Don't Fall

Save Hope

~Mara's POV~

I saw Gale standing at Rae's door. I was about to ask what happened, but then she came in the view. Her face were stained with tears. She was crying? I saw that her room was a mess, like she or someone did something. Faintly, I heard her say, "Did you do this?"

I looked at Gale, who had a guilty look on his face. He shook his head. I stared with my jaws dropped. More tears flowed on her face as she weakly smile. "I believe you." Once she closed her door, Gale walked away with a hurt face. What happened to her? What was she talking about? As I observed, I saw Kaze going in. Vanessa isn't going to like this. I crept to the door and leaned to hear what they were saying.

"Dude! Why are you taking your anger off in your room?" He exclaimed. "And why are you ripping up your notebook?"

"It's non of your business. Just get out. I have a headache."

"But-"

"JUST GET OUT ALREADY." She screamed. I quickly hid when I heard his footsteps walking out. I peeked out. He already left, but her door was still open. I crept quietly for a look. It almost stunned me to see the state of her room. She was on the ground, cleaning the mess. Was this what she was talking about with Gale? I looked at her. She was in a lonely state. She hobbled to the trash can and threw the trash.

She noticed me and smiled a little. She went on and clean. I walked away, pretending I didn't see anything. I walked to the kitchen and overheard the maids talking. I took out my phone and recorded what they said.

"Hey, what do you think her reaction is?" One asked

"I bet she's fine. She deserved to do that anyways. If she treats Kaze like that, then that's how we should treat her. Plus, Vanessa told us it'll be okay to ruin her room." The other snickered.

So is that what this is about? Did Vanessa put them up to this? That's too cruel! Wait! I'm on their side! I shouldn't be worried about it. I slipped my phone and walked away. I saw Rae walking out the door. I found it strange that she's wearing long sleeves and pants in the spring. I ran to one of the guards and whispered, "Hey, where's she going?"

"She said she's going to the mall." The guard whispered back. "She said something about buying more supplies."

"If anyone asks, say I'm out for a stroll."

The guard nodded. I followed her in the shadows. She went to an alley for some reason. My senses told me to stay back, but my curiosity took over me. I crept close, until someone pulled me in. I was freaking out, until I saw it was just Rae. "Why are you following?"

I couldn't find words to tell her, so I lied. "I was just going to buy some clothes."

I saw her twitch, but she got on a smile. "Oh, okay. I believe you." She said, releasing me. She went out of the alley and walked away. Without knowing it, I pulled her back. She looked at me with surprise. "Do you need anything?"

"I...uh...do you want to go with me?" I suddenly asked. Even I was shocked on what I just said. She gave me a warm smile, a smile that must've been was lost long ago. "Can I?" She asked shyly. I nodded and walked with her to the mall. We went to boutiques and designer shops. We fooled around with some mannequins. We got into trouble few times and got kicked out of those old shops. It was fun. Next, we went to a arts and craft shop. She was observing the sketchbooks, pencils, and color pencils. A little above her sleeves, I saw purple-blue marks on her wrist. I touched it, she winced.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's nothing. Can you help me pick between the width of these sketchbooks?" She asked, holding up the two blue sketchbooks.