Colourless Skies

14. Bliss

Leah walked to the school in a simple black pair of pants and a dark purple hoodie, hiding as much of her body as she could.

She looked up and noticed dark clouds loom overhead. 'We are back to those dreaded days.' , she thought.
Then she suddenly laughed, 'Like that day went well.', her mind went back to the memories of her previous day at the school, mostly focusing on that boy, Zach and that girl, Fawn.

She entered the crowded hallway, immediately getting pushed here and there, apologising to random people until she was clear of the hustle. When she finally reached her locker, she saw someone she didn't expect to see in the least.

Zach was standing beside her locker, frowning and staring intensely at the plain wall in front of him. Leah took the wrong hint and started backing away, before his eyes could catch her.

But unfortunately for her, at the exact moment she turned back, his loud and clear voice sounded through the now almost empty hallway.

"Leah, come back!"

At the call of her name, her body flooded with fear.
"W-what do y-you want?" She internally scolded herself for not being able to speak once, without stuttering.

She stopped in her tracks, and settled to avoiding his somewhat curious gaze until what he said next made her eyes widen and snap to his.
"What do your parents do to you?"

When she didn't answer, instilled with fear and realisation, he shook her shoulder and asked again, "Tell me Leah, do they abuse you?" His voice, it was soft, it brought tears to her eyes.

She opened her mouth and blurted the first thing that came to her mind, "How do you know?"
Immediately slapping her hand at her mouth, she realised she had answered Zach perfectly, also judging by the small, sad smile at his face.

Tears on a roll from her eyes now, she asked him again, "How do you know? Please tell me."
Zach seemed to soften and narrate what he had seen. "I was passing by your manor, on my usual morning walk in the evening when I heard a shrill cry.

At first, I thought my ears were ringing, but then through one window, I could make out a silhouette of an elder man, dragging someone by their hair, away somewhere."

He nonchalantly shrugged, like he hadn't described her pathetic life in two sentences.

Leah immediately started begging him, telling him to not let this get out, not even giving him a chance to speak.

He rolled his eyes and spoke, his voice stern,
"Listen to me, I won't tell anybody. And the main reason why I asked you this is because I wanted to say..."

He was silent, his eyes now looking at anywhere but Leah. He fiddled with his fingers, an obvious expression of being nervous.

He sucked in a breath and said it all in his next exhale,
"I am sorry for bullying you. I was just so... lost in my own problems I neglected the fact that you, or many others can be going through something similar."

" I promised myself...
I won't hurt another soul."

Leah was completely taken aback by the apology and stared intently at Zach, trying to figure if it was just a sick joke or a real change of heart.

As if he had heard her mind speaking, he told her, " This is not a joke.

Now if you would stop gawking at me like a lost puppy, and answer my apology, I will be on my way."

She finally recovered and broke into a genuine smile, nodding and saying, " I forgive you Zach." , at his sincere concession.

" Can we be friends, since I have retired from my full time job as a bully now, and I am a loner now?", his exclamation with an idiotic grin on his face made her laugh and excitedly nod her head.

'Mr.Kim would be proud.'

All the lessons passed joyous as Zach kept her busy with his lame jokes and him pretending to be high.

At lunch, she finally didn't sit alone.

As she was about to dig in to the sandwich Zach had got her, she was interrupted by a blatant voice.
"It's really rude to ignore someone, and not being able to see the hurt you cause them."

'Oh no!', Leah's mind raced.

She raised her eyes to see Fawn, standing with a sullen expression.

Now Leah had to consider her situation.

How long was she going to ignore Fawn, and make her life hell, just because of a stupid nightmare?
How long will she hurt others because she was hurt?

Even though in the far corner of her mind, she could hear herself saying it was a stupid decision, but this time, she listened to her heart.

"I am really sorry, I was just upset about something and I turned out rude towards you. Hope you can forgive me."

The frown was replaced by a stretched smile, and this is how the lunch flew past the three friends, laughing and living.

She walked home, gleeful at the memory of Zach's stupid jokes and Fawn's cute giggle.
Oh how she wished time would stop on them, and her life could remain like that forever.

But nothing lasts forever, and she was, no matter how painfully, aware of it.

Entering the front door, she was met by cold silence. Without even thinking about checking where her parents might be, Leah made her way upstairs. There was no point in worrying about them, no matter how much she still loved them.

She was completely oblivious to the fact that she had left a note for that someone all until the moment she walked passed the basement.

As realisation struck, she hurried downstairs, and sure enough, there was another piece of paper, right besides her.

She stepped slowly towards it, as if expecting it to explode any moment. She picked it up with shaking hands and her eyes quickly scanned over it.

The paper slipped out of her fingers as she fell to her knees.

Written in pitch black italic, were merely three words.

'Your worst nightmare.'

I feel... Idk man.🤦🏻‍♀️
Get ready for him, he's coming.