“Alexis, so about the camera,” I began as I showed her the camera inside my bag. She rubbed her hands across the engravings of the camera.
“It seems to me that this requires some kind of help from the Wiccan goddess.”
“The what?” But she was already dashing out of the way as she made her way through the undergrowth of the forest. Zipping through vines and other undergrowth I made my way closer as I struggled to keep up with the fast pace she was moving.
“We’re here. At the church of the Wiccan goddess.” She said.
“Ok, can you just stop,” I said. But Alexis started kneeling on the ground. She started going into a really dense state of meditation as she murmured a saying.
Not sure what to really do with my time, I knelt down and went into the same form of meditative state. The entire field in front of me was barren and empty. Not a single dust ball rustled across the rest of the field. I could feel the breathing of Alexis across from me.
Suddenly I could hear bells ringing next to me. The chiming of the bells echoed through my ears. Panic started racing through my body. I wanted it to end. Lifting my hands to my ears, I prepared to close them. Alexis must have sensed this thinking because she said, “Don’t do it.”
“Focus. Focus your thoughts on the innermost power within you.”
“Stop! What’s the point? I just wanted to know the engravings on this camera, and you all of a sudden go through this emptying yourself kind of way of life.” Alexis looked down at herself. She opened her eyes. I could hear a little bit of a muffled cry come out of her eyes.
“You know, I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m really sorry for what I said.” I looked out into the emptiness of the fields. The field just left me not feeling anything.
“I just wanted somebody to meditate with,” Alexis said. “I guess that you can’t quite understand with what I am going through.” She pulled out a bell in front of me. “Here, take this.”
“Wait, could you please explain what you’re talking about?” I asked, but she turned away.
“Just take it!” she said. I took the bell, ringing it into my ears. Attached to it was a small ribbon at the end of it. I stuck it in my pocket.
“Thanks, I’ll take it,” I said.
“About the camera, if you don’t want it…”
“No, I’ll keep the camera.”
***
I walked through the hallways of the school. This time, I think I’m going to try to be a little bit more careful. This time…
My thoughts were interrupted by Rachel and the gang hanging out in the middle of the hall. She laughed and seemed to tell a lot of sophisticated senses of humor; however, I could not help but feel that it was all a ruse. Her hands shook whenever she spoke with her friends. The jaws that kept her smile in place seemed like they were starting to wear out. Though she tried hard to mask it.
Then, as I was making my way to the bathroom, I could hear a muffled sob deep within. I stepped inside the bathroom, peering in.
“Hello?” I called. The room was dark. The girl’s bathroom was as empty as a coffin after the mummy’s remains had turned into ashes—except this time the soul had remained within it. Crawling inside, I gave a small knock to where the crying was coming from.
“Go away,” the person crying said. I knocked again, this time ever so slightly. I cringed, ready for a shout to come out of her mouth. I was getting ready to be trashed, ready to be annihilated by whoever was in there—even though I already knew.
Slowly the door creaked open. Rachel sniffled a little bit as she looked into my eyes. Part of her hair had fallen over her left eye, covering part of her face.
“What do you want?” she asked. I paused for a second. What was I doing here? What was it exactly that I wanted to do inside this bathroom?
Suddenly her mouth turned away. She started choking as she spat out a liquid from her mouth. I reached forward and pushed her head towards the toilet in order to prevent some of the vomit from getting into her hair.
She panted after the wave was over. “Ok, you can let go now,” she said. Releasing her hair, I backed away, while she leaned her back against the toilet, exhausted.
“Are you sick?” I asked.
“No, silly!” she growled. “I have anxiety issues! Can’t you tell?! Don’t you ever see me inside of class? It always feels like the teacher wants to call on me, I panicked and…” she started panting harder.
“Easy, there,” I said, putting my arm around her. No words were spoken. She cried on my arm. Tears streamed down on my shoulder, wetting my shirt. It’s ok, I wanted to say, but no words came out of my mouth.
For the next half hour, I was the pillow that Rachel cried on. When she was done, she lifted her head.
“Don’t tell my friends,” Rachel said.
“I won’t,” I replied.
Inside of her hair, I took out the bell from my pocket and rung it a little bit in her ear. The dinging of the bell rung inside of her caused her breathing to calm down.
***
“I just wanted to thank you for being willing to sit with me,” said Rachel.
“It was nothing,” I replied. As I got up, a stinging pain electrocuted through my back. Lifting myself up, I felt my arms could barely move as they ascended to the walls in front of me. Struggling up, I tried pulling myself up using one of the sinks. Rachel must have noticed because she immediately knelt down and tried to pick me up.
“No, I’m fine,” I said.
“You don’t look very fine. Here let me help you,” she said. I gave Rachel a bit of a puzzled expression. All this time, I had dismissed her as a mere person that masked herself from other people, and now here she was, offering me a chance to help. I picked up her hand and together we began to walk out of the girl’s bathroom.
Inside my room, I tried to analyze the weight that had just fallen on top of me after I helped Rachel.
“Honey, is everything ok?” asked my mother. I turned away. I grabbed the bell and dinged it a little while my camera warmed up.
“This bell here is made from a very mysterious substance,” I said. “It managed to heal someone when they were down; however, it also managed to absorb energy from me too.”
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