Iridescent

Zoella sat at her bedroom desk, the night lamp on, with her sketch pad in hand. She began to draw a picture of a fiend that often visits her nightmares. Surprisingly, it wasn’t in the one she just had, but it’ll probably be in the next. She came to the conclusion that her inner demons were haunting her for a reason; they’re apart of of her. And you can’t run from yourself. So, she decided that she’d be friendly with them. She’d draw them beautiful self portraits, and sit down with them and talk about who they are and why they do what they do, if they were up for it, in hopes that they’ll stop scratching at her ankles.
After about 15 minutes of drawing another detailed sketch of Tommy, (that’s his name, or her’s, until proven otherwise) she began to work on something else. But this time, it’s not a drawing, it’s writing. She wrote about nothing in particular for about 20 more minutes. She closed her journal, and looked over at her bedside clock, which read 5:17.
With a slight sigh, she got up from her desk, and walked to her dresser. She opened one of the drawers, and pulled out a sweater, along with a pair of wool leggings. She put them on, along with her fur boots. She walked to her window, opened it, and sat on the ledge. The cold air breezed in, sending a wave of goosebumps across her pale skin. A few snowflakes flew in her room, indicating snow. It was the first snow of the year. It hasn’t snowed since the week before Christmas, which is unusual for the small suburb of Baltimore, but it was snowing now.
Her teeth began to chatter, and her lip began to quiver. The only way to get warm was to move, so that’s what she did. There was a huge rose vine that coiled around her entire house, and that’s what she used to aid her escapes whenever they were needed. She turned around, and began to scale down the vine. When she made it to the ground, she clung to her tiny frame, and began trudging through the already thick coat of snow. Where she was going, she didn’t know. She decided she would walk until about 6 or so, then go home and get ready for school. She wouldn’t be missed, because even though her mother constantly babies her, she doesn’t check on her in her sleep. She used to when Zoella would have night terrors, but she stopped having those a while ago. Now it’s just plain old nightmares. Plus, she’s a 17 year old extreme introvert, why would she need to be checked on? Exactly.
She walked to the small creek behind her house, and sat on the edge of the bank. She put her fingers in the freezing water, which was almost ice. The sound of the water running put her at ease, along with the creatures that rose before dawn stirring. She saw a dark winged butterfly fly by, and for some reason, she was fascinated by it. If you asked her why, she couldn’t tell you. Well, more like she wouldn’t tell you, but you get the point. She began to compare herself to it, alone in the darkness, radiating darkness. She was still beautiful, but the dark type of beauty that could be lethal if you became too invested. And that’s what made her so intricate.
Zoella mindlessly got up, and began to follow the dark butterfly. It flew slowly, so it was easy to follow. She knew she wouldn’t be able to catch it, but she was so interested in it, and its not like she had anything else better to do.
It took her deep into the woods, and the further she went, the colder she became. Snowflakes fell in her purple hair, and she looked like a magical snow princess, mystically wandering through her forrest kingdom. The butterfly perched on the branch of a tree, and she stopped with it. She studied it. Its wings were black, with spots of white surrounded by dark blue. She thought it was a moth for a second, but it was indeed a butterfly. Why it was so dark, she didn’t know. She never saw a butterfly like that before. She got a good look at it, because she wanted to draw it later on.
While she was so invested in said butterfly, Zoella heard footsteps approaching in the snow. They were heavy, indicating that it was a person, not an animal. She hid behind the tree nearest to her, and peeked from behind it. The person was running, but at a steady pace. They stopped, probably to catch their breath, and Zoella got a look at who it was. Of course, it was Alex. She adjusted herself even more, so she couldn’t be seen. What was he doing running in the woods at this time? Was he just following her now? She knew he wasn’t, why would he follow her of all people. But it was odd how they met up all the time. It was like they were on the same astral plane, or something like that.
His hands were on his knees as he knelt forward, breathing heavily. He took his phone out of his pocket, and answered it. It must have been on vibrate, because Zoella never heard it ringing.
“Jack,” He breathed out, pushing his sweaty hair from his forehead, “what do you want?”
“Dude, can you come pick me up this morning?” His friend replied sleepily.
“Jaack, I have to get Leena too.” He whined, causing Zoella to giggle.
“Please? Rian has to take his little sister to school.” Jack begged, and Alex sighed.
“You’re a 17 year old senior in highschool, why can’t you drive?” Alex questioned.
“I can drive, I just don’t have a car. Yet.” Jack replied with a laugh, and Alex rolled his eyes.
“Sure. But you’re buying me breakfast.” Alex said sternly.
“Of course. How else would I get into those tight ass pants of yours?” Jack said sheepishly, and Alex laughed.
“Dude, shut up. I’ll be at your house at like 7 something, I dunno. I’ll call.” Alex shrugged. He began to shift his weight on his feet.
“Thanks. See ya.” Alex hung up his phone, and sighed. He turned around, and ran off, probably heading back home. After eavesdropping, Zoella figured she should do the same, since she didn’t know what time it was.
Once she reached her house, she climbed up the roses, and climbed into her window. She jumped in, and strode to her bed. She flopped down on it, and rolled over to check the time.
5:47. She got up, and sauntered to her bathroom. She took off her sweater, revealing her pale skin. She examined herself in the mirror, something she hasn’t done in a long time. She traced her hand across her throat, glad to see that she no longer had stitches, and it was only apart of her far too vivid nightmare. Her skin had rising goosebumps, since she was freezing. She turned on the shower, and while the water heated up she took of her wool leggings and boots.
While in the shower, she thought of Alex as her fingers scrubbed her purple mess of hair. She was so intrigued by him, and it was really getting on her nerves. She never talks to people, yet alone take an interest in them. But there was just something about him, something behind that player mold that he built for himself, something Zoella was dying to reach. But she probably never will, due to the fact that she can’t even tell him hello.
She stepped out the shower, instantly becoming cold again. She wrapped a towel around her trembling body, and grabbed another for her hair. She walked into her room, opened her closet, and decided what she was going to wear today. Once she picked her outfit out, she got dressed, and she realized she still didn’t do anything with her hair. She sighed, deciding that today it was going up in a wet messy bun, despite the fact that the temperature was probably in the teens.
After she was fully dressed, she looked to her bedside clock again. 7:09. School started at like 7:45, so she still had time to eat a small breakfast and walk to school. Her parents were still sleeping, if not they were just waking up, since her little brother Tobias had to be at school by 8:30. He was in the 7th grade. He and Zoella used to have tons of fun when they were younger. The two of them were very imaginative, so putting them together was like building an entire kingdom in your own house. But when Zoella took on her vow of silence, he became very distant as well. So the two of them kind of circle around each other, trying their best to stay out of the other’s way. Zoella often felt bad for her parents, since their kids were a huge mess.
She left her room and peeked into Tobias’s room, and he had just woken up as well. He waved to her, and she waved back, shutting the door. She bounced down the stairs, her skirt bouncing with her. Zoella never bothered to dress accordingly to the weather, because she didn’t like limitations. They annoyed her.
Once in the kitchen, she put the kettle on the stove to make some herbal tea, and she put a scone in the toaster oven. She sat patiently on a barstool, waiting for her food to be ready. She tapped her fingernails on the granite countertops, her mind completely blank. Her dad walked in the kitchen, disturbing her silence.
“Hey.” He said groggily, turning on the coffee machine for his morning mug. She smiled slightly, and got up to check on her tea. The toaster oven dinged, indicating that her scone was done. She took it out, and spread strawberry preserves on it. She then poured her tea in her to go thermos, and waved goodbye to her dad.
“You’re leaving? I’ll drive you.” He said, his sleepiness still in his voice. Zoella shook her head, telling him that she was fine, and headed toward the door. “Suit yourself. Bye, I’ll see you.” He called out, and with that she left.
As she walked down the frigid, snowy street, she began to think of Iris. Iris was never really something she thought about, but she seemed to have nothing else to do right now. She was always so beautiful, her freckles sprawled out across her face like constations in the night sky, and her dark wavy brown hair. But in Zoella’s dreams, she looked different. When she wasn’t a fiendish creature, her skin looked washed out, even paler than Zoella’s. And she was skinny. Very skinny. Zoella shook herself, because that wasn’t something she wanted to think about anymore.
When she arrived at school, she passed the commons, which is where everyone sat before the bell rang, and walked to the courtyard. It was her favorite place, since it was outside. It was surrounded by four walls, which had all kinds flowers scaling them at every angle. The ground was covered in various potted, and wild plants, with two benches in the middle. Everything was coated in a thin layer of snow, since it must have just started snowing here. She sat on the bench, took out her sketch pad, and started drawing the butterfly she saw this morning. Zoella always felt so at peace when she was outside drawing, it was her favorite thing to do.
Since the doors and windows surrounding the courtyard were all glass, she could hear all the people who walked by, but she zoned them out. Except one group of people in particular. Alex and his friends. He walked by, laughing loudly with a Starbucks cup in his hand, next to his best friends Jack and Leena. Zoella darted her eyes in his direction, but kept her head down. The three of them took a quick glance into the courtyard, but quickly turned away. All of them except Alex, who stared at her as he walked along with his friends.
“Alex.” Leena said, trying to grab his attention.
“Huh?” He replied as he turned back to her, his eyes still in Zoella’s direction.
“Did you hear anything I just said?” Alex scoffed.
“Yeah, totally. Something about your older sister, right?” Alex questioned uneasily. Honestly, he just guessed. He heard the words older and sister at least once, so that’s what he figured she said. He was too interested in the girl with the purple hair. Leena scoffed just like he did a few seconds ago. She turned began talking to Jack, and Alex tuned the both of them out as he watched her. She was drawing, something she did a lot, and was very good at. He shook himself, and walked away with his friends, her image still burning in his mind.