Yours Truly, Ramona

chapter forty | breathe.

It's been two weeks since Greenridge.

The leaves on the trees outside change with each passing day. Their bare winter sticks are bearing sprouts of leaves, and the grass has come back in a lush blanket of bright green. Spring is beautiful this year.

This is the kind of spring that holds a smell of dew in the air. It smells of rain and wet soil, though the sun shines brightly and there is no sign of rain that can be seen for miles. It reminds me of the beauty that's left in the world.

Mornings like today, where the world almost feels whole again, are the most sacred of moments.

My eyes stare up at the blue clouds passing by from my spot on the grass. I can hear Lily racing around the yard to find what the Easter bunny has left for her, and the sounds of Owen and Carissa quietly talking on the porch waft over to me through the April air.

I practically begged them not to get me anything for Easter, and while I knew Owen was going to try his best to persuade me to accept a gift from him, I refused.

"Ramona!"

I'm surprised to hear Owen calling me, and I look behind me to see him gesturing for me to join him and Carissa on the porch.

I groan internally, mainly because I'm enjoying my cloud-watching activities on the grass, but nonetheless I stand up. My hands brush the stray grass off of my sweatpants as I step across Owen's backyard and towards the porch.

I've been spending a lot of time outside since Greenridge. After being confined to a mental hospital for two weeks and rarely being allowed outside, (mainly because the nurses knew I was difficult and they were afraid I'd book it over the fence the second they turned their backs) I've found a new appreciation for nature.

Just getting a breath of fresh air every day has helped me cut down on the suffocation that my mind is typically subject to.

"Morning, sunshine," Carissa greets with a warm smile.

I smile back at her as I drag my feet up the porch steps. Her and Lily have been staying here a lot lately, though nothing's official yet in terms of them moving in. Owen's thinking sometime in the coming month, though it's difficult to say considering that in order for them to move in, we have to clear out Mason's room for Lily.

But I don't think I'm ready to do that yet, and I'm incredibly thankful that Carissa is being kind about it all. She told me that she's willing to wait until I'm ready, and that there's no rush at all.

Props to Owen for picking out quite possibly the sweetest woman that I've ever met to be his wife. The last thing I need is an evil stepmother.

"How're you feeling?" Owen asks as I take a seat on a chair across from them.

They're comfortably snuggled up on the porch swing, and they already look like a married couple though their wedding is still months away.

"I'm okay."

Owen reaches to the side table and raises his coffee mug to his lips before taking a quick sip.

"You're sure?"

I nod, and I honestly do mean it. Things have been relatively low-stress lately, and I've been spending the time since Greenridge just innocently catching up on schoolwork.

Owen's let me finish this school year through online school, which is a blessing. I don't have to go back to South Portland, and I'm moving schools next year to the high school that's near Owen's house.

It's the high school with all the rich kids, though I live with a well-off doctor, (soon to be two, once Carissa moves in) so technically I'm one of them, now.