Element Academy: World on Fire

Overcome...Page

"Page? Did you hear me?" Demetri asks.

Page shifts and hugs her pillow closer, blonde hair tousled and sticking up in every direction. Bags were under her eyes, contrasting the ghostly glow of her usual skin tone. "I heard you, but I'm also ignoring you."

Demetri sighs. "You can't stay in here like this. It isn't healthy. You need to get back out there. We're all worried about you."

Page eyes Demetri, studying him for what feels like the third longest seconds in her life. She isn't sure what she's looking for. Some kind of answer probably, but she doesn't know which question rolling around her head is the one she's looking to answer.

"I'm not ready," she confesses finally, giving up on finding whatever it is she's looking for.

Her gaze shifts over to the closed curtains keeping the sunlight out from her dark sanctuary except that tiny sliver on the side. The sunlight seems to pour in extra bright as if having a smaller entrance way makes it stronger.

The light burns her eyes and she's forced to look down at her legs hidden beneath the blankets. "Its my fault she died. It was my water bending performance."

"Page-"

"I froze on the stage when the attack happened," Page presses on. She doesn't want to be comforted. She wants to confess. She wants the weight crushing her chest to leave. "I'm supposed to be the best waterbender in the school. I'm State Champion and I froze. Mom took the hit for something I could have stopped. If I had just done something!"

"Page..." The one word conveyed so much pain and a desperate desire to help but not knowing how.

"You saw her. She was turning her life around. She hadn't had a drink in a year. She was getting better, a-and I got her killed." Her vision blurs, shifting as the tears fill her eyes and spill down her cheeks.

She can't see it happening, but she feels Demetri shifting on the bed. Then his arms wrap around her body and pull her in close. She buries her face into his chest, wanting to drown in the scent of his cologne and the hint of shaving gel that clings to him so willingly.

The chocking sobs left her before she could stop them. Another in a series of grief stricken crying fests she had been dealing with since her mom died.

It isn't fair. Her mom shouldn't have died. She should have done something. If she had just done anything at all except for freeze then maybe her mom would still be alive today. It isn't fair!

"I know I shouldn't say this, but you shouldn't blame yourself." Demetri's voice is soft but somehow breaks through the storms of grief that fills her mind. "I was there, remember? Your mom saw you were in danger and she acted like any good mom would. I don't think it would have mattered if you were frozen there on stage or fighting, she still would have gone to you. She still would have been willing to die if it meant keeping you alive. I don't know her as well as you, but I saw the look on her face. I think she'd make the same choice again if given the chance."

Another round of crying took over, but it felt different this time. She can't explain it, but she knows Demetri's words have something to do with the switch. She then continues to cry until she has nothing left to give.

A quietness follows with sniffles and hiccups mixing in.

"A few more days," she whispers. "Then I'll try to go back."

Demetri hugs her a bit tighter. "Okay."

She nods and hugs him tighter back. The source of warmth is needed more than she thought. Once the tears stop, exhaustion settles deep in her bones and she let's the growing darkness whisk her away.

A few more days. A few more days and she might be strong enough to face Element Academy again.