4) A Tragedy, a Friend, And The Mountains.

 "My p-parents are… dead?" My voice cracks as I choke out my response to the horrible news. Even with the ocean of saltiness covering my lips my throat feels dry. As my brain whirls I hear a voice.

 The woman on the phone says something but I can't tell what it is. The silence seems to echo off the walls afterwards as my hands find my face.

 Dropping my phone on the hallway floor with a loud and heavy clack, I hear another voice in the distance. 

 My ears manage to make out someone shouting at the woman on the phone. Through my cries of anguish I can't tell what's going on. But with the death of my parents weighing on my mind, I don't care.

 "Are you sure?!" A familiar voice sounds like a siren over the loud buzzing in my ears. My body gives way and I feel my head pounding as if I hit something.

 "Why didn't you contact her sooner! Luna's parents died over the weekend, and you thought the best way to reach out was through an email! What if she had opened it days later?!" Skye's furious voice echoes out across the hallway.

 Hearing his voice so angry for my cause makes my crying, and the buzzing sound in my ears louder. Then I feel something strange and I look up.

 Through my blurry and tear stained vision I see Skye with my phone. But there's someone else. I can almost make out a smirking woman with glittering blue tiara through my blurred vision. 

 But as I wipe my eyes I see Skye now hovering over me. He places my phone on the ground and bends down next to me, leveling his eyes with mine as I sit devastated on the cold school floor.

 Skye's worried face seems to soothe my growing sadness and as he pulls me into a tight hug my crying goes quiet. My chin is resting on his shoulder and as he cradles me, I can't help but feel calming. 

 The woman with the tiara I thought I saw before is nowhere to be seen but to be honest my attention is elsewhere. Skye breaks the hug slowly and then our eyes lock for what seems like forever. 

 Then he speaks. "Luna… I know how it feels to lose someone close to you. It hurts. Bad." His voice is soft and warm.

 "How would you know what I'm feeling!" I cry out in anger. 

 "Luna…"

 "You told me you don't know what happened to your parents! Mine just died! You could never know how I feel!"

 Then he grabs my shoulders firmly and looks me straight in the eyes. Tears are now running down his face as well. His eyes seem darker, more like a black storm cloud than their usual wispy grey.

 "I do. Luna… My parents-" His voice cracks and my own sadness seems to resonate within him as well.

 "…They died in a fire when I was younger. I ran from the house and never looked back. I was terrified of getting caught in the same fire and I hid in an alleyway." Skye pauses and takes a shaky breath. Then his face gets serious.

 "I know how it feels to lose someone you love. So that's why I'm going to protect you in your loved ones place." His voice is firm and unmistakably honest. There isn't even a hint of negativity. 

 "Trust me Luna. I'm here." Skye finishes his sentence with an almost pleading expression and my spirit breaks. There's nothing else that matters now.

 As I bury my face into Skye's chest for another hug, I weep and groan. The sadness of both my parents death, and the look in my friends eyes, has made me forget about everything else now.

 "It's gonna be okay Luna. I promise."

 As a response I tried to say "okay" but my voice sounded like a faint whisper. And then all I remembered was waking up to the bell ringing for the next class.

—Skye's POV—

"I'm so, so sorry Skye… I didn't mean for things to end up like that." Luna apologized as I sat criss crossed in front of her. That whole event had me freaked out and I couldn't get my own parents off my mind either. Up to that point I hadn't told anyone about them.

The fire had been so sudden. I ran away from the flames and regrettably, I didn't look back. I hoped that they would come out of the fire and find me in the nearby alleyway alone and scared.

 I assumed my terrified screaming sobs would catch their attention. But my parents didn't find me, my step father did instead. And for a while I was grateful.

My Stepfather took me in his home and eventually my Stepmother adopted me. He told me about what happened to my parents and at four years old, I didn't know what that even meant.

I was alone and acted out of my fear of getting hurt. Turning towards my fathers brother was nice until my step mother decided to leave me at my school.

She had talked to my principal and they agreed to enroll me. Because the principal thought I could use the after school care helpers. Then my step mother left and moved away, leaving me and my stepfather separated until now.

If I were to ever see him again I don't know what I would do. Back when I saw Luna crying and broken I couldn't help but reach out to her. That's what friends do.

At the time my choice to help my friend was very admirable. Then we went on a field trip to the mountains. Once we arrived both of our lives changed. Neither of us knew if that would be for the better.

Now, pay attention as we skip ahead to the good part so I don't bore you with schoolwork. Imagine old fashioned record rolling music here, for the best effects.

*VRRRRR*

"You're right Skye. This place is so beautiful…" Luna says breathlessly as we stand outside of the hotel doors. The sky is clear and opens up an extraordinary view of a summer mountain range.

The sun is bright and paints the tips of the mountain peaks with its bright orange rays. Trees are strewn over to each side, packed into a dense forest.

Before responding to Luna I suck in a deep breath of air. "Nature always used to help me out." I murmur while breathing out a sigh of relief simultaneously.

Since being at the orphanage in the city for so long I seemed to have forgotten the calming feeling of a vacation. This get-away is something both Luna and I needed badly.

But good things can't last forever and the teacher must intervene to keep the story fresh. Right on que I turn around to the sound of doors sliding to the side.

Students pour out of the door followed by two teachers. My eyes don't meet any of their eyes except one, Miss Snowtrail. Her skin is pale white and her eyes are a bright baby blue. Her features seem to add credit to her unique name.

"Alrighty class, gather 'round!" The substitute shouts and clasps her hands together in a simple clacking fashion. 

"You all remember the vote we took in the hotel right?" She asks as the students gather in a huddle in front of her and the two counselors. Luna fidgets with her lavender purple sundress's hymn.

The three adults are here to take us into groups according to the votes. Mrs Elena, the other counselor, clearly didn't wanna hike in the heat so she asked if she could take some students to the pool.

Since I was too worried about keeping Luna's mind off of her parents I ended up convincing her to hike with me and the substitute, Miss Snowtrails group. 

"Yes!" The collective of students shouts in response.

"Okey-dokey' Then those who want to go to the pool can go with Mrs. Elena, and those who want to hike can come with me and Ms. Little." Once again the students shout in agreement and then part ways to join their groups.

Luna steps to one side with Miss. Snowtrail and I follow them. Waiting for the other students, I decided to take a chance. I glance at Luna and stick my tongue out in a goofy smile, but she doesn't seem to notice.

So I try again and she finally sees me, snorting in laughter. Miss Snowtrail proceeds to look at her with a puzzled glance but then a small batch of students join our group, interrupting her focus.

Noticing some familiar faces from my class join the group I sift through the library of names in my head to find their names and descriptions.

[{Aina: A popular foreign girl with a crush on Brayden that's almost as massive as her ego} {Brayden: The average high school muscle man with an unwavering arrogance} {Jackston: Stereotypical tall and skinny guy with long shaggy hair and a love for sports} and last but not least {Zoey: Short, Goth, Freaky, and an odd habit of jump scaring people}] 

Listing the whole class in my head I can't say I didn't expect this outcome. The other students are way too preppy for a summer hike. I'm amazed that Aina wanted to join us, though I know it's only because of her huge crush on Brayden.

Then Zoey starts tip toeing behind Luna and I step in between them. My goal of getting Luna's mind off her parents would land an instant fail if I let Zoey accomplish her weird goal. 

Shaking my head at Zoey she frowns at me and slips into line beside the other four oddballs. Then to block her line of sight I stand beside her and look to the teacher and my friend in front of me.

"Is that all?" Luna pipes up in a shy voice and I can almost feel Zoey's grin of finding perfect prey double in size.

"Yup. The others wanted to swim." I say as I take a water bottle from Miss. Snowtrail. The others follow soon after and by the time we're all ready with water and a snack for the way, we set off.

Zoey takes her chance to scare Luna once more but when I catch her, she backs down. Then instead of Luna, she scares Aina so bad she practically jumps into Brayden's arms. Either she planned that or she's definitely not hiking material.

Aina giggles and blushes at Brayden then turns to glare at Zoey who has somehow managed to scare Jackston as well. We're only a fraction of the way through the trail, yet somehow she's scared two people in this short time.

"Woah…" Luna's amazed tone of voice takes my focus elsewhere and I see what she sees. Beautiful clear blue waters crashing down over a small lake of stones. Aina responds with "beautiful."

Tinier Waterfalls echo throughout the area and a group of birds can be seen singing and dancing throughout the waters. I can't help but feel "woah" and "beautiful" is an understatement.

Among the thicket of trees, the leaves are bright green and if you look hard enough you can make out the mountains in the distance. 

"This trail is amazing…" I mutter to myself in a tone just as marvelous. Then just when I think things would only get better, Zoey scares me so bad I slip into the shallow end of the cold water.

I'm furious. "What the hell Zoey!" I fume. "Why did you do that?!" I pull myself up to my feet again and notice a small tear in my grey shorts. The only shorts that actually felt nice on me.

I can feel my anger growing and Luna steps closer, reaching her hand out to help me out of the water. But out of anger I swat it away aggressively.

Slipping past Luna and bumping shoulders with Brayden I storm my way down a path to the side of the forest. 

Stomping through trees the air seems to get colder, but I don't care. I'm too mad to change my direction or even notice the change in air pressure.

Then I burst through a clearing and snow surges around me. "Snow!" I gasp as a cold gust of wind blows through the rip in my shorts. My skin doesn't know what to think, so it decides to spread a layer of numbness cover over my body.