NOT THE ONE || Completed✔

26: Faults, mistakes. Take the blame

Sometimes Deborah wished she could pluck a star, just to know what it felt like, but that was scientifically and physically impossible though the curiosity remained.

She loved marvelling at the beauty of the constellation and sometimes wondered the stories behind them. Although stories had been cooked up by Astronomers, she preferred not to check them out. Not because she believed they were false or true, but because she loved the little act of wondering. She loved the curiosity they struck up in her consciousness and she preferred it stayed that way.

The breeze blew in her direction and she shuddered, rubbing her arms. Though she was wearing a thick jacket, the night was gravely cold. She could smell the incoming rain, she could even taste it, but that was no motivation for her to pack up and go inside. Neither was it for the few people seated across the field.

She had come out to get some fresh air and a clear head, even though her parents had been utterly against it. She had had to convince them that since the perpetrators were either dead or in jail, she was safe. And besides, there were going to be other people at the field which she was right about.

They had wanted Joy to come out with her at the very least, but it seemed Joy must have had quite a day because she was surprisingly asleep.

So, with words like, 'take your phone with you' from her father and 'come back home immediately you sense trouble' from her mother and 'don't stay too long' from her grandma, they had finally let her leave.

The air was starting do her some good in dissolving her thoughts because in everyone's presence, she panicked. Her sister was starting to suspect she was hiding more than she was letting on, her mom was starting to ask questions, her father equally gave her questioning looks every now and then and she was sure Adora was going through her stuff.

One night, they had bumped into each other: Adora was just coming out of her room while she was going in. Although nothing seemed out place, she didn't hide her dislike on the invasion of privacy.

Adora was a smart kid – though her flaws overwhelmed this attribute – and it bothered her that the girl had taken a sudden interest in her private life.

Adora never ceased to ask discerning questions whenever she could, and although Deborah gave answers that sounded believable, Adora never gave it a rest. She could tell from the way Adora eyed her whenever she spoke, moved or did anything at all.

Drawing in a long breath, Deborah looked back up at the sky. At least these were the only things that didn't bother her, she smiled wryly.

Sometimes she found it hard acting like who she used to be. She would sometimes do something and her sister would muse at it, saying it was out of her character, making her wonder what the former her would have done.

She used to like music a lot, her sister once said, but recently, she hadn't been able to pick up a single beat to listen to. When the music channel came on, she'd either walk out of the room or simply focus on something else. These were behaviors her sister had pointed out and the more a contrast was made, the more conscious she became of each and every move she made.

Deborah was still lost in her thoughts, eyes at the sky, when something hit her. She looked down to see something round - what had hit her - and then looked up to see a kid staggering towards her.

The boy's hair was in curls and he had a huge grin on his face as he wobbled to her side and dropped to the ground. For a few seconds, he looked down at the grass, pulling at a blade, before looking back up at her.

When their eyes met, he gave a toothed grin, his dimples appearing beneath his eyes, and she couldn't help but smile back. He was so cute that she had to fight the urge to pull his cheeks.