Author's note: I'm terribly sorry, guys. Last month was absolute hell. I had time to start the chapter but until now I never found time to finish it. However, here it is. Sorry if there are any mistakes and overused words/phrases but this one is pretty quick written and once again i remind that English is not my mother language. Hope you enjoy it & thanks for the reviews of the first one!
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Chapter two: Innocence
I don't believe in anything. Everything is misleading. Once again it's like I'm the only who can see the world in its true light. Innocence? What does it even mean? No one's innocent. Everyone has a sin. Everyone tends to make mistakes. Parents set the example for their children and what happens if they fail to do so? A person free to live without limits loses their ability to understand and distinguish right from wrong. People tend to make mistakes. The company which you choose to hang out with decides how bad and sinful your mistakes will be. And whoever believes that there is some upper power which can judge us is wrong. People judge, others just forgive but can we survive through the judgment in order to reach the forgiveness?
There is no point in losing her time but Effy had no other choice. Her past wasn't completely left in Bristol. She still was considered by her mother and had to visit a therapist. However, there was one slight difference between what she went through back in England and what she was going through now. Actually she didn't mind wasting some of her time in the company of the brunette woman around her early thirties. Effy would spend the time observing her facial expressions, trying to guess her thoughts and whether she was interested in that non-verbal communication which in no way was considered to be helpful. Despite her losing her temper easily, Maya Stone never tried to push Effy and get some work done. She would waste her time with her. After all, she got paid in no matter the case so why did she have to do anything? Wasn't it Effy's problem that she didn't want to talk about her family, her friends, her feeling about the fresh start? At this point their opinions differed but neither of them expressed it. However twice a week Maya Stone had those group sessions which Effy was part of. It was a stupid idea which only a few of them approved but that was enough for Miss Stone to continue with it. Now here she was back in the wooden designed office on the third floor of a small building looking more like a block of flats than anything else. However, it was far from a place to live. The building in question was in fact an editor's office, all of it. Even the old label sign saying "Daily Prophecy" was kind of ironic and represented the unpopular class of that office.
"Why don't you start Effy?" suggested Maya as her light green eyes moved around the room and stopped with a slight gaze at the delicate brunette. Usually she never spoke during those sessions so Stone's question was kind of surprising for everyone else apart from the girl who it was addressed to. Some of the present patients turned their heads to where Effy sat.
"I met a boy. Last night. At around midnight." Effy answered in low voice without bothering each pair of eyes staring right through her. A contented smile was given by Maya. This was an improvement which she didn't expect to reach soon with Effy. Every time she tried to talk to her was like she was talking to the walls. Effy never showed any interest in what she was saying never answered her questions or bothered to share something but now she did it.
"Who was he? What did you talk about?" she asked calmly in attempt to keep the interest the girl had in her. Even though that it seemed like Effy was really willing to share something, she actually had no interest in that conversation. Once again she was just wasting time. However, she liked the way the woman changed her approach immediately. People weren't constant in what they were trying to achieve. Maya Stone was a very good example of all Effy had ever observed in human's behaviour. She just shook her shoulders.
"Nothing. I told him to get out." was her simple response which kind of disappointed Miss Stone. The therapist was very keen on helping Effy but she never gave her an opportunity. Right now it seemed as if she was finally ready to talk but actually all she did was playing games with her nerves. Apart from that her condition just looked worse in Maya's eyes. It was like she wasn't the only one Effy was shutting out of her life nor was her mother. The unknown boy who she was talking about was just another figure she had rejected.
"Gemma, what about you? Would you like to share something with us?" Maya asked the girl on her left. That fourteen-year-old girl with freckles all over her pale skin and whose strawberry blonde hair was more like a nest than a girl's hair. What made her even more pathetic in Effy's eyes was her completely skeleton figure due to her severe eating disorder which name Maya never said. Despite all that she kind of reminded Effy of Pandora and her clumsiness or even her inability to understand some of the complex words or eventually to explain them to herself. Maybe that was the reason for her one-side smile whenever Gemma was about to talk. But this particular session, Effy didn't focus on the words of the strawberry blonde's words. Her mind was travelling far away, on the long way back to the cold and unpleasant house where she first met someone who managed to bring her back from the melancholy in which her life was lately drifting, forgetting every single drop of youth. Images, as usual, were flowing in and out but only one remained. He never left her head, he and the memory of his dirty blonde messy hair under the moon light surrounding his pale and simply emotionless face.
The steam filled the spacious bathroom on the second floor. Its fiery tentacles were roaming through the air and leaving wet marks on the mirror. Hot showers relaxed her. Effy could just stay there in the middle of the pouring water like she would do if it was spring and it was heavy raining. The only noise was coming from her breathing or the water. No screams anywhere near her or any other sound at all. Just her and… Him. After a while, Effy notices a blurry shadow by the door. At first she would take it as her mother but she never just stood silently. And there was no one else in the house apart the two of them. No one but him.
"What are you doing?" Effy asked and sounded slightly annoyed. In fact, she didn't expect to see him so soon. Maybe after a couple of weeks or months but not exactly the following day. In fact, she was also used to boys chasing after her but now it felt as if she was the one who craved for that second time to see him. Maybe she even like him a little but was too proud and strongly believed that feelings lead to nothing but pain. In a matter of fact, however, he was not like the others. He didn't push her to do anything. He didn't ask about anything. He would just sit there and admire; silent and still like an old Greek statue. Wasn't that charming? Indeed, it was. But it was also kind of petrifying and sent slight shivers through her body. Freezingly cold shivers which even the extremely hot water couldn't make to stop piercing her body from the inside over and over again.
"You're beautiful." The dirty blonde haired intruder said. His cold but enchanting and soft at the same time voice almost took her breathe away. Effy didn't expect to get an answer and, in fact, she really didn't. But she still heard him talk. She heard him saying that she was beautiful. At first it sounded like a compliment but then it all turned out as something absolutely wrong which surely enrages her. Once again Effy felt betrayed by the boyish behaviour. It was like she was stone that wasn't capable of feelings and that's why everybody decided to judge by the cover, by the beauty of her body. Her gentle fingers squeezed the plastic curtain, which was the only barrier between both of them, and nearly tore it half when she pulled it in a hurry.
"Then please yourself." The auburn haired girl furiously mumbled. She didn't blush as this wasn't the first time her naked body was exposed to pure light. Tiny drops of water were running down her milky pale skin. Her lips were turning from blossom pink into scarlet red as she couldn't stop biting them in order to calm her nerves. Every single word she had heard from Maya was passing through her mind. The charming psychologist always reminded her not to give in to strong emotions such as rage, sorrow, confusion. It was allowed only with the positive ones but Effy was never good at them. Maybe that was the main reason she suffered such severe depression and maybe it would be the main reason to be at the doorstep of another one. And all because of one foolish boy, who, however, looked more mature than the most of those who shared her age.
His eyes run through every inch of her body but stopped back at her eyes. Just as if he was testing the peoples belief that the eyes lead to the soul, especially the blue ones. And hers now where the most enchanting blue ever. Dark blue but sparkling and wild as a storm in the ocean ready to devour as many ships as possible. This girl was able to enflame him from the inside as only one has done before. In fact, she made him forget it. Every single moment faded away. Like she was the only solution possible, like she was the potion he needed to forget, like she was the light at the end of the tunnel. She was everything and nothing in the same time as he knew nothing about her but her name.
Tate made a few steps toward her. His calm green eyes still focused on hers. Her body had begun to shiver slightly because of her being in between the hot and the cold air. Hot water was running down her back and cold steam was running up the front half of her body. Tate took the soft and white towel and wrapped it around her body carefully not to touch her skin. She was source of pure innocence even though she tended to act sinfully. On the other hand, he was pure taint. He wasn't supposed to be around her because he felt that way but he couldn't stay away either. More or less he felt Effy needed a person to talk to apart from her mother and there was no one else but him.
"Who are you really?" Effy asked more like whisper. The soft towel began to soak with hot water but she didn't care. All that mattered now was his name.