The past is like a shadow. . .
It's there at your every step, no matter where you go or how far you get. . .
The kind of darkness that would haunt you in the long run, especially when you look at it and see its silhouette taking your shape and copying every single movement of yours.
That would make many fearful of their own shadows. . . thinking of how, at any moment, it would come to life to drag you into that great darkness. . .
But then again. . .
No shadow exists without a light source. . .
A light that would come in any shape or form. . .
The second the school bell pierced through the once silent halls, the doors opened wide and students rushed out to enjoy their remaining breaks with their friends.
The young teens looked rather energetic today, enthusiastic even.
It was no surprise, since the summer season just started, which usually means three months of freedom with no more schoolwork like tests or homework to burn the students out.
Although, just because another semester came to an end, it does not mean that learning is inevitable.
Some of those strict teachers made sure to remind the younger generation about the importance of this very lesson, but unfortunately went about it in the wrong way. . .
Just like that one class today, who was forced to write one last test in the previous week. They just got them back, but with grades written on them in big red letters.
Judging from the many sour expressions it must have gone terribly as most people from that class were not too delighted with their results, unlike the few lucky ones.
That lucky group also included a certain brunette girl who had tan skin, and dark amber eyes. She was wearing a purple and white cat hoodie, and black pants, with grayish shorts on top.
"EEK! I can't believe I actually did it!" The teen Latina squealed happily, as she pushed through the wall of people and twirled around with her test that had a big A+ written on it.
"Thank you, universe!" Her smile became as bright as the sun as her feelings reached cloud nine, but the moment she remembered her surroundings, the victory smile deflated into a sheepish grin of embarrassment.
"O-oh, right. . . Sorry guys!" An awkward apology was offered to the people around, who said nothing, and just kept their distance from her aura. The young Latina girl exhaled at that, but she shrugged off the negativity quickly when she took another good look at her A+.
That was enough to bring some hope to the girl's spirit.
"It's okay Luz, at least you got it." The girl gleamed with confidence as she placed her test into her yellow bag and drew out her favorite book, titled as The Good Witch Azura .
"And you will get the next one too with every flying color of the rainbow." Luz mumbled it to herself as she eyed her treasured item closely and longingly.
"Puedes hacerlo Luz Noceda." The young Latina embraced her book close to her heart.
"Nada funcionará a menos que lo haga funcionar."
With now high optimism, she powered through the school corridors with her chin held up high.
As the young Latina strolled by another hall's entrance, she passed by another quiet student who was lounging on a windowsill.
Her chestnut brown eyes focused heavily on the notebook she was writing into while dark plum-colored hair fell over her shoulder in a thick braid.
She was wearing jeans and a black jacket that had a dark-gray bottom. The jacket's dark color contrasted sharply with her pale porcelain skin, the long sleeved green/white shirt that she wore underneath, and not to mention those colorful squares that were stitched on some places on the jacket.
Many different elements but with three things in common. . . they were old, used and stitched together where they started to fall apart.
Some students would catch onto those qualities, but alas, that girl didn't pay any mind to it, just like how she didn't pay too much attention to the life around her.
She was in her own world, and was just writing away her thoughts and feelings in peace and silence.
However, that moment got cut short as her phone started to buzz out loud.
The girl peeked to the left where her bag was, and picked up her device. Then a tired frown formed on her peach-colored lips the moment her eyes went through the new message that popped out on the screen.
'Buy all these after school, will you? And don't forget my cigarettes.' The text from Mrs. Petunia displayed, right before the list of items came into view. Even with no voice there, the silent girl was still able to hear that hateful scowl in her caregiver's message that she had known for years.
Either way, the young girl just sighed in defeat and instructed her blue pen to stop writing.
Her notebook closed shut, and it unveiled its black cover with the pinkish-purple clouds painted on the lower half and the owner's name written over them in elegant letters and little white stars like dots sparkled here and there.
Hira Zinnes.
The teen eventually got up from her resting place and put away her items before she headed into the long school halls.
Although as she vanished into the corner, another girl appeared not too far away with short blonde hair that had one pink strand in it.
The midnight-haired girl turned up to the hall and with hurried footsteps she made her way to her locker's direction. On her journey there though, some of her 'fellow' schoolmates around the area took notice of her presence.
Instantly, a wave of whispers and buzzes erupted from a few individuals while some had their judgmental stares fixated on that very teen girl's frail figure.
"Hey look, it's that Zinnes girl." One of them murmured to somebody just as the girl in question walked by, and caught onto those words.
"She doesn't look good." Another one remarked in a revolted tone.
At that, Hira clutched onto her bag's strap hard while she felt her heart become heavy by the mean comment. However, she just took a deep breath and propelled herself to put one foot in front of the other, even with the gossip that continued to float around behind her.
"She is probably sick after . . . you know what. . ." Another sentence reached the girl's ear, but she just kept on moving.
But then. . .
"Maybe she is just acting for attention again. . ." That statement in particular made the girl's pink sneakers pause in their tracks for a moment of dread.
'Acting?' Hira was no doubt flabbergasted by such statements. 'Is this how they. . . ?' Brown eyes shut close for a second, but with great force, she swallowed her feelings back down her throat and hastened over to her locker as fast as she possibly could.
Abruptly, the school bell chimed again, forewarning students to get to their assigned classes fast before the final bell rings. That caused the school corridors to become a bit clearer, and now with fewer teens, no more dirty and juvenile gossip for the next few minutes.
This was enough for Hira to attain some time to calm down and have a normal breather.
After she took another shaky breath, the teen girl with plum-colored hair acquired focus. She raised her hands up and placed the code into her locker's lock.
Once she finished with it, the metallic door opened, and everything was in order as it should be.
Unfortunately, though, the second her pale hand reached for her books and notes. . .
"Oh, look who is here." The teen girl got petrified the second she recognized that high-pitched voice that was mocking her in the back. "It's Ms. Attention Seeker herself." The blonde teen girl with a pink streak persisted as she stared down at the other girl with a scowl on her face and her arms crossed.
"I hope everyone had prepared something for your book reports." The teacher told the class as she was preparing her tools on the desk and fixated her glasses on her face.
"Actually Mrs. Terrace, can I go out to my locker first?" The Latina girl asked as she raised her hand up for the teacher's attention. "It's some props for my presentation." At first, the woman's eyes went slit at the request, feeling a little skeptical, but then she sighed in agreement.
"Alright Miss Noceda, just please make it quick." Mrs. Terrace instructed while she sat back down on her chair with the phone in hand. "Class is about to start in less than seven minutes."
"On it, teach!" Luz saluted her before she rushed out with her yellow bag. The adult followed her student with her gaze, but once she was out of view, she exhaled in weariness.
"I hope she didn't bring something dangerous again." The teacher murmured to herself before her attention got glued to her phone's screen, with no guess or clue about the surprise that Luz had organized.
"Alright guys, you better behave." Luz spoke softly as she pulled out a small pet carrier from her locker and lifted the top up to give some food to the three green snakes that were resting in there.
"Alright, then." The Latina teen girl clapped her hands with a smile before she reached for her huge put-together firecracker rocket and placed it into her shoulder bag. "Which one of you handsome reptiles wanna help mama Luz out?"
Luz got a small hiss from her little ones who looked up to their owner with big eyes of curiosity.
"Aww, you guys are just the cutest." She gushed with sparkling eyes while stroking one snake with her index finger. "I hope the others will see it too." Her other hand grabbed her Azura action figure from the bottom of her locker, but when she lifted the doll, she heard something.
"What do you want Becky?"
"Huh?" Luz's head snapped towards the distressed voice that came from the other side.
"I-I didn't do anything to you, and I have nothing to say to you." Since most students were now waiting inside their assigned classes, the halls were quieter, or at least quiet enough for this conversation to echo a little loudly.
With interest and curiosity, Luz approached the corner with the Azura action figure in hand.
"Don't give me that, you spineless shrimp!" The other voice snapped back in a loud boom. "You know full well what I am talking about!"
The brunette poked her head out, and her eyes widened in fear as soon as she saw the two familiar girls who were creating the commotion.
The anxious midnight-haired girl who backed onto her locker's metallic surface, and the angry blonde cheerleader captain who was towering over the smaller figure, like a predator who cornered their prey.
"I won't be going anywhere until I get what you owe me." Becky growled in a low tone which made Hira's heart skip a beat out of great fear.
"G-Get what?" The teen's words stumbled a little as her breathing started to get ragged that very moment.
As an answer, Becky slammed her hand against the locker, which missed Hira's head by a few inches.
"An apology of course!" The popular girl roared as she leaned into the smaller teen's face who flinched hard at the aggressive movements. If Hira wanted to, she could have cowered away, but couldn't due to the line of lockers that blocked her escape, and because of the fear that was paralyzing her on the spot.
"You owe me one since you got me in trouble with the principal and made me look bad in front of my father." Her ice-blue orbs pinned sharply into the pale girl's frightened gaze, whose body by now was trembling madly like a dry leaf in the wild tornado.
"I-I didn't mean to cause trouble. . . " Hira was shaken up, but tried to explain her side to Becky with a calm and polite manner while she slowly leaned her body away to get space from the tight spot.
Unfortunately for her, the blonde bully did not take that gesture kindly and in the next second, Hira's wrist got caught by the cheerleader's strong grip.
A silent gasp escaped Luz's lips as she watched her classmate become even more hostile to the girl with plum-colored hair who felt the pure terror wash over her.
"Gosh you're so annoying!" Becky growled as her fingers squeezed the girl's wrist tight. "Just take responsibility and apologize already!" In reply, the other teen girl said nothing.
She couldn't as she was stunned to even yelp.
But eventually, she found her voice again. . . or more like she was desperately gasping for air.
"I-I-I. . .!" The girl with long braid stammered out in despair as her other hand immediately tried to pry the blonde's hand off of her but to no avail.
"N-No! P-Please, stop! You're hurting me!" Her voice was strained due to her now hysterical breathing pace.
Panic rushed through her veins like icy water, which eventually clouded her vision, and within seconds her grip started to slowly lose strength.
The sight of Hira losing her battle against her teen tormentor and anxiety finally got the third party behind the corner to come over her own shock, and make a dash for the nearest classroom she can reach. As she did that though, she didn't witness how her pet snakes crawled out of the small pet carrier that she forgot to close up.
"Stop overreacting to every little thing already!" Becky barked at her target, who by now was sinking onto the school floor with her damp eyes losing their shine. But the signs of distress only made the blonde roll her eyes in utter annoyance.
"It might have worked on others, but you won't fool me!" The blonde girl continued to disregard the whimpering girl who desperately tried to tug her way out of the iron grip while she was still hyperventilating.
"Please. . . stop. . . !" Hira was begging the popular girl, but of course, the blonde didn't listen and just continued to pressure her further.
"Pull yourself together, will you?!" Becky demanded once more, as her grip constricted, and the pain increased for the other teen.
"Now make this easier for the both of us and apologize!" The cheerleader captain repeated the same demand, but a small hiss got the blonde's attention, which forced her to rip her icy gaze away from her target and turn to the source of that sound.
The moment she did that though, regret came, which later on settled into pure horror.
"AAAH, A SNAKE!" Becky screamed from the top of her lungs as she backed away from the reptile fast and dropped Hira's wrist.
The older student planned to flee the scene, but her fear shot her down with clumsiness and as a result, she fell on her butt.
The green snake was frozen in place, but their gaze was fixated on the now scared popular girl who had no idea about what to do. Either way, she didn't dare to move. Her legs stopped working and her forehead was covered with bullet-sized sweat drops.
Then to her bad luck, the animal started to approach her.
That's when Becky almost let out another scream.
Almost.
But thankfully the rescue came in the form of a young girl in a purple/white cat hoodie.
"Oh my god, Luca!" Luz exclaimed in shock as she saw her reptile friend. "How did you get here?" She asked as she hurried over and picked him up.
"You again?!" The blonde girl snarled in contempt as soon as she identified the brunette that was the snake's owner. "You've gotta be kidding me!"
"What is going on here?!" A new voice boomed in, but it was deeper, and not to mention infuriated. Luz and Becky snapped their heads towards the direction where the shout came from, which was now followed by the sound of approaching footsteps.
Then after a minute or so, the adults arrived.
One of them was a red-headed woman with glasses. It was Luz's teacher, Mrs. Terrace. And next to her there stood two more adults.
A pale brunette woman who had green eyes and held her hair in a tight bun while wearing professional clothes like a tight suit jacket and skirt.
And then, there was the man who wore a much lighter outfit compared to the adult in a tight suit, but even with that, he still held the air of importance. He had a dark skin tone that matched his dark eyes while his face wore a light gray mustache that matched his hair and eyebrows. One of them was raised in question as he observed the scene before him.
"Care to explain?" He spoke, his voice deep and steady, but each word that left his mouth held an edge that raised the tension in the air. He locked his hands behind him and waited for one of the girls to speak up.
Eventually, the Latina girl was about to open her mouth, but someone decided to steal the thunder. . .
"It was them, Principal Hal!" Becky shouted out as she pointed a finger at Luz's and Hira's direction without a second thought. "They tried to hurt me with that snake when all I wanted was to talk!"
"That's not true!" The Latina exclaimed defensively her eyes went wide as her voice raised. "I was about to get my props for my book report, but then I saw you hurt Hira!"
After that, she turned to Hira quickly for clarification and confirmation.
"Tell them Hir-!" Luz cuts herself off with a small gasp as she caught sight of Hira who had been dead silent the entire time.
"Hira. . . ?" The brunette woman in the sharp suit called out, but said student remained in her position. . .
She was just staring at her right hand while the tears were flowing, and her lungs begged for oxygen. . .
"H-hey, are you okay?!" The Latina teen got more concerned and without consideration, she touched the girl's shoulder. The second she made contact, Hira finally cried out in fear.
Those brown eyes came to life again, but when they settled on Luz's face, she began to back away. Her eyes went even wider as she looked behind her and saw that Becky was still there. Her heart picked up the adrenaline, but still, her body remained too weak to get up.
"Hira, it's okay." The teacher with red hair calmly called out and slowly closed the gap between her and the teen girl's space. "Focus on your breathing. You're fine." She instructed softly while she offered her hand to the distraught girl who had a hard time keeping it together.
"It's okay. . ." Sadly, Hira backed away from that hand, meanwhile, her left one was guarding her right arm.
Thanks to the sudden adrenaline kick, she was able to scramble up the strength to get back up onto her feet.
But as soon as she did, she made a run for it.
"Hira!" Luz cried out in worry and just watched her disappear into the next corner.
"Alright, that's enough!" The dark-skinned man cried out, right before a scream came from one classroom.
"AH, SNAKE!" It screamed out, which made the adults look at the young Latina girl who continued to stare at the end of the hall where she had last seen Hira.
"What the. . . ?" The principal muttered it under his breath, but after shaking his head out of the confusion he turned to the adults. "Mrs. Parsons, could you call the animal control, and maybe the ambulance as well in case someone got injured."
The brunette woman in the suit nodded her head before she pulled out her phone and dialed 911.
"Mrs. Terrace, please go look for Ms. Zinnes, and once you find her, send her to my office immediately." The man instructed as he turned to the teacher who nodded her head and started the search already.
"Can I help with it?" Luz questioned as she looked at her principal with pleading eyes. "Please, I just wanna make sure she is okay."
"Absolutely not Ms. Noceda!" Principal Hal shut her down firmly. "You and Ms. Mallory here will report to my office right this instant." The response made the Latina girl disappointed, but she had no other choice in the matter.
She just silently complied with the figure with authority and walked beside him.
Becky did the same, but she was more reluctant and angrier about it than the other teen walking before her.
However, as they walked into the corridors, Luz took one last glance from behind, silently praying that Hira will be okay again. . .
Hira was now hiding inside one of the girls' bathroom stalls. She locked the door fast and tight, then collapsed onto the closed toilet seat with her body curled into a ball but limbs paralyzed to the core.
Once again, she attempted to catch her breath, but it was near to impossible.
Even with no people around, the damage had already left its mark and started to take severe effects.
The shakiness increased drastically. Her breathing was now jagged, and soon her head throbbed in discomfort.
To make matters worse, her mind brought up flashbacks that she never wanted to see again.
Memories that the teen girl desired to forget permanently. . .
First came the flashes of random images. . . then came along the echoes of a few voices that spewed venom. . . Then came a touch of phantom pain that washed over her every being. . . and the feelings remained like a burn mark. . .
'H-hey, are you okay!?' A frantic voice suddenly cried as a young figure with dark hair and tan skin approached. . . The vision was fuzzy, and the sounds were muffled. . . drowned out like she was in the bottom of the ocean. . .
Then Hira's brunette puffy red eyes snapped open with a loud gasp and salty tears that were running down her cheeks.
The sensation of this pain was still there, but then the young girl looked down at her hands and her breath halted the moment she realized how warm and sweaty they were.
Immediately the teen girl dug inside her bag and seized the familiar small plastic bottle with desperation. Without a second thought, she took off the lid, and shoved one pill down before she reached for her water bottle and washed down her parched throat.
The hurried pace caused the teen girl to gag a little, but after that, a pause came. A long one where she was now capable of emptying her mind and taking a deep breath. . .
The effects did not kick in right away, but at least knowing how it was inside her system gave Hira a sense of security.
Things were finally calmer.
But sadly, the gravity of reality hit her, driving her eyes to well up again while her body was concealing inside the stool's shadow, letting the darkness consume it, along with the disgrace and grief she sensed at that very beat. . .
Her hand went to wipe the silent tears, but when she brushed them off, her skin color became different. Hira let a sigh of dissatisfaction left her lips when she examined her white markings that got uncovered because of how her tears and sweat messed up her makeup again.
Exposed the ugly features that had been pointed out for her many times. . .
Many times. . .
Ultimately, she lets out a shaky sigh as her hands creeped up to her upper arms and closed her eyes at the dark thought of how the world will be better off without her. . .
She had seen it already. . .
No one wants to be around her no matter how she looks or what she does. . . and every time she felt that way, she asked this particular question. . .
'What's the point of sharing kindness if all they do is take advantage of it and use it for their own benefits?' Hira asked herself as she sniffed away. 'What's the point of trying to make connections when they reject you the second, they lay eyes on you. . . ?'
One shaky hand then slipped away and got into the teen's view with an open palm.
"Just. . ." However, it closed into a fist within seconds before it started to tremble violently.
"Just what's the point anymore. . . ?" She asked once more, before long and silent rivers started to escape from the corner of her eyes.