a {new} chapter // ghosty

[lyss]

Denim Barnes
Thirteen|District 6

Words are life my dear
______________________________

Denim was utterly floored with relief when the sweet sound of the dismissal bell rang out. School was coming to a close, and therefore her classes were getting stressful-even at her young age. She was struggling to keep up with all the information she had to cram into her skull for all the final tests in her classes. She spent too much of her time at home racing through the novels she had thieved with her blonde friend. She would stay up late at night, twisting her thin strands of her around her fingers as she flipped page after page until her head would slump against the scratchy pillowcase and her father would come turn out the lights.

"I'm worried about you, sweet girl," her father had said to her as she spooned oatmeal into her mouth the previous morning. "I always walk into your room near midnight to find you passed out with a book in your hands. Do you ever get enough sleep?"

"I get enough sleep, Papa," she had promised in between spoonfuls. "Reading makes me happy, and I'd sacrifice a few hours of sleep to be happy."

Denim immediately regretted her extra sentence when she saw the smile on her father's face falter. She placed her spoon down in her bowl, waiting for him to ask "Don't I make you happy?", but he only shook his head and smiled at her again. "Off to school now, your hear?"

She couldn't help but feel even more sad as the day passed and she continued the same routine. She knew her father was extremely worried about her. She had lost a lot of weight and was often so tired that she could be caught dozing off in some of her classes. She knew that her partner in crime had a lot to do with both facts. She spent a lot of time going on raids with him and his friends to only return with medical textbooks or science fiction novels. Her mother was still trying to regain the money they had lost on their unborn child, so Denim didn't get as much food as she used to. She refused any of the food her friends would offer her because she felt like a pest, and the side effects were drastic. She was extremely pasty, and her skin was stretched as tightly as possible across the whole of her body. She was losing an uphill battle to maintain a normal weight.

School should have been her sanctuary, but she had no friends outside of a rowdy group of boys that often annoyed her to the point of exhaustion. Just one normal friend, she thought as she scooped her books up into her arms.

"Ms. Barnes," her teacher called as she approached the door. "You forgot your grade report."

Denim grabbed a slip of paper with her grades on it on her way out. She laid the paper on top of her books and hurried out of the room, tilting her head toward the ground so she could avoid looking at faces. She darted through the halls, desperately trying to get home. She knew she'd get beat the moment her mother saw her grades, and she wanted to go ahead and get it over with. She raced down the front steps of the school and ran head-on into somebody walking at a normal pace. Her books smacked the stairs and slid down to the ground feet away and her report fluttered in the air in front of her.

"Sorry, sorry!" Denim cried as she rushed to get her stuff.

[ghosty]

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Lila Nightingale

[attr="class","LaiNhov"]

x

_______________________________________________________
twelve. district six. female.
If we're still alive
My regrets are few
If my life is mine
What shouldn't I do?
I get wherever I'm going
I get whatever I need
_______________________________________________________

The bell rang at the right moment, and Lila jumped up with vigour. It's time to go home, Lila thought. The grades came out today, and Lila was going to be happy to she her mother the grades. Near the top of her class. Well, she had almost no choice. Stephan threatened her that morning, "If you didn't get the grades, you'll be out before you even complain." And he never make jokes.

Lila walks out of the door and from down the corridor hears "Ms. Barnes, you forgot your grade report." Lila looked down the corridor, and saw a girl turning and grabbing the piece of paper from the teacher. Obviously got a bad grade. Shame. Lila walked briskly through the corridor and came through the main door to the outside world. Freedom. Hearing quick steps, Lila turns and...

Smash! Lila looks around and sees someone sprawled over the floor next to her. Picking up her bag, Lila collects the girls bag, made of denim. Ah, Denim Barnes. The pasty stick. Lila walked over and help Denim stand up. She turns and starts to pick her papers up and says "Sorry, sorry!" She tried, and failed to catch the report and Lila said "Denim, do you want me to walk you home? You're not hurt, are you?"

made by anzie

[lyss]

Denim Barnes
Thirteen|District 6

Words are life my dear
______________________________

Denim turned to look at the figure she had ran into and recognized her as a girl from her grade, Lila Nightingale. She helped Denim stand up and tried to help gather her things for her. How nice, Denim thought as she crouched down to pick up some loose papers. She shoved papers into various places hoping to condense her workload. "Thank you," Denim squeaked as Lila handed her a small pile of papers. As she shoved the stack into a binder, she noticed her report floating down the stairs.

Lila reached to grab the paper, but it flew too high for her to grasp in time. She turned back towards Denim and began to inquire the girl.

"Denim, do you want me to walk you home? You're not hurt, are you?"

"Now that you mention it," Denim began, gesturing to her blood-soaked knee and elbow, "I am a little beat up. Are you sure I'm not too out of your way for you to walk me home, though?"

Denim piled her books into her bag and shifted it over her shoulder. She anxiously glanced at her paper still hovering slightly above the steps and excused herself. "Hold on," she muttered as she quickly weaved her way through a throng of girls until she snatched the wrinkled paper. She prayed that no one had taken a peep at the paper while her and Lila were gathering her things. The thought of some mean, popular girl spotting her grades and getting her friends to gang up and tease her made her stomach churn. She crumpled the piece of paper up and shoved it in the front pocket of her rough denim shorts.

Denim wrapped both of her hands around the strap of her bag and gripped it hard as possible and unhappily trekked back up the stairs to Lila. The skin around her face paled even further as she reached the top. Her breathing was shallow and she felt a little woozy; she was suddenly very aware of the blood trickling down her left leg and forearm. Again, she barely managed to ask, "Are you sure you don't mind taking me home?"

[ghosty]

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Lila Nightingale

[attr="class","LaiNhov"]

x

_______________________________________________________
twelve. district six. female.
It’s where my demons hide
It’s where my demons hide
They say it's what you make
I say it's up to fate
It's woven in my soul
I need to let you go
_______________________________________________________

"Now that you mentioned it, I am a little beat up. Are you sure I'm not too far out of your way for you to take me home, though?" Throwing her bag over her shoulder, Denim turned and weaves through a crowd of girls, the main bullies of the school, grabbing her report from the ground. The way Denim recoiled from their nearness made it obvious that she was treated by them the same way Lila was. Badly. Very badly.

Lila turned as Denim climbed the stairs back to her. She looked pale, even for her. Denim almost whispered, "Are you sure you don't mind taking me home?" Looking up and down at Denim, Lila saw the blood trickling down her leg, congealing on the floor below her feet. Lila replied quickly, "No, you really do need to be helped back with the amount of blood you've lost. Anyway, your house is on the same route as mine, so not too far." God, now do I feel important?

Lila's brothers and mother were working till late, so Lila had a good 3 hours until someone missed her. If she didn't go back, her brothers would probably celebrate and party. They hated her, they really did. Forcing things onto her, 'Lila do this' or 'Lila do that.' She hated them, she really did. And she never did what they asked. So they attack her. At that thought she came back to the current day, as Lila bruises from her brothers started to ache. Denim looked like her mother and father loved her dearly, not even a scratch on her.

Lila turned back to Denim, and stuck out an arm towards her. "Are you ready to go home, Denim?"

made by anzie

[lyss]

Denim Barnes
Thirteen|District 6

Words are life my dear
______________________________

Denim watched as Lila’s eyes traveled down her body and widened at the amount pooling at her feet.

"No, you really do need to be helped back with the amount of blood you've lost. Anyway, your house is on the same route as mine, so not too far."

Denim smiled at the sweet girl and gave her thanks, knowing the situation would have been much different if she would have slammed into one of the girls that just passed her. There’d probably be a lot more blood, maybe a nest of hair off to the side. There’d be bruises on the pale girl’s exterior and interior. It was unfortunate that her much more brawny male friends never showed up for moments like that.

The girl, not being able to control her curiosity, lightly pressed her palm on the oozing wound. She pulled the now sticky hand and brought it back to her peripheral vision and nearly fainted. Her entire palm was coated in the crimson substance. Denim was use to gruesome injuries that the boys acquired on their rounds, and, being the only female, she was always the one that had to patch them up. She had become accustomed to gushing wounds, but it was different when the injury was actually hers. She was always careful when they raided houses; if she came home to Mama with a stitched knee or bloodied shirt, she’d get ten switches at the least.

In the pause of silence between the two girls, Denim eyed Lila just as she had done a moment ago. The girl had looked perfectly normal before, but she could now see faint bruises hidden by her wispy blonde hair and even darker ones purpling her limbs. She decided to swallow the questions burning her throat for the moment. It wasn’t Denim’s place to ask if she was the only one that was hurt. She barely knew they girl; they had only had brief exchanges like the one they were now-minus the gaping wound.

Lila snapped the other girl out of her daze by sticking her arm out towards her. “Are you ready to go home, Denim?” she inquired.

Denim greedily took a hold of Lila’s arm and thanked her once again “I’m ready, yes,” she said in a wavering voice.

The two set off in the direction of Denim’s home. As the two walked in near silence, she could no longer keep her questions down. She figured since there was a bruise yellowing near her thumb, it would be alright for her to poke a little at her. “I didn’t hurt you when I ran into you, did I?”

[ghosty]

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Lila Nightingale

[attr="class","LaiNhov"]

x

_______________________________________________________
twelve. district six. female.
It’s where my demons hide
It’s where my demons hide
They say it's what you make
I say it's up to fate
It's woven in my soul
I need to let you go
_______________________________________________________

Denim grabbed Lila's hand, almost surprising Lila with it's urgency. “I’m ready, yes,” her voice wavered carefully. Setting off slowly, the two walked slowly in the direction of Denim's home. The sun was beating down on the two, warming them through. Denim carefully eyed Lila's hand, and looked away quickly. “I didn’t hurt you when I ran into you, did I?”

Lila quickly answered with "No, you didn't hurt me at all. Don't worry.' Shock hit Lila, who had thought the bruises from her brothers had faded. Has anyone else noticed it? I hope not,Lila thought. The calm never left her face as she answered, but the inside was a different story.

Of the two of them, Lila was probably the better off. She lived in the posh part of the district, and didn't have any problems in school. Well, apart from those girls, the ones who think that they're the best. Bullying those who were different. Like me and Denim. Lila herself had seen when they picked on someone, and it wasn't nice. "Oi! Where do you think you're going, Nightingale?" It had to be them didn't it?

Storming after the two girls was the group of bully's, and they were not happy. "Being helpful again, aren't you," one spat out. "Goody-two shoes again." Lila muttered under her breath about hearing that joke before. That really annoyed them.

made by anzie

[lyss]

Denim Barnes
Thirteen|District 6

Words are life my dear
______________________________

"No, you didn't hurt me at all. Don't worry.” Denim nodded, thankful the only bruises from her ignorance were her own. She was grateful that Lila had been there to see the fall, for she knew she came from a family of medicine. She hoped at the end of the day she could have birthed a friendship with Lila. The two had seen each other around at school, and sure, there were probably opportunities where they could have become acquainted with each other, but Denim wasn’t used to that. The tragic birth of her stillborn brother Rohan still rattled her core, and she was unsure of how to pick herself back up after that. She hadn’t returned to the sweet, outgoing girl she had once been in her early childhood. Her soul had rotted a little, causing her to be socially inept.

In the midst of her brewing, she heard a girl cry out, "Oi! Where do you think you're going, Nightingale?"

Denim turned and glanced in the direction of the voice, her eyes finding those of the popular girls she had prayed to avoid today. They stormed towards her and Lila, for what reason, she wasn’t sure of. They all looked angry, even though from what Denim could recall, she hadn’t done anything to upset them. It was obvious after a minute, though, that Lila was the one they were after.

"Being helpful again, aren't you," one spat out. "Goody-two shoes again."

Lila muttered under her breath about hearing that joke before, which seemed to really annoy them. Denim wished she could remember one of the girls names, knowing it would give a little edge to her words. Her eyes swiveled until she found the snobby girl who just spoke.

Making sure that her eyes were locked with the other girl’s, Denim cautiously bit back, “Why don’t you go home? She hasn’t done anything to you.”