Out of Time

chapter 15 - following

have fun reading :)

Sun shines onto the girl's beautiful face. She is surrounded by flowers, bugs and her favourite thing in the world - trees. She waits and reads a book while she waits for her big brother to arrive.

Beginning to feel impatient, she climbs a tree. She commences her ascent by putting her feet into little divots and branches and slowly but surely reaches a sturdy section for her to sit on.

She peers out from her viewpoint. The world in front of her was full of colours. She could see shades of subtle yellows - from the sun and dandelions - mysterious blues - from the winding river - and vivid greens - from the soft grass she was sitting on a minute earlier.

She could smell the damp dirt and lovely floral scents from her surrounding forest. A voice shouts from below her. She seldom felt lonely as she always had her friends or her siblings to talk to.

Her brother climbs up the hill towards the tree she is on.

He lets out a dramatic sigh, "What have I told you about climbing on trees, Lara?"

"Come on, Ali, you already know. Or did you forget?"

"You are going to be the death of me."

"Can you pick up my book on your way up?"

"I'm not going up-"

"Thank you!"

He sighs again before picking up her book and climbing up the tree.

"You know Lara," he begins once he sits next to her, "this tree is an Ash. A White Ash Tree, to be specific."

"And..." she says, drawing it out.

"Well, Ash trees can stay alive for 400 years. Even more, if you are careful," he explains to her. "It's like us, the Ashwood Family because no matter what, we will always love each other."

The girl giggles at his corniness before hugging him.

"I love you, Alec."

"I love you more, Lara."

"That's impossible."

The pair kept chatting, with a bit of banter in it too. Alec and Lara stayed until their mother called them for lunch. And then they left the Ash tree.

The young children were yet to understand the finality of their conversations. They were yet to know what was ahead of them.

"I pity them," Lara's voice rings out.

~~

The Mid-October sun awakens me from my dreamless slumber. I haul myself off my bed and drag my feet into the bathroom. I stare at my face; large bags cover my hollowed eyes, and my ghostly skin contrasts with my raven hair. My life, especially now, has this weird quality of numbness. There's no one I really care about, no one that I can talk to, and sure as hell no one that cares about me. And I feel exhausted. I'm so tired of all of this - running away, training - and all I want to do is to give up.

I honestly don't feel like I have a purpose. At least before I was the punching bag.

After my shower, I realise that I have to go to the stupid school Kieran is forcing me to attend. I did research on it, and the school seems to be a private business school.

Huntington Business School.

Even the name gives me the urge to tear my hair out. The facilities are very advanced, and some big names put their children through the school's programs. I decide, during my shower, to try to be as normal as possible for this next year. I'm not going to go out of my way to make friends. However, I'm also not going to shy away from the interactions. I will have to find the middle ground.