Tearing at the seams (Open)

[Angela Chambers]

Angela had taken off early that morning. She wasn’t in the mood to go to classes. It was the same thing every day. Her taking notes. That was all. She doubted anybody would actually notice her absence. In each of her classes, she sat in the back corner, hoping nobody would notice her existence, hoping she was invisible to the eyes in the room. However, as invisible as she usually became, it wasn’t quite as satisfying as she often hoped it would be.

It left her with an… empty feeling. At home when she was invisible to her parents, she’d always found it to be a great relief. That their anger had never been turned onto her, except for those last days with them. She had thought that being invisible at Hammel would be much the same, but it wasn’t. Her defense mechanism left her feeling as if she were drowning in the world and there was nobody to help her.

Of course, she knew it wasn’t true. There was Dr. Neville. And Bell. But she didn’t talk to either of them about these things. Not yet at least, as far as Dr. Neville concerned. And she never wanted Bell to know. If he knew about it, he’d never see her the same. Not as the girl he hung out with and laughed with (and sometimes at). Bell had quickly become her ray of sunshine since coming to Hammel. And she never wanted that to change. Telling him would do so, wouldn’t it?

Her self-pity was quickly taking over her. Her first thought in the morning and her last thought before bed was about just how hard things had become for her. Essentially, she was keeping herself, an entire part of her history, a secret. She didn’t want anybody to know. About her parents. About what happened. Keeping this secret was finally beginning to catch up to her. This secret of hers felt as if it had her ripping at the seams, threatening to burst from her.

She hadn’t realized she begun to cry until she felt little drops against the tops of her knees.

[Belle Harrington]

Belle had wandered off again, she knew she should have been in class, but she knew that missing a day wouldn't really effect her marks, not with how well she had been doing lately. She wanted to fly this time, but she didn't want to be on the school property to do so. She knew that if she was just flying around someone would recognize her and wonder why she wasn't in class like she was supposed to be. So she went to the next largest open place she knew, The Lake.

When arriving to the lake, Belle could feel her heart drop, she had had so many memories here with Lucah. She remembered coming here the day she met his father, and watching Lucah cry. She remembered telling the blue eyed boy how much she loved him that very day, and then she remembered how he had panicked and got scared, and how she had to chase after him to stop him from going back to Romania.

Belle stood still, starring at the lake, all these emotions and memories rushing back to her. This is why she needed to fly, she needed to clear her mind, she needed to just get away. So taking off her sweater, Belle's shoulder blades were exposed, she knew if she didn't take her sweater off, the force of her wings would tear it apart.

Looking around Belle made sure the coast was clear, she didn't necessarily want to scare someone with her giant white angel wings. So with a small wince of pain, Belle released her wings. One at at time they came out of her back. She ruffled her feathers like a bird, and prepared herself for flight.

That's when she heard a sound. It was a faint sound, but Belle knew it well. Someone was crying. Belle looked around and noticed a little blonde, a few years younger than her, curled up and crying. She couldn't help herself when she picked up her sweater and made her way over to the other blonde.

Reaching the girl, Belle crouched down on her knees, completely forgetting that her wings were still exposed, "A-a-are you o-okay sweetie...?" She asked softly, trying to not scare the girl.

[Angela Chambers]

Perhaps skipping her classes wasn’t the best of ideas. In class it was easy to hold herself together. Pretend as if nothing were wrong and she were simply the quiet girl in the back of the class. She was realizing that it was in front of the prying eyes of her classmates and teachers that she could act as if she were just like any other teenage girl. It was easy then. Showing sadness, crying, letting people know that you were weak or falling apart. Those were unacceptable things in her eyes.

But out here? By the water? She’d been alone, or so she thought. And allowing herself to feel all the emotions she’d carefully locked away deep down inside of herself… It was overwhelming. And she felt as if there was a possibility that they, and her crying, might never stop because of the sheer intensity what she was feeling.

It was then she realized that she wasn’t alone like she thought. Perhaps if she weren’t so wrapped up in her own mind, she would’ve heard the footfalls. But combine the sounds of her crying and the fact that she was developing a headache (a result that always transpired whenever she felt something more than numb). It was those reasons the soft sounds of somebody nearing her went unnoticed.

Only the voice broke Angie free of the emotions that had. No tears. No signs of weakness. Not in front of somebody. Turning away from the other girl, Angie used the sleeve of her jacket to wipe her eyes. Before she spoke in response to the intruder that she was so grateful for, the young girl had to clear her throat that had become thick in her sadness.

“Oh yes. I’m fine. I uh haaave… allergies you see.” As one might be able to tell, Angie wasn’t familiar with lying. So when she did, convincing wasn’t exactly the word one might use to describe it.

After she was sure her face was clear of any tears, Angie looked at the other girl. Two things grabbing her attention. One, the girl’s wings. They were absolutely beautiful. And the freshman was filled with the want to touch them. Thought she didn’t. Two, was that she was missing a shirt. Which made Angie’s head snap right back away from her.

“Um… You’re… You’re um… Missing a shirt. Incase you were unaware.”