Frozen Fire - Volume One: Fragments

6: Unveiled Emotion

Sylvie: Hey, Cindy. I know you're probably still asleep and just respond to this when you wake up but

Sylvie: It's important to me that you know you're not burdening me or Riley at all. If anything's up you can always come to us, I promise. I know you're going through a lot and I don't want to suffocate you or anything, just let me know when you're ready to talk.

Sylvie: ily

Cindy: :(( just waking up now i was out cold for a few days

Cindy:I heard you're moving?? u have to tell me why when u get here omg

Cindy:u r moving before the weekends over, right?? visit me the day before!!

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Sylvie had listened to Amber's advice, and after sending a few stray text messages to her sister, was finally given a response. Her eyes remained glued to the phone, rereading the message again and again. It had been a few days since she broke down crying beside Amber, and ever since, she'd done her best to avoid the girl.

Largely because, well, Sylvie didn't know where she stood with the girl. Amber had seen a side to her that even Sophie and Jade didn't see all too often. Amber had seen the broken girl behind the icy facade – the one who woke up at the dead of night in a cold sweat from night terrors, the one who was terrified of getting close to others out of nothing but fear.

Sylvie let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She sat in her room, most of her items placed into boxes. The room felt empty now, nothing but a hollow vessel waiting for its current inhabitant to leave. The walls were a dull, pale blue, the window open and letting in the faint and cold autumn wind. She let out another sigh, she remembered watching the sky darken, sitting motionless in her bed.

Now, she sat in the chair near the desk she'd bought. She'd told Sophie she could keep the expensive wooden thing, she could always buy another one for herself. She sat facing the back of the chair, her arms tossed over it with her legs dangling either side. She heard a knock, let out a mumble as someone let themselves in.

"Aren't you supposed to be getting ready to see Cindy?" Sophie said. Sylvie glanced up, watching as Sophie's eyes widened before chuckling. "Have you gotten any sleep?" She closed the door behind her as she took a seat on Sylvie's bed.

Sylvie glanced to the mirror on her desk, noting the dark circles under her eyes. "No." Sophie rolled her eyes. Sylvie crossed her arms, resting them atop the back of the chair.

"I don't think sitting like that is good for your posture." She commented as Sylvie rolled her eyes.

"I don't think I asked." Sylvie countered as Sophie lightly kicked one of the chair legs.

The girl then sighed, falling back onto Sylvie's bed. Sylvie raised a brow, leaving the chair to lay beside her friend. Sophie glanced over, watching as Sylvie took a glimpse of the window, watching the sky. The pinks and oranges of the sunset had faded, allowing a dull indigo to spread across the airspace above.

"I feel kind of bad for leaving Jade down there with the Doc." Sophie said, a light smile on her face as Sylvie scoffed.

"You're telling me, I wonder who's more scared of who?" The famed Doctor of Eternity Academy didn't have the personality one expected from a doctor who tended to sick and injured students. Abrasive, short-tempered, never shutting up about how she 'hates young people'. Some called her rude, others dubbed her as terrifying. Sylvie settled for 'forever hungover'.