BatIM Steps of the Survivor

Chapter Sixteen

Guilt hung over her head like a tree's branches over the forest below, blocking out most of the light above. She hadn't attempted communication with them since, feeling that it would be a bad idea. Tom probably still wasn't over the whole thing, seeing how hostile he got.

Whenever it was mentioned or perhaps she'd stumble upon the thought by chance, her mood seemed to immediately dampen, like a sudden storm pouring over an open meadow, an unfortunate soul with no umbrella to protect against her own decisions and their consequences.

She stayed well away from even Trial Three, sticking in the music department with her friends for the duration of her visits and taking an unusually long amount of time to learn instruments with Sammy. Of course, they didn't complain like this, but they most certainly noticed.

After finishing a particular song, that particular satisfaction she normally received wasn't present, the usual smile replaced by a solemn expression and a sigh.

"Jade, are you alright?" Her musical companion inquired, looking concerned with his glowing ice blue eyes.

"Not really..." she admitted with a sigh. "I don't want to think about it..."

A hand on her shoulder startled her, as she hadn't been paying attention to her other senses, and she looked to see her father. He didn't need a facial expression for her to tell that he felt sympathetic.

"I... can't relate exactly... but maybe I can come close. Let me tell you... a story."

"Alright, go on." Jade was rather curious as to what her father had to say.

"When I was younger... your age I believe, I had a couple of friends... I can't remember their names... for the life of me. Anyway, they got into a fight... and demanded I side with one or the other."

"Which one did you choose?"

"I can't remember... but I do remember that... I lost a friend that day." Norman paused, presumably trying to remember more details.

Jade started trying to connect it to her current situation with Boris, Allison, and Tom. "... Did anything happen after that?"

"It took a bit of time... I remember this. Maybe a year or two..? But that old friend came back to us... he apologized for what he did." Norman patted her shoulder. "Maybe... maybe the same will happen... with you and them... just give them a little time. I... remember how stubborn ol' Thomas was."

"Maybe..." Jade breathed, hope radiating from her voice.

"For now... just give them time. It'll get better, I'm sure."

She gave a weak smile, giving Norman a hug in appreciation for his comfort. "Thank you..."

After a couple of days of emotional recovery, she decided that now wasn't the time to mope in a pit of despair. She was their leader, no matter how many times she insisted that the group all kept each other on track. They looked up to her for what they needed to do, and if she wasn't motivated...

It was another school day, Tuesday to be exact. Science was supposed to be interesting today. Since they had a test on their last unit, this meant they'd be starting a new one. They were getting ready to learn what was supposedly an important unit; genetics. She was excited to learn more about such a topic, as she didn't really know much if anything on the subject. The other classes breezed by in their monotonous normality, and finally, science dawned toward the end of the school day.

They were starting with the basics, the fact that offspring got half of their genes from each parent. Then came the explanation of how the different colors worked with eyes and hair, darker colors for both being dominant over the lighter ones. Brown hair being dominant over blonde, for example.