The sound of chatter could shatter a thick wall of glass. Thats best describes a casual meet and greet with Mrs. Gray and the Hives. They all chat in their little corner beside Mrs. Gray's couch while giving hearty laughs at each other.
"Wow, Fatima, those energy bars are doing numbers for you," Mrs. Gray says to Sarah's mom. Fatima only twirled her dress around while falling into Sarah's dad's arms. "I couldn't believe it either, Chantel. This guy at the streets gave them to me, and I was really, really desperate to lose some loads, so I snatched them, and 6 months later, I look awesome." They all chuckle together. Sarah simply poured more liquor into their cups as asked, then left to talk to Roli.
On the top floor, Sarah tried to open the door, but it was locked. "Roli, wanna go for a walk?" she asks. "I'm sleeping," he replies. Sarah simply puffed her cheek, so we're gonna do it that way then. She starts knocking on the door while singing, "Do you wanna build a snowman? Come outside an--"
"No. Not today. Maybe later."
Sarah sighed heavily. "Okay then. Catch you when I can." No reply. Sarah stormed down the steps where the 'responsible adults' were already too far gone. Sarah's mom was drawing circles in the air, and her dad kept burping. Mrs. Gray was nowhere to be seen. This heated Sarah even more. She stormed outside and realized it was already nighttime. She can't walk all the way home now. Despite this, she still didn't want to go back inside. So, with clothes not fit for the now falling snow, she sat on a nearby bench. Moments passed, but anger lingered. Why? First, I let Roli down, and now I can't even get to Noel. She grabs a rock from the floor and throws it towards a wall. It makes a deafening sound. She grab another and throws. Repeat and repeat. It started being addictive, like each throw was another part of her anger that had left her system.
Eventually, Mrs. Gray came outside. She was still in a haze from the alcohol, but she can normally hold her liquor. "Sarah dear, what are you doing? And my goodness, you are freezing!" She didn't notice it at first, but her body was shaking rapidly. She says sorry through her chirping lips. "B-But I-I d-dont want to go i-in."Mr. Gray simply left and returned with warm clothes and a long blanket. "I know better than to argue with you." she says while helping her get dressed. They then wrapped the blanket around each other and stared at the night sky. The falling of frost and twinkle of the sky helped calm her down. She turns to Mrs. Gray to see that she is already looking back at her. "Cozy, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it's... warm." Sarah says. "...Mrs. Gray?"
"Yes, my dear."
"It's about what we talked about earlier."
"Oh yes, when you were helping me out with Roli's chores?"
"Yeah. Sometimes I can't help feeling this guilt about him."
"..."
"Like... I just... and... I know I'm not making sense, but I feel bad."
"..."
"I-Its complicated."
"Yet I can tell it's eating at your insides. I am worried about Roli too. Trust me. But I'm also worried about you and concerned with the way you talk about yourself when his name is mentioned."
She cups Sarah's hands under the blanket, gently squeezes it, and says, "The walls you build to keep everything out can start to trap you in."
Sarah heistants but by the embrace of Mrs. Grey warmth, she opens her month and says, "Back when it my first day at school, I had a scary time. I finally met a friend, however. Her name was Lauren, but she later changed it to Noel. She was so confident, helped everyone, and was kind to everyone. She took me into her groups, and together we created a club. A computer club, specifically. At first, we did it because technology was new at the time and we wanted to learn more about it. At least that's why she did it. I did it for her. Only for her. Eventually, when people started joining, we started really ramping up learning to stay ahead of everyone so we could teach them better.
Eventually, Noel stumbled upon a website. I-It..." Sarah starts covering her mouth, almost like she was about to vomit. "Dear, you don't have--"
"No. I-I'll manage. Noel stumbled upon a dating site. S-she met a guy there. So much older. They started talking together. I didn't know a thing until... one day. She was crying. I tried to get her to talk, but she wouldn't stop. Her dad came; it was the first time she had seen him in person, and he wanted to take her home. I held on to her, and so did she to me. We knew that if he had his way, we would never see each other again. So his dad let her stay at my place for that night. T-Thats when she told me everything."