Embers We Bury

vi. second time around

vi. second time
around | sadie

━━━━━━━━

I've known Reese, Ember, and Toni since I was twelve, and I would try to describe each of them. Let us start with the girl who has been missing for several days.

Ember. I don't know which exact words fit her, but I'd go with soft and bitter. I'm sure Reese and Toni had seen Ember bitch around too, though not as worse and as blatant as they could. Ember is the kind of girl who'd bitch around like that snake Eve wrongfully believed in that beautiful garden their god created for them; Ember is deceitful, convincing, and vengeful, but only when she's hurt. Like this one time Ember lied to Reese when she needed money the most because Reese kissed Ember's boyfriend a couple of years back, or when Ember said Toni was invited to a party when she wasn't. She just wanted to embarrass Toni because she did the same to Ember before.

Ember is like a predatory animal; she wouldn't bite unless provoked, and when not provoked, she's a gentle, trusting cat who wouldn't bare any teeth.

Reese. A total bitch. I don't know what else to call her. She's a selfish manipulating cunt who'd make everything go her way and would trash the world if she couldn't. Reese is the kind of person who would not allow herself to suffer alone and would always definitely bring someone down with her. It's surprising that no matter how aware I am that she's an evil person, she's the one I like best; she is honest, bold, and strong. She is a horrible person and it's nice that she isn't trying to hide it.

She creeps me out though. When Ember went missing, I can't say that it didn't cross my mind that Reese may have something to do with it. I mean, Reese would do anything for her grandmother; she's the same girl who'd risk herself by robbing perverted old men downtown; the idea of her keeping her best friend for reward money isn't a vague vision to imagine.

Toni would be a bitch too, but the uncool one. She's a fucking mess. She cries a lot and her mind is always all over the place. She's an idiot who's addicted to cigarettes and the kind of person who'd rather smoke while watching her life crumble down.

I heard she used to keep dead insects when she was younger; she would keep dead cockroaches, cicadas, dragonflies, and sometimes, as disgusting as this sounds, even dead rats. I don't know what she does to them, but she told me once that she'd want to be a doctor, so I figured that must be the reason. Is it possible that she could keep a dead best friend too?

Lying under a tree, I reflected on what happened last night. Toni was really mad at me, and remembering that glare she gave me makes me want to shiver. She made me feel like an awful person and maybe I am; I shouldn't have said what I said. I just don't understand why she had to be too harsh and defensive.

I remember her tearful wide-set eyes.

Maybe . . .

My eyes flew open. I sat up, then looked around to see any sign of Reese. When I saw her walking towards the restroom, I quickly grabbed my bag and went there, too.

The restroom seemed empty when I got there. "Reese?" I called. "Reese?"

"What do you want?"

It's Reese. I closed the door and went to a sink. She's inside a cubicle.

"Toni's mad at me," I said. I touched a pimple on my forehead and looked at it in the mirror.

"Sure she is," she said. "She told me about what you said. You were being a bitch."

I snickered and bit my lower lip. "Well . . . I was just crossing off some names in my list."

"List?" she said with a scoff. "Weirdo."