chapter two

"hope rises like a phoenix from the ashes of broken dreams."

Summer 2021

Anger built up inside me. Wound through my veins like the Amazon river. Someone had dared to say that nobody even cared Peter had gone, and as his best friend, I felt offended, angry and upset for him. I closed my eyes and tried to compress the fire inside. The roaring forest fire inside my stomach that I couldn't conceal. My arms grasps the air, as I screamed to let it all out. A power was unleashed from inside of me; A power that felt eerily familiar, yet completely alien. I opened my eyes and realised I was no longer touching the ground, instead I was hovering. My mind was swarming with questions; I wanted to scream and cry at the same time. What was wrong with me?

2023

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. I watched the clock on the wall attentively, awaiting the ring of the bell signalling the end of the day. Peter's eyes were on me from the other side of the room, he has been worried about me since he returned; He was right to be worried... but I couldn't tell him what was going on. Thinking about what happened while he was gone... it petrified me; Nobody knew and nobody had to. The bell sounds, snapping me out of my deep thoughts, I catch Peter beginning to walk towards me out of my peripheral vision. Every time I see him I have a flourishing sense of guilt in the depths of my stomach. Therefore, I dart out of the door before he can reach me and sprint down the hallway.

My head was pounding when I reached the end of the hallway. I made my way out of the door I slid down the wall putting my head in my hands. Breathing heavily I tried to calm my heartrate, one of the things i've discovered is that when I'm angry or stressed... I can't control myself. Peter emerges from inside the building and glances around before his eyes fall on me.

"Lexie, what the hell!" he laughs while taking deep breathes. "Are you ok?" I nod quickly and give a fabricated smile to make him stop questioning me. "Lexie I know you..." he whispers. This makes me snap, I couldn't conceal my frustrations any longer.

"God dammit Parker you're not my carer!" I scream, making everyone around stop and glare. He looks taken-a-back. Before he can say anything I sprint away.

Piles of scrap cars surround me, some dented. This is where I come when I'm angry or stressed... mainly because there's nobody else around; I don't need to be apprehensive of accidentally revealing the one thing I didn't truly understand about myself. Closing my eyes I take deep breathes. In. Out. In. Out. My arms clasp for anything to support them and I wail, out of despair and anguish.

"L-Lexie?" I hear a whisper from the ground. It startles me so much I fall to the floor. I could feel his eyes on me... I just couldn't bring myself to look into them.

Peter's POV

Lexie sprinted off leaving me stood on my own outside school being glared at by pretty much everyone. I had know her for aslong as I remember and I have never seen her react like that; Then again it had been 5 years.

I could sense Lexie ahead of me, not far ahead but just infront. I decided to follow her because I had come to the conclusion she would be there for me in a similar situation. It seemed she had made her way into some sort of desolate junk yard. Piles of destroyed cars towered above my head, it was eerily quiet. I made my way into the middle of the maze... which was when I saw her. Her eyes were closed, she looked so powerful... yet so peaceful. I crouched behind a rogue tire and watched, intrigued. Is this creepy? Before I had a chance to answer my own question, a wave of energy hit me; Causing me to face plant the dirt.

Her hair was raised in a halo shape around her head, like in cartoon fight scenes. She was levitating a few meters in the air, her arms out. What had happened while I had been gone?

"L-Lexie..." I whispered. Her eyes snapped open and she fell to the ground. I longed to reach out to her, pull her into my embrace but something stopped me. She had lied to me.

A/N - I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I am really enjoying writing this. I know I said I was going to take longer to write chapters but i couldn't help myself, haha.

Love you guys 3000 x