Tears. Hot-wet tears rolled down her cheeks, staining the blue tablecloth with the blue of despair.
Her mother was dead? It had to be a joke. A joke in bad taste, but a joke nevertheless.
"There's nothing you can say that'll make me believe that my mom—the very same woman who hugged me goodbye today—is dead. Nothing can and nothing will," she scoffed, attempting to wipe away the traitorous tears that'd escaped.
"He doesn't need to say anything. I'm sure the body will speak for itself," I muttered. Ava simply stared at me in disbelief.
I shrugged. It was true. The poor man had given her enough proof to last a lifetime. Her denial of the obvious wasn't going to turn the clock to a happier time.
I would know.
"I know how hard this must be on you, but I had to let you know." The principal went on in a grim tone. "I'll leave you and your friend to it now."
I smirked at the tone he'd used. I'd never been a favorite among the teachers.
No sooner had he left, that I jumped over to Ava's side.
"I-I'll be fine, won't I Mia?" She looked up at me. I felt something pulling at my heart as I took in her tear-stained face.
I pushed the alien feelings aside and looked into her blue eyes with a half smile. The girl who wore summer dresses and danced in the spring to peppy songs was no more. All I saw now was a torn, hurt and broken girl of seventeen who needed some hope to cling on.
I knew she wanted—no, needed me to agree. Needed me to soothe her fears, to stroke her honey-blonde hair and tell her everything would be dandy. Everything would soon be perfect in this little imperfect world of ours.
So I took a deep breath, willed all the confidence I had in me and replied in the strongest tone I could muster. "No. You never will. You might like to think you did, but the heart is fragile. Once broken, it never truly heals. You just learn to live with the broken pieces."
She let out a strangled sob and crumpled onto the floor. Finally letting go of her hopes and dreams. Letting go of the chains that bound her to sanity.
And I just stood and watched as her tears flooded the floor, flooded my heart and flooded every crevice of the room with her pain.
YOU ARE READING
Blood Red
القصة القصيرةTracking down the killer of her friend's mother wasn't what Mia had in mind for the summer break, but it is what she ends up doing anyway. Secrets are revealed and sinister truths uncovered as she steps into a world of murder and abuse. ...
