“

she smiled,
but her eyes said pray for me

”

—Quotes 'Nd Notes

SITTING IN a circle full of people with pasts that were horrific could take a toll on some people.

But it didn't on Ariel.

The different people that sat side-by-side, all with different problems of their own yet managed to look like one big happy family. They didn't look like what they really were.

Broken people that needed a bit of help and a lot of love.

Once the session was over, Ariel had even made a friend.

"Hey," the Asian girl with hair the colour of charcoal and eyes that were even darker than Agape's orbs said, "I'm Kayden, but people around here call me Kay."

Ariel smiled at Kayden immediately. "Hi, I'm Ariel. I thought Kayden was a boy's name."

"Oh, it is. My parents prayed for a son and when they didn't get one, they named me after their nonexistent male child," Kayden rolled her dark eyes, and as if out of habit, licked her lips. Ariel noticed the tongue piercing.

Looking at Kayden closer, she had a lot of piercings. One on her eyebrow, a little lip piercing, a small - almost unnoticeable - one on her nose, but those were the only ones Ariel could see she had.

And then on her fair skin she had an abundance of tattoos. On her neck there was one of a dragon that went on, but the rest of that tattoo was hidden under Kayden's shirt. At the back of her hands she also had tattoos - these ones were shaped like butterflies and on Kayden's stomach - that was visible because of the crop top Kayden had on, completely ignoring the cold weather - was a small writing that was almost too small for Ariel to catch.

Understanding is an art, and not everyone is an artist.

Kayden was an art alright. Because she had created a masterpiece out of her body.

"How did you get the time to get all of those?" Ariel asked in amazement. Kayden knitted her eyes in confusion, but then looked at where Ariel's eyes fixated on.

"You make out time. Each one of them have meanings, you know?" Kayden pointed at her wrist, showing the tattoo that looked like an animated tracing of the wind - a tattoo Ariel hadn't seen before, but had marveled at the beauty of it. "I got this one when I was eighteen. I was allowed to leave the orphanage, it was the first time I had been given freedom."

Kayden was an orphan? Ariel bit her lips down, wanting to question the girl that looked like art itself. Ariel stopped herself.

"Freedom? What did you want to do with that?" Ariel had asked instead, making Kayden rest her back on her chair more comfortably.

"A lot of things. One of them was to leave this crappy town, but obviously that plan didn't work out well," Kayden pursed her lips, a faraway look in her eyes. It was like she was with Ariel physically, but mentally and emotionally - she was long gone.

"I'm sorry about that," Ariel apologised and Kayden snorted.

"Don't apologise for things you have no clue of," it wasn't meant to sound rude or harsh, but that hadn't stopped Ariel was wincing as if she was physically pained by Kayden's words. "What about you? You have freedom now, correct? What are you going to use it for."

"I'm not quite sure yet," was Ariel's honest reply. "I'm free to do anything I want for the first time in my life, but that's the problem. I've never been free before. What about you, Kay?"

Kayden looked away from Ariel, her beautiful eyes pained. But as soon as the quick flash of pain had come, was as soon as it had left and replaced with a smile like looked like Kayden had looked at herself every day in the mirror just to perfect.

Thinking of it now, all Kayden's smiles were the same. They lacked genuineness.

"I'm going to focus on trying more than thinking. I've spent on my life thinking of things I'll do, but now it's time to actually start doing them."

"Like what?"

"I guess I'll start with being my own prince charming. I'm tired of crying over not being fairytale material."