L A N A
The next day, I was heading early to the student council room extra early to sum up the Open day with the rest of the members. However, I stopped short behind a wall when I heard Everett and Kevin's voices only a few feet away in the empty hallway around the corner.
"This is so stupid," Kevin muttered.
"It's not. It's the truth. Every time Lana does something different than the rest of us, you always have to talk down on her like she's worth less than the rest of us. Let me make it clear. She's not. Even if she's late to the meeting sometimes or has opinions that you don't agree with, she's our equal. So I'm telling you to stop dragging her down. The way you talk to her and the way look at her needs to change. Just respect her."
"Seriously? You're standing up for her and not me? You're taking her side?" Kevin's voice was laced with frustration.
However, Everett didn't back off just like that. "This is isn't about taking sides. The Sirens were cornering you and I stopped it. Now, you're being rude to Lana and I'm stopping you. So no, I'm not picking sides here. I'm going what's right and fair."
"You-" Kevin cut himself off when I approached him and Everett.
After throwing a dirty look at me, he threw his hands up of exasperation. "Great. Now she's here too. I can't believe you're supporting someone who's friends with Jada. That freak is fucked in the head. She treats people like shit when she's the biggest fuck up-"
Before I realized it, my fist had collided with Kevin's jaw. Then I grabbed the collar of his grey hoodie and shoved him up against the lockers behind him as terror pooled in his blue eyes. People could be as shitty as they wanted to be towards me, but not to my friends. Not to Jada.
"Lana, stop!" Suddenly a pair of hands were grabbing my arms, attempting to pull me off him but the anger seeping through me kept Kevin molded against the lockers and my jaw remained clenched as my vision slightly blurred on the edges.
However, it was when Everett's hands rapidly moved to forcefully grab my hands, my skin ignited. When his big hands gripped my hands so tightly that my skin started turning red, the crucial memories started to flash by so rapidly and loudly that I wasn't able to tamp them down. Suddenly, my whole body was frozen and Kevin scrambled away from my crumbling posture.
"Everett!" I heard Carmen scream. Before Everett could release my hands, he was shoved aside and Carmen put her arm around my shoulders. I flinched at first but then let her embrace soothe me as my whole body started shaking.
"What did you do?!" She yelled at him.
Everett stumbled on his words. "I-I was trying to stop her. She-she jumped on Kevin and-"
"-Stop her? How?"
"I grabbed her arms...-no, her hands..., " he trailed off as realization hit him. "Oh, shit. I didn't mean to-"
"Fuck off!" She shouted.
It was Isha who spoke next as she said," Carmen. Chill. This isn't the time to scream. Get her in the student council room before anyone comes. It's empty. Come on. Hurry up."
Then it was Jada who sounded calm, which meant she was furious. "Everett, let me help you deal with this guy."
Before my knees gave away, Carmen and Isha helped me inside the empty student council room where I slumped down on the floor with my back against the wall. Bracing my arms around knees that were pulled up against my chest, I squeezed my eyes shut and inhaled forced breaths.
However, as my skin continued to burn where his hands had touched and that so tightly, I stifled a sob. Isha, who was seated next to me, brushed my hair out of my face, stroked my head, and softly said, "Hey it's okay. You're okay now."
When I remained silent and still and buried my face in my lap, Isha wrapped an arm around me and rested her head against mine. Meanwhile, Carmen sighed and sat down on my right side, and patted my knee.
"What happened? How did it start?" Carmen asked.
"He was telling Kevin to stop always being so shitty to me. Kevin started saying bad shit about Jada and I punched him. Everett was trying to stop me and accidentally grabbed my hands," I explained, quietly.
"You idiot," Jada said, standing in the doorway with her arms folded across her chest. I watched her step towards me and crouch down in front of me. She tilted her head and smiled softly. "You didn't have to do that."
"He deserved it," I muttered, dropping my gaze from her eyes.
Jada sighed, again. "Everett told me just now how Kevin has been treating you. I talked to him. He won't bother you anymore."
"And Everett?" I almost whispered.
"What about him?"
"How is he?"
Jada narrowed her eyes for a moment before answering. "His face was a mix of concern, guilt, and shock."
I groaned.
"Why do you care?" She asked with her brows drawn together. Then the realization that settled in her mind, mirrored across her face. "Hold on. Are you two like friends now?"
"No, but I wanted us to be..., "I trailed off as they all stared at me with widened eyes.
Suddenly, Isha grinned. "You think he's that cool, huh?"
"He likes Nintendo," I mumbled, shyly.
The girls glanced at each other as surprising grins broke out across their faces before Isha ruffled my hair while saying, "Well, would you look at that. Our baby dumpling has found a Nintendo buddy. Dorks belong with dorks."
"Well, now we're definitely hanging out with him to get to know him more. We have to make sure he's good to be around for you," Carmen said, firmly.
"You should talk to him about what just happened, or you could text him later," Isha added, smiling.
"Okay, mommies," I said, sarcastically.
While the girls laughed, I exhaled deeply while attempting to shake off the last trace of trembling left on my fingertips after Everett's skin touched mine.
~
I could never forget the day I started fearing skin contact with boys. My third night sleeping on the streets after I fled from my foster home. I came across a few druggies drinking and juicing in an alley. They were cool and I asked to taste some of that vodka bottle a tanned boy with dimples was holding.
I took a sip and I spit it out immediately. The boys laughed, but then I tried once more. This time I kept drinking until the boys whistled, impressed and surprised.
The dimpled guy must've gotten concerned and said, " easy." However, it was when he rapidly gripped my wrist, the world stopped there and then.
My whole body stopped and I flinched so violently that the bottle slipped through my fingers and crashed on the ground, shreds of glass splattering around our feet. The boys made noises of shock and tried calming me down when I started screaming and sobbing.
And then I ran until my legs gave out. After that, I stayed away from boys and people in general as much as possible. When I met The Sirens, Jada got me sweatbands and set up the on meter distance rule for me at school. Plus, if it weren't for them and how I learned to be comfortable with their touch over time, I would've developed a phobia of people's skin in general. But they didn't let that happen. As for boys, I couldn't remember the last time I had actual skin contact with one until today-or yesterday to be more accurate. That high-five with Everett was the closest I had come to touch a guy in three years.
I stared at the red balloon he gave me yesterday. I had tied it to the doorknob of my bedroom door. Yesterday, I fell asleep watching sway slightly side to side in the air.
Would Everett want to be friends with me someone like me? Especially after happened today?
"Lanaaaa." Jada dragging my name broke me out of my thoughts.
"Huh?" I blinked at her standing in front of me with her hands on her hips while I was seated on my bed.
"Come on. Let's cut your bangs. They're all crooked and shielding your eyes."
She stretched her hand out to me but I shook my head. "I like them like this."
"No. You're just being lazy and depressed."
When I didn't move, Jada groaned and picked me up in her arms, crying me like a baby into the bathroom where she put me down on my butt on the sink's counter.
She grinned and grabbed a pair of scissors from the drawer. Stepping closer to me, she lifted my chin and started working on my bangs.
I took in the sight of Jada. Her dark, soft skin, the faint glow within the deep shade of brown in her eyes, and her glossy but wild and frizzy hair. She was wearing a pair of ripped blue jeans and a grey sweater. She was beautiful.
"So, that Everett guy. You serious about wanting to be friends with him?"
Keeping my eyes locked on hers which were focused on trimming my bangs, I nodded.
"Well, I can't wait to hang out with him. We'll do some crazy shit together. I wanna test him. It'll be a blast."
I rolled my eyes. They were planning to go all out. I could already imagine how Everett's stress level would rise quicker than how I jumped from tree to tree.
Suddenly, Jada's expression softened. "It terrifies you a lot, doesn't it?"
I felt my body tense up. She looked at me with an expression of gentle understanding.
"It's like my skin is on fire. It just-it burns," I said quietly while staring down at my palms that seemed fine now, but felt like they had ignited earlier today.
Jada didn't say anything. She didn't need to. We both knew that. I liked having her as a listener. Carmen was someone I could relate to. Isha was my comfort. Jada was my listener.
"What are you afraid of?" I asked, suddenly.
Jada looked at me. "You."
I raised my brows in disbelief and she laughed.
"No, but seriously. You're only seventeen. You've experienced abused, witnessed abused, seen your mother die, run from foster homes, grown up on the streets, learned all the tricks and tactics on how to deal with people like Arjun, and you're probably the most dangerous person around here. What scares you?"
I had always wondered that but never dared to ask. Maybe I was just afraid of her answer.
Jada stayed silent for a moment. Then she exhaled a deep breath before answering. "Death."
Oh. Oh.
She sighed, sudden saddens appearing across her face. "It sucks when people die. Remembering them smiling and laughing with you yesterday and then being buried alone and dead under the ground surrounded by nothing but dirt and darkness, is terrifying."
"Do...do you think about death a lot?"
"Not really but sometimes it just gets to me that people die without warning and then they're just gone, vanished from your life. You know, like my mom did and your parents did."
I nodded. I knew what she meant. Death left a hole in you and your life.
She shook her head, suddenly embarrassed as she dropped her gaze. "It's weird. I'm weird."
"I don't think it's weird," I said, gently.
Raising her gaze again, she smiled softly. "I know."
Minutes later, she brushed her warm fingers through my bangs and then put the scissors back inside the drawer before giving me a perfectly content smile. She then asked, "Okay. It's done. You wanna go buy ice cream?"
I nodded and I didn't even bother looking in the mirror. We put on our shoes and coats and trudged into the night and down the crooked streets scented with autumn leaves and seasonal rain while the moon over our heads followed us.
***
Author's note: Hi, everyone! Here's a new chapter for you guys! Hope you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for all the recent reads, votes and sweet comments. The support really means a lot❤️
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