Beautiful Minds

Shaken Up

Azlin and I sat down at the cheap wooden tables, waiting for people to get themselves ready to eat breakfast. We had barely said a word since we woke up. It was a cold morning, and the field was misty. Only a faint orange stroke of sunlight was able to reach the damp grass, but furthermore it was mostly grey clouds covering the sky. Everyone was wearing sweatpants, baggy vests or sweaters and boots. Everyone was tired from last night. After what happened, I wasn't able to get much sleep. But looking at Azlin with her grey bags under her eyes, I was probably not the only one. She had put her black hair in a messy bun, with strains falling down the sides of her face.

"Let's try to make it a nice day huh? Distract ourselves a bit." I tried to lighten the mood. It was only then that I realized she was out of it once again, probably having a vision. She fidgeted with her thumb as she stared at the grass behind me. Her face showed her complete absence, a face that I started to get used to from her. I sighed. She wasn't making it very easy for me to befriend her, and I was secretly starting to understand why others looked down on her. I sat on the opposite side of the table a bit awkwardly. Now that I thought about it, it did seem appealing to let my curiosity win and touch her arm, to feel what she was feeling, just like last time. But if I had learned anything from yesterday, it's that she does not want to be touched.

I was fleeing into the woods. A place where I could be alone. My surroundings were filled with colors of yellow, orange, red, and brown. It smelled like damp mud, but somehow it smelled like a good type of earthiness. Once I turned around I was greeted by a small deer, young enough to still have white spots on its back. It's eyes twinkled in the morning light. I reached out my hands towards it, as it nibbled my palm a little. It then began walking away. I wanted to speak, I wanted to tell it to wait. But my mouth was shut as ever. I jogged after it, as it ran into a building. It seemed to be the school. The hallway was dark, and the deer was gone. Its cries turned into an echo, and the echo turned into a human yell. A girl ran up to me. I jumped when she took my arms and shook them. "Get out! You have to get out!" She sounded concerned for my safety. Once again, my vision became piercing, as the pressure arose within my chest. "Come on! Get out of here!" Pressure in my head, and behind my eyeballs. I couldn't bare her touching me. I couldn't bare her looking directly at me. I had to answer. "No."

"Boo." I jumped when two hands grabbed my upper arms from behind. A quick flash of mischievousness darted through my body. I turned and laughed out loud, figuring it was Victor. "You scared the crap out of me." I gave his arm a light push. He smiled, sitting down next to me. Dan and Jailey followed, filling up the table. Only now Victor really noticed Azlin sitting there. "Is.. this a bad timing?" He asked a bit concerned. My eyes were on her too. "I'm not sure-" "No." Azlin suddenly spoke sternly. She looked up surprised at me, her eyes meeting mine for just a split second. She was then startled by the people who had joined the table. "You sure?" Victor asked. "What?" She shook her head and looked down once she noticed the confused faces. "Sorry. I-.. Sorry." She quickly got up from the table to walk away. "Hey, it's cool. Don't worry." I stopped her. She looked at my shirt with flushed cheeks. "You're not the only one with a terrible morning, girl. We're all tired." Jailey grinned. It didn't seem to calm Azlin down much, but she slowly sat back down. "Pancakes!" Dan yelled as he slowly clapped his hands. The rest cheered as people served pancakes on people's plates. I couldn't help but laugh at their response. Azlin discreetly covered her face with her hand.

That day, Azlin and I had talked about what we wanted to do with the situation we had stumbled upon that night. When I offered to look into it with her, she didn't seem disinterested, however we figured there was no way for us to know more. We didn't know who the boys were that were fighting. And even teachers could be involved in this, so reporting it to teachers could be dangerous if anything. There was nothing we could do for now. But we promised to get back at each other if one of us were to hear more or if Azlin would receive another vision. The rest of the camping trip, Azlin and I barely saw each other, despite being tent mates. She disappeared during most of the activities. Once I went to bed, she'd already be asleep, and once I woke up, she was up already. Luckily I still had an amazing time bonding with Victor, Dan and Jailey regardless, so it's not like I didn't have a good time. I just felt like I wasted the opportunity to befriend her.