Losing Light

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After my workout, lunch comes around and I'm surprised to see Gareth at my table again. He munches quietly at his almost finished sandwich. I slide my tray across from his. "Hello, Gareth Montgomery. I'm surprised to see you here again."

"Well, you're the only friend I have here. So why wouldn't I sit here?"

Friend. What a foreign word, something I haven't been called in what feels like ages. No, he is not my friend. He is just a loner who has put himself in my mercy, stupid fellow. I don't need a friend. What I need is patience. Patience will get me what I want, which is to get out. A friend would not advance my release from this calm hell. That boy has got some damn nerve to call me his friend, binding me to a two-way contract of friendship without my consent.

"You know, just because I let you sit here doesn't make us friends." I scowl, successfully concealing my discomfort. "Or that you can come back, for that matter."

He shrugs, unfazed by my sudden hostility. "There still aren't any seats available. If there were, I doubt anyone would let me sit with them. I guess it gives people a bad impression to be with you. You're really intimidating, y'know."

I huff in annoyance. "So this means I'm stuck with you?"

"For seven years, my friend."

"I'm not your friend, remember?"

"Okay, we'll start with acquaintances. Sound good?"

"Not particularly." I mutter.

"Alrighty then! Cheers!" He taps my water bottle with his. I smile in spite of myself.

"You, Gareth Montgomery, are something else." I tell him.

He grins in response. "Enough about me, Violet Ashford. What the hell are you doing in here?"

"I was sent here with the charges of second-degree murder of my brother's bully." I reply. My mouth felt abnormally dry. Was I nervous? That couldn't have been it, I had told others why I was sent here. I take a sip from my water bottle, suddenly parched.

Gareth looks at me in shock but recovers quickly. "Oh. Can I ask, uh, why?"

"It was an accident. I had pushed the hemophilic boy on the bench to talk to him about him bullying my younger brother."

"Ah, okay. So, um...he got cut by the bench and bled to death?"

"Yes, he did. Died on his way to the hospital."

"How did your-"

A guard approached my table, interrupting Gareth's question. He taps my shoulder with his finger as his belly rubs my back. I shudder. "You've got a visitor. Finish eating and I'll accompany you to the visitation room."

"Fine." I say and he walks briskly to the entrance (and exit) of the sullen cafeteria to wait.

Gareth sneaks a look at the guard and then back at me. "You've got a visitor? How many have you had since you got here?"

"Just my brother Sean." I say and chew as slowly as possible.

"Oh. I get visits almost every day. My family brings me things, like books or soap." He says then smiles in this bittersweet kind of way. "Don't tell anyone, but my little sister brought me her favorite toy. This light pink stuffed dinosaur. Her absolute favorite. Man, I wanted to hug her so much."

"Are those tears I see?" I smirk playfully and nudge him with my elbow. He laughs and rubs his eyes with loose fists. He really was tearing up. I give him a punch on his knee, something my father would do to me whenever he was feeling fond of me.

The last time he had done so we were on the back oak porch, watching the sunset. His outdoorsy-smelling arm was around my shoulders. I remember feeling so happy that day. I hardly ever got any time alone with him, seeing as he spent the little free time he had arguing with my mother or playing with my brother. We didn't say anything as the sun fell below our prize avocado tree. Nothing had to be said. Father squeezed my shoulder to get my attention and smiled at me. He hardly ever smiled, having spent time yelling at my mother over the increasingly growing number of bills. The sky turned dark and exposed the several diamonds on its long dress.

"Come on, it's over." Father said and gave me a loving punch on the knee.

I bite my lip to bring myself back from the memory. Luckily, Gareth did not notice my daydreaming.

"Hurry, Violet. You don't want to keep your visitor waiting." He nudges me without any tears in his eyes.

I shrug and eat my fruit. It quickly becomes revolting. "I don't think I'm hungry. But I really don't want to see anyone."

"Why?"

"Sean came weeks ago. My mother hasn't brought him since. She doesn't want to see me. She's really religious, so now that I'm a murderer along with being a lesbian, I might as well be disowned."

"Then who do you think is out there?"

I sigh and bury my face in my hands with my elbows on the table. "Reyna." That dreaded, yet beautiful name that gave me a rush of emotions whenever I heard or spoke it.

"Who's Reyna?"

"My ex-fiancé." I groan. "I don't know why she would come now."

He frowns, stumped at my dilemma. "Maybe you should go ask her."

"We didn't exactly end on a good note. She said she didn't feel comfortable being with me after what I did. Needed some time, apparently."

"I guess she has something to say to you, then." Gareth tells me, and gently pushes me away. "Go on. You have to face her."