Bounded Souls

14.

            Sherrie took a sip of her tea and walked back into the house from the backyard. It was a place that she'd gone to a lot for some peace and quiet. To just get her mind off of her troubles and concentrate on the present. There were many demons that followed her from her past– and even her present.

Her phone chimed in her hand causing her to roll her eyes. She released a heavy sigh and briefly closed her eyes. Her screen read Ty with a red heart. Without hesitation, Sherrie locked her phone and tucked it away. She was now back on good terms with her high school sweetheart, but she didn't feel good about it. He wasn't the only man that she was seeing. And, he wasn't the first man that she thought about throughout her day. But the nostalgia reeled her in.

There wasn't anything wrong with Ty, but the spark wasn't there.

People would often call her negative names regarding the many men that she was with or that hse slept with, but she didn't care. She was young and she wasn't tied down to anyone. It also wasn't a bad thing that they gave her money whenever she wanted it.

Finally, Sherrie's phone stopped ringing and she was overwhelmed with peace.

She slowly walked up the stairs and headed towards the furthest bedroom.

Solana's.

She hadn't heard a peep from her since she came home drunk two nights before. She'd been in hiberntion and if she wasn't home then she was at work for hours. She was dedicating herself to her job way more than she had done before.

"Sol?" Sherrie knocked on the door and pressed her ear against it. Her eyebrows furrowed with confusion at the sound of music playing.

So, she was awake.

"Come in."

Sherrie peeked her head in and gasped as she looked around the room. Solana sat on the floor with papers all around her as well as paint colours. Her reading glasses were on and her hair was tousled into a low bun. Her sweats were dirty with paint and her tank top looked as if she'd worn it for days.

"What's up?"

"What's up with you? You've been cooped up in here for days."

"I did go out."

She held an iced coffee in her hand and rested it near her once again.

Sherrie shook her head. "How have you been?"

Solana looked at her through her lashes and frowned. "I'm fine."

"Really?"

"Why would I not be ok?"

"Well, we still haven't spoken about what happened that night."

"What about it?"

"You were crying the entire night, Solana."

"I was drunk."

Sherrie rolled her eyes.

"You're talking to the person that drinks every weekend. The drunk eotions are the real you."

Solana shrugged. She looked down at her notebook, trying her hardest not to look at her cousin.

"I'm fine, Sherrie."

Sherrie eyed her cousin for a bit before she walked into the room and closed the door behind her. She knew that something was wrong with her cousin. She knew that she held onto things that happened to her. Everything.

Sherrie knew, because she felt the same way.

"I'm here for you if you need anything, Sol. If anyone's gonna know how you feel, it's me." Sherrie assured her.