“It ain’t.”

“It is!”

"No, it’s not."

“Did you see her? It has to be.”

Ellie did her best to ignore the whispers that plagued the rooms around her. The classroom was packed, several schools having gone bankrupt and closing down subsequently, the high school herding students in the thousands. Despite the vast country land, the city beside it was large.

“It does look like it.”

The chatter was incessant, and Ellie looked around the classroom. The group of girls were huddled at a table, giggling away, eyes glancing at her and darting away every so often. Ellie was tired of it. She glanced around the room, classmates all conversing between each other. She gazed around the posters hung on the wall before her eyes drifted below the world map.

A girl with ebony curls, mahogany skin, and the richest eyes she’d ever seen.

Ellie looked away. Then she looked back.

The girl sat alone, cradling her chin in her hands. She had a notebook in front of her, sticky notes to the side, and several different colored pens and highlighters, and one single pencil. Her eyes stared intently at the door, as if waiting for the teacher to come in at any moment. Even though it was 15 minutes early.

The class at last began filling up. Ellie was missing her curious chance. She wasn’t a risk taker, and she never made friends, yet something about the girl intrigued her.

And so she picked up her bag, collected her headphones and MP3 player, and carefully took a seat next to the girl.

She looked up and locked eyes with Ellie, eyes squinting skeptically. Ellie tilted her head slightly, invitingly, perhaps. Then the girl cracked a small smile and Ellie’s heart jumped for joy. She had a chance at a friend.

The girl looked away and Ellie’s stomach sank. She scribbled something in a notebook, ringlets falling around her face, before picking up the notebook and showing it to Ellie.

“What is your name?”

Ellie quirked an eyebrow and smiled. “Ellie,” she said quietly. The girl sighed, writing in her notebook again.

“Lee?” Ellie laughed, gesturing to the notebook, writing her name out. The girl raised her head, mouth motioning in an “O” shape. She took the sticky notes, writing on a pink one with a red pen.

“My name is Auri. I’m deaf.”

“Like, fully?” Ellie asked surprisedly.

Auri raised an eyebrow, looking at her as if she was stupid.

Ellie felt stupid.

She took the notebook back, repeating, and Auri tilted her head from side to side. “It’s a range, technically HoH, but I’m mostly deaf, yeah.” Auri wrote a small smiley face next to her words, and Ellie grinned before she had an idea.

“Do you know sign language?” Ellie asked on the paper. Auri nodded, and Ellie scribbled excitedly, “Can you teach me??” Auri nodded happily, a toothy grin on her face, highlighting her chipped teeth behind her mouth.

“Class, settle down.” The teacher came in with a wide grin, her hair a gray mess strewn about in a bun. Her clothes were eccentric, the kind she had only seen in fashion magazines. “My name is Miss Evercroft, and I’ll be your teacher for the ongoing year.”

As class went on, Ellie stayed quiet, passing notes with Auri. As she glanced at Auri, giggling between class clowns, she noticed the details in Auri’s face. The mole on her right cheekbone, the low slope of her nose, and the way the spirals in her hair seemed to glow in the light of the window.

Hm.

Whilst Ellie admired her newfound friend, she failed to notice Miss Evercroft approaching their desks. “Miss Elizabeth,” she sighed, leaning her side onto Auri’s desk, causing her to flinch. “I understand the first day of school is exciting but please stop lovebird-ing in the classroom. I need you to focus on what I’m telling you. So, Elizabeth, eyes on the board.” She spoke quietly, as if not to draw attention. As Ellie looked around the room, attention was already drawn.

“What did she say?” Auri wrote, her expression full of disdain.

Ellie sighed and her lips twitched upwards. “Told us to focus on the board and to speak up more.” She didn’t know why she felt the need to lie, and she felt awful about it, but the boys were snickering around the room and she felt the need to protect the girl.

From what, she didn’t know.

After class was over, Auri picked up her belongings before Ellie put a hand over her notebook. She grabbed her own pen, instead of Auri’s, and the pink ink was a stark contrast to the dark blue that covered the busy page. “Walk you to your next class?” Ellie asked.

Auri gave a wide smile and nodded. Her blue sweater twisted around her arm as she offered her elbow to Ellie, who linked their arms together. They walked as if they’d been best friends for years, and Ellie didn’t know if the fear in her stomach was for Auri or for herself. She knew how these kids could be.

“Elizabeth!” Ellie turned around, Auri slowing down as Elizabeth looked for the voice. Who even called her that anymore?

She groaned mentally when she saw the sight of long brown hair; her old friend from elementary had grown up severely. Mariah was taller than Ellie—more Auri’s height—and she wasn’t the sickly looking kid that Ellie had protected years ago. “Elizabeth, how are you?”

Ellie’s eyes squinted, brows furrowing. She couldn’t figure out Mariah’s intent, her smile was forcefully wide and her hands just a bit still. She seemed to stand confidently now.

“I’m fine.”

“I’m sure you are.”

“Yeah,” Ellie nodded, turning back to Auri who was tugging her arm with their anchored elbows. They started walking away when Ellie stopped by a barked question.

“So, you and her…?”

“No.”

Mariah laughed, Ellie turning, eyes down. “How long have you known her? Ellie, I know you. You’re addicted to attention. Just let the poor girl go now.”

Oddly enough, Auri’s grip tightened when Ellie turned back.

“Elizabeth, we were good. Before you turned away, you had everything! My family was yours; in our house under God, you were invincible. This all started when you strayed from His path.”

“Mariah, stop. I don’t want to hear it, not anymore. It’s been years and you haven’t let this go?”

Ellie felt a tug on her arm and she thought of letting it pull her away, yet something kept her still.

“You were my best friend, before… it… took over. Just come back, Ellie, my family agreed with yours that we could help you.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “No.”

Mariah’s hand waved at the girl turned away from her. “Hey, anything to say? What’re you, mute?”

Ellie snarled as Auri glanced at her, eyebrows raised. “Don’t speak to her like that.”

“Then she's your girlfriend now?”

“She’s my friend. Haven’t known her before today.”

“Right, I’m sure. Just stop lying, Ellie. Please, stop lying,” Mariah sighed. “Well, just know I didn’t want this, but you have to learn somehow.

“All sins have consequences.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “What?” Her arms slipped out of Auri’s the second she saw the group collecting. They had all been passive, checking lockers, looking in classroom doors, walking up and down before classes–

Wait. Waiting, they were waiting...

Fuck.

Elizabeth couldn’t think to react before she was shoved to the ground by one, kicked by the other. A girl socked her cheekbone and she instantly curled on the ground, fetal position with her arms over her face. Her head throbbed harder and harder, the ringing growing louder and louder before she left.

This new space was peaceful, she found. She’d done this time and time again, but each time, the mindscape was different. The empty apartment was dimly lit by the moon over the city. It had no furniture, but a gorgeous ceiling to floor window stood on one side. Ellie found herself drawn to it.

She walked forward, nearing it, reaching a hand out–

The glass shattered, leaving her battered by the explosion.

On the other side of the empty hallway sat Auri, watching. Waiting for Ellie to wake up, maybe?

Ellie’s vision blurred as tears brimmed. She dragged herself up, hands drifting over her knees as she stood tall. Shaking her head and walking away, Auri rushed to her side. She frantically waved her hands. Ellie turned to her, watching as Auri’s hands formed complex shapes. Auri’s gaze fell from her eyes to her lips.

“I don’t understand.”

Auri swung her bag around reaching for her notebook, but by the time she glanced up, Ellie was already gone.

Auri choked on her voice, hiccuping a cry.