After experiencing a life-altering tragedy, Emersyn feels as if her world has collapsed. Attempting to accept her new reality, Emersyn wonders how she can possibly keep going when it feels like her life ended months ago. Until she meets Haven, and s...
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Haven's features are pinched and taut, her expression one I do not recognize.
She has been so thrilled over the homecoming dance this weekend, I suppose I had assumed she would be just as excited for the game. After all, her brother is on the football team. And she used to cheer. I figured these sorts of high school events were a big deal to her.
However, I can sense that she is not exactly happy as I sit next to her on the bleachers, unable to focus on anything other than the distasteful emotions painted across her face. The expressions she shifts between are foreign to me; the warmth behind her smile has vanished and the brightness of her eyes has dimmed, her blue irises now dull and gray like storm clouds threatening rain.
Below us, the football field is crowded with players as they warm up before the game begins. I wave to Tyler and Brendan as they spot Haven and I at the top of the bleachers from where they are positioned below, though Haven does not return the gesture, which is the first clear sign that something is bothering her. The opposing team is huddled around their coach. Yet Haven's eyes are solely glued to the sidelines, watching as the cheerleaders practice drills.
I study her in silence as I absorb our surroundings. Summer is giving way to fall rapidly, and the dusk air has a bite to it that leaves me constantly wrapping my sweater around my frame for warmth. The scent of popcorn and hotdogs wafts from the concession stand around the corner. My ears roar with the clamor of our surrounding peers speaking amongst each other at once, the sound only slightly dimmed by the faint music drifting from the field speakers. And yet none of this can distract me from Haven. I seem only able to concentrate on her pensive expression and the bottled tension evident in her limbs, wondering to myself what has put such a damper on her mood.
I nudge her shoulder gently with mine. "You okay?" Haven blinks as she snaps her head in my direction much too quickly, as if I have startled her out of a gloomy daze.
"What? Oh. Yeah, I'm fine," she breezily dismisses my worry. I eye her skeptically, which results in no further explanation beyond a tight-lipped grin. I want to press her, but I resist. Haven is an untamed spirit. And stubborn. If she wanted to share whatever it is on her mind, then she would. And if she doesn't, then nothing I could possibly do will get the information out of her. I know this much by now. So I try to let go of the concern eating at me and return my attention to the field, hoping that whatever it is that has put Haven so under the weather will clear up soon.
However, Haven's mood does not improve even once the game has started. Instead, she seems to visibly darken, her demeanor turning from an overcast sky to a hurricane right before my eyes. Her gaze does not follow her brother as he runs across the field, it merely transfixes on Kamri as she cheers on the sidelines and refuses to be torn.
I watch her discreetly out of the corner of my eye, paying close attention to the frown she sports as her gaze roams the cheerleaders below. Her shoulders hunch as she watches the girls perform. She winces as she observes the stunts, particularly during the moments some of the girls are tossed into the air, pulling off delicate spins before landing with large, red-lipped smiles. I then notice that her breathing has turned shallow, as if she is struggling for air. She blinks rapidly. Either the field lighting is washing her out, or Haven's complexion has considerably paled.
