Hopelessly Drowning

Chapter 12

I sighed as the warm water ran over my body, covering me like a warm blanket. I felt my tense muscles relaxing, the heat of the spray eased the soreness that was present throughout my body. I inhaled the rich, sweet scent of vanilla body soap. The alluring smell permeated the steamy air around me.

I let the water cascade over my body, washing away the last remnants of the nightmare I had woken up from just moments before. I ran the loofah over my arms, the bubbly soap suds covering the multitude of pale white scars that lay there. I looked away; each scar was a reminder of him, of what he had done. I shuddered in disgust. The warm escape the shower had been moments ago now only served as a reminder of how ugly I was, how irreparably broken he had made me.

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"Hot dogs aren't sandwiches!" Riley stated as she slammed her hands down on the table. I flinched beside her. Riley's chest heaved as she stared down Sofia on the other side of the table.

"If Gordon Ramsey qualifies an idiot sandwich as a sandwich, then sandwiches can have any filling. Therefore, a hotdog is technically a sandwich." Sofia replied, unfazed by Riley's glare.

"No! That is just wrong!" Riley's voice grew higher in pitch, it amused me how much the thought of a hotdog being a sandwich unnerved her.

"So are socks with sandals, and yet you wear them anyway," Sofia smirked, picking up her book, and looking away from the offended 10-year-old.

"You get the comfort of sandals with the warmth of socks! What is not to love?!" Riley grumbled, falling back down in her chair with a disgruntled look on her face. I let a small smile cross my face as I watched Riley pout in her chair while Sofia sat with her nose buried in her book, a ghost of a smile pulling at the corners of her lips.

"Lose another argument?" A voice asked from behind me causing me to flinch away in surprise. Leyla's tall figure walked around Riley's chair, sinking into the one next to the sulking girl.

Riley ignored the question sinking further in her chair, her frown deepening. Leyla rolled her eyes in response and raised her eyebrows in amusement.

"Breakfast, girls!" Ms. Harris's voice called from the kitchen.

The sounds of pattering feet and the squeaking of chairs filled the dining hall. Ms. Harris appeared in the doorway, waiting for everyone to enter before addressing us.

"I have some urgent work to do in my office so I will not be here for most of the breakfast this morning. I trust that you all will be able to manage by yourselves until I come back in half an hour." She raised an expectant eyebrow at all of us before turning and walking out of the kitchen, the wooden door swinging behind her.

Chatter filled the room once more as hands reached for the plates piled high with toast, eggs, and bacon.

"Your first day of school is tomorrow! Not that it is actually your first day...I'm sure you've been to school before...but this is a new school...so it's your second first day!" Riley said excitedly from next to me, her pout long gone and face now covered in breadcrumbs and what looked suspiciously like grape jelly.

I shrugged in response, turning to place a piece of toast on my plate. The thought of going to school made me nervous and jittery.

"I'll help you get ready for school! We have to pick an outfit! We have to fill your new backpack, and I will give you my joke book so that you can make friends! Not that I think you can't make friends...I do...I mean I think you can make friends...jokes make people smile and I like to be friends with people who make me smile." Riley's toast was forgotten as her attention was pulled to the endless possibilities of the day. Her words were a reminder of the simplistic perspective in which she saw the world. One that was untainted by the deception and chaos of human nature. One that I would never have the luxury of having.