Relapse

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Evitan felt the heat radiating off her parents. Their arms were wrapped around her, her mother's cheek squished against her forehead and her father's chin resting on her mother's head. It was going to be a good day, she hoped. It will be a good day. It's only the first day. The first day after a year.

Her mother leaned back slightly, not taking her sight off of her. "Ev, try to talk to more people, alright?"

Evitan nodded. "Yeah, don't worry. I've got this. It can't be that bad, everyone that didn't like me last year graduated already." A faint smile appeared over her mother's mouth

"I forgot about that," she said, wiping away the non-existent tear from her eyes.

Evitan slipped out of their embrace. "Look, I've got to go within the next few minutes if I don't want to be late." She nudged her father's arm

"Oh, right," he breathed harshly before reaching into his pockets. The spiraled band wriggling in his fingers, metal jingling against each other. "Stay safe, okay?"

"Got it, I love you both!" she slipped out the door, fingers holding tightly onto the keys. It was just one day. The first day. Nothing would be the same. Except it was the first day after a year. She'd drive herself to school and nothing bad would happen. There would be no bullies, no friends who knew she was away for a year. Nothing.

She felt the cool air rolling through the window she cracked slightly. She missed the smell of maple leaves and damp dirt. She had the urge to run over to the wooded area behind the school's parking lot and sink into the Earth, it seemed so serene.

A quick knock on her window jolted her out of the daze. Evitan was greeted with Celestial's presence on the window. "Hey, it's me!"

Evitan resisted the urge to smile so sheepishly. Celestial stepped to the side, car door swung open, and Evitan stepped out. "I missed you! And you look different," she said in the classic small tone they spoke in. Her eyes drifted to the student in the car in front of her. He gave her a puzzled look and then looked away immediately.

Celestial draped her arm over her shoulder. "How so?"

"Did you clean up the eyebrow thing? It looks cleaner than it did last year. Oh, and your skin!" she paused. "For someone who has been in the tropics all year, you're not a lot darker than you were then."

"I cleaned my eyebrow up a long time ago, excuse me for having slowly growing facial hair. And I was in the Philippines for a week, the rest of the time I was in Norway. For some reason, my grandparents wanted to go there." Celestial jumped in front of her. "White people are weird. I wish my mom left me with her grandparents in Thailand, how cool would that have been?"

"I wouldn't have met you if you were left to go live in Thailand." Evitan tried to picture her life without Celestial. They've only been apart a year and she felt like it was a lifetime. There were so many things she wanted to hear about. The adventures in Norway, a week in the Philippines, the slow growing facial hair history. Anything

Celestial continued to lead the way to their class. "Yeah." Together, the two of them entered the class as another student was walking out. She shoved directly into Celestial. "Haha, woah, watch it."

Evitan let out a quiet laugh.

"I'll be back," she called after Evitan. "Gotta pee!"

The classroom was filled. It was a cluster of familiar faces from the last two years she was in school. Evitan didn't know how to feel. She scanned for the seat furthest away from the rest of her classmates and sat in the one away from them and the teacher's desk. Her sight shifted to the door.

The smell of musky gym shoes and morning coffee were nothing new. It wasn't the most pleasant smell but it's what she would grow accustomed to in the next one hundred eighty days. She watched one by one as people began to arrive, each other varying from the last while being secretly stereotyped by Evitan. There was a devious grin on her face which quickly disappeared once she realized who will share her air for the rest of the semester.

She, who speaks demon, trendy platinum hair and a killer figure turned her body to meet Evitan in the eyes. "Ev!" She laughed nervously. "Oh, so good to see you back!"

She forced out a happy expression. "Hi, Vixen," she said between gritted teeth. Her pulse rose and she felt her face warming. "It's good to see you too."

Vixen slid into the seat next to her. Her voice lowered as their teacher began speaking. "How's Motlee?" she rested her head on the palm

"Good. Going for his doctorate."

"Oh, that's good to hear!" She turned away from her. "Say, what other classes do you have?"

Evitan unfolded her schedule and laid it across her desk. "Here." She admired Vixen's skillfully manicured nails and envied her expertise in personal hygiene. Evitan didn't even enjoy showering. She found nail polish and face masks tedious unless Celestial persuaded her into treating her skin. The scent of polish itched her deep in the brain and would make her irritable. She showered this morning, though. She figured it would be better to smell clean after a year rather than let your older teachers assume you were a hoodlum.

"Hey," Vixen passed her schedule back to her. "We've got gym together for the term, and forensics for the year."

It was going to be a good day, she promised herself. It's a good day. The first day. Nothing would be different. Except, it was the first day after a year.