Life Of Bayla

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I woke up with a jolt and couldn't breathe.

Blanketed in a lustre of sweat, my fists clenched the duvet as terror and pain clawed at the edges of my brain.

I was reeling from a horrible nightmare but as the seconds slipped by, the details of it faded into nothingness and slowly, my breathing steadied.

I pushed off the duvet, changed into running clothes and dashed out of the house. I had to clear my head.

My feet pounded on the ground at the same pace as my heart. I did five laps and called it quits. By the time I got home, mom was making breakfast.

"Morning", I greeted as I kicked off my shoes.

The phone rung before she could return my greeting. "Yes?" Her muddled expression morphed into excitement. She clutched the phone tighter. "Ri! How are you?"

Mom's excitement rubbed off on me as I knew the person she was talking to.

"Yes, she's right here". Mom pressed her hand over the phone and mouthed It's Marion then motioned me over.

"Marion!" I practically yelled into the phone immediately mom passed it to me.

Mom went back to cooking, giving me some privacy.

"Cher". God, her voice was everything right now. "It is so good to hear from you again".

"Same here", I told her. "My God, I miss you so much, you can't even believe it".

She chuckled. "Duh, who wouldn't miss me?" As if she sensed my eye-roll, she added. "I miss you too, Bayla. So how's school? Made some friends? Seen some boys?"

I laughed. "School's not so bad. Can you believe we wear uniforms? Like, what the hell? The skirt's like thigh high. I wear knee length socks to look decent".

Marion snorted. "What are you, amish?"

"No", I giggled. "And to answer your previous questions, yeah, I have made some friends. Two to be exact and they're both super cool".

"Tell me about them".

"One of them is Hawaiian but like she was raised here in Australia. Her name's Koa and she's like super badass and pretty. Kinda reminds me of you".

"Awww".

"The other one is so cute. She's got hair like Eleanor's. She even acts like her too: all meek and smart and shit".

"Seems like you're having fun".

I shrugged. "Eh. You could say that".

"Any boy caught your eyes yet?"

My thoughts darted to Caden then to the librarian. I shook it off.

"Not really", I told her. "I'll just go with the flow".

"That's my girl", she said. After some time, she asked, "Hey, are you okay?"

I replied in a heartbeat, "For sure. Why're you asking?"

Marion dragged in a long breath. "It's just that I sense some sad energy over the line and Bay- if you need someone to talk to, I'm only a call away, okay? Always remember that?"

What was up with this huge lump forming in my throat?

"Right", I told her, my voice coming out as defeated as I felt. My eyes darted to the clock. "Hey, Marion? It's great chatting with you and all but I've got school in like ten minutes".

"Oops", she chuckled. "Sorry for taking your time. Now go on flower child and take on the world".

~~~~~