"I fell asleep on the beach, and the waves must have got a hold of me... I’m really sorry…" Myah’s tone was hoarse as she pet the tangled mess of braided hair that shook against her shoulder.
Rebecca could barely manage her emotions as she clung on to her taller foster daughter, burying her nose against Myah’s damp shirt. “Please,” she croaked over tearful hiccups. “Please don’t go there… Not by yourself. Not again. Okay?”
Myah’s hand hovered over her caretaker’s tangles as her stance hardened, her stare suddenly distant as if abducted by a creature of her mind.
Rebecca peeked up at the far-off stare of her foster daughter, knowing that forlorn look too well. Without a pause, Rebecca wrapped her arms around Myah’s head and pulled it downward, cradling it in the nape of her shoulder and caressing her cheek. “Please don’t give me those eyes, amor. I was worried sick while you were gone. What would I do if Ryann hadn’t found you? Tu eras mi vida, amor, I couldn’t live without you. Tell me what’s on your mind.”
Myah eyes stung at the helplessness in her caretaker’s voice, at the warmth radiating from her skin, at the memories of Rebecca warding off loneliness with a single touch. Those were memories Myah had almost washed away in the ocean drift. She clung on to the hemming of Rebecca’s shirt, tightening her fist in anticipation.
Just like when Myah was a child, Rebecca’s embrace tightened, as if trying to squeeze every ounce of emotion she could into the hug.
With a shaking breath of relief, Myah let go of the shirt’s hemming, feeling a ton of bricks lifted from her shoulders. With this weight now lifted, she could carry the heaviness of her next burden. She raised her head and warded off stray tears with the corner of her thumb. Straightening her stance, she smiled timidly at Rebecca. "Nothing is really on my mind. I'm just really tired, so I think I’ll take a nap.” She was speaking directly to Rebecca, but her voice sounded miles away.
Rebecca’s chest cringed, the distance in Myah’s smile hitting its mark on her heart despite the canyon between them. She looked past Myah’s shoulder where Ryann stood at the opened doorway, his eyes sullen and grey like the loitering clouds in the background. His stare was glum, and he gave a weak shrug in Rebecca’s direction. Swallowing the dry lump in her throat, she turned back to the disheveled Myah. “Have you…thanked Ryann yet?”
Myah’s stature shrunk, suddenly losing an inch in height. Her head hanging heavily, she swung her cheek to the side, giving a meek ‘Thank you’ over her shoulder.
Ryann stayed where he stood, the corners of his lips tugging toward the ground, his brows crowding together like an impossible knot.
With her arms crossed against her chest, Rebecca took a small step aside, giving Myah the okay to stalk up the stairs to her bedroom.
With eyes that gently shifted into fiery concern, Ryann watched Myah’s every step up the pearl staircase, taking note of how white her knuckles were as she clung on to the rails.
Rebecca let out a heavy sigh, leaning against the mansion’s lofty door, tracing the ocean swells engraved into the wood with her finger. “I couldn’t thank you enough for what you’ve done today, Ryann, and I’m sorry to ask you for the details. Why don’t you stay a while and I can make you some lunch?”
"I don't think his father would appreciate him hanging around our house." Myah’s tone was carried by an arctic breeze, chilling Rebecca to the bone.
"Myah!" Ryann melted her freezing breath with a blazing hot hiss, irritated with her attitude.
"No, Ryann, she's probably right. Even if we don't want her to be..." Rebecca mustered up the strength to cut Ryann off before he could say any more.
Ryann glared at her in retaliation, his lips puckered. “I don’t care what my dad thinks about her, Myah is my best friend! I want her to know that nothing’s going to change that, least of all him.”
“But listen Ryann, with everything that’s happened with today and last night…” her voice trailed as she squeezed her eyes shut, her fingers massaging her forehead. “We have plenty of time to talk somewhere else. Maybe we can talk somewhere in town.” She shifted her stare just in time to catch Myah drag her feet around corner. “I think…we could all use a little rest.” Rebecca turned back around, her dark irises pleading, a frown deeply engraved on her chin.
Ryann’s nostrils flared with the last of his flame, his amethyst eyes drilling into hers. “Please, let me check on her in a few hours. If she wakes up before I get back, would you tell her that she’s not going to lose me that easily? Not even the ocean can take her away from me. Not again.”
Rebecca shivered at the intensity he held in his tone, and she gave a stunned nod.
Satisfied with her compliance, his expression softened and his eyes trailed to the marbled floor. With one last look up at the second story, he muttered out his thanks and shoved his hands in his pockets, staggering down the hill and into town.
Myah’s back slid down her bedroom door as she let her tears flow freely down her cheeks. Her arms wouldn’t budge from her sides despite her pleas for them to wipe away the annoying wetness from her face. They wanted her to know the great pain she not only struck into Rebecca, but at Ryann as well.
Myah never wanted to say that to him. She never wanted to turn him away. She wanted more than anything to be wrapped in his arms, to feel his cheek against her hair, to be protected by his aura of warmth. Like when they were children, Ryann shooed away any lingering loneliness that attempted to cling to her.
But her heart winced at the thought. She had no other choice but to push him away. If he continued to hang out with her then the whole island will hate him, too. If it meant being eaten up by loneliness, if it meant feeling chilled to the bone, if it was meant for them to never be best friends, she would do anything to keep him from knowing her isolation.
Myah slid down to her side, her tears pooling up on the wooden ground beside her. Her heavy eyelids fastened like Velcro, and fatigue began taking its toll on her weary body.
Sucking up her useless feelings, she fell into a restless sleep, today’s events at the ocean’s lip threatening to swallow her in her dreams.
I've changed the color of Myah and Aryn's hair, and some of Aryn's looks. They're very minor details and will not effect the overall story. I will be editing the previous issues to suit the changes after posting a few more issues. Sorry for this hopefully-not-too-confusing inconvenience. 791Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvvAnzpIXjC
