The Crystal Bridge

Chapter 2 - Lavender Scented White Noise

Aren spun her lock as the hallway filled with jostling students, deafening though not just from sound. She closed her eyes, pushing away the noise of invasive memories, images, secrets, and sins not her own. Each body in the hall carried these around them like a cloud, a thick, choking cloud that Aren couldn’t help but see. Oh, how I hate crowds.

Tracy, Aren’s best friend, leaned against the locker to Aren’s right and continued to drone on about the new kid, Kaden. Aren hadn’t heard a word. She opened her eyes and spun the lock again.

A small fist slammed into the locker to her left, startling Aren. Steph had been Aren’s locker neighbor for two years and her feisty nature made her fun to be around, most of the time. Steph hit the locker again and made a growling noise of fru­stration in the back of her throat. Puffy, pink eyes caught Aren’s look of concern.

“Sorry, Adam’s being a jerk!”

Aren didn’t hear her. She’d already fallen into one of Steph’s memories.

Aren found herself looking up through Steph’s eyes as Adam’s face came closer. They were in the auditorium, lights dimmed. Aren could feel Adam’s warm breath roll across her face, Steph’s face. She wanted to pull away, but this wasn’t her memory. She had no control over what happened here.

Soft lips touched hers, prickling with the thin mustache Adam had been trying to grow for months. Steph burst out laughing in the memory. “You really need to shave that thing.”

Aren pushed her way free, surfacing in reality and turning away from Steph. “I’m sure he’ll get over it. Being a jerk, that is. He always does.”

Steph sniffed and smiled. “You’re right. He does. Doesn’t he?”

Aren nodded and swallowed, managing to keep Steph’s other memories at bay by staring at her locker. Avoiding eye contact usually helped.

Steph slipped away down the hall and Tracy started tugging at Aren’s sleeve.

“You listening?”

“Of course I am.”

“Okay…where was I?”

“Kaden…”

“Right. I know you’re probably sick of hearing about him, but he’s tall. Not as tall as Brian, but still up there. He has dark hair, almost black, and green eyes. Sea green. At least I think they’re green, maybe hazel. And—”

Aren lost her place with her locker combination for the third time. Frustration with the lock, her friend, and her inability to resist Steph’s memories all bubbled up inside her. “Tracy, that’s enough. I don’t really care about Kaden or his hazel eyes. Slow down a little, won’t you?” She spun the lock again, letting the notched numbers slide beneath her fingertips. “You only met him this morning.”

It’s such a waste of energy for both of us. She’ll be babbling about another guy in a day or two.

“You’ll see. He’s in our fifth period History class. I peeked at his schedule when he wasn’t looking.”

“Oh, I’m so excited,” Aren rolled her eyes.

Tracy’s lips tightened, turning the skin white around them. “You could at least try to be excited, maybe be a friend for once, instead of pretending you’re better than everyone!”

Aren looked at Tracy’s puckered lips. Oh crap. She only does that when she’s really angry. Aren glanced up at Tracy’s wide, hurt filled eyes. Mistake. The raging emotions of her friend made it impossible for Aren to keep her guard up. She fell deeper into Tracy than she had with Steph. For a moment Aren ceased to exist. She was Tracy through and through, looking out of Tracy’s eyes at Aren, confused at how she could stay friends with someone who shares so little of herself and can be so mean at times. Then a memory surfaced.