Strained

Chapter One

I inhale the sweet, yet crisp smell of Fall. The leaves are starting to change as they scatter the empty streets. The end of summer but the beginning of something new -- maybe even better. The soft sunsets against the harsh flip of the switch as the season changes. No more shorts or tanks, but the comfort of oversized sweaters and warm drinks. The idea of Fall is almost as mesmerizing as the act itself. 

The warm pumpkin flavored tea touches my lips in the upmost gentle kind of way. It's soothing as it slides down my throat, leaving my mouth tasting of pumpkin and spice. It makes me smile. It's so inviting I almost forget I'm in public. Scratch that, we're in public. The serenity of it all is privacy wrapped in itself. I indulge and take another sip, letting my eyes close as I picture what Salem must look like. 

I'm in a quaint cafe right outside of Pittsburgh. Sitting across from me is Jamie, wearing his famous smile and electric personality. The decision I made to spend my summer with him was the best choice I had ever made. I considered it a win, which I had desperately needed. Jamie helped me dig deep and find out what made me Cornelia. It turns out, it wasn't Witchcraft, past lives, or the Coven. I found myself in the adventures that we made together.

Of course, once my mom found out I wasn't with Addie, she was pure fumes. However, as soon as I offered to update her every hour with photos and calls she quickly approved of my arrangement. Sure, Dara was pissed at me (when wasn't she) for "ditching" her. I guess she had to spend her two weeks in New York, which had been cut to five days when Dara nearly set the whole house on fire and there was something about Chad's new family's dog that either went missing or died. 

I'm guessing the latter. Thankfully for Dara, she is a necromancer, at least when it comes to animals. I'm not quite sure why there's a distinction between animals and Humans, but maybe it's all due to the capitalization. Regardless, she only had to be in New York for five days before Chad's new fiance pitched a fit. Then, it was out with Dara and she was back in Salem, which she preferred.

Dara wasn't speaking to me, to say the least. Honestly, I didn't notice. I was only on my phone to update my mom. It was refreshing not carrying it with me everywhere and we rarely had internet service, which was the best possible thing ever. I felt so free, so light, and so connected with Earth. It surprised me at how well I felt. Not to mention, my visions were fluid and rarely hurt to have. I would be sitting or doing something with Jamie and then just like a flash of the future or the past would pop up, but it was seamless.

No seuizures. No migraines. No temple rubs. 

No running.

It was incredibly awakening and inviting. If I was being honest with myself, I never wanted to go back. I never wanted the Summer to end. School and all the Witch stuff had really taken a toll on me, one I didn't recognize until I was free of it all. Addie was right when she left the Coven -- and I finally understood why she did it. Although, I was still a little bitter and shocked she was the first to say it. Sure, it felt like a direct attack against me, but I was trying not to take it that way. Sometimes, people needed a break and the hardest part was to not take it personally.

The summer taught me so many things. One of which was how to cope in the silence. It was the "boring Tuesdays" as I called them. They were okay and in fact, I found myself inviting them in. The days where Jamie read out loud passages from Voltaire, Hemingway, Faulkner, and Virginia Woolf and I passionately listened sprawled on a couch or squishy bed. It was the kind of comfort people only read about in books or saw in movies.

It was severely tranquil. I was almost worried about heading back to Salem, that I would go into shock. I knew the second the mayhem hit, which was inevitable, I would go into a frenzy. A frenzy for the normalcy I had consumed during the last three months in perfect haven with Jamie. I took another sip of my tea as it invoked serenity.