Darkness in the Light

Chapter 4

The final bell rang and the noise startled me so much I jumped out of my seat.

            Relax, it’s only a bell, Danielle soothed.

            I calmed myself down and walked out of the classroom. Natasha was waiting for me in the front, her crimson hair nearly glowing in the little sunlight there was. The way the wind whipped it around it almost looked like her head was on fire. She was staring out into the distance all dramatic and her eyes were thoughtful. No, not just thoughtful, they were also sad.

            “Hey, Nat?” I asked when I reached her. “Are you okay?”

            She glanced at me and smiled. “Oh, hey.” She cleared her throat and turned fully to me. “Uh, nothing. You shouldn’t be all worried about me. Yesterday…” She didn’t need to continue.

            My throat tightened. “Yeah, but, if something’s bothering you-”

            “Ty, seriously, don’t freak out.” She playfully punched my arm. “You ready to go?”

            I shrugged. “Your place is better than mine.”

            She bit her bottom lip. “Eh, that’s debatable.”

            I chuckled but Natasha had to force a laugh. Something must’ve been wrong.

            “Let’s get going, chic!” She teased. She was trying to throw me off her trail.

            “Okay,” I obliged. “Hurry, before it snows.”

            She gave me a crooked smile and then we started walking to her house.

            “I don’t know what I’m going to do.” I said. We were both sprawled out on Natasha’s couch, Natasha in her favorite spot on the edge and me in the center, eating popcorn from our own bowls. It had been nearly two hours since school got out and we had done nothing productive. That was the point of going to Natasha’s, we didn’t have to do anything.

            Natasha had said her both of her parents were at work (her mom was always on work trips while her dad had a normal job as a mechanic around the corner) and her two brothers and three sisters were at her grandparents. I didn’t understand why she acted so uneasy when she mentioned her parents but when I tried to ask she would blow me off and say I didn’t need it on my plate. Then I would ask why her siblings were at her grandparents and she would just give the vague answer that it was the best for them. I eventually stopped asking and at some point we moved onto Danny.

            “Well, what are you stressed about?” She asked. She threw a piece of popcorn into her mouth as she paused the movie we were hardly paying attention to.