Freefall ✓

18 | scars

She scrunched her face even harder. "I don't like math."

"Gimme my phone back."

"Come and get it," she challenged, swinging the device in its powder blue phonecase between her thumb and index finger.

Okey dokey then. 

Unexpectantly enough, I pounced up at her from my lying position. Still, she reacted sufficiently quickly to get away from me, shifting her footing and sprinting through the house. I chased her as she ran towards the stairs with her arms flailing and a throat-ripping screech falling from her mouth. 

"Heeelp! I'm being chased by a maniac!" I had almost caught her when she tripped over the last step, knocking us both over to the thankfully soft, basketweave-patterned carpet. 

Never had I ever thought I'd be living through the ROFL acronym.

From my upward down position, I caught sight of a framed photograph I didn't remember seeing before. It was a beautiful representation of a sunset, its ablaze orange thematic hue making it stand out against the alabaster-white walls.

"When is this from?" I pointed towards the flaming picture, sitting up.

"Oh." Her lips curled. "Friday." she rolled around, not intending to get up any time soon.

"Friday was two days ago and you've already got a framed landscape hanging on your wall?"

"Oh, I'm a frequent client in the print shop. They get my orders done in double-quick time."

The gears in my mind clinked. "Hold on a second. Friday was your super trouper date with minnie-boy, wasn't it?"

"Uh-huhhh," she hummed wordlessly.

"So why haven't you still told me about it?!" I exclaimed, all over-excited, shaking her up by her shoulders. Her uncontainable giggling rolled about the hall like a spinning top—peppy and heartwarming. I was infected by her contagious fit within a matter of seconds and soon after the carpet had two loonies rolling around and cackling for no explicable reason.

If her parents would've come in, I don't think we would've been able to prove that we weren't high. 

"Why are we laughing Syd," I breathed, calming down a bit.

"Cause we're total wackos," she sat up, at last. "You should've seen the way he asked me out."

"So he did ask you out?" 

"Yeah. So, basically, he took me to the hill where this sunset's taken from, brought me a Medjool date, and asked me if I liked them. So I was like: yeah, why? And he says: cause I was thinking whether you wanted to go on one with me."

I held in a chortle. "And what did you say?"

"That I did as long as it was gonna be more than one."

"Awwwww. Jokes aside, that's so cute. You guys were made for each other," I said, meaning it sincerely. 

My phone—that somehow ended at the other side of the hallway— vibrated. "Looks like you've got a new message," Syd stated the obvious.

Picking it up, I was expecting to see Cameron's name flash across the screen. Instead, I unlocked the phone to discover that I had just been added to a group chat by an unknown number.

AURELIA DANCE ACADEMY REUNION: you're invited to the party of the year!

I stopped reading. A chill rushed through my spine. The recent mood upthrust I was feeling with Syd moments ago instantaneously wilted.

"What's the matter?" Sydney's voice reverberated from behind.

"Nothing."

The memories that that name triggered were memories I had locked up securely inside of an impenetrable box in my head years ago. I had buried them deep. I had slammed the lid on them hard. They were not returning. This was not happening.

The rattling of keys in lock downstairs, followed by cheerful chatter signified Syd's parents' and brothers' arrival. We hopped down the stairs to greet them.

My smile reappeared naturally with their jovial presence. Sydney's mother embraced me tightly. I breathed in the taste of winter along with her sweet perfume. 

"You're staying for dinner, Audrey, yeah?" Her dad was the one to ask, taking a gigantic Mickey Mouse headband off his head. Whatever that fair was about.

"She is," Syd intervened before I could open my mouth.

"Oh, sure, I'd be happy to. I'll double-check with my mom right now."

Before that though, I had to do something else.

Fleeing away from my past had become and been my habit for a long time. And I was not up for grand changes of habits right now.

My heart stored various irreversible scars from my past. Aurelia Dance Academy was one of them.

Without thinking twice, I tapped 'Exit groupchat',  wishing to wipe away the ghosts of my past with it. Wishing part of me didn't want to stay, to consider even going to that party. Wishing my heart wasn't aching over the way things ended. Wishing I didn't miss the good times I'd had in the dance studio with my coaches and friends. My long-lost friends. The names surged into my mind unwillingly. Tiffany, kylie, millie. . .and even. . .even my dance partner.

Wishing I could convince myself, the way I convinced everyone else, that the reason I quit dance two years ago was that I needed to focus more on my studies.

And nothing else.

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