TW: PTSD flashbacks, blood, being co-conscious
Chapter 26- Polar Opposites (Aya, Kiri)
Aya wasn't sure how long she had been asleep. But waking up felt...stiff. And what better way to wake up than with an invigorating jog? She always loved to jog. Aya put her hair up, loved how well the red dye complimented her facial structure and eyes, put it in a loose ponytail and gathered the usual jogging equipment (phone, ear phones, water, light hoodie) and set out for the track. The track was an Olympic sized one, with vaults to jump over. She started music on her phone and began running around the track. Her best time was just under 3 minutes and Aya was determined to beat it. Aya counted down from 5, and on 1, she took off. Something she knew to make faster running more comfortable, was to run on the toes. It took less energy to move forward and was easier on the feet. She was half way done in just under 2 minutes and felt great. Another round of running and she was done. Aya sat under a shaded tree and rested. She watched the clouds go by, silently contemplating what she wanted to do next. She closed her eyes and stretched, deciding to invite Anna on a trip to the mall. She loved how they could communicate without Aya even saying a word.
Aya skipped to the castle, humming and happy. Once in the castle, Aya stopped in the kitchen to make herself a healthy snack. She paused only for a moment, to notice that the fridge was new. When did they get a new fridge? Not really caring for it (rather what was in it,) Aya pulled out a cucumber, light ranch dressing, and a peeler from the drawer beside the fridge. A healthy and refreshing snack was always her favorite after jogging. Aya peeled the cucumber, put a small spot of ranch on the plate next to her snack and proceeded upstairs. She almost didn't see Blaise as he was coming out of his room. She spun around to avoid spilling her plate.
"Whoa, hey, are you alright? I didn't mean to startle you." Blaise put his hand over Aya's to help stabilize the plate.
Aya bit her lip, backing away slightly. She shook her head no and carefully moved away from him. He's kind of cute... No, no. No interest in a relatonship, that means talking. She hurried away towards Anna's room, feeling her cheeks flush. She scurried to Anna's door and slowly leaned her back to it. Why was her heart racing? Yeah, the new guy had startled her but the moment had passed. Aya had to catch the door frame before she fell backward and onto Anna when the door opened.
"Holy crap!" Anna caught Aya and helped correct her posture. "Aya, what a surprise!" Anna gave Aya a hug and stood in front of her. "What's up?"
Aya shook her head quickly, glanced in the direction Blaise had gone and stood straight.
Anna was smirking at Aya. "Oh, I see you just met the new guy. His name is Blaise, and he's interesting. I think you'd like him."
Aya bit her lip and felt her face get a little pink from blush. She quickly glanced where he had gone again. Would she want to try her chances? She had never once thought of going into a relationship. And when she thought of other couples, all Aya could think was that they led to disappointments. But still, was it worth a shot? Aya shook her head and motioned about going shopping at the mall.
"Oh! Perfect! I was thinking of looking for new shoes. Let's go!" Anna grabbed Aya's wrist and ran down the stairs, rushing out the door.
Kiri, slightly annoyed by how hard Anna slammed the door, sighed and returned to her book. As she stared at her book, the words seemed to drift off of the page. Kiri blinked and rubbed her eyes, muttering under her breath.
"Are you alright, Kiri?" Nia looked up from her drawing session with Arcy.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." Kiri set her book down on the side table and went into the kitchen. "I just need somehing to eat, is all." As Kiri assembled the ingredients for a Caeser salad, she heard faintly muffled voices. Inconspicuously, Kiri glanced back to the living room to see if that was where the voices were coming from. No one in there was talking, so she looked toward the glass door to the backyard. There was no one out there and the door was closed. 'Great, just what I need. Maybe if I ignore it, it'll go away.' Kiri continued to make her salad and went to her room to eat. Kiri set the salad down on her dresser, locked the door and went to the mini fridge in her closet. She pulled out a blue raspberry B&J cooler and screwed the cap off. Kiri upended the bottle and chugged it down.
"I don't need this right now..." Kiri sighed, no longer hungry. She put the salad in the fridge, took out a bottle of Chardonnay and a glass, and laid down in her bed. The voices were indistinct and Kiri couldn't make out any words. She tried to bury her head under her pillow. As expected, it didn't work. "What was I thinking? Of course that wouldn't work." Kiri closed her eyes and sighed. With a few deep breaths, she had centered herself. But still, the indistinct chatter drifted just out of hearing clarity. It grew louder and louder, as if more people were trying to talk; and over one another. One voice was starting to rise above the others. Kiri shakily poured herself a drink, trying to stay grounded.
'You insignificant piece of trash. You're nothing more than a maggot in the trash can of rejects.'
Kiri scowled, trying to ignore the voice. She had downed 3 glasses of wine already, unsuccessfully trying to drown out the voice in alcohol. It repeated the same thing over and over and over. Each repeat was like a clawed hand getting closer and closer to taking Kiri into the past.
"No! I'm passed that... It can't hurt me now..."
No matter how hard Kiri tried, she was thrown into the past.
Kiri was sitting in third hour aesthetics (a class that was sort of like philosophy. The class focused on the nature of art and beauty; a class Kiri loved.) There was a substitute teacher in charge, but one of those substitutes that didn't give a siht about the class or the kids. Kiri could feel that she was't alone in the body. Someone else was with her, but just barely. Who was it? No matter how she tried, she couldn't figure out who was with her. All Kiri could feel was anxiety and a need to keep her hands busy. It was one of the younger girls, that was all she could tell. An icy cold splash made her yelp and jump from the desk. Kiri turned to see one of the "pretty girls," or as Kiri called them, "Barbies."
Kiri narrowed her eyes. "Leave me the fuck alone, you Barbie wannabe."
"Oh, a Barbie, am I? Would that be because I'm so pretty?" It was Kendra, the lead Barbie doll in the school.
"No, it's because your head is hollow, your face is always vapid and your life is just as hollow as your head." Kiri crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows.
"Everyone loves Barbies, so everyone loves me."
"Or they just think you're nothing more than a pretty face, Kendra. Coasting on your looks to get you through life. They say that those who start pretty grow up to be hideous. So under that logic, you'll go from Barbie to Brats doll in two years," Kiri sat as the entire class; teacher included, filled the room with laughter.
"You just wait, Elsa. You'll grow to be ugly as well."
"Yeah, well when that day comes, I'll be sure to think of you but until then sit and fill your head with candy clouds of lullaby and surround yourself with silver coated fake friends."
Kendra snarled and shoved Kiri out of her desk. "You fucking freak!"
"At least I'll be remembered for more than being an air headed Barbie. Get your own life and find your pussy ass Ken doll. Shouldn't be too hard for you." Kiri dusted herself off and fixed the desk. "Oh look, there he is now."
Everyone turned to see Kendra's current eye candy crush walk in the room. "You leave Trent out of this."
"I can't, he's already in the room."
One again the class rang out in laughter.
Later that day, during lunch, Kendra came up to bother Kiri again. "Are you here to spew more useless insults or are you hungry for more truth bombs?"
Kendra flung her tray of food at Kiri and laughed. "Look who's the Brats doll now." She laughed and dumped a carton of milk over Kiri's head. "Oh don't worry, Elsa. No one will notice that among your freakish white hair. "You insignificant piece of trash. You're nothing more than a maggot in the trash can of rejects."
Kiri sighed heavily and stood, wringing out Elsa's hair. She felt more anxious, with a touch of fear. Who ever was co-conscious with her must not like where this was going. Still, Kiri defended herself and the system. "Your problem, Kendra, is that you have too high an image of yourself. You expect everyone to see your foundation caked face and bow to you. What's the reason you wear so much make up, hm? What are you trying to make up for? It's obvious you're insecure." Kiri reached to Kendra's face and wiped her milky hand across it, taking some make up off with it. "Is your daddy being too friendly? Does he call you his little princess? Or is mommy trying to live through you and that's why you dress like a stuffed doll in frilly clothes? Or do you have no parents and can't stand the fact that your face reminds you of what you don't have?"
The anxiey and fear feeding into Kiri were starting to mix into a small swirl of panic and Kiri had to keep her hands from shaking.
"Take it back," Kendra snarled.
"Careful, Kendra. If you keep making sounds like that, everyone will realize just how much of an actual bitch you are."
Kendra's face reddened even more. "Take it back!"
"Seems like I struck a nerve. What's wrong, little doll? Did I just cause your entire Barbie palace to fall to pieces at your feet?"
Kendra lunged at Kiri and they fell to the ground. The two of them fought, Kiri biting and srcatching while Kendra slapped at Kiri like a baby. Kiri did her best to keep control of the icy frost that was starting to tingle at her fingertips.
'No, no...Get away, gotta get away...'
Kiri kept her gasp from being heard. 'Arcy! Ah shit! I'm so sorry, Arcy. I did't know you were the one with me.'
'Gotta get away...Get to safey...Gotta get out...' Arcy took control and ran for the nearest window, shattering it with her hands.
'ARCY NO!' Kiri forced control of Elsa's head to keep Arcy from seeing the blood and being triggered into a panic attack.
Kendra started laughing. "Well, I guess I win, you self harming wimp."
Kiri forced Arcy into the inner world before turning back to Kendra. "If I'm such a wimp, why the hell am I slapping you with a glass shard covered, bloody hand?" Kiri gave a back hand to Kendra and walked away, hearing the dumb ass start retching and freaking out over having blood all over her face.
Kiri was shaking worse than a loose leaf on a tree branch in a tornado. She felt something cool and yet warm all over her hands. Her vision cleared and she saw that, in the midst of her flashback, she had broken the wine glass in her right hand and the bottle neck in her left. "Shit..." Kiri slowly stood, taking deep breaths as she walked to her bathroom. 'Maybe I need to speak with Dina about these flashbacks...' Kiri used tweezers to get the glass shards from her hand and washed them under hot water. The intense burn helped bring the rest of Kiri's senses from the past into the present. Much like the soap on her wounds, guilt had washed over Kiri's conscious. "I really need to mind myself when I'm fronting. I'm almost never alone..."
It has been way too long and I do apologize. In the time that I've been gone, I've been in a mental institution, been diagnosed with Bipolar NOS (basically a mix of both Bipolar 1 and 2, as I see it,) been getting treatment for my Bipolar, started another story on fictionpress that's pretty much an autobiography of my life (titled Polarized Memories,) and my sister and her 2 teen boys have moved in with me, my mom and my kids. HELP ME! I honestly hate the living arrangement. 7 people in a 2 bedroom apartment, and the youngest boy is honestly a dick most of the time. I hate being home as of late, since the younger kid pisses me off on purpose. He is a dick and I hate life at home, (thank goodness for going to my fiancee's or the weekend.) Enough of my life story. I hope you enjoyed the update and will come back for more! As always, hanks for reading/faving/following!