The Destined

Chapter Six: Avani

    Avani    

I wake up from the dream, breathing heavily. I can barely remember what happened: going to Lybrethium, meeting the queen, and our necklaces, glowing and joining together like magnets.

It's still dark. The full moon outside illuminates our room in an eerie way. I look around, and I see that Anna and Melissa are awake too. They're having a silent conversation from across the beds. Their facial expressions change often. I wonder if they had the same dream, but I don't know if I should believe it yet. I don't want to embarrass myself by asking. I pretend I'm asleep. Eventually, they both look away and seem to fall asleep as well.

I rest my head back on to my pillow and try to fall asleep too. I can't. I forget about the dream, but Headmaster Lotso's words keep coming back into my head. "This is a package from your parents...your dad." How could it be, though? They are both dead. Unless he knows something. I have so many questions. Too many questions. What if it was just a lie?

I look across the room. Anna has fallen asleep. Meredith is silently snoring into her pillow. Melissa, though, is getting up and is sifting through her bag. She pulls out a small tablet container. Its contents shake and move around. The sound is loud in the silence.

Not knowing what I am doing, I get up.

"What are you doing?" I ask, startling Melissa. She tries to hide the pills behind her back, but she knows I already saw them.

"Do you promise you won't tell?" Melissa whispers, giving in. She's breathing hard, as if I just jumped out and scared her.

"I promise," I respond, waiting impatiently for an answer.

"They are my pills....for my depression." She frowns at the last word, and shakes her head, like it doesn't fit or make sense.

I don't respond at first. Because I can't. Depression pills? "Wow. You are...um...depressed? I didn't know that."

"Not really. My doctor thinks I am," she answers very quietly. "I am not. I just seem to be –" She cuts herself off. She then looks at the ground and picks something up. "Oh, and I think this is yours." She hands me a photo. I glance down at the picture of my parents and turn my head before Melissa suspects I'm crying. The wave of tears always hits me when I see them, like a punch in the face or the stomach.

"Are those your parents?" Melissa asks me.

Instead of answering, I ask her, "Where did you find this picture? Why do you think it was mine? Who told you to take it?" Suddenly, I suspect it fell out of her back a moment ago. Can I trust her if she just takes my stuff like that? Why would she take it?

"I was looking at the books yesterday and the photo fell out. I thought it was yours..." she continues, "Because the lady in that picture looks just like you. She's very pretty."

"Oh," I respond. I try to ignore the picture, but it feels like hot coal in my hands, impossible to ignore.

"Are they your parents?" Melissa asks again.

"Yeah," I nod quietly. I try to hold back my tears, but they start streaming down my face. Melissa sits down on the bed next to me and tries to be comforting. "They...uh...died when I was seven. I've been 'living' here ever since. I go to an orphanage during the summer, though." I don't know what it is about Melissa – how she understands, how she listens – but she makes me open up more than anybody else ever has. I always make up lies, but she made me tell the truth. I don't know why she trusts me or why she pressed about it. I thought she hated me after I went to talk to her in the hallway after science on the first day.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I had no idea."

"It's ok. It was a while ago."

"How about this," Melissa says. "I won't tell anyone about your parents if you don't tell anybody about my pills. Deal?"

"Deal," I say. "But I bet, like, Jessie and Katie already know. I'm not sure though. I have never told anybody else before."

I like Melissa. There's a special bond there, I can feel it. Maybe there's a possibility we can be friends. Or just acquaintances. Maybe.

☾☾☾  

I wake up the next day and realize I slept late. I must have slept through the alarm. Melissa, Meredith, and Anna have already showered and are getting dressed.

I hop out of bed, get undressed, and take a cold shower. The water helps me waken up and be alert. I brush my teeth, put on my uniform, brush my hair, and adjust my makeup in the mirror. I French braid my hair, pulled back like the dress code prefers. When I grab my books from the shelf, I can't help seeing Melissa being more happy than depressed. She doesn't look like she needs pills. Maybe she has a good way of hiding it, like I do.

I smile at her and she mumbles "Good Morning" and smiles back. I do a last check in the mirror, smooth out my plaid skirt and tug on my knee socks. Then I race out of the dorm just in time to make it to breakfast.

☾☾☾  

I sit down at my normal table waiting for Jessie and Katie to grab their food when Anna and Melissa sit down across from me. I thought about it, but I finally decided I won't ask them. If they had the same dream, they would've talked to me by now. I just hope Katie and Jesse don't learn about this. Or them. Or anything.