Marked

Chapter 2

I was sitting alone on the grass, pulling out bits of it one by one, as I always did when I felt rattled.

"I knew I would find you here" I didn't need to turn around to see who it was, for Jen's voice was engraved in my brain; I could recognize it any time and at any place with the most minimal effort. I wish it were that way with chemistry too.

"Hm" I muttered "then I guess I have to find another hiding spot".

"I doubt it, you love this place far too much" she said with a chuckle as she sat right beside me.

And I did, I did love this place far too much, I loved the way the grass was evergreen under any sky, how the trees towered far up ahead, I loved how the air whistled as it rattled its branches but most of all I loved how there was this sense of peace as if no other thing existed but this place. It was my refuge, my safe haven.

"Was the test really that bad on you?" she said, as if reading my mind. I looked up to meet my gaze, words weren't necessary at a moment like this. "Oh honey!" was all I heard her say as she neared me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

My eyelids felt heavy from a sleepless night, and I could hear tiredness coating my voice. "I don't know what happened or why it keeps on happening, I studied all of last night, and I felt ready." I said as my throat closed around my words, making it hard for me to speak, "but I guess my mind got blocked, it all seemed like gibberish and nonsense and I didn't understand a single word." And I think I'm going crazy, I thought to myself.

"I am sure that you were just nervous" she said in a soothing tone "but there's no point in overthinking something that you can't change, all you can do now is move on, keep going".

She got up and dusted of her black skinny jeans and helped me stand. "Come on, breaks almost over" she said as we headed back into the building.

But before rising up, I looked down on my grass stained hands and saw a small cut on my index finger, blood pouring out of the tiny little wound like tiny beads of scarlet, this is what keeps me alive I thought, the blood in my veins, the beats of my heart, that's all.

But if this is what proves that I am alive, why do I feel so empty and hollow?

Why do I feel so dead?

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The bell rang once again, sweet sound of freedom. The day was finally over. I slung my beat up backpack on my shoulder and headed for my locker, where Jen was waiting for me, leaning against it. The day seemed all the way better than in the morning, the sun was shining, people were actually smiling, and it was nearly tangible that school was out for the day.

I grabbed my essentials and turned to Jen, who was toying with the car keys in her hand. "Ready to go?" she inquired.

The drive back to Jen's felt light and happy, as we drove through the tree filled road with music loud on her speakers, I felt free even if it was just for a couple minutes. I let the fresh air fill my lungs as she lowered the roof of her convertible. I could feel real energy coursing through me, like bits of electric discharges coming in from the top of my head to the tips of my toes, I held my arm out the window letting the cold air create goose bumps on my skin, I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the ride.

The entire movement came to a halt, the sound of the engine that gave the car life was gone "come on earth freak" Jen said with a laugh as she stepped out of the car.

Jen's house was in the essence, huge beyond account, and she hated it, she hated that her dad was rich because of a scam when she was 3 and that her mother left them because she couldn't handle the blame and now her father is dating some twenty one year old gold digger that insists on swapping beauty secrets with her and going on double dates. But she never told me any of that, because for me it was never hard to notice.

"Home sweet home" Jen said in a somber tone as she walked up the front steps, and into her "home".

I don't think that I could ever get used to her house, it seemed cold and distant but most of all it doesn't feel like a home. It was minimalistic and empty, bare walls and dark furniture, no variety of shapes it was all squares, from glasses, to chairs to even spoons, which were fundamentally hard to eat with.

The only place in this entire house where I felt in total ease was Jen's room, it was huge to say the least but that wasn't what it gave it it's warm glow, it was how she had all of New York City's landscape plastered on her walls.

That was one of the best days of my life, she just randomly decided that she wanted to paint her room on a particularly insignificant day, so we went to the store and bought all sorts of paint and got to work, and the result was the great city under the night sky, the closest thing to art that we could ever do.

"That" she said while pointing to her bedroom walls "is my great escape plan, as soon as I graduate from high school I will run there, I don't know how or why, but I just know I have to be there." And then she looked at me, with bloodshot eyes on the verge of tears.

I walked over to her bed where she sat and hugged her tight, "I understand" I said "there's nothing wrong with what you want". I heard her chuckle faintly, the sound like a whisper through the wind "Wow, well that was emotional of me, sorry about that" she said. I tried to interject and tell her that its fine too feel and hurt, but as swift as her emotions came and her walls tumbled down, her walls rose back up giving nothing away.

There was a short period of awkward silence and since the brief moment of truth was indeed over I suggested a movie marathon, and the night slipped away as we laughed until our lungs hurt and tears escaped our eyes, a small moment of happiness.

One of the things we always take for granted.

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Author's note

So here's chapter two, I really hope you guys liked it!

Please coment and vote :) all opinions matter and I really want to know what you think about this story.