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A NEW CHANCE AT LIFE (10)

April 2nd

MAYA POV
There's a day when you realise that you're not just a survivor, you're a warrior. You're tougher than anything life throws at you. Another quote, another inspiration which has helped me. Helped me more than I thought it would. The continuous dreams rolling through my brain have started to become a way I can communicate with the dead, with my dad as he reminds me of how much my running has changed. Two months of grief and I ran again, I ran because I needed to. Because no matter what I did to stop my brain, running was the only clue. I learnt that silence makes grief stronger. And the day that I learnt that, was the day I ate food. The day I had a smoothie and went to school.

At school, I was crowded by people. Concerned people who only a few months ago had hated me. Had hated my success and my father. The first two people who came up with me were Ada and Hima. Hima my tutor and Ada has always been someone neutral but supportive. From missing school for my Olympic training and how for my dad's death, my understanding of any topic in school was below par. Hima luckily had written notes, clear notes that highlighted everything I would need for the finals coming up.

On the other hand, Ada became my best friend. She supported me every day, her boyfriend was forced to join too. He would complain but he'd be present. Some days all I needed was for them to be present. A week ago, I found myself laying on my bedroom floor. A regular occurrence but Ada and Sam laid with me until I was ready to move.

One of the few courses I kept up with was English. My favourite academic course. Of Mice and Men was the book of focus. I enjoyed the book, Steinbeck quickly becoming my favourite. I could relate to Lenny, never knowing my own strength and sometimes I felt like I was the reason for everything bad in my life.

CARINA POV

An engraved plague with my name on it, my dad's name to be precise. He'd won an award for putting people at risk, at risk for no apparent reason. But he stood proud next to the plague, probably the only thing signifying his whole career. This frightful day is the day he decided to introduce me to a man, a man that to his standards would be perfect. Perfect for his dear daughter who in his mind would love to stay at home with children while her strong husband works everyday and provide. He's wrong but he doesn't like to think so.

He introduced me to a man named William, English and a 37-year-old heart surgeon. He's respectable, largely known in the world of surgery for his experiments which have shaped the world around us. He's tall with dirty blonde hair and a ginger beard, I wonder what happened to his genetics. He has strong aging lines around his eyes and forehead, but he is friendly. And I hate that we hit it off straight away. We started talking about life and our goals, and despite ours being different he still stayed. He stayed while knowing that my papa would do anything to force us together. With the watchful eye of my papa, he openly invites me on a date to a top restaurant in Milan to which I accept.

At the end of the night William walks me to my apartment and makes no move to join me inside. A true gentleman through and through. Instead, he kisses the top of my hand and gives me his business card before walking away. For a few minutes I am flawed, flawed that my dad set me up with a 27-year-old and that he was so kind. I was more surprised to find my recluse roommate in the living room with a girl, they look in love. Something I'm craving. Walking into my room, pulling off all the clothes I've worn today to free myself of the suffocating feel. My laptop is already propped up on my bed with the screen brightly lighting up the wall behind it. I find the article I was reading, was still present on the screen. An article to do with the blonde beauty, to do with how her dad had suddenly died. How he had a heart attack or something and how the famous Maya Bishop has lost her way. There're a few paparazzi pictures of her looking different, thinner, and unfit. It shows a timeline of her grief. The article breaks my heart, seeing her look so dead makes me want to reach out but I can't.