Shameless, Reckless Love (GirlxGirl)

Part 3: Chapter 9

It wasn't that easy keeping up a smile and a strong-held head when all she wanted to do was frown and sag every limb of her body to the ground. But Eden, somehow, was doing her best job to not show a single person that miserable side of her.

She continued occasionally speaking to her family at home, and going to school was no hassle either. But despite all that, Eden was barely able to keep her mind intact some days. The memory of the night Ricki and Eden shared together was imprinted like a tattoo in her thoughts. And once the image of Ricki's mother appeared, and Eden remembers how her feet were in so much pain from running away, everything starts to hurt her all over again.

Eden still does not know what happened with Ricki? She had to constantly wonder the worst that could have happened once she left the house. What happened once Ricki's parents realized Eden ran off? Who was that man, and why did Ricki's mother call him?

What was more painful was that Eden waited weeks, and never heard a thing from Ricki.

Until one fateful day.

Eden was leaving school. She didn't feel like walking home with Mitchell today. She felt better alone today.

Maybe it was the way the spring air pushed her along. Possibly the sight of peach-colored flower petals scattered along the pavement, or the whistles that the wind made as they waded throughout the trees. Something about the day made Eden feel as if she was separated from the earth. She could barely feel her own heels hitting the ground, and most of the time, she closed her eyes, letting only the breeze guide her. She knew that she wasn't going home. She might've even passed it without knowing so. But that didn't matter to her either. She just wanted to get out of her mind a bit.

Eden's eyes flutter open and she notices a couple of birds hopping along the grass. They tweeted, chirped, hopped about, and repeated doing this for a while. Normally, birds would've flown away once Eden approached. But not these birds. Soon Eden realized that it probably wasn't about the birds but that she maybe had disconnected from herself so much to the point where she might have actually been "gone".

Out of nowhere, the moment was murdered by a sudden "bang" ripping through the air. It wasn't just the sound that made the birds retreat into the sky, but the echo it made. That's when Eden realizes that she's standing directly across a building.

Any normal person would've acted like the birds and ran at the sound of a gun firing, but Eden could somehow feel the innocence behind the sound. It seemed ridiculous and stupid, but Eden was certain that no threat would be made on her. Because she was sure that the one behind the trigger had to be Ricki.

The old, beat-up building that Eden was beginning to walk toward had been some crummy landmark that tourists would never want to see. People around claimed the building could have been the area that Walt Disney grew up in, but everyone knew that had to be complete bull. That being beside the point, the place was somewhere bums went to loiter, or resent, or forget. Ricki's presence felt stronger and stronger as Eden approached closer to the building.

Once Eden was finally inside the place, the sun no longer baked the top of her hair, and the damp, dreary building quickly cooled her whole body. Another bang echoes the area, and this time the gunshot startles Eden. Her eyes turn to a staircase on her right. Eden bravely begins walking to the stairs. She didn't know what would happen as she met the person who was on this upcoming second floor. She hadn't rehearsed any words.

Eden continues to head up the steep steps anyway, and her eyes land on a girl wearing a black leather jacket that blended with her silk hair. No doubt it was Ricki. She barely changed, and this made Eden relieved. Ricki was even wearing her traditional baggy jeans, but wore sneakers rather than the boots that make her a tad bit taller.