Memories

Chapter 5 - Questions

Present

Questions.
Questions.
Questions.

That was only what remained in my mind last night. They were pretty exasperating, whizzing here and there, consuming my mind and soul.

I rolled my eyes when the alarm rang the next morning- It's not like I got any sleep for an alarm.
My mind was still preoccupied by questions when I came down for breakfast. My mom looked surprised when she saw me on the breakfast bar at 6 am in the morning.
"You're actually up on time."
"Yeah, sleep was kind of tough last night."
Mom's expression immediately morphed into worry.
Crap. I shouldn't have said that.
"Is it because of yesterday's panic attack?"
"It wasn't -"
" Okay, okay whatever it was...Was that the reason?"
I didn't know what to reply. It had a role. In a way.
Luckily, mom decided to drop the topic.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, mom, I'm fine."

On the way to school, i decided that I needed answers. Answers about everything.
And I knew the perfect person to ask.

"Hey Sid."
Sid whirled around to face me. A huge smile crept up his face.
"Greetings, Lady Sandra."
His greetings caught me off-guard for a moment. My reaction wiped the smile on his face.
"Hey, you okay?"
" Yeah...That greeting just seemed weird for a moment."
"Oh...Okay then...Ola, Señora."
"Okay, i think I'm greeted enough for the moment."

After a few insults back and forth, i was convinced that Sid is best friend material. And also why Mia likes him.

"Dad told me you're short listed for the national art scholarship. Have you've decided your final piece?"

I frowned at his words. With all of this going on, it completely skipped my mind. I need to start thinking about the final entry-it's going to affect my career in art.

"Uhmm...not exactly, I had. Other things in my mind."

"Care to enlighten me about the 'things' going on in your mind?" Sid teased, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

I glared at the inappropriate comment. Suddenly, a thought popped into my mind.

So he thinks he's pretty smooth huh?

"I'll tell you if you tell me about the thing going on in your mind during the party yesterday night." I smirked at him.

The flirtatious smile immediately got replaced by a tomato red face. Ha! Caught him.

As he opened his mouth to protest, I interjected, "There's no use of denying it. I'm not blind,alright?"

He closed his mouth and gave me a sheepish smile.

"So it's pretty obvious huh?"

"No shit, Sherlock. But I really don't understand why you both act like ninnies to one another. You realize this can be resolved by a small, honest conversation right?"

"If only it was that easy."

"Why? What's the problem?"

Sid sighed. "She's out of bounds, Sandy. How can I date my best friend's ex-girlfriend?"

Wait. What?

"Mia had a boyfriend?"

Sid scoffed. "It isn't that unbelievable, considering she was the first girl in the school to be made vice cheer captain in her freshman year itself."

I gave him an incredulous look. The Mia I've seen- the one with the darkly lined eyes and GAP sweatshirt doesn't exactly scream 'cheerleader'.

The image of Mia wearing those god-awful miniskirts and waving a pom-pom at my face suddenly flashed through my mind. Oh sweet Jesus.

Looking at my 'what the hell' expression, Sid chortled. "I know it's difficult for you to digest that, considering the campaigns she rages through the school. Emily is the reason for all of this. When she was a newcomer in the school, she immediately got into the team- just because she was Mia's cousin. Turns out, she unleashed her inner bitch not too later-she got the entire team against Mia with a bunch of petty lies. And to top it off, she publicly humiliated Mia in front of the entire school- which made her quit the team and put up this 'I don't care' attitude all the time. She was one hell of a cheerleader, Sandy. Too bad she's got Ursula as her cousin sister."

I chuckled a little at his comical yet accurate comparison of Emily. I was immediately relieved that I insulted her-turns out she deserved it pretty much.

Setting that aside, i turned my attention towards Sid. I really felt bad for him, I could see that he was really into Mia- but as fate decides, friendships intervene.

I patted his arm. "I can understand Sid- but believe me, I may have just met you guys yesterday but I can see how much Mia likes you. I still think you guys need to talk- after all, it's been four years-things change and people change too."

Sid looks at me and smiles sadly. "Her advances don't seem encouraging."

"She must be pretty shy too, considering you guys were in a...situation." I was blessed to see his beet red face for the second time of the day.

As the class filed away at the end of the last period, I was still immersed in my own thoughts. To gather my mind, i decided to go to the library to gather my thoughts.

Oh well, the library of Stonewall is...Impressive. The huge shelves and high ceilings reminded me of the Room of Requirement in the Harry Potter movies.
Yeah ok, don't roll your eyes at me for the Harry Potter reference. Blame it on the global obsession.

I was surfing through the history novels when my gaze fell upon a particular book- The Fatalities of World War I. Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of history, but this book grabbed my attention for some reason.

I started leafing through the moth-bitten pages when one particular picture made me stop in my tracks.

It was a painting which was found among the debris of one of the raids of the German Army on an American town. The picture was peculiar- it seemed like a swirl of blue and black. Peering closely, I tried to find out the clues behind the painting. It was painted with hurried strokes, each segment turning into a darker shade of blue until all that remained was black. It had an uncanny resemblance to Mr. Andrew's portrait- seems like it's an art form or something. I touched the painting and suddenly, a jolt of electricity passed through my arm.

I retracted my arm away immediately. What was that?

I had a sudden urge to leave the building, just like the one I had yesterday. I quickly closed the book and immediately got out of my seat. As I raced through the corridors, the dream I dreamt last month coursed through my mind.

Tear filled eyes....Pain....Blue...

And suddenly, I was falling.

Until someone caught me.

------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading !

New updates every Sunday (hopefully, XD.)

Vote and comment if you like the chapter!

Cheers!

D'ChristyAnn