Guitar Strings and Flower Petals

The Way It's Supposed To Be

...I'm okay. I mean, no, I'm not okay... But I... I have a feeling I will be.

Thinking that had been a lot easier earlier, somehow, when the wounds were still as fresh and raw as they could possibly be. Now though, after they had had the time to ferment, along with the thoughts and memories that made Skara want to just yell at something. Or someone. Or just....

Do something to let it all out.

Skara collapsed onto her bed, letting her body flop onto the mattress. Her entire body felt like it had been replaced with lead, and she didn't even have the motivation or energy to just stand up, or even to lay down in a remotely dignified manner - She really did just collapse onto the mattress, and let her arms and legs flop wherever they fell. Everything just felt heavy.

Getting up into her room without either of her parents noticing how upset she was had been... Stressful, to say the least. She had put on a brave face, and pretended to act like everything was normal when she ran into them, hating every single second of it, before slipping away under the guise of having a proverbial mountain of homework to do, locking the door behind her the second she was on the other side.

It wasn't that they wouldn't care - It was the opposite. They would care. A lot . And that was... Nice of them, Skara supposed. It was nice to be cared about, of course it was. But she just didn't... Want to deal with that right now. With the questions, having to explain what happened all over again, or the... Any of it.

After the day that she had just had, she couldn't find the energy to care about... Anything , really.

Instead, she just laid there, feeling time pass her by.

Her muscles relaxed and de-tensed until it felt like they no longer existed. Skin felt tighter against her face, but also like it was drooping at the same time. There was a feeling in her stomach that she could only describe as a vortex . Her eyelids were sore, felt like they were attached to weights, and as much as she would have loved to escape all of this by falling asleep, her eyes themselves stung to the point of actual pain when her eyelids shut, even if just to blink. That was from all the tears. And more still threatened to fall again if she thought about this too much.

There wasn't anything else on her mind, though.

A sigh escaped her, and her head shifted slightly. There was a poster hanging from her ceiling - The Hexgirls. Limited edition, signed, and everything. Honestly, it was something of a prized possession of hers, reminding her of the concert that she had been to. The one that sparked her love of music and grand performance. She stared blankly at it.

On any other normal day, the sight of it would give her a boost of inspiration and motivation to practice her Bard Magic. To pick up an instrument, to figure out what she was weakest at, and what she needed to practice with more. Figure out what spells worked, and which didn't. To just... Do something . To be productive in some way. To perfect her music and her Magic. To be a better Bard.

Not today, though. Today wasn't a normal day.

Titan, nothing could be further from the truth.

Today had been nothing short of absolute garbage.

And even that was an understatement. Skara slung her left arm over her eyes, letting out a frustrated groan. The events of the day flashed before her again, and she tried to make sense of it all. What... Happened? How did any of this even happen?

Everything seemed to be going... Fine before today, she had thought. There wasn't even anything in particular that came to mind that she could pinpoint as a moment when things began to fall apart. One minute, everything had been... Fine. And the next, it just... Wasn't anymore.