Down Memory Lane ✓

10- The Door with the Child's Palm Print

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The Door with The Child's Palm Print

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GLORY BELLS Prep's gymnasium didn't have a name given to it and thank goodness for that, or else I would still be wrapping my head around the twisted name.

It was simply an enormous hall that had multiple purposes. Gym classes, graduation ceremonies when the weather outside was unfavorable, prom nights, you name it. Oh! And remembrances.

Remembrances were a way for the school and students to honor the dead who were once part of the school community. Students and staff alike. I never remembered who they were for in my time here because I never knew the people.

But I knew Mrs. Morris and I couldn't help the gnawing feeling that she shouldn't be dead.

That Sunday morning had been a sour one again in our room as Mariana was angrily stuffing and moving her things around, doing it all with so much force that we all noticed.

If it affected Betty, she didn't show it. Naomi, however, had a permanent scowl on her face. It was safe to say if Mariana didn't quiet down, Naomi would soon burst out. And that she did.

"Mariana, would you stop doing that?" she yelled, causing Betty and me to flinch at her loud voice. The tension in the room was at an all-time high.

With a scowl that matched the one Naomi sported, Mariana's shrug was as defiant as her tone when she said, "Doing what?"

"Ugh! I can't deal with you right now. Both of you should get your acts together. This is childish."

Betty quietly slipped away after Naomi stormed out, leaving Mariana and me in the room. I had to address this now.

"Okay, Mariana, what is up with you? Don't say it's 'cause of the play because I know it isn't."

She flung the cloth she was holding in her hand onto her bed and stalked toward me.

"You know nothing about me," she said, flaring her nose as her eyes narrowed at me with a tightness in them. But looking into her eyes, I could tell there was something else in there. Pain.

This only confirmed my suspicion that something else was wrong.

"Mari," I started softly with the nickname I seldom use. "Whatever it is you can tell me, talk to me. I'll understand."

"You won't!"

I flinched at her tone but didn't relent.

"I would. I am your friend, your best friend. If this is about the play, I'll give it up for you."

She would do the same for me. Heck! She did the same for me.

"Then I'll look like the girl who can't get anything for herself. No thank you," she spat. It was strange seeing her like this. She was never like this.

"Then what do you want?" I asked, and the scowl on her face deepened, painting her face in a different shade of emotion. Something dark. She took one step closer until there was nothing but a few inches of space between us.

If I wasn't looking at her, if I didn't see her lips moving, I would have thought it was someone else when she said, "I want you to never leave here."

The tone alone was enough to plummet my stomach onto the floor. My eyes searched hers, trying to figure out what this meant, but I didn't understand it one bit.

My words had left me, so the only thing I could do was to push past her, leaving her alone in the room as her words chased after me.

I headed to school, trying to think of what she could have meant by that. Something was definitely wrong with Mariana, but did I have the time to figure out what?