Mirror Mirror

Chapter 6

She never really thought about it, but now Riley realised that Brigitte was one of the best friends she could've asked for. She had supported Riley through the rest of the day, always there to talk to. Even though Brigitte was obviously hurt too, she managed to make herself strong enough for Riley to rely on. On a few occasions she had even made her giggle, but that barely distracted her from what had just happened.
"C'mon Riley" Brigitte said when Riley's laughter had died down almost immediately "we are all shocked by what has happened, but you need to stay strong, I know you can"
"I'm not strong, I'm weak. I have am broken."
"Well look at it this way, imagine how Harvey must be feeling. He has just lost his brother. In his eyes you are strong, you are someone who he looks up to, because he knows that you will deal with it quicker than him. He knows that you are willing to help. So you are strong, to him" This is what Riley loved about Brigitte, she could be a cocky arse sometimes, but she could also be this caring, understanding friend.
"I doubt it, he will think that I am ridiculous, crying like crazy at a death that isn't even related to me"
"Wow, your arse must be jealous of the amount of crap that has just come out of your mouth" they both chuckled at that "Harvey will understand, he is probably happy that he has someone to talk to." At that Riley settled her head on Brigitte's shoulder, just staring into the distance, trying not to let their thought spiral too much out of control.

They were snapped back into reality when they heard all the teachers shouting to get the children together. They both started getting up from the bench, Riley didn't know how long they had been sat there, but she already felt stiff. Her bones felt like they were bricks, the weight of the world all on top of her.
"Due to incidents that happened earlier today, we are going to leave earlier than planned." Riley didn't understand why the teachers wouldn't say what happened, everyone knew it, so why make it awkward. Why try to make it less of a deal of what it actually is? But Riley just kept on listening, or tried to, all her thought just being a constant distraction. She just wanted to get over with this day, to get over what happened. But she was also scared of what the future held. All the pain and struggle as what happened settles in more and more. Riley realised that she was in a bad situation, and didn't know if the only way out was going to make it worse.
"Do you want to go with me or Harvey?" Riley suddenly heard Brigitte say. Damn she thought. Had she missed anything important?
"Wait what is happening?" She asked
"I'm surprised you actually do well in exams with that type of attention span, but you didn't miss anything important" Oh thank God "They have already told our parent that we are coming back early and that we all have to be on the Coaches in fifteen minutes."
"Oh ok" Riley said, relieved
"So?" asked Brigitte, looking at Riley as if she she was in nursery
"So what?"
"OH MY GOD! Do - you - want - to - go - with - me - or - Harvey?"
"Oh yeah, I can't see Harvey anywhere so I'll go with you."
"You are honestly like Dory, but a Made In China version."
_________________

Riley and Brigitte had decided to go in a busier coach, their conversations would just be lost in the noise then. They followed the immense crowd for about five minutes before finally seeing five buses waiting, surrounded by children. However it was only as Riley had started to get on that she realised that she still hadn't seen Harvey anywhere. He might still be in his room, as Brigitte said he had locked himself in there, what if he hadn't heard all the teachers. He would be stuck in that room then, constantly reminded of Max. She started to look around frantically, still not able to see him. Riley then turned to a teacher and asked, rather too loudly "Where is Harvey he might still be in his room he is locked in there is he here is Harvey here?"
The teacher looked a little shocked at first, but then calmed down "His family came to pick him up, he is safe and completely fine"
"Oh" Riley felt rather stupid now, she has drawn a lot of attention to herself.
"Aw, did you worry that your boyfriend had been left behind? How sweet." A girl called out from a space near Riley. It had been Natasha Fisher, loud, rude and obnoxious but still surprisingly popular Natasha Fisher. At this Riley turned to an even deeper red from sheer embarrassment.
"Yeah, I know, isn't it?" Replied Brigitte even more sarcastically "Oh and by the way Natasha, that's a nice shade of Bitch you are wearing today."
"Come on, on the bus, all of you" said the now very flustered teacher.
"You can thank me later" said Brigitte with a wink and they got on the bus, but when they both looked around, there was only individual seats left. "Oh, well that's unfortunate"
"I'll sit over there" said Riley, pointing to a spot next to a sleeping girl "And you can sit in that space behind her, at least then we can be close."
"Well look at you being all organised. Now you just have to do the same to that little head of yours" said Brigitte, who turned to look at Riley "but I will be there to help with that"
Riley smiled "and I'll help you not strangle anyone."
"What do you mean?"
"Look who you are sat next to" said Riley, holding back laughter.
"Oh god, Maddison"
__________________

When they were all sat down, Riley learned her head onto the window and looked out to the camp. It seemed so calm compared to the noise in the coach. She wished to be somewhere else, not outside, that camp will forever be in her memory, not in the coach. She wished to be somewhere happy, somewhere that she dreamed of as a small child. However she did find herself dreaming a few minutes later, but these dreams weren't half as pleasant as the Ines she had hoped for.