An Angel's Kiss

Chapter 13

I hated it. I absolutely hated the feeling of needing to be tied down to something. But then again, who does? Who wants to be stuck to something as material as a single sheet of paper? I sure didn’t, but it seemed like I was going to be stuck with all the bad luck. Honestly, that really didn’t surprise me.

Knowing that my mom would start freaking out shortly if I didn’t return home, I started to trudge my way back home. All the while I was thinking about that apparition. It couldn’t be Sierra; it just couldn’t be. And even if it was, why would she hide from me? I mean, I know that we had our differences, but we both loved each other and were probably as close as twins could be.

Besides, even if she was a ghost, I wouldn’t need to be worrying about anything. She was my sister. I’d never hurt her intentionally, and she’d never hurt me intentionally.

The moment I arrived home my mom pounced on me. Like I said earlier, it was like she needed to know where I was every single moment of my life. And probably into the afterlife.

It took me a few moments to fend off her over-enthusiasm at my getting home quickly. I knew that she wanted to hang-out, but I really didn’t. What I wanted most was to sleep right now, and that’s what I told her. I’m pretty sure she believed me, but I didn’t care either way. By the time she came up to my room, I would be either fast asleep or trying my best to be.

Of course, that’s exactly what my life didn’t have in store for me.

Getting upstairs, I retreated to my bathroom for a good ten minutes, attempting to make my hair resemble, well, hair again. Slowly I changed into a loose pair of old sweatpants to sleep in. So there I was, yawning and probably looking like a complete mess when I opened the door to my bedroom.

So you can imagine my surprise when I found that I wasn’t alone in my room. By this point in time, my make-up had already been taken off. I guess, in some ways, I used my make-up as a shield, so having someone see me without it, no matter who, always made me feel uncomfortable- at the very least.

Once my eyes focused on their faces, I realized that I didn’t have to be so guarded around them. Ramon, Clarissa…and Lenora were all standing in front of me. I really didn’t understand why Lenora was here; she had made it quite clear that she wanted absolutely nothing to do with me.

Slowly, and to my utter surprise, it was Lenora who stepped forward first. It was Lenora who broke the silence, and it was with kind words. I’m sure that the shock was plainly visible on my face when her hand reached out and slowly rested on my shoulders. Lenora was close enough to me that I could see the worry and the pain on her face. I didn’t know what to do; luckily, she wasn’t expecting me to do anything.

“Scarlett…” she started off with a whisper, slowly building her voice up. “I’m so sorry. I – I didn’t know.” She sounded nervous, like she thought that I wouldn’t accept her apology.

“Nobody does,” I whispered back woodenly, doing my best to keep any emotion from leaking out into my voice. I sighed. “It’s alright.”

A huge smile appeared on her face, and I couldn’t help but smile in return as well. At least Lenora was actually making an effort to be decent to me; that was more than what I had expected from her when I’d first met her.

She almost made as if to hug me, but I guess she knew that doing that just might be a bit too far. Her smile dimmed slightly. Now wearing a rueful smile, Lenora disappeared. Thankfully without a huge light flash. That would take some getting used to.

It was then that I remembered that Clarissa and Ramon were both there. They were still standing in the same place, just looking at her. Clarissa had a small smile on her face, smaller than Lenora’s had been, and her head was nodding back and forth ever so slightly.