Foreign : Faith Or Fear

four

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Sharon's alarm rang for the third time and she reached out to put it off again. This time, the rays of sun seeping into the room through her window pinched her face lightly.

She turned her face away from the direction of sunlight to the other side, opening her pupils slowly. They seemed to have been closed for too long.

The thoughts of yesterday came back to her. How the day started wildly but ended calmly. Nothing feels as familiar as such days and now, she has gotten used to the constant switch from storms to peace and vice versa.

She sat up on her bed and unplugged her phone from the charger to check the day's schedule.

It was 7:15 am. According to her timetable, she had to be at the pool by 9 am.

Now, that's worth looking forward to.

She smiled warmly. The swimming area shouldn't be hard to find.

Suddenly alert and awake, she could feel the hope in her chest. That today was going to be a good day. That she would have a spring to her step. The euphoria seemed unreal. It always did. But she allowed herself to bask in the glory of it all. Her face shone.

She almost jumped out of her bed and mistakenly hit her hand on the bedside table.

"Ouch! That hurts! It's not even healed!"

Someone knocked on the door.

"Sharon? Are you awake?"

Eh? Petra?

The knock came again. "Sharon?"

"I'm coming!"

When Sharon opened the door and Petra entered, the first obvious thing was the few droplets blood on the floor. It was noticeably red against the bright white tiles.

"YOU ARE BLEEDING!"

"I hit my hand on the table while getting up. It only needs a redress. I'm fine."

"NO. I'M TAKING YOU TO THE INFIRMARY! YOU NEED TO GET IT TREATED TO AVOID INFECTIONS!"

"Petra." Sharon's voice was calm. Too calm.

Petra was taken aback.

"What?"

"You're overreacting." Petra was about to argue when she raised a finger. "And you're only a tiny little pitch away from screaming."

"Okay. Okay. You need to dress up and let's go to the infirmary. I won't have it any other way."

"I have to be at the swimming area in less than two hours."

"I don't care. It's only the first day and you're terribly injured. It's understandable if you won't meet up." She matched her eyes with Sharon's and the reaction she got in the end made her rephrase. "I mean, if you're a bit late."

Sharon glanced away and stepped into her bathroom.

"Whatever. Good morning to you too."

Petra chuckled.

Sharon liked the sound and the euphoria returned.

After several blood wipe, stitches and bandage, Sharon is heading towards the swimming house with Petra. They had sandwiches they had picked from the kitchen and some bottles of water. Hopefully, it wouldn't be a long day.

"Have you ever visited the pool before?"

"Personally? No. But I've been there once when Feranmi invited me to go with him."

"What?"

Petra looked at anything but her friend. She was too focused on the road in front of them.

"The football guy?"

"Yes. He's in my cla-"

"He's studying Archeology?"

"Yeah." She glanced at her now.

A really sleek car drove by them and slowed down. It reversed and stopped beside them.

"Excuse me, ladies? We need to locate the administrative building. Where can we find it?" A woman spoke from the driver's seat. There was a girl sitting next to her but she was on her phone the whole time.

"First building on the left after the turning." Petra pointed in the direction.

"Oh. We're close. Thank you very much."

"You're welcome ma'am."

The car drove off but Sharon stayed rooted.

"You'll be late. What are you waiting for?"

"I can't believe this."

"What are you talking about?"

"That's Grace."

"What?"

"It's her. I can't be mistaken."

"You can't be so sure. Your memory may be keen on details but it's been too long a time for you to remember."

"I hope it's not true."

"Do you really?"

Sharon looked at her and thought about the question.

"I'm not sure."

...