BatIM Steps of the Survivor

Chapter Six

It was only after a few days and the reality of school dawning upon her that made her leave the house. Early in the morning to wait for the bus. It was now January 3, 2009. Her injuries barely showed much sign of healing, and her mother showed no sign of lightening up on her ignorance. Jade decided to wear a long sleeve shirt with a jacket on top in attempts to not only hide her discolored injuries, but also to hide any ink that would seep out during her stress. Having the hood up was the only thing that could fully hide her face injury, and even then that was with the aid of the shadows around her.

I can't have them know. I can't put them in danger. Since her mother was still asleep, likely unused to having Jade around again, she had to walk up to her stop alone in the dark. Her breath rose as she exhaled, spiraling upward into the wind as she walked through the snow. Finally, she got there and waited patiently, taking out her headphones, plugging them into her phone and picking a song to listen to while she waited. Due to her heavier preparation for the cold, it did not eat through to her as quickly. Her neighbors arrived soon after she did, and looked as though they were looking at a ghost. She was only starting to feel the cold when the bus arrived, and she boarded alongside the neighbors who went to her school. Everyone's expressions on the bus mirrored theirs, and Jade did her best to not let it bother her, nor meet anyone's eyes.

The bus ride was mostly quiet, mainly because Jade hadn't been listening to anyone else, instead focusing on her music. Over the past few days, Jade had been attempting to get her sleep schedule straightened out, and mostly succeeded. Even so, she still felt the aching tiredness of fatigue and grief. I wonder how much I missed while I was gone. . . how long did it take everyone else to notice me missing?

When finally the bus arrived at school, Jade was among the last to disembark, walking almost automatically into the school. Before getting in, she removed her earbuds and was in the process of turning her phone off to put it away as well when she entered the building.

"Hoods off!" She heard the principal's voice declare loudly to the students who kept theirs on past the door. Jade froze up at this. I totally forgot that's a rule! I'm going to have to be careful. Before removing her hood, Jade quickly shifted her hair to cover the mostly-healed injury, then removed the hood from the top of her head. She kept walking, keeping her eyes low and trying not to draw attention. Eventually, due to her neglectful attention, she bumped into someone.

"Sorry about tha-" She cut herself off, surprised to see none other than Tyler, who turned to look at her. She took a couple steps back, a bit surprised for it to be him for her to run into, cursing herself mentally for not paying better attention. For a second, he looked almost like an exact copy of his father, with the brown eye color. But then his green eye glinted as well, the first time Jade had ever noticed that he had two different colored eyes. This fact took her by complete surprise, a blink showing this.

"Just don't do it again," Tyler said with a bland tone.

She couldn't find words, only nodding.

"Oh and," Tyler said, now completely facing her and sounding like he was reciting something already written, "Dad wants you to be present at the training session right after school. Behind the gym."

"And if I don't show up?" Jade hoped that it wasn't a mandatory thing.

"You have to show up," Tyler said.

She sighed. Of course, he wants me to show up. At this rate, I might as well just stay home so he can't find me. "Alright then. . . guess I'll see you there."

Tyler just walked away.

Jade went a different direction, down the hall toward her homeroom. When she arrived, she remembered her locker existed but realized she had totally forgotten its combination. It had been too long. With a bit of hesitance, she entered the classroom. She debated in her mind approaching her teacher, but decided against it near instantly, instead just walking over to a desk in the back of the room and sitting down there, hiding her head behind her arms.