[✓] 𝑀𝑂𝑂𝑁𝐿𝐼𝐺𝐻𝑇 | 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐒

𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡. 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧

Word count: 2640

❝𝑃𝑒𝑟ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎 𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒. 𝐵𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒.❞
―𝐴𝑛𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝐶ℎ𝑒𝑘ℎ𝑜𝑣

—☾—

𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐙𝐀𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐇 𝐘𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐄𝐄𝐊𝐄𝐃 over the window sill, her brown eyes pleasuring in the bright green grass and her ears enjoying the faint sound of children's screams of delight. 

Glancing behind her to make sure that no one was approaching, her delicate hands unlocked the window and slid it open, and her face was immediately welcomed by a refreshing breeze.

With a sigh of longing, Elizabeth rested her chin on her hands, her elbows propped up on the window sill. Oh, how she yearned to be outside, kicking a ball around with the other kids her age across the street . . . .

But no, she wasn't allowed to play with the other teens. Her parents demanded that much from her, and, as a good child, she heeded, despite how much as it pained her to do so.

Elizabeth never really knew why her parents kept her inside the home for the entirety of her nearly fourteen-year life, despite her begs and pleas for them to tell her the reason. 

Under a strict set of rules, she usually stayed at home. She would do whatever to pass time by, although she wasn't sure for how long she'd need to do that, seeing that there wasn't a time she was urged to get to.

And times like these were ones that she wished that she could go and play. When no one was watching her; when the weather couldn't be any more beautiful, with the warm sunlight that enveloped her body and the cool winds that reassured her; when she just wanted to be a kid, rather than stay cooped up inside and spending time reading or doing work.

Elizabeth swallowed nervously as she closed the window and tentatively stepped towards the glass doors that led to their backyard. 

Checking over her shoulder one last time to make sure no one was watching, she quietly pulled the door open and slipped outside.

A sense of peacefulness washed over her as the breeze gently pushed her black hair back. Elizabeth considered staying in her own backyard, where she could just pick at the flowers and savour the weather, but she decided against it. She was going to do something else. Something even better.

She tried to keep a confident gaze as she walked across the street, but a sliver of nervousness tickled her the same way the grass was doing to her bare feet. She ignored it.

Elizabeth approached the group of a few girls who bounced around on the grass, kicking a soccer ball from one to another. Only a couple of them seemed to take notice of her sudden presence, but were waiting for her to speak first.

"H-hi!" Elizabeth greeted nervously, her fingers twisting each other behind her back. "Can I play with you guys?"

"Sure!" The blonde girl closest to her grinned, revealing the glint of metal braces.

Elizabeth smiled, the feeling of anxiety now disappeared. Finally.

The other girls weren't shy with Elizabeth while they passed the ball around—they asked about her life, her hobbies, and why they had never seen her before if she had lived there for her whole life. The last one, she didn't know how to answer, though they easily accepted her mumble and shrug.