Tainted Perfection

⁰ ⁴|𝐋𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬

A dark-skinned hand appears in my line of vision causing me to look up. Zara Rishante, the school librarian stares down at me with tired eyes and a small smile on her lips. Her usually perfectly tied scarf hangs loosely around her head.

“I think it’s time to go home, Gwendolyn.” Looking around, I’m surprised to find the sun has gone down and it’s nearly dark. Taking a glance at my phone, the time reads 7:42.  Packing up my things, a scowl creeps up on my face when I realize I missed dinner. The fact that I didn’t make it to breakfast this morning isn’t helping matters. I head down the stairs, toward the ground floor of the building to find Zara sorting through the bookshelves. She’s barefoot, the hem of her long yellow dress nearly touching the floor, and the loose sleeves are rolled up to her elbows so as not to get caught up in her work. The ends of her scarf are crossed and then made to fall freely behind her back.

“I asked Scarlet to grab some dinner for you.” She tells me without looking away from what she’s doing. I smile in relief and breathe out a thank you to the older woman. “No problem dear. I’ll be home in about an hour, so please make sure none of your friends miss curfew.” I let out a light chuckle at the exasperation in her voice. By friends, she means Adi who has already missed curfew twice in the past week. Apart from being the Head Librarian of Crestview, Zara is also our dorm supervisor. 

Walking out of the library, I begin my trek toward the dormitories. The chill in the air left over from the heavy rain earlier has me pulling the ends of my purple sweater to my fingertips. I cross my arms and hug myself tightly to conserve as much heat as I can. Almost no one can be seen, they’re probably taking advantage of the cold weather, curled up under their blankets. The thought of a hot shower and a steaming cup of coffee in my hands brings a smile to my lips and pushes me to walk faster.

Halfway home my phone rings and I reach into the pockets of my blue jeans to retrieve it. My brother’s name flashes on the screen and the thought of ending the call briefly crosses my mind but I dismiss the idea because the consequences of that aren’t worth the short victory it’ll offer. With a sigh of frustration, I bring the phone up to my ear as I continue walking.
 
“Reina.” My brother’s voice reaches my ears offering me the comfort that only home can provide and I almost, for a split second forget the reason I’m so angry with him in the first place. Part of me knows he doesn’t deserve it, he has good intentions, and he’s only trying to protect me. But the pain he’s caused isn’t one that can be easily brushed aside. “Can you hear me?” He asks his tone frantic with a hint of fear in his words. 

“Yeah,” I reply. My brother lets out an audible sigh of relief before the expected questions begin. 

“I’ve been trying to get a hold of you all day. Abuela’s been worried sick, she says you haven’t been picking up her calls since you got to school. Even granny hasn’t heard from you since you left.  Are you ok?” The worry in his voice makes my heart twist with guilt. And I almost open my mouth to tell him then because this is my brother and lying to him feels like my skin is breaking out in hives. I’ve lied to my parents, my friends, and the whole world but never to him, not until now. There is always a first time for everything, it seems.

“I’m fine,” I say instead of the truth. “I’m sorry about that, you know how bad the service here is at Crestview. My phone’s been pretty useless for the past week.” The lie rolls off my tongue so easily and I push away the guilt that silently eats at me. I’m not exactly lying, Crestview does have terrible phone service but it isn’t the reason I haven’t talked to my family since I got to school.

“Are you sure?” He asks again and I press my lips into a thin line to stop myself from exploding. I’m suddenly grateful he can’t see my face right now because Diego will take one look at me and declare me guilty. Passing by the school chapel, I can hear the distant sound of church bells, Both my grandmothers will be so disappointed to know I had only stepped into the building once. I can add that to the rapidly growing list.