Jane and Willow discuss their lives as criminal and future lawyer, while Willow types her essay on crime. Late night vibes.
November 4th 1:00am
The cold autumn wind whistled through the corridors of Amaryllis academy. Jane could feel the soft, refreshing touch of the cold air circling through her hair as she looked out the old English windows of her dorm tower. Though cold, it wasn't as harsh as the freezing bite of the winter breeze. In fact, she enjoyed the warmth she felt from the wind hugging her rosy cheeks. She appreciated such company. She recalled how when she was younger, she made friends with the autumn wind, when her parents thought of her as a ghost. Sometimes, she felt like a ghost in the arms of others, unable to feel the warmth of another being. But in isolation, the wind would ask her out to play as she danced around under the oak trees like it was nobody's business.
"How stupid." She thought to herself, a scoff escaped her lips. She used to believe that the wind was her sister, it was her guiding light to escape from the outcast others had made her out to be. Whatever that would soften the harsh reality of the world would do for the young Jane. But now, she wasn't alone in this dimly lit dorm room. She'd turn around, looking at how focused Willow was on her essay. Willow was a mystery to her, an orphan girl who aspires to be a lawyer.
Jane considered herself an orphan sometimes after her parents decided to not even look her in the eye anymore. But unlike Willow, Jane turned to crime, petty crime. At first, she'd do this to harness attention from her parents that only knew how to speak in an accusatory tone. Now, it became more of a habit, a coping mechanism with the emptiness she felt inside. In every wallet she stole, she'd find something new, something that differentiates each one. She'd robbed a businesswoman before, her wallet had a calming vanilla scent, with neatly rowed credit cards and receipts, it had its own personality. Though, she was still after the money. She'd learn from a young age that a material object could give her that sense of belonging far better than her parents ever did.
So how could someone like her, be so different?
She'd watch as her red haired roommate tied her hair up into a ponytail, letting out a sigh. This essay was obviously a big deal to her. She noticed how Willow's eyes squinted like she fought battles to see that tiny Times New Roman font pop up as she typed up a symphony.
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"Do you need me to turn on the lights? You'll spoil your eyes." Jane complained. Willow was unnecessarily straining her eyes.
"No, if the teacher caught us with the lights on, we'll be dead meat." Willow replied, eyes still glued to her screen.
"At this point, your eyes will roll out of its sockets. Take a break, if not I'll pull your eyes out. I'm really bored and I can't sleep." Jane suggested as Willow reluctantly got out of her chair, bringing her desk lantern to the window seats.
"The wind feels pretty nice tonight." WIllow started, "Is there anything important you want to talk about?" She rested her hands on the window grills.
"Not really important but isn't it funny?" Jane asked, looking up to the midnight blue sky. The stars twinkled back at her.
"What's funny?" Willow asked back, confused at Jane's odd behaviour. "You're acting weird." She continued.
"How we have similar childhood backgrounds but you're going to be a lawyer and I'm a criminal." Jane scoffed at the thought of it.
"I guess that goes to show how social environments play a part in early adolescents." Willow was intrigued by this. Though Willow could barely consider Jane as someone close to her, the irony of their kinship was evident. "I'm actually researching about it right now for my essay."
"For real? I bet it must be all about generic shit about how such criminals are poor and shit like that." Jane rolled her eyes.
"I beg to differ, I sympathize with such people." Willow's eyes started to look up at the stars too. "Though the harsh truth is that their crimes can't be justified but could be understood because of the adversities they'd experienced so early on in their lives." She'd continue.
"Well, though you and I ended up in different paths of life, we have our own stories to tell. That's the best part of it." Willow said softly. It was getting too emotional, too philosophical for the both of them.
A common thing both of them shared on this autumn night was putting up emotional walls, it was considered weak to show such vulnerability to them. On this night, Jane and Willow looked up at the stars quietly but peacefully, as the autumn wind carried their stories in the air, swirling around them. On this autumn night, with this small kinship, Jane felt the warmth not only from the autumn wind, but also from her roommate sitting right beside her.
