Dream

Chapter 15

"Wait. Are you sure?" Marlee asked, trying to hide her curiosity while failing miserably. Her dark brown eyes stared at me intensely, waiting for an answer. We were sitting in the Women's meeting room, chatting away with small tea cups in our hands. The moment I walked in the room, I was at home; the smell of old books and the idea of bonding all afternoon. It felt like home, not the home with Ma's cold stares; Ma's cold stares and Gabriella's scoffs weren't home. Home gave you a tingle of warmness and makes you want to spill every secret.

"Yes," I reassured her, giving a small nod.

"He has a twin," I added, thinking that if I repeat the sentence she would believe me.

Her eyes enlarged, as a smile crawled up her face.

"I can't believe it," she gasped, returning to her shocked face.

"Me neither," I giggled at Marlee's sudden changes of facial expressions. Every single emotion was reflected on her face: sadness, excitement, happiness, pain and hopeless. Some emotions were understandable, while some brought curiosity.

"Is everything alright," I asked, sensing her change of expression settling to sadness.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," she muttered under her breath, staring at her glossy, pink heels. With knowing her in a few hours ago in the meeting room, she is not fine. Everyone knows the biggest lies that come out of our mouths, we've all said it. We hope that saying it would assure ourselves our words are true, while we don't want others to interfere with our problems.

"Marlee."

Her head turned slightly, in the direction of the bookshelf. A variety of colors and sizes of books were scattered around the bookshelf like a hurricane had just broken in. It needed to be reorganized; at least it meant the books were being read. Near stands Queen Lydia looking for a good afternoon read. She seemed deep in thought, staring at a red cover book.

She had dark brown hair, which made her seem down to earth. Her hair is pulled into a half bun, while the bottom half flowed freely into curls. She turned towards me, sensing my stare. I instantly gave a timid smile and waved shyly. She returned the same actions with more confidence.

"Yes?"

My attention was brought back to Marlee and her sadness.

" What's wrong?" I asked concernedly.

Her face darkened at my inquiry, eyes glaring. I could sense the heat coming out her body, like a boiling pot of steaming water. She set down her tea on the table, not breaking our eye contact. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She tried again as if she was reconsidering her words.

"I'm fine," she spat. Her anger brought a flush of warmth to my face, I felt embarrassed. What had I done? It feels horrible provoking someone's anger; making them break, poking at their weaknesses. Is this how Ma feels? I wanted to look away from her glare, but they had a force to make me stay; I felt horrible, like I just planted a bomb, ruining thousands of lives.

"A-alright," I stuttered, not knowing what to say.

"I'm going to go on a walk in the gardens," she stated, already standing up from the soft cushions of the sofa. Her tone was cold and emotionless, an excuse to leave.

"Talk to you soon?" I asked. I don't want our friendship to end with a topic that wasn't worth fighting over. I felt connected to Marlee, we have many things in common, many things to talk about.

"Yeah," she whispered, softening.

"If you need someone to talk to, you can count on me."

She gave a small, forced smile and left. I sighed, putting my teacup down. I turned my chair to face the window. What had I done wrong?

I stared out the window, at nothing in particular. Everything just starts to get more confusing. The questions flooded back into my mind. Instead of crying this time, I made up the truth; I made a story of my own, a reason to forgive them. Everyone has their own stories to tell; a million people, a million stories and perceptive.

The bubble of my daydream was popped by the entrance of Marlee into the gardens. She wandered around, in no particular direction. Her arms swaying side to side care freely, as her feet touched the stone path of the gardens. It's a work of nature; it calms the angered ones and pacifies the sad ones. Ironically at the thought, Marlee shirked. Her hands swatted aggressively, at a swift movement. I believed it to be a bee, but she kept on screaming. She turned her body and ran in the direction of the trees surrounding the garden. I instinctively excused my self politely from the meeting room and speed-walked towards the garden. Panic slowly rose in my chest as I brought my self to run. Marlee needs help, the guards didn't hear her.

I pushed open the doors.

"Marlee!" I shouted.

"Marlee!" I screamed as I ran towards the trees.

"Marle-e-e,"I wavered. Something is wrong, I could feel someone's stares. Goosebumps dotted my skin, proving the panic in my voice to be indeed, true.

"Mar-"A muscular arm pulled me into his body, a rear attack. I tried wriggling around my way out of his grip. I used my elbow to stab the features of his face, but he kept strong. I tried yelling for help. No one can hear me with the line of trees separating me from the garden. My body went stiff, as I whispered out "Marlee," her name echoing into the deep forest.