UNALIGNED

Chapter 3

"Heyyy! You're doing it again."

Hinyana's frustrated rebuke brought her back to their present conversation.

"Sorry Hinyana! You just made me think of Upper School. I'm sorry, I won't get lost in thought again. What were you saying?"

Shrugging, Hinyana went back to talking. "Well, it's okay then. I was just saying how, even though we're all going to the same institution now, it's actually the most disheartening. I mean, I know allowing us to be at Etessa is meant to be a great gift from the rulers but... I think..."

Hinyana took a deep breath before she continued again, "it's just ... I think I am more aware than I have ever been before of my social standing and my power ranking here. I mean, we've all always known that our lives are different from the 'highers' but until Etessa, I don't think it ever really hit me exactly how much".

Ayala had to agree with that assessment, she too felt the same. "Yeah, I know. I feel the same way. It's like this thing that we've always been aware of but didn't completely feel the effects of until we joined Etessa, living like this makes it so much more obvious, so much more real."

"Exactly! I guess we'll just get used to it though. Are you stationed for any duties this evening?"

"No, not today. Are you?"

"Yeah I am. Shall we head back to the dorms Ayala? I need to shower before it gets busy in there and then I need to make it to the dining hall. I'm on Kitchen duty today."

"Let's get back then".

As the two got up off the grass, Ayala observed Hinyana, she was still twiddling with the daisy stems held in her hands. Was there something else that was bothering her but she wouldn't say?

Ayala considered pushing her to share more of her thoughts but then decided it might be better to wait and give Hinyana some time to speak up herself. She knew her friend, and Hinyana was someone who was usually very forthcoming. So, if she was hesitating, there was a reason for it and she wouldn't be divulging anything that she wasn't ready to.

They began heading towards the dorms, both of their minds entangled in thoughts of their own. Ayala returned to thinking about Upper School again and to thoughts of Vaajh. She remembered that it had been an overcast day.

A thick blanket of clouds seemed to be covering the sky, she tried to recall what they had learnt about cloud formation at school and if these were rain clouds but couldn't remember. So it could or it could not rain? Not very helpful. But she had herself to blame and probably not her school, although she wanted to blame the latter. She had never really paid attention when they talked about the sky and clouds, about the wind. What would she care about those?

Well, she cared now but not much could be done about it. She was running towards Oomood, the vast lake further north of the city of Etaama. She had needed to get away from school and breathe in some fresh air away from its people.

The rapid click clack click clack click clack of her shoes was all she could hear, and it was all she was seeing too. The sight of her brown lace up brogue shoes and the ground beneath them all going by in a dizzying haze.

"Ooomph"

She'd tripped over something, perhaps a small rock, and had planted herself face first on to the ground. God! Nothing had been going right for her today. Her arms had instinctively shot out to brace her for the fall but instead of helping much they were now just scratched up from elbow to palm. Her footsteps and the unpaved pathway had been a blurry, continuously moving image to her, almost hypnotically commanding all of her focus, so she'd been oblivious to her surroundings, missing whatever small obstacle had toppled her over. She was surprised she hadn't fallen over earlier now that she thought about it, considering the way she was running. Running whilst staring down had induced this woozy feeling in her head; it had felt comforting. Like an escape; her mind had felt untethered and incapable of thought, a welcome feeling. She continued to lay there on the ground, having just turned her head to the side to make it somewhat comfortable. She could feel the small rocks and pebbles under her and digging into her skin but couldn't bring herself to care about them or the dirt. Her clothes and any exposed skin were already dirty due to the fall so it was pointless to worry about those anymore; and besides those, there seemed to be no other reason to get up and off the ground. Not for her, not today.