✔ Aspen | Sherman Yang

[14.11]-MG

another mandy chapter

Stories usually depicted haze during moments such as these.

Sunlight did not drift from windows onto white bedsheets, the naked person beside her did not have her cuddled in his arms, and she didn't feel any undescribable contentment. 

The disgusting shade of yellow light brightened the guest room unpleasantly, which was dark otherwise because of grey blackout curtains. Sherman Yang, the hot and ripped football star had one hand over his bare chest, the other brushing her palm lightly. He was lying face-up, mouth agape in a light snore, while she slept back to him. Strangely enough, she could have sworn it wasn't the position they fell asleep in. 

In her chest wasn't a flurry of emotions or happiness, just the burning desire to vomit.

So she did.

Climbing out of the covers, she pulled away from him quickly and ran over to a garbage can. Miranda wasn't clothed and as the burning contents from last light poured out of her stomach and into the plastic bag, she prayed that he wouldn't wake up. How could she take the humiliation of something like that?

Why did her firsts have to be when she was drunk? 

As much as she hated to admit it, she was kind of a romantic. She adored the idea of sharing her first intimate moments with someone she loved. Her perfect first kiss scenarios had been planned out in her head so man times. The cliche ones with the first date or a rowboat had been imagined of course, but so had the ones where the boy she liked would impulsively kiss her for a brief moment and flush red. 

It wasn't that she expected to lose her virginity in a bed of rose petals and candlelight, even that would be too much. She just thought that maybe the guy would be her boyfriend first. Lindy saw her make out with Sherman. People were going to call her a whore.

Miranda felt guilt and regret fill her insides and she barfed again, trying to hold back the dry sobs that raked through her body. He was nice to her. The way he treated her was neither suspiciously nice or incredibly rude. He treated her as an equal and she really liked that. Was it all for sex?

She wiped the corner of her mouth and shakily put on her clothes, feeling disgusting inside. Was it wrong to think that they had something for a moment? Sure she was horrible to him, but she was trying to protect herself. Her thighs trembled as they still remembered the feeling of him between her and his gentle hands cupping her face, tangling in her hair. 

The clock read 7 AM; normally when most teenagers woke up, but not the morning after a huge party. 

People were piled on couches on and on top of each other as she snuck out of the house, looking down at her phone to see that her foster family didn't even text her to see if she was fine. Tears welled up to her eyes and she started into a light jog towards a small park close to the suburban area. It was abandoned so early in the morning and to her relief, she saw that there was a small grove of aspen trees near the swing set. 

Miranda let her shoulders sag in relief and sat down at the base of the thin papery trunk, not minding the fact that the powdery white on the bark was rubbing into her black clothes. She stretched her fingers into the rocky soil and breathed in the air, immersing herself with nature. Children of Demeter often joined the Hunters of Artemis because they found themselves connected to nature the most. Years ago, she had considered joining them, but after all, she was a hopeless romantic and didn't seek such a life. Now she wished she hadn't turned the chance down because now, she didn't want any male contact. 

New York City wasn't known for its fresh air but she lived with it. As the yellow leaves fluttered down and into her hair, she closed her eyes and reached her hand across the root of the aspen tree. She could feel the life force, the age, and the way it connected through the root colonies to each other tree, each the same health and affected the same way. Each tree she saw above had come from a single seedling and was bonded to every other tree as if they were siblings. She felt the dead stumps of where they had been cut off to make the park and the whole neighbourhood and the underground system of decomposed roots beneath the cement. It used a lot of her energy to analyze the grove's situation but she felt a sense of calmness rush through her at the same time.