Davidsons

The night had fallen, the clouds disappeared, the mist rose as the fog settled in. The moon, broken in half, didn't hide behind the blanket of clouds diminishing its light. Neither did it shine brightly. The hooting of owls was lost somewhere. The neighbourhood parties had gone silent. It was just the broken moon and sad souls staying behind, lingering in the skies.

It was the air of sadness that she breathed in, the tragic nights that suffocated her. The label hanging above her head marred her already bruised heart.

She sat there. Her legs up, arms wrapped around them as those eyes looked outside the window. A blanket draped around her ankles, the darkness looming over her; she sat at the window sill, lips sealed, the silence growing inside her as her heart lost the calmness. The rhythms a second away from turning to nothing.

--

"Morning, mom," She greeted cheerfully; when she heard her footsteps. With her one hand inside the front pocket of the apron, she turned over the pancakes smoothly.

"Morning, sweety," Isobel dragged the stool out and sat down as she looked at her left. The newspaper that laid idly on the counter was waiting for those hands to smoothen the middle crease. She picked up her glasses and turned the pages to get to the Authors page.

Anna continued turning her pancakes, making sure they didn't get burnt like the last time.

"Sweety, isn't your turn tomorrow?"

"Yes, just thought of a change,"

Isobel smiled and returned to reading the paper. The dark circles under her eyes had lightened, her body maintained the posture, she looked well-rested. Anna's shoulder relaxed on seeing her mother back to her normal self.

The air cooler ran silently as she prepared breakfast. The pancakes turned out to be fluffy; the carton of orange juice laid on the counter cold, fresh out from the refrigerator. She took out the bowl of strawberries and sat it down beside the bottle of maple syrup.

"You brought grocery," Anna stated.

Isobel sat the newspaper down, "Yeah, I got my extra pay yesterday, so I went shopping. I know you don't like beans,"

"It's the saddest food," Anna said with a little shrug as she dragged the stool and sat down.

"I will see the Doc today. He called last night," Isobel said. Anna's mind losing itself in the abyss of that night. His words hung over her like a knife ready to stab every time she remembered it.

"What did he say?" Anna asked, taking a bite of her pancake. Doc had told her about the elevated blood pressure, but the other thing was just left hanging in the middle.

"He told me about the blood pressure and asked you not to take any stress," Anna gave a tight-lipped smile. Her heart gave out a mocked laugh.

Those lashes flickered down that heart settled quietly; her breaths remained short yet calm. She took another bite.

--

She parked the car in the school lot. It was officially the last day of the one part of their lives. College life was soon to start; some were to take a break and go for a vacation while others had themselves enrolled in faraway colleges. With their suitcases packed, they were ready to rebuild themselves differently in a town where nobody knew them. Anna had decided to take a break.

She entered the black gates, remembering the first time she ever stepped in there. The snickering of the girls who stood beside one locker. The side glances of the people who passed by, the jocks hitting on new students. Anna was pretty invisible as she stumbled from class to class, trying to find the one for her first period. She had easily dodged the unwelcomed smirks and sideways glances and snickering of the queen bees. She used to be invisible until her heart made her visible.

With a slight shake of her head, she walked towards her locker. It was begging to be cleaned since the beginning of the senior year. She put in the locker combination, and it popped open with a few things falling out. She sighed and picked them up. The textbooks were lying around, sticky notes stuck on the inside of the locker door, reminders of quizzes and assignments.

A small box laid there filled with colourful notes. She smiled on seeing that and took them all out.

"Get well soon!"

"Can't wait to have you back at the school! Miss you! xx"

"School isn't the same without you. Hope you recover soon and get back here,"

Everyone's name was signed at the end of each note. It was the day she went from being invisible to visible. The day her heart thumped so loudly that it disrupted the calm rhythms. She smiled as she read through all the notes. When she reached the last one, her smile turned into a frown. She never noticed before Dylan never left a note. He stopped visiting her in the hospital. Suddenly his last message now made sense to her.

She pulled everything out of her locker and dropped them in the bag. Trying hard not to think much about him, she cleaned her locker, leaving no trace of her presence ever being there. The locker stood just grey with no sign of life being there. She zipped her bag, slung it over her shoulder and started walking down the corridor.

With her long strides towards the end of the corridor, the hushed whispers in the hall down the corridor, she was ready to turn right when the voices stopped her.

Her foot that stood firm on the ground shook, her eyes glued to the exit door, too afraid to turn back. Those whispers turned to loud voices, the sound of giggling, his husky voice - the one she had mesmerized.

Nails digging in her flesh, her jaw clenched as she kept the tears from falling. She turned around. His hand around a girls waist, other tangled up in her hair. She remained breathless. Her heart sank.

--

She pushed open the door to the restroom. Tears streamed down her face as she stepped inside. The restroom was empty. She walked towards the sink as her hands gripped it tightly, trying to hold herself up. She lifted her face, seeing her own reflection in the mirror, the distorted image starring back at her. The cracks became visible, the scars all over her, the marks of the needles and the medicines stuck with her for maybe forever. It all made sense to her now. She closed her eyes; the scars were getting deeper with every passing second, her heart was sinking more. She lost her grip on the edge of the sink and stumbled to the corner. Her breaths were heavy as her heart ached with a screeching scream erupting from her throat. She didn't know if it was just an emotional reaction, or was her heart losing it all over again?

The doors of the restroom pushed open. Her eyes snapped towards the girl that walked in, shock evident on that girls face. Anna's hand reached towards her heart, trying to calm the aching feeling.

"Are you alright?"

"Just," She breathed in ", Leave,"

"But let me take you to the nurse,"

"I will be fine. Just leave me alone," Anna snarled and jolted her back. With a hurt face, that girl walked off. Anna knew it wasn't that girl's fault that she was wrapped in his arms. She didn't even know her, yet being in her presence ached her heart more.

She reached towards her bag and searched for the medicines she was supposed to take during chest pain. She didn't know if they would work on a heart that was breaking, not because it couldn't breathe and pump properly, but all the strings that were attached to him snapped back at her.

Her hands touched the pill bottle; she took it out quickly and popped it open. Putting it inside her mouth, she crawled towards the sink and opened the tap water.

Swallowing the pill, she sat on the floor with her back to the tiled wall. She counted to three, trying to calm her breaths. Finally, the air around her became less suffocating as her heart started to beat normally.

After sitting there idle for a few seconds, she picked up her bag and stood up. Staring at herself in the mirror, she splashed water on her face wanting all the tears to wash away. The stains to never stay, never to mark their presence.

She closed the tap and took a step back as her phone buzzed. She took the phone out from her back pocket as the screen glared at her.

"Won't be able to make it. Too hungover. Text me when you reach home. I will see you there," - Vic.