Vitality (Vitality Series #1)

Chapter 2 Lithium

Sometime between the late of the night and the early hours of day, before the rise of the sun, Ava woke so uncomfortable to her surroundings that she checked for her Bowie knife under her pillow, looked out the window, and out into the hall at least three times before feeling comfortable enough in bed again. This was normal. She would adjust soon. If you could call it that.

Finally, she removed herself from the bed to get the day over with, first pausing before the long oval mirror to look at herself, trying to admire what she saw. This was a daily battle. Tired eyes glistened back.

Her skin was soft but patched with memories of a hard-lived life. She wrapped her arms around her chest, her fingers reaching to the newest scars from an incident last year, grown through her tattoos. They were only a tiny fraction of the scars she had. That had to be at least a small testament to her strength. Yet, the worst scars were the ones that can't be seen.

Agatha College was small compared to what she had thought, and quaint, and sort of... personable. It was very old like everything else in town, and in a way felt private, like they shared some common inheritance the rest of the world didn't, the way small towns share tragedies and secrets and experiences. The air was thick with it. Unpleasantly thick.

Ava found her first class, Psychology 101, upstairs and on the other side of the building. After she found a seat, she pulled out the school's map to figure out a locker situation. Apparently, there weren't many, but most people didn't use them, and that just meant the pick of the litter was hers.

Excited students shuffled into class and settled in quietly, eyes wide and full of an eagerness that no amount of unsureness of the future could smother just yet. They still smelled new.

Her eyes were met with a sharp stare from Professor Green when she hadn't bothered to follow along in the overview pamphlet he handed out. It was hard to take him too seriously though, with his spiky neon-yellow hair, a big bald spot at the front of his head, and a hilarious — sometimes uncomfortable — droll sense of humor.

She had also met the pretty violet eyes of a girl next to her, named Ella, who seemed too aware of her. Ava almost felt claustrophobic under their attention and wasn't sure if that little square room was going to hold her much longer. This is just day one, she told herself, get it together.

As the psychology class ended, Professor Green said something quite ominous to leave them with, and Ava knew then that this town was going to be something else. "Remember, it's getting dark sooner and longer now. Tread carefully in the dark."

She gave him a lingering look when she couldn't quite grasp him, and because of that, his little eyes latched onto her as she left, his neck never turning an inch, but his eyes following her all the way out the door.

"The fuck?" she said under her breath and turned into the hallway.

The school crowd bustled innocently and energetically past her to its next classes, ready for the hustle to make a mark in life, and she couldn't help gawking at all these busy little bright things. She felt so apart from them.

Next thing Ava knew, she was running into Dahlila outside their two o'clock anthropology class. A surprising wave of relief washed over her when Ava realized it was her. And then guilt — for feeling that relief probably.

"Ava!" Dahlila's tone was enthusiastic as usual. "There you are!"

Dahlila had traded in her informal clothes for an elegant cream sweater, its softness so rich it almost seemed to shine beneath the fabric and her vibrant yellow hair lying silkily in even curls around her shoulders, a pair of tapered maroon pants, and subtle heels, topped off with delicate gold jewelry, and her diamond pinkie ring frosting the whole of the outfit. She looked stunningly perfect. A little too perfect for Ava's taste, but beautiful nonetheless.