“School was alright. No one in my class would talk to me. Not even the teacher.” Myah stated as she looked through the shop Ryann had brought her to.
Ryann hummed as a response, but kept a close eye on the clerk who eyed her nervously before slipping behind a curtain. “Have you talked to any of them?”
“Of course I have. But they all kind of just pretended not to hear, or they called me a murderer or a witch or something like that.” She shrugged lightly, gauging the worth of a starfish in her hand.
Ryann turned back to her, worried that their attitudes would hurt her, but whenever he looked into her eyes, she seemed to she have barely even noticed the chaotic fear that she caused in others. He wondered if it was because she didn't care or because she was already so used to it.
As they were walking home he finally decided to ask her if she were really okay, especially with what had happened at the gazebo.
Myah stopped to look at him with questioning eyes. Ryann, who stopped a few steps ahead of her, turned to mirror back her questioning stare.
She looked so different. Different than the five year old in the photo he kept in his pocket. She was taller, and curvier, and had lost all of the childish roundness on her pretty face. Her eyes were glistening and clear, you could read them like the sky. Her skin seemed as soft as the skin of a peach, and her lips were a full, perky pink. And her hair, how he loved her bright, wavy hair, was long and touchable, and smelled like coconut.
She looked like an extraordinary young lady. Why people dislike Myah was beyond him.
Then, Myah shot him a devilish smile and, before he could ask why, she pulled him into a sudden, tight hug. He gasped in disbelief, his face bursting with color up to his ears.
"Oh, Ryann!" she stated in a know it all tone as she secured her arms around his neck. "You haven't changed a bit!" she cheered in glee as she playfully rubbed their cheeks together.
Even with just this slight contact, Ryann's insides went crazy and his face went hot. Then he smiled at the familiarity of her skin against his, never knowing such happiness without her. "You haven't changed, either!" he managed to get out with a childish laugh.
"Good!" she teased, releasing him from her grasp, “Now why don’t we go to my place? But I don’t know how to get there from here, so you’ll have to show me!” She laughed at the senselessness of it.
He smiled with a nod, understanding her easily. “Where do you live now?”
"Now? Oh, you mean after they destroyed my parent's house?" she asked, sourly.
Ryann didn't answer. It wasn't like he could stop the demolition crew. It wasn’t like he didn't try, either.
"In the mansion..." she answered after a moment, beginning to walk ahead of him.”The one on top of the highest hill, in the middle of the island, the one that's supposed to save everyone on the island when the big one comes..." she murmured in a grim tone.
"Are you saying you have the whole mansion?" Ryann jogged to catch up with her, his tone in slight disbelief.
"Yep, we got the whole mansion. At an outrageous price, thanks to yours truly..." she growled, "I told Rebecca that we shouldn't buy a mansion of all things, but the realtor insisted. I think they just wanted me at the furthest house from the town." Myah sighed, her brows scrunched in a grouch. “But Rebecca seems to like it. She says she needs exercise, fresh air, and that the fresh food would make her food taste better. As if that were even possible,” Myah chuckled.
"Who’s Rebecca? Is she your aunt or something?"
"No." Myah denied enthusiastically. "Rebecca’s my foster mother."
"Oh, foster—foster mother?!" Ryann did a double take, staring at Myah in disbelief.
"Yeah..." she muttered, staring at the ground and kicking an invisible rock.
"But... Then that means your parents are—"
"Yeah, they're dead..." she finished his sentence as she stuffed her hands into her pockets.”They went down with the ship. I was the only one that survived."
Ryann looked away. He thought about how life would be horrid knowing you were the only person to survive a tragedy. “I’ve been meaning to ask.”
“How?” she cut him off again. “I’m not sure. I was told that I washed up on the main land the next morning. I don’t really know how. I just remember…” Her voice trailed off at the memory, as did her gaze.
Ryann waited a moment before pressing her for more of an answer. “Remember?”
Myah took a deep breath before shaking her head. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. It’s really silly anyway, I probably just imagined it.”
“Imagined what?”
She smirked at Ryann’s prying. “I thought I was saved by a mermaid,” she finally revealed to Ryann’s amusement.
“A mermaid?” he chuckled.
“A mermaid.” She reconfirmed, before scolding his laughter. “Don’t make fun of me! I was only five, I’m sure I just imagined it after seeing a big fish or something.”
Ryann gave another light chuckle, staring at her gorgeous smile, thankful for whatever ‘mermaid’ had saved her.
Myah stared lingered in his, biting on her bottom lip under his amethyst irises before shaking herself back to reality. "But that's old news now! The important thing is that I survived, right?!" Myah stated as she skipped forward again. "Now onward to my place once again!" she pointed forward with a cheery smile and an ecstatic voice.
Ryann followed after, though not as cheerfully. He was more than worried about her. She must be broken to pieces inside…
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