𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬

Thirteen

Cool air brushes through me as I step out of Hansen. It feels nice to be in a quiet place for once. These past few days have been complete chaos.

As I was towards what I'm hoping is where the gardens are, my thoughts stray to how simple my life was before arriving here. I miss my parents. I regret thinking that as soon as it enters my mind.

There were times that I thought Maybe they aren't as bad as I thought—like the time my mom made me a sweater she'd been working on for months for my twelfth birthday. Or the time my dad and I spent together on 'bring your daughter to work day'. Those are the memories I cling to when something terrible happens. I don't want to hate my parents. It almost makes me regret not talking to my parents before leaving.

Almost.

Zelaya is the one I miss the most, though. I've only known her for a year, but despite her being a chatterbox and sometimes a distraction from getting homework done, she was the only friend I had. No one else would even look in my direction.

This makes me wants to get on a flight right back to Oak Bluffs and give Zelaya the biggest and only hug I've ever given. I hate physical contact but, in that moment, it'd be a hundred percent worth it.

The gardens are exactly where I envision faeries live. It's a three minute walk following a trail behind Hansen and it's absolutely stunning. Once you enter the white arbor gate there's yellow, blue, and pink flowers assorted in dozens of swirling designs at each side of the enclosed garden and more of them along the concrete path inside of the gardens.

Tons of different kinds of small trees dot the grounds, one huge tree right in the middle with pink and purple flowers and a thick trunk. A pond sits right in front of it with a little hill and a waterfall.

It takes me a minute to realize the girl standing beside the tree, staring at the pond.

"Um, hello?" My voice comes out as a whisper but she still turns his head towards me.

Her light eyes are bloodshot and her cheeks look a little swollen. Her nose is a little crooked, her features permanently sad. But she's still one of the prettiest girls I've ever seen with short black hair and hypnotizing blue eyes.

"Ah, Amie," her accent is even thicker than Liana's. This is gonna be a hard conversation.

She sits down near the waterfall and gestures for me to mirror her. I go ahead and gingerly take a seat next to her.

"I assumed Adam would be with you," she says, carefully glancing at me.

"Well, there was this fight and—uh, I just decided to go by myself," I curse myself for thinking coming alone was a good idea. "I can go get him—?"

"No worries," she smiles. "Nothings going on anyway."

"I thought you had something to tell me or . . . ?"

"Oh, no—we're trying to help you escape from that god awful place for a bit."

"We?"

"We're gonna do what they should've done when you first got here," a new voice appears from behind us.

I crane my neck to see a tall Indian boy that looks about my age smiling and walking towards us.

He takes a seat next to the girl and takes her hand. "Okay, now you can start."

"I missed you," the girl kisses him quickly on the lips.

"Me too," he grins sweetly back at her.

"Hate to ruin the moment but—who the fuck are you guys?" I chime in.

The boy gasps. "Foul language."

The girl ignores him. "I'm Evangeline and this is my boyfriend Jasper. We're both seniors at Hansen."

"And we're taking you on a tour," Jasper explains. "A better one than this campus, though."