Chapter 3
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Now, don't get me wrong, I usually never cry. I'm just not the sobbing-type of person. Sure, I will cry. What am I doing now, recycling tears? No, I'm sad. When I get sad, I don't cry at first. It takes about (usually) a day or two for the reality to set in. When it does, I will remain almost silent for most of the day and cry myself to sleep; depending on how much of a blow the news was.

Now all I want to do is grab a tub of chocolate ice cream, watch a whole marathon of Harry Potter, and lounge in my bed.

Suddenly, my phone on my dresser began ringing.

"Hello from the other side! I must've called a thousand times, to tell you--"

I cut the ring tone off and knew my friend Suzan was calling, since she insisted on me changing the ring tone of alerting me to when she specifically was calling from Fight Song to Hello. She said it fitted the mood.

I picked up my phone and swiped my thumb across it, answering her call.

"Hello?" I said in the calmest voice I could muster, quickly wiping my eyes clean of tears with my free hand.

"Ariana!" Suzan shrieked from the other end, causing me to jump and nearly drop my phone.

"Gods, Suzan, what in the name of Olympus was that about?" I demanded when I had recovered, a frown present on my face.

Suzan paid no mind to my references (those she knew basically none of but accepted anyway), and squealed, "Oh, Ari, I've missed you so much! Can you believe we have school tomorrow? How are you feeling? Is it nice there? Have you seen the town yet? What's it called again? Have you met your neighbors? Is there any cute boys you like?"

Remember when I was saying Suzan rambled? Well, she was rambling now.

As Suzan most likely opened her mouth to spurt out another sea of questions, I yelled, "Whoa, whoa! Chill out! I'm not some superhuman; I don't have eight thousand mouths to answer all your questions with."

I could tell Suzan probably looked confused as she said slowly, "Uh... That's physically impossible, even for a superhuman."

I sighed. "Whatever."

There was a long pause.

"You know what, just forget it," I mumbled and then said, "So, how are things back home with me.. gone?" I hope she didn't hear the way my voice cracked slightly at the last part.

Thankfully, though, Suzan just answered my question without acknowledgement of my cracking voice. "Oh, Ari, we miss you already. It's just not the same here without you, even when we're not a school yet. Now who will I experiment my makeovers on? And who will Tyler be able to rant to about football, because I'm certainly not listening," Suzan said in a small, sad voice.

I smiled lightly. "Well, I'm sure you'll figure something out, Suz. You always do," I assured her. I could tell Suzan was probably smiling as she said quietly, "Yeah."

I suddenly heard banging from the opposite end of the line and Suzan sighed. "I've gotta go, Ari. Mom keeps on dropping pans. We all know she can't cook, so now I'll have to help her," Suzan grumbled crossly. I smiled. "I think your mom makes dec-- er, good food. But, yeah, you should probably go help her," I agreed, grateful I didn't slip up and say 'decent' instead of 'good'.

Suzan giggled and then I heard a loud crash from the other line. "I better go before she burns down the house," Suzan said, and I had the assumption that she was rolling her eyes.

"Alright. I'll talk to you later," I said, trying to mask my sadness. "See you, Ari," Suzan said and then the line clicked dead.

I sighed, closing out of the call log and setting my phone onto my dresser.

I pulled my notebook and pencils out from my purse, which I had taken with me onto the plane.

I sat down on my bed, crossing my legs in a criss-cross-applesauce fashion before opening up the first page to my notebook.

I had drawings of birds (mainly robins) on the page, since robins almost flourished in Maine and my neighborhood. I also had some pictures of owls, a few coyotes, one of a wolf and bear, some pictures of a sunset, some illustrations of Suzan and Tyler... I could go on and on.

I finally found a blank page and then removed one of my favorite pencils from its case. I checked to see that it was sharpened and had a full eraser before I pressed the tip onto the page and let my heart spill out, drawing it's own pictures, not allowing me to even know what I was doing until I was finished.

I found myself drawing the sky, filled with plump clouds, and a round sun. Then I drew a body, a person flying through the sky, their arms extended as if kissing the wind.

Only, that wasn't just a person.

That person kissing the wind and teasing the sky and soaring through the clouds was me.

I was free, I was alone, but I looked so happy.

A happiness I don't think I'll ever manage to get again, only in my biggest and wildest dreams.

(A/N: Another update!!! Yes! I'm so proud of myself :D

I'm sorry, but still no Rixton in these chapters :-(

But don't worry, he's coming up shortly. ;)

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I love all comments, I appreciate and honor all votes, and if you follow me, I will probably follow back. And, if you add this into your Library, you'll get notified of updates. Still shameless self-promo. :")