Think 'Haven' & Take My Hand (girlxgirl)

Chapter 4 Stephanie

I felt the covers shift as I turned my body around on the soft mattress to look at my nightstand. My eyes darted upwards, slightly aware that it was Sunday and that I was up too early. My morning run during the weekends wasn’t until 7am, so I could stay in bed for a little longer. It felt comfortably warm anyways; someone I knew was next to me, someone like my best friend.

The sudden warmth of her face landed on the crook of my dorsal muscle. It was surprising, but very comforting.

“I’m awake…” she said.

“Apparently so am I.” I replied nudging her slightly. I turned around and found her olive colored cheek set softly on the pillow, “Need more sleep?”

“I need to do exercise today.” Rachel said grimly as she foresaw the upcoming morning run I was going to offer.

“Still an hour to go,” I said to her, “So you have around 20 minutes to wake up completely.”

I stared down at the covers and was unaware of the small silence between us until Rachel called to me softly, still with her light-brown eyes closed. "Steph?"

“Yeah?”

“You’re too disciplined.” She opened her eyes and smiled at me through the strands of blond hair that lay on her face. “Maybe you should adopt me.”

“I wouldn’t.” I grinned, “You’re high maintenance, Rach.”

Rachel languidly slapped my arm, “Screw you…”

Ah… that’s her, the crazy but relatively mature girl who constantly tries to pin me down with her jokes. I always win, but I appreciate the effort. It’s always good that she tries that, she’s almost like a sister.

I leaned in to kiss her cheek, out of pure friendship. “I love you, but I don’t see why you had to stay over. Do you even know what your breakfast for today should be?”

Rachel’s faced slightly blushed as she looked up at the false ceiling, “Uhhhh… it’s a mixture between apples, oranges, and yogurt… and eggs and pancakes… I brought my pills last night though, so regarding that, it’s no biggie.”

“And before running?” I asked her, since her diet is different from mine.

“Banana’s.” She replied quickly, knowing that her Section requires potassium prevalence in her body cells.

“I have that,” I said and smiled.

Rachael stared at me and I remembered how soft her facial features used to be. Was it only a few years ago that puberty hit us? I mean, beyond her body, her face changed a lot. The chubbiness developed into relatively sharp cheekbones, those eyebrows got a little darker and the look in her eyes became much stronger. I sort of miss her old expressions… but this one always stays: how her few freckles stand out in her solemn face, searching me for some coherence. She’s been doing that expression more and more often lately... and I don’t really get it, but it makes me feel queasy.

I tore my eyes away from her and stared at the window, it was already dawn. It could be yesterday afternoon for all I know. I still have that strange feeling after receiving the letters. It feels wrong, it feels like a farce. Like someone knows something that we don’t know and we’re just part of a play. Maybe Carl was right. Maybe it’s that new Section being formed. Maybe our limbs are going to get cut off, tried somewhere else and returned…

Calm down, Steph. I said to myself, You can’t go crazy for something that hasn’t happened yet.

Yeah, I can’t worry. I have to do what I’m told for now. All I can do is watch out.

“Okay,” I said sitting up “Up for the run!”

My smile delightedly came out as I heard Rachel groan against my side. At least she was here, and that’s all I ultimately needed… because Jay might not be there, not at the new Section.  

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This is a very short chapter but I feel like it's going to go very well.

Kewk :3