Page 118 of Salute, To Bravery
“I wouldn’t say that. We’ve just met—”
“And you already feel a connection. This is so exciting! Who are they?”
“Her name is Ophelia,” I said. I felt myself blush.
“Like the movie! That’s amazing.” A smile crept onto my face.
I loved how Luna always supported me in everything I did. Especially when I went into the National Guard. She was so excited that I had found my calling and that I could serve my country. It was hard on my relationship with my dad since he was in the army and saw horrible things. It was hard not to have my dad’s support, but he came around. He always did.
“I don’t think my dad approves, though,” I drawled.
“Who cares? It’s your life, not his. He can go—”
“Icare. I care about his opinion. He saved me from that foster home, he saved me from that fire. I owe him mylife.”
“Then live it. That’s what Zaidan would want. He wants you to live your life and be happy. Besides, he always comes around.”
“Fine, you win.”
“I always do,” she said. I could sense the evil smirk on her face on the other side of the phone. “I do love you, girly, and I miss you, but I have to get back to studying the connections of the brain.”
“Sounds fun.”
“It is.” I could hear the sarcasm in her voice. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
I placed my phone on the charger as soon as I made it upstairs.
Going back to the kitchen, I put some frozen pizza into the air fryer. Once the pizza was done, I put it on a cutting board and ate it at the small patio table. After I finished eating, I walked into my living room with mint ice cream to watch some television.
Soon, I realized I was crying over this show again. The episode ran its closing credits, and I was a complete mess, so I put the ice cream back into the freezer and went upstairs.
I went into my room and started the shower, gathering all of my things. I grabbed my hair towel,a new body scrub I’d been wanting to try out, and hopped into the shower.
I lathered the shampoo into my hair and then rinsed it out, doing the same for my conditioner. I did a body scrub, and then shaved my legs. Tiredness fell over me as I started to lather soap onto my body and rinsed it off. In no time, I was in bed meditating and falling asleep.
Chapter Four.
Ophelia
Iknew the nightmares would come back. But I didn’t realize how severe it would be. The nightmares were continuously more vivid: my mother’s blood, the beige walls. That was the worst part of having these nightmares; they only got worse once they came back.
My alarm went off, telling me to wake up. I had been staring at my ceiling for a few hours now, nothing but the ghosts of my old mother haunting my mind.
I shut off the alarm and went into the bathroom to see how bad I looked. I knew it wasn’t a good habit to always be critiquing my body, but it was something I picked up years ago. I’d talked to Dorthy, the therapist, about it, and she’d tried to help, but nothing that she suggested helped.
Soon, all of my concerns about my body flooded my mind. I hated how my eyebags were so dark in the morning. I hated that I couldn’t fit my hands around my waist. I knew I was healthy, but I didn’t feel healthy. I felt like I was trash, to put it simply.
Another alarm went off, and a confused face met me in the mirror.Why was my alarm going off?I went into my bedroom,part of my living space, and made sure to shut off my alarm this time and not hit snooze.
I walked into my kitchen and made myself something small to eat to fill the pit that was in my stomach.I placed the bread into the toaster and started on the dishes. Once I heard the pop of the toaster, I hurried over and spread some jelly onto the toast. With the last bite of my toast consumed, I then finished the chore of cleaning all the dirty dishes.
I hurried to my dresser next. A warmer outfit was necessary. Today, I was going to the beach.
I picked up the designated sandals off the floor and felt butterflies in my stomach as I thought about seeing Violet again.
She and I agreed to meet at the beach that I had gone to growing up. I was excited and nervous about going… but mostly nervous. I was anxious about the nightmare, plus going out with Violet by ourselves. It felt like I was going to burst or have a heart attack. I hated this feeling. But I knew that this was the right thing to do, and it was all in my head. Or at least I hoped it was all in my head.
