Breathe Deeply

Taelyn walked up to the side doors of her school. It was a windy day, but the sun still shone bold and brightly, beaming down on the people below. Seagulls were flying overhead, soaring from building to tree and back. They were always out in the morning, screeching and conversing with each other. The early bird gets the worm.

Tae reached out to open the chipped blue doors when someone yelled her name. Tae turned around; her hair whipped around in every direction, almost blinding her. A grimace formed around her glossy lips, her hair had decided to attach itself to them. She spotted her friend waving her over a few feet away from her.

Her fingers grazed along the corners of her mouth, trying to find the hairs and pull them off without ruining her lip gloss. A group of her friends were standing by a place better known as ‘the tree’. It was honestly a big tree at the end of the school grounds, near a fence. The stoner kids would usually hang around there in the morning, at lunch and after school. Normal kids hung out there too, just not as much.

Taelyn began to walk over to her friends, stepping carefully around the muddy patches of grass, cringing when she felt a squishy spot under her foot. As Tae got closer to them, she noticed why they were running around and flailing their arms; they were blowing bubbles. She eyed them warily, not quite wanting to go closer to them. A short, black haired girl grinned at her and ran over to her. Her white teeth stood out brightly against her light brown skin. Her name was Macy.

“Hi Tae-tae! How are you?” she asked and hugged her. Tae smiled and hugged back.

“I’m fine, why are they playing with bubbles?” she asked quickly, looking over to the group.

“Bubbles are fun, that’s why. Don’t you like bubbles?”

“No,” Tae said sharply. Macy looked hurt; Taelyn didn’t mean to snap at her like that. She sighed deeply and mumbled a quick apology and that she had to go to her locker. She walked away quickly, gazing at her school. She sighed to herself and quickened her pace towards the yellow and blue school. It was painted a pale yellow with two blue bricks painted underneath each window—the size of a brick was the size of half a window.

Tae swung open the blue doors and ran up the stairs, eyes stinging. She hurried to her locker, almost running down the hall. Calm down, she told herself as she stopped at her locker, quickly turning the dial this way and that. The lock clicked open and she opened the door, looking into the magnetic mirror on the door. Her eyes were a bit red and she looked more tired than upset.

Good, she thought to herself, maybe I can fake being tired and no one will question me. She thought back to the bubbles and cringed. Tae held back a sob and hung her head slightly.

“I’m so sorry daddy,” she whispered, “I never meant to have you killed.”