^ Bria's outfit on Bria ^

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H o l l o w s   I n
T    I    M    E
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When I arrived to the lunch hall, I was the last person to be there—closely following behind Bria, who, as always, strutted along as if she had ten years of runway modelling experience. She was dressed in a simple grey dress, covered with a denim jacket, and had, surprisingly, ditched the heels for some plain white converse. She looked better than me.

The other girls sported more casual, but, admittedly still stunning, outfits than Bria and I had gone for. I guess that showed how Bria and I were alike—yet completely different.

"SKYIE!" Cassie had shrilled at my entrance, all the girls looked up, greeting me with a smile as Cassie ran over to me. Everyone but Bria. And I couldn't understand why. Maybe we weren't alike after all.

Cassie nearly launched me into the air once she had her arms around me. She stepped back and patted my head.

"Your hair looks nice and–" She paused, eyes widening as she fiddled with the tie on my dress. "Pretty dress!" She cooed and I smiled.

The girls beckoned me over and we sat down, waiting for the pizza that Mel would bring us. I couldn't wait to try to look like a normal human being who eats the normal amount, and not like a walking loaf of bread.

The pizza arrived and Mel sat down to eat with us. Avery had slapped her repeatedly, saying, "Get your own friends!" To which, Mel replied with, "Pizza is my friend." The girls had laughed, but I didn't join in. Not really. I mean, it was funny, I just didn't laugh.

Suddenly, a plate was being shoved at me, right under my nose. I looked at it—a plate of pizza. The hand was tanned. Her fingernails had endured a fresh manicure, the nails painted black. I looked up. Bria.

I frowned at her. She pushed the plate farther towards me. I took it. Was she pitying me? Did I look as skinny to her as I looked to me?

I took the plate and something happened. She smiled at me.

"I hope you like barbecue," She said. Hell, did I ever. "And I added some pepperoni on the plate too; it's my favourite." She continued. She was talking to me. Why was she talking to me? Was she plotting? Scheming? Would she turn on me like
Jameson did? I couldn't trust her, but something happened. I smiled back. It wasn't a full blown grin, and it felt more like a lip twitch, but it happened.

I accepted it wordlessly, which seemed to make her uncomfortable. Her smile fled and her words fell dead. She wasn't interested anymore.

I ate what I could, after several minutes of staring at my tiny wrists. I tried to converse as much as I could. But every time I thought of something to say, it always made my throat constrict.

Suddenly, whilst I was contemplating whether I still held the ability to talk, I heard my name spoken. I looked up, the girls were all getting up, ready to head to the fireworks show. Avery was staring down at me, her hand out as she held plates in the other. I looked down at my plate.
What the hell?

All my food was gone. Either the girls had got peckish whilst eating their own food, or, miraculously, I had chewed on food, and swallowed food, and I was now full up. It seemed that the latter was true.

As I handed Avery my empty plate, I tried to work out how it happened. Why now? Was I only comfortable to eat a lot in certain situations? Around different people? Was it certain foods? I couldn't figure it out.

"You sure did stuff yourself up, Sky." Saph joked and bumped her shoulder into mine after she had given me a hand up. I didn't say anything, but when I looked up, my eyes met brown ones. Her eyes sparkled but she showed no other signs of a specific expression. Bria looked away, strutting to the door as if we didn't exist.

Saph rolled her eyes at her retreating figure and I laughed at her. Wait. Cassie nearly fell back as I froze in my spot, our arms having been entwined. But I didn't take notice. I had laughed. 'Wow, so revolutionary' you're probably thinking. Try being a slave to your own life for almost a year. The only thing I could laugh at was how comically unlucky I had been becoming.

"Come on, Skyie, we don't have time for your small feet." Cassie mused, tugging me along the hall.

Avery frowned, "You mean legs?" She rose an eyebrow and Cassie shook her head, her brunette curls bobbing about.

"No, she has small feet." She told Avery, before brushing past her. And so we walked, down familiar but unfamiliar corridors.

Saph led the way, with Cassie and I in the middle, and Avery and Bria at the back, sometimes jumping into our conversation. I got the feeling that Avery felt maternal over Bria, since she was two years younger than us all. I also got the feeling that Saph didn't like Bria—something that had been discreetly hinted at a few times by the seventeen year old herself. Or maybe she did like her, but she was just being Saph, for, I hardly know my friends anymore.

We soon arrived, and Cassie slapped her forehead repeatedly when she saw the long queue, singing rhymes about how we should've eaten our pizza faster.

"Pizza, pizza, was great to meet ya. But cheater, cheater, now we're later, later." Saph spun around and gave Cassie a sharp glare, her patience wavering as Cassie spouted her fifteenth rhyme.

"That didn't even rhyme." Avery whined, as if she was expecting a masterpiece out of Cassie.

"It so did." Cassie fought back, her eyes narrowing. I walked away from what was deemed to become a stupid dispute, and instead moved over to where Saph stood, folding and unfolding the edge of her ticket.

"You shouldn't do that," She jumped, then stared down from her heel-elevated height. "They might not let you in if your ticket is crumpled." I gestured to the crease in her ticket and she looked down, then looked up and laughed.

"It's fine," She reassured me, "I know someone at the gates." She gestured to the front, and I looked over all the Guardians standing there. Then one stuck out to me. It was Jonah.

I frowned. "I see." I said. Saph snorted, raising an eyebrow at me. He was Bria's Guardian, is that how Saph knew him? Or was I missing something?

As we neared the front of the line, Saph tugged at my arm. I looked over at her and she gave me an uneasy smile. 'Saph' and 'uneasy smile' is a weird combination.

"How do I look?" She asked, her arms pressing into her sides. She wore a long sleeved white dress, with a print down the centre. The dress floated in the calm, sunset breeze. It was gorgeous. It showed off her tanned skin. Her boots were knee-high, and a light, chestnut brown. Overall, she looked better than I did.

"You look good," I told her, "The dress is nice." Saph rolled her eyes at my response, her shoulders sagging as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"'Good' and 'nice' aren't great compliments." She sighed.

I smiled, "Why are you fussed anyway?" I asked but Saph's eyes were elsewhere.

"I'm not fussed, why would I be fussed?" She asked, tightening her hold around her chest.

I scoffed. "I don't see anyone else asking their friends how they look." I stated simply and Saph huffed, but soon got over her distress once we reached the front of the line. And guess who came to serve us. Jonah.

I heard a sigh behind me, then recognised Bria's voice when she said, "Can I ever escape this damn boy?" That's exactly what I thought when I was fifteen. Then I fell in love with my Guardian—and I didn't want to escape him. But now, whenever  he approaches me, I'd give anything to be able to sprint a mile per second.

Despite Bria's comment, Saph strode right up to Jonah and stuck her ticket out to him. He didn't even check it, but he took one look at her, and let her in. I think I was the only one that saw. But his hand brushed over her forearm slightly as he guided her to the gate. She turned around and flashed him a mesmerising grin.

The rest of us followed in suit, and had our tickets checked. Once I walked in through the gates, I knew that tonight would change me. Either for the good, or for the worse. I would start to heal, or I'd start to crack.

So what will it be? I say bring it on. For, what have I got to lose?

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Your patience

I'm just so funny

Petition for me to start a book in the humour genre

I'm currently editing this whilst making my bed

I'm so much better than even Kim's multitasking skills

(That time she was putting mascara on and brushing her hair or something)

When the author just has no clue what happened in the first book

-I am the first book how dare you

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Next update: Friyay
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR SPOILER:

Sky enjoys her first friend outing in just over five months.

But is there any tension between her and the newest member?

Or do the pair start to grow closer?

It's often hard to trust someone new, especially if they aren't telling you the whole story.