21 days writing challenge

Stages of Hurricane

"Hey, isn't that your girlfriend?" Wes asked when he entered the car with his hands full of drinks and junk food. We were having a guys night that night and we just wanted to get the supplies ready. His eyes were glued to a girl walking into a pharmacy. When I followed his gaze, my breath stopped in a hitch. She was the girl who once messed up with my head. Correction: not once but a couple of hundred times. Still, hate was not the feeling I felt about her. It was 'understand'--if 'understand' was a feeling.

 "Ex," I replied short. Even so I was feeling worried about her. Why was she walking into a pharmacy? Was she sick?Maybe one of those cramps she always had. Was she okay? Dammit Isla! Stop doing this to me over and over again! I thought to myself. I made a mental note to text her when I got home.

mist

"Oh, right, you're with Alysson now," Wes cooed before adding "She's way hotter, bro. No regrets." I smirked at the comment, pulling my car on reverse out of the parking spot. Isla never cared about all of those things. Even though she was overly obsessed over Victoria Secret models, she was never trying to be like them. She just appreciated their beauty. Isla was nothing like Alysson. She was complicated. She was a labyrinth you thought you could solve but ended up crashing through the walls and bruising yourself to get out if it.

On the other hand, Alysson, she was nice and genuine. She didn't play any games. Alysson has a vivid personality but Isla, she was a blur, trying to make up herself out of the rubble. And I understood that, somehow. Her issues destroyed her over and over again. Her family. Her mental illness. Herself. Herself. Herself.

drizzle  

I felt a lump in my throat just thinking about her. Thinking how I could've stayed and been there helping her battling with the monsters in her head. The regret I once thought had disappeared resurfaced. The tension was in turmoil. I slammed the oil pedal and kept my eyes ahead. 

Wes face screamed panic but I pretended not to notice. Hell, that was what I had been doing when I was with her then. I pretended not to notice the cuts on her wrists. I pretended not to notice her stained face after every time she answered calls from her mentally dysfunctional mom. I pretended not to notice the yells from inside of her house when I waited for her at the door. I pretended not to notice her. 

"We're going to Alysson's," I explained, breaking the silence in the car. Wes swallowed and nodded, slightly perplexed by the spur of the moment decision. The road ahead was clear, but the traffic was a state in my mind with the flashbacks I had with Isla. I couldn't pretend not to notice her now. Why now, Isla?

hurricane

When I reached her driveway, I texted Alysson to come out of her house. Without asking for any reason, she said okay. A few moments later, the front door opened and Alysson appeared with a smile on her face. She half-smiled walking towards me. My heartbeat slowed back to normal or even calmer than that. It always does when it comes to Alysson. The heaviness in my chest had lifted. I erased the mental memo to text Isla. Whether she wants to form a tornado or create a silent whirlpool underwater, she can take care of herself. Like a hurricane does. 

But Alysson is a sunshine. 

sunshine.

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Author's note: This is me attempting the 'stage' kind of writing. There's a lot of rooms for                                                improvement, I guess.