Peer Into My Soul

Chapter 5: New Foundations

"Hope wa-"

"Mi-"

Kaitlyn's eyes narrowed then she began to stare at the officer, temporarily keeping him from speaking. Her bloodshot eyes looked into his and she listened.

"Miss Zyde, I'm sorry to interrupt your story, but we need information on Ica-..."

"Don't worry... Its coming.... very soon..."

She left an ominous feeling in the room after she spoke the words. Her tone left a ghostly echo in the room.

Kaitlyn close her eyes once more and a small smile appeared on her face. The dark feeling in the room began to re-emerge. Her radiant aura and the darkness began to battle.

"As I was saying..."

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Hope was keen on fixing my problem. She was constantly by my side, making sure I had some sort of companionship. Although it was turned extremely annoying, it was still nice of her. It also got me wondering whether she would abandon me once I was deemed "fixed" in her eyes. Was she with me just to be helpful... or was she a real friend?  Even now, I still don't know. All I know... was that she was there. Her companionship never wavered.

Hope and I had a lot of... friendship building time. She took me a lot of places and spent a lot of time with, especially since I only knew her for about a month. I remember when she took me to the beach for more "friendship building time". I remember this day, it was the day I found the joys of life.

...

It was a hot October day. We got out of her car and she asked me something. I wasn't paying attention. All I wanted was for this day to end. I hated hot days and social contact with random strangers. My mind was set on leaving and getting it over with. Hope started to say something again.

"So...?"

"Huh. What?'

"Where's you want to go?"

"Well... home."

"Stop being borrrrinnngggg. It's not like I forced you to come with me."

"Well, forced is a bit of an understatement. You probably would've kidnapped me if my parents weren't home"

"That. Is... actually quite true.... Besides, what are you going to do at home anyways? Homework?"

"True... true... But why the beach.... I don't like the hot weather."

"Then take off your long sleeves."

"Yea... no."

"Coooooome ooooonnnnnnnn."

I was tired of arguing and the sun was shining directly at me so I decided to just give up.

"Ok fine. Where?"

"Let's go over there near the volleyball players"

We walked over to the beach volleyball court and placed our stuff around the vicinity then sat down. Hope spent 10 minutes staring at the men playing. I looked at my watch, it was 1:10. All I thought was the excruciating heat. I was beginning to doze off. I would've been able to sleep in peace the entire time if Hope hadn't nudged and yelled at me.

"Hey Kait!"

"Whaaaaaaaa? Whatdaya want?"

"That guy over there, he looks hot"

"And you woke me up just to tell me that?"

"Yea... why?"

"What if I'm gay?"

"Well, are you?"

"Uh.. no."

"Then... uhhhhhhhggggg. Stahp being boorrrrringggg."

"Mhm. Yea. Sure"

I looked at my watch, 1:45. The air and getting more humid and I felt drowsy again. I instantly feel asleep. I would've been able to have another good nap but unfortunately, a stray ball hit my face while I was asleep. I woke up startled. I saw Hope running toward me, laughing uncontrollably.

"Sorry about that! You ok?"

"I don't know. I might have a serious concussion and I need ya to drive meh home."

"Yea... you're fine."

I yawned loudly then got up and stretched. I looked at my watch... it was 2:30. Three or so more hours of burning hell.

"Now that you're up, you wanna play?"

"Uhh. No, I'm fine...."

""Too bad, I'm not giving you an option."

I groaned loudly and gave an exasperated sigh. She pushed me onto the battlegrounds of torture. I needed to say something to get out of this.

"I suck at volleyball..."

"Don't worry, we all suck. It doesn't matter anyways."

...

I don't know how, but as time progressed, I had more and more fun. As I played, my mind began to open. I saw things I've never seen before. The beach didn't look like hell with sand, but now looked like a beautiful oasis. The people were nuisances anymore, but were now part of nature's beauty. The sun, was the shining light of hope, not the center of a burning inferno. The beauty stood out rather than the flaws. My eyes were now open to everything.

After it got late, we walked back to Hope's car, exhausted but happy. As we were walking, an attractive male passed by and I stared. I fell into a trance as I stared at him, but Hope's yelling broke me out of it.

"KAIIITT!"

"Wo- Wa- Huh. Nothing."

I knew exactly what she was thinking. I saw her eyes narrow and a smirk appeared on her face. She looked at the guy I was staring at then looked at me. I bent down and covered my face in shame, then we both broke into laughter.

...

The sun began to set. The red clouds and red sky perfectly matched each other. It looked beautiful. I never realized how beautiful life was and how much I missed about because of my pessimistic behavior. All my past thoughts of pain and terror vanished, all I thought of was a bright future. All the pain within me was relinquished and I felt reborn. My past life, a life of pain and sadness, felt like a distant memory. Pain and sadness shouldn't be a way of life, but rather just a simple compromise that we must overcome to achieve happiness. I looked at all the problems that I still needed to defeat, and I wondered whether I could emerge victorious.

The sun's light slowly began to diminish. I turned my head to Hope, who was alert, on the wheel. MI gently spoke a few words to her.

"Hope. Thanks for taking me."

She smiled and I felt a jolt of encouragement. As long as my best friend was by my side, I could overcome anything.

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Kaitlyn bit her lip. She began to cry and muttered the word "Shit".

*sorry for the delay and how choppy this chapter is, I promise it'll get better.