Lament

Chapter Six

The hot water hitting my forehead eased all of the ache. I wrapped my arms around my chest and remained still, letting all of the waters warmth soak into my frozen body. Steam rose around me. It embraced me and held me closely. The cold memories couldn’t reach me here. No. here, there was only warmth and purity.

            But when I got out, I knew it would all come back to me: the stumbling up the driveway, through the front door, up the stairs, and into the bathroom with a waterfall of tears rushing down my face. My whole way home, I had encountered no one. Levy hasn’t even called me yet, and I’m sure she would have called me by now.

            I forced my self to pull the plug to drain the water. I then climbed out of the tub. Making sure to avoid my reflection, I wrapped a towel around my self and peeked down the hall to check if the coast was clear. Leaving wet footprints on the floor, I padded to my bedroom.

            Securely locking my door behind me, I got dressed and dried my hair. I looked down at my trash bin and realized that all of the photos I had buried were sitting on top of the pile. Frowning, I reached down and pulled all of them out and laid them on my desk. I was positive that I had hid them deep in the bin.

            I wasn’t crazy. Someone had been in my room.

            I contemplated on going downstairs to find Meg and Alaric, but I thought otherwise. They would obviously deny it. That much I knew. Meg probably came up to check on me and found that I was gone. She would’ve entered my room and… what? Searched through the trash bin near my desk? I shook my head. No. She was looking for something, and I wanted to know what it was.

            Meg was the only suspect. For some odd reason, I didn’t believe that Alaric had done it. He would even look at me; therefore, I doubted he’d even want to look through my room.

            Sighing, I retreated to my bed and collapsed on the soft mattress. My head turned towards the clock. I read eleven- fourteen. My stomach rumbled. Great, I thought. I decided to ignore it. I hadn’t had any food since breakfast this morning, but I was too tired to care at the moment. Surrendering to my drooping eyelids, I let them shut as I entered the expanse of darkness that awaited me.

~~~

            I awoke early the next morning.

            The clock read seven forty-five. School started at eight- thirty. I sighed and forced myself out of bed. Rubbing my eyes, I yawned and stood wobbly.

            From where I was standing, I could see glimmering clothes spilling out of the mouth of my closet carelessly. I walked over and picked up a short, tight skirt. I groaned, tossed it aside, and started rummaging through the pile of fabulousness to find something that wouldn’t attract attention.

            Finally, my fingers felt denim. I pulled a pair of jeans out of the monstrosity of glamour. They were old and worn out, but I was grateful that I never threw them away.

            “Now,” I mumbled to myself, “if only I could just find a shirt.”

            I dived into the mess once again and soon found a long sleeved, pine green shirt. I quickly pulled on my clothes and slung my backpack over my shoulder. Grabbing my phone, I checked for text messages. Levy still hadn’t called or texted me. I was starting to become worried.

            Pushing it aside, I grabbed my black hoodie and left the room. While clamoring down the stairs, I pulled the hoodie over my head and tugged it into place.