Restless Soul

16

"I don't expect this to be easy for you, so don't be too hard on yourself."

"You have nothing to prove, not to me, not to anyone."

"I love you, princess. Always remember that." 

   Her father's words of comfort reverberated through her head as she walked through the school gates. Protruding stares prickled on her skin while query-loaded murmurs danced in the air around her. After everything she'd endured, she'd spent the entirety of the car ride wondering if showing up in public would be a mistake. After all, teenagers aren't well versed in the art of minding their own business. But more than being the subject of gossip, she loathed the isolation. Now that the voices had stopped their constant susurration, she'd never felt so alone.

   Amanda pushed through the large double doors with her head held high. The side glances and snickered laughs bounced off her armor like twigs projected at a bulletproof vest. Her mother's betrayal had installed a roughness in her, a new acquisition she was thankful for now that she stood in the presence of her peers. The bell had yet to ring which left the hallway vacant enough for her to march straight forward with no need to weave a passage through the sea of bodies sure to accumulate once the day starts. 

   Halfway through, she paused at the sight of Wren and Cora. Seeing them side to side, they couldn't be more different. Wren, being the studious weirdo of the group was holding her food science packet in one hand as she dug into her locker, surely in search of her financial math book. Cora was leaning against the wall, lost on her phone, never tearing away her eyes from the screen even when Wren handed her a folder, which of course ended up on the ground.

Papers scattered over the floor, the mess holding Cora's attention more than did Wren berating her for being distracted. 

She reach down to pick them up when a pair of familiar boots came into view. 

Slowly she raised her head.

"I think you might have dropped this."

Contrary to the sly smile snaking up the corner of her lip as she handed her the coral pink folder, a plethora of emotions crossed Cora's face as she stared at her friend in disbelief. 

"How long does it take to pick u-" Wren caught herself off with a gasp. 

In an instant, she'd pulled Amanda in a tight hug. The books in her hands met the ground with a loud thud which drew to them the few who'd remained indifferent to Amanda's presence. 

Amanda was too taken by the emotional high to care about the eyes on them. A shiver rushed over her skin when Wren placed a hand on her forearm prompting her to open her eyes. Tears of relief brimmed her pink lids as she joined in on the reconciliatory hug. 

"Well shit," Cora muttered when they pulled away, padding her face with her fingers, "I thought this was gonna be some kind of jailbreak situation," she chuckled and Wren rolled her eyes. 

"Last I checked, you can't climb for shit, and we wouldn't make it without a getaway driver."

"I could do it," Cora objected, growing sassier when Wren scoffed and crossed her arms.

"When did your feet magically start touching the pedals?" 

Cora answered her jab with even more attitude. Her hands flew to her hips as she tsk-tsk disapprovingly, "Always with the negativity. This is a beautiful moment, yet you can't help but hate 'cause your "model calves" as you like to call them, are nothing more than boney chicken legs."

Amanda's awfully concealed snicker seemed to bring them back to the present.

With a sigh, she placed her armed around their necks, pulling them close, "I missed you two."

"Of course you did," Cora chirped as she got down to pick up her belongings.

"Hope you'll remember that next time you get sick of us. I promise to spare you the wait."

Amanda chuckled and smirked as she made a mental note of her friend's promise.

"But let's be serious for a minute," Wren said, slowly causing her lips to curve upside down.

Her tone was stern yet laced with gentle concern.

"How've you been?"

   For a moment there Amanda felt tempted to linger on the past. Though it'd been just a few days since she'd been freed, she refused to dwell on something that only needed to be a bad memory. She hadn't realized how long she'd pondered her answer until Cora stepped beside Wren, her bag on her shoulders and two books against her chest.

"I'll be alright."

   Her reply wasn't a lie nor was it the truth. In the end, only time will tell what impact those scars will have on her. But hope makes the soul blossom, something that all three of them could hold on to throughout the process.

Soon thereafter, the bell rang and for the first time since the start of the school year, they each groaned at the unfairness that was the separation for the first period. 

"I can't wait for lunch. We so need to talk. What happened to your phone?"

The memory of the shattered fragments raining down onto the carpet before the device too came crashing down made her shiver, the feelings of that moment a ghostly touch tantalizing her senses.

"It broke," she managed to answer, looking down to her feet to regain her composure, the last thing she needed was to have them worried more than they needed to.

"My dad's getting me a new one today."

The desperation to perform a convincing act went unnoticed by them, and they both nodded at each other before Cora pulled out her phone.

"Alright, I'll add you to the group chat with Peyton."

At the mention of her name, Amanda was tempted to press for answers. But as the wave of students flooded the hallway, Wren and Cora waved their goodbyes with promises to finish this conversation at lunch.

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