Shadows

[6]

When I walk through the school gate this time, boredom doesn't seem to fill the world. It's not just another day. I've been missing for months, people come and hug me, pretending like they cared, pretending that they noticed I was gone. Even people I don't know are coming up to me with fake smiles and saying that they're so happy I'm back. 
"Nala! We missed you." Jodie says,
"Nala! I'm so glad you're back!" Millie gushes,
"Nala! We were so worried!" Someone fakes a smile right in my face.
I barely make it to break time before wanting to pull my hair out in frustration with all of the lies. 
I am sat next to Millie on a table. I look over at her phone screen and see a familiar page.
"I didn't know you were on BlueOrchid, Millie! What's your username?" I ask,
"Oh everyone is on BlueOrchid now. Bella showed it to us. It's great." She grins,
I remember introducing Bella to BlueOrchid four days before I left. 
"You're on BlueOrchid, Nala?" Jodie says, "Did Bella show it to you as well?"
"Actually, I showed it to Bella. I've been on BlueOrchid for ages." I say.
Jodie laughs.
"What?" I frown,
"Look, Nala, don't take this the wrong way, but you're not creative enough to find and want to install BlueOrchid on your own." Jodie flips her hair,
"But I'm telling the truth!" I say indignantly,
"Nala, I don't mean to be rude so no offence, but you aren't a good writer. Actually, you're not a writer at all. Everybody knows that Bella found BlueOrchid first, not you. Maybe one day you'll do something that is worth people remembering you for." Millie gently pats my shoulder,
"But I did introduce Bella to BlueOrchid!" I beckon for Bella to come over,
"What's up?" She asks,
"Didn't I introduce you to BlueOrchid?" I say. She pauses.
"No?" She frowns, "No, I found BlueOrchid on my own."  She pinches my arm slightly. 
A sign to go along with it. 
Jodie starts to laugh.
"Nala, you need to stop lying! I bet you don't even have BlueOrchid and are just trying to fit in!" She cackles,
"Nala, you need to start telling the truth. I can't be friends with a liar." Millie sighs, "I'm sorry, but until you can stop lying, then any friendship we had is over."
I stare at Bella, hoping for her to tell them that I'm telling the truth and that she was lying.
But she doesn't. 
Of course she doesn't. Bella doesn't care about my friendship with Millie or anyone. As long as she has someone to make feel jealous or upset, she's happy. And that someone is me. I now know that it always has been and always will be.
I look down at my feet. Then darkly look back at Bella.
"Nala, I-"
"Save it for someone you actually care about." I snarl. 
"Nala Rose!" The teacher yells. 
I push Bella out of the way, slap Jodie in the face and flee the room. Actually, no, scratch that. I flee from the school entirely. 
My escape plan was flawless. I ran out of the door and slid between the gaps in the gate. Nobody said anything, or tried to stop me. Nobody even noticed me. That's one of few pros about not being known. I run away from the school and back to the park. 
The ghostly remnants of when Bella and I used to come here as small kids haunt the place. I read through the memories we have made together. Bella pushing me down the slide and laughing as I fell over. Me giving Bella half of my ice cream when she dropped hers. Me lending Bella lots of money several times and her never paying it back. When we were really small, Bella laughing at me when I fell off the climbing frame and broke my wrist and started crying.
Now that I think about it, none of my memories with Bella are happy. I've been hurt, sad or a mixture of the two. Always have been. I remember mum telling me that when I was a toddler and first met Bella, I started crying. Maybe toddler me could see the future or something.

I have one happy memory from when I was with Bella. 

When we were at the park and I met Lucia for the very first time. She mentioned it when she met Lucia the other day.
"Nala..." Millie's voice says from behind me,
"I thought you didn't want to be friends anymore." I hiss,
"I'm sorry." She says, "I've never seen someone get so upset because someone didn't believe them when they were lying, which means I know you're telling the truth." 
I turn to look at her.
"Thank you. It feels nice to be believed for once." 
"For once?" She echoes, "What do you mean 'for once'?" 
"I've been writing stories. I've told people that I wrote them but-"
"They think Bella wrote them..." She realises.
I nod.
"Ignore her and Jodie. They're full of shit. Jodie laughed at you, so no wonder you slapped her. Bella is just being thoughtless. I mean, she was going to let me destroy our friendship just so that people thought she discovered BlueOrchid by herself? How petty is that?" Millie scoffs.
I start to giggle. Then laugh.
Eventually, I am howling with laughter.
"What?" Millie smiles.
"Her face!" I howl, "Jodie's face!"
"Does she really look that funny?" Millie starts to laugh with me.
I try to compose myself and calm down,
"I'm sorry, but when I slapped her I was so scared!" I start giggling again.
Millie laughs with me as well.
"I was scared too!" She cackles,
"Was it you who wrote that 'danger within 20 miles' story that was read out a few months ago?" She asks.
I nod, unable to talk: I used up all of my breath laughing at Jodie's face after I gave her a well-deserved slap.
"Do you think you'll be okay?" Millie asks after we've stopped laughing,
"Yeah, I think I'm just going to go home, though." I say,
"I'll walk you back. Bella told me about Lucia, and I want to meet her."
Millie follows me back home. Once we're there, I pull out my key to open the door. Lucia is curled up under the covers on her bed.
"Lucia? What happened?" I pull the bed clothes off.
I pat her hair gently, but notice that there is an apocalyptic throbbing on her forehead.
"Lucia? Wake up!" I shake her shoulders slightly. Her eyes don't open, but she is whimpering something.
"What's wrong?" Millie asks her,
"Pain... I can't breathe... my head hurts so bad..." Her voice is barely audible. 
"I'll call an ambulance." Millie runs to the phone and dials the hospital.
Lucia begins to howl. Her tears soak the bed sheets as she grips and claws at her throat. Her hands move to grasp at her head, pulling out several hairs as she does so. Her hurt screams echo off the walls and fill our ears. 
"The ambulance is coming. They'll be here in a minute, Lucia." Millie calls over Lucia. 
About half an hour goes by of Millie and I trying to calm down Lucia before the ambulance arrives. We fail badly. 
"What do we do?" Millie asks me once we're in the ambulance with her,
"I don't know..." I whisper.
Suddenly, Lucia goes quiet. Her eyes close. A doctor looks at her for a while.
"I think it's time to put an oxygen mask on her."