SURVIVE (THRIVE: Book Two)

Chapter 4- New Friends

I always feel like the day after a storm produces the brightest sunshine. The dark clouds are all gone, leaving nothing behind but the warmth and clear blue skies. A part of me is glad that I slept in late, walking through town to the southern jungle is always peaceful for me. This gives me some time to collect my thoughts. I had been pondering my dreams for years now, but I'm still no closer to figuring them out than the day that it started. I may have had more insight by now if I would actually talk to someone about them, but I don't want anyone to get concerned and try to have my soul read. Nightmares scare me, but having a priestess invade my mind feels far more disturbing to me.

"Marissa, where did you go?" I suddenly hear a young woman shout from behind me. When I turn around, I see a beautiful girl peeking around at the trees, supposedly looking for her friend. She's tall and thin, and her long brunette hair is braided and rests over her shoulder.

"Lose someone?" I ask as I stop to wait for her. Suddenly, she turns her attention forward and sighs as she approaches me.

"Ugh, yes." she huffs as she looks up and takes a deep breath, exhaustedly letting it go. "My friend Marissa is a pain in the ass sometimes. She thinks she's being funny when she runs off and hides, but she scares the shit out of me when she jumps out," she explains.

"Yikes, I'm sorry." I sigh "Need help looking?" I offer kindly. She looks back at me and smiles, then shakes her head at the suggestion.

"You're sweet to offer, but I'll be fine." she answers softly, then suddenly starts shouting at the trees "If she doesn't come out I'll just have to go to the beach without her," she shouts. Suddenly, I hear rustling from the trees and a cute, curvy woman about the same age jumps down right in front of us.

"Buzzkill." she huffs as she brushes the twigs off of her shirt.

"Hey, you started it." the other woman laughs, then turns her attention back to me "I'm sorry, I never caught your name." she smiles as she reaches her hand out to me.

"Tessa," I say politely as I shake her hand.

"Cleo." she smiles "And you probably guessed that this bitch is Marissa." she starts to laugh.

"Hey!" Marissa shouts, then kicks at the ground.

"You guys heading to the shore?" I ask as I continue walking down the path.

"Yep. Mind if we walk with you?" Cleo asks as she follows behind me.

"Sure thing." I smile as I continue. As we walk, they begin to tell me about themselves. It sounds like they help run things at a little textile shop uptown. I curiously ask how they managed to find a job like that, and surprisingly they just struck up a conversation with the owner while shopping one day and he liked them enough to hire them on the spot. Somehow, hearing that eases some of my worries. I guess you don't have to be born into a successful family to make it in this life. They ask me a bit more about myself, and I tell them about my life living in the group home. Despite the tragedy of circumstance, it honestly isn't that bad. I got to have sisters and brothers that I otherwise would have been too shy to talk to. They seem happy that I'm making the most of things, and honestly, I really am. There are certain parts of this life that suck sometimes, but I'm doing pretty well for myself. I study hard, I have a lot of skills that will hopefully help me out later down the line, and I apparently have a fighting spirit when I need to. I wouldn't change any of it for anything.

When we step out onto the beach, we're blinded by the bright sun reflecting off of the sand and the water. So many people have already set up down here for the day. I watch women sunbathe while their kids run around playing warriors and having splash fights. I miss being that young sometimes. As I scan the beach, I finally see Aria and Pearl burying Alex in the sand.