The book snapped shut in Ayla’s hands. She had just finished `Chains of the Elkins Crest′. Rising from her bed, she drifted into the bathroom. She looked in the mirror, her dark blue eyes looking back at her, her eyes lingering for a bit. Leaning closer, she notices a bit of a faint hint of gray, something she had never seen before. Her eyes gaze deadly again at herself, her pale skin and ashen brown hair that goes all the way down to her waist. Her eyes empty, as if she was a corpse.

  Her gentle hands guide themselves to turn on the faucet. The water begins to run, fast, but without a sound. Ayla’s hands tremble a bit as they touch the freezing water. She puts them under the running water, in a fast motion. After a while of just standing there and letting the water run on to her, she splashes the water on to her face. She looked up in the mirror and her face now wet, and water dripping from her chin.

  Her gaze begins to slowly fall as her eyes lock onto her clothes; they are school uniforms. It looks a bit disheveled, and her hair is slightly messy. But Ayla doesn’t have the energy to do anything about it. She just stares back at her reflection and walks back to her bedroom.

  There’s a school bag next to her bed and a desk with some school supplies, nothing out of the ordinary. Her room was clean, and simple just how she liked it. She walks over to the school bag and reaches her hand out to pick it up. She held on to the bag and swung it over her shoulder. The weight of the bag made her tilt a bit to the side as it digs into her shoulder, not that she really cared or showed any hint of discomfort.

  All she needed now was to get her shoes on and walk out of the door. But the thought of going to school and all the displeasing things she already knew was going to happen was beginning to weigh on her. She walks slowly. As if it was her mission to look like a corpse.

  She walks out to her shoes and just stares at them. They look a bit beaten up but it’s not like she couldn’t wear them. Or maybe it’s the fact that they looked a little like herself. Worn out. Drained. Torn. Done, yeah maybe done with it all is the sentence she’s feeling right now.

  She takes the shoes and puts them on quickly. She’s late. If she ends up being late for school the day is even more chaotic, as if it wasn’t bad from the start. Something that kind of looks like a frown begins to show on her face.

  In the end she did get to the bus on time. She checks in and sits in the front. Who knows what would happen if she sat in the back. She was tempted to look behind her but chose not to. The windscreen was big, just like any other normal bus. It was dark and slippery outside. Because it was winter. There were loads of snow piles outside, at one point of the ride it even begun snowing.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Ayla loves the snow, so it brought a little smile onto her face. The snow flies in the air with such an elegant dance, like a white spirit overflowing with emotions. Ayla still gazes at the snowflake carefully as they all crash right into the windscreen. Her smile cracks a bit as she realizes that the next stop is the school. It’s not like she’s sad but I guess it’s just that the joy of the moment is gone.

  Suddenly there’s an announcement that the next stop is `Westbrook high school′. Ayla clicks on the stop button and gets her bag and stands up, as did all the other students on the bus. Ayla doesn’t want eye contact, so she just stares at the floor. Slowly everyone walks over to the door that begins to open.

  When the door opened and everyone rushed out, the noise instantly became unbearable. Ayla was the last to leave, not because she wanted to stay, but because she wasn’t exactly dying to get off the bus either. Honestly, it worked in her favor. At least she wouldn’t have to run into Evan and Marissa, the school’s current power couple. And Marissa would do anything to keep that title.

  As Ayla stepped out, the cold air hit her face. Ahead of her, she spotted Evan and Marissa. Marissa had her arms wrapped around his shoulders, practically clinging to him for dear life. Ayla slowed down so they wouldn’t notice her, but seriously, who walks that slow? Even with all the irritation bubbling inside her, her face stayed blank, smooth, unreadable.

  She looked down at the ground and sped up, passing the couple. Nothing happened. No comments. No looks. Weird. Curiosity tugged at her, and before she could stop herself, she glanced back.

  Her pupils widened. Marissa was already storming toward her, only a few meters away. Ayla froze. This had never happened before. Sure, Marissa had hit her before, but never in public. Never where people could see. That would ruin her perfect image.

  The slap came fast and hard. Ayla’s expression twisted into shock. Her cheek burned under her palm, the sting spreading across her skin. Her head rang from the impact, and for a moment she nearly collapsed.

  Marissa started yelling at her. Not knowing why, Ayla just stared at her. Her shocked expression had already melted away, replaced with the same dead, blank look. At some point, the annoying sound of Marissa’s yelling stopped, but her mouth was still moving. Ayla couldn’t hear anything, only the loud ringing in her head.

  She felt dizzy. Her body began to feel heavy as her eyes started unfocusing, her gaze drifting anywhere but at Marissa. This only irritated Marissa even more, her face twisting into an uncontrolled angry expression.

  Ayla could barely see, but even through the blurred vision she could imagine what Marissa looked like right now. The thought made her laugh internally, that empty?headed person probably looked like a moron at the moment.

  But Ayla didn’t have much time to enjoy the thought, because her body gave out and she collapsed.