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If there was one thing Rose-Mary Holbrook knew for sure about Newham, it was that everything was ten times more stressful. Tensions were always high, people were always at each other's throats, bad things were happening left and right. Additionally, the fact that no one knew where they were and why they couldn't reach their families didn't help ease any worry.
Rose-Mary had never been one to meditate. Not that she had anything against it, per-say, but she had just never seen the point. But, Newham had changed her, and she found herself sitting under a shady willow tree behind the church — eyes closed, legs crossed. She breathed in through her nose, letting the cool air enter her head before pushing it out of her O-shaped rosy lips. It was an unusually quiet day, likely due to the shell shock of the trial verdict still rattling throughout the town. Rose-Mary took advantage of the silence, however, allowing the beautiful birdsong and whistling trees to surround her.
"Mind if I sit?" A familiar voice interrupted her serenity, making it known to the girl that she wasn't alone. She jumped a bit, startled by the sudden noise, before slowly opening her eyes.
"Sorry, Roe," Grizz sat down beside her, answering his own question before she could. He chuckled at her jumpy reaction. "Didn't meant to scare you. Must have been pretty focused, huh?"
She nodded lightly, smiling at the boy. His sudden arrival, although disrupting her meditation, was a delightful surprise; Grizz Visser was a sweetheart and Rose-Mary would always appreciate his presence. "This seems to be the only way I can really disconnect anymore. It's like I'm somewhere else — not in Newham, not in Westham. Just...away. Sorry, that probably sounds stupid."
Grizz leaned back, his muscular body resting against the brick wall of the church. "It's not stupid," he reassured. "Within you there is a stillness and sanctuary to which—"
"—you can retreat to at any time and be yourself," Rose-Mary finished his sentence, recognizing the quote he was referencing. "Hermann Hesse, German spiritualist and Nobel Prize winner."
"You're the only one that's able to understand my 20th- century philosophical references," Grizz chuckled.
"I learned from the best," Rose-Mary admitted, nudging his shoulder with a wink. After a few seconds of comfortable silence, the girl leaned her head on the athlete's shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her smaller frame, leaning the side of his face on the top of her head.
