light up any room, no matter how dark, just as it is lighting up this room now. Her hazel eyes stare at me as I take her in.

"I hope you're hungry," she says brightly.

"Nah." I wave her away.

She sighed and placed her free hand on her hip. "Okay, sit up. Come on, I'll help."

She reaches for me and I push her off, "I'm not a child."

"It's been three days, and you're still lying here not eating, not bathing, barely breathing. If you don't want to be treated like a child, stop acting like one," she snarks at me with a sarcastic smile.

I sit up and stare at her in disbelief. "I just lost someone very important to me."

"Dorian? Yeah, he was important to all of us..." She trails off and gently places the food she brought on the table next to the bed. "Stetson lost his best friend, too, ya know? We all lost a friend."

I meet her gaze and she gives me a sad smile, "We all lost a friend. He was supposed to come back with you two and when he didn't..."

Her gaze drops to the floor and suddenly I feel a pang of jealousy.

"I've been gone a while... were you two..." I didn't finish the question, hoping she would catch on.

"What me and Dorian?" She snorted. "I don't really bat for that team if you know what I mean." She bounced her eyebrows at me and I relaxed enough to let out a small huff of a laugh.

"Was that a laugh?" She gasps sarcastically.

"Was that a joke?" I shoot back.

She huffs back at me and places one of her hands on my knee. It's adorned with odd pieces of metal and wire and her yellow polish is chipping. "He was good, through and through. Hell, he was kind of my big brother."

My eyes find the floor and a small smile creeps up one corner of my lips, "Sounds like him."

"He loved you," she whispered. "Every. single. day."

I feel the tears start to prick my eyes and I nod gently. "So does Stetson."

I feel like the breath is knocked from me for a moment and then I remember all of our conversations and memories of us flip through my head like an old home movie.

"I know..."

"He missed you, we were all forced to miss you." I bunch up my brows and look at her again.