Page 37 of Forbidden Deception

The cold makes me shudder in place, raising goosebumps on my arms. She’s forcing me to answer. I can’t exactly run from here.

I have been living the past few years of my life—actually, my whole life—just wandering aimlessly through the halls of all these different schools, constantly changing rooms, just existing.

I didn’t dream, didn’t wonder what was outside.

So what’s the point? Why am I even living?

“You don’t have anything. Who is a fool enough to live so pathetically?” she continues, and the lump grows in my throat.

“Stop this bullshit and do something. No wonder people find you easy prey. You have no drive, no desire for anything.” She turns and walks away, though the bitter taste of her words remains.

Even minutes after she’s gone.

Even when the sunset that seems so far-fetched, so out of reach, is gone.

The night falls, and the moon feels even farther away.

What is driving me to keep going?

What is it that I want in life?

Over the next few days, I read, I watch, and I look all around me. I look at trees twice, at the sky all day and night. I listen to conversations around me. All in hopes of finding my drive, to find my answer.

Days pass, and I can’t seem to grasp the answer to Medora’s question.

Though, I do watch her from afar.

She reads in the library often. She’s quiet just like me, but there is a streak of defiance in her that pushes away everyone from her.

Weeks later, the day arrives when the teacher walks in, asking for volunteers for a gardening session, and I opt in. I want to know everything. I want to experience everything. I need an answer to just one question, and I will keep trying things until I find it.

Two months later, the first peek of my new sunflower growing makes me attend it every day. Days turn into months, and it grows and grows till I find fascination with its colour. It’s the richness of the deep yellow, the browns, the glow of it. I plant another, and another, and another.

Until the small collection of mine catches Medora’s eye.

I water them and find her leaning against the far wall, watching me.

I plant new flowers and find her sitting on the steps behind me, watching me.

The mystery of how many different plants there are in the world, how many unique flowers, piques my interest.

A new class begins on the anatomy of our body, and we meet our new teacher, Samuel Ricco.

Medora and I find ourselves silently sitting next to each other.

“I have my answer. Maybe,” I whisper to her, talking to her for the first time in months.

Her lips tilt up.

The next month, a sick and twisted look spread accross Mr Ricco's face.

A call to his office after class.

A reckless monster that preyed on the weak.

A wandering hand chipped part of my innocence while Medorra took it upon herself to get herself harmed to protect me.

I would rather kill and pick up the knife from the floor in the office than ever have my and Medorra's innocence taken from me.

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