The Broken Ones

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"Hello Harriet," Alesia said as she sat down in the air chair by the woman's bed.

Harriet looked up at the girl. "I'm happy to see you." The woman told her politely.

"How have you been?" Alesia asked.

"I have been feeling well," Harriet informed me. "I am so happy you have come back."

Alesia looked down at her feet. "I'm sorry that it has been a while, Harriet," Alesia told her. "I have been busy."

"Too busy to visit your own mother?" Harriet asked.

"It's not like that," Alesia reassured her. Alesia froze as what Harriet had said sunk in. "You're not my mother." She told the woman.

"What are you talking about Grace?" Harriet asked her.

"I'm not Grace," Alesia screamed as she jumped to her feet. Her face was red as she began to breathe slowly. "I'm not Grace," she repeated softer, this time, her voice breaking as she spoke turning it into a whimper. "My name is Alesia."

"Grace, please," Harriet began.

Alesia shook her head. She could feel the tears forming in her eyes. "I'm Alesia, not Grace."

"Alesia," Harriet murmured.

"I'm sorry Harriet, but Grace is dead." Alesia reminded her as the tears began to stream down her cheeks. "And she is never coming back. It's all my fault."

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Alesia looked up at her reflection as she washed her hands in the girl's bathroom sink. She had never liked looking in the mirror. As a child, it was because she saw Leah's face staring back at her. From her light skin to brown hair and eyes. Now at seventeen she didn't see Leah anymore. She was still light skinned with warm brown eyes, but her hair was a dyed scarlet shade. While she was no longer 'friends' with Angelica, she still looked the way Angelica had wanted her to look. Her school skirt may have been slightly longer and she wore less makeup than before, but she still felt like she was what Angelica wanted her to be.

Alesia moved away from the mirror and towards the hand dryers. She knew that she would eventually have to return to her English class, but Alesia decided to waste as much time as she could before then.

The bathroom door was pushed opened with such a force that it slammed against the wall. Alesia jumped as the loud bang slated her. She looked towards the sound.

"I'm sorry," Grace told her. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Alesia looked away from the girl. She hadn't known that Grace even knew the word sorry. "Don't be," Alesia muttered to her former friend.

Grace ignored Alesia response and moved towards the mirror. Alesia looked at the girl through the mirror. She had never paid much attention to Grace's appearances when they had been friends. Grace scared Alesia to the point that Alesia could even look her in the eye. As she studied Grace's reflection in the mirror, it was like she was seeing Grace for the first time and what she saw shocked her. Grace looked almost the same as Alesia remembered. She was only slightly taller than Alesia with broad shoulders and a stumpy build. Her greyish-black hair was cut just below her chin. It was Grace's makeup that shocked Alesia. Her eye shadow. Grace had applied a lot of dark makeup around her eyes. She was trying to cover up something.

"Grace, what is wrong with your eye?" Alesia asked quickly and quietly.

Grace turned sharply to face the girl. "Shut the hell up Alesia!" Grace snapped at her. "Keep your nose out of things you don't understand."