The Girl With Metal Claws

Just a Fool

MERAKI

"This is okay, right?" Meraki asked, unsure if she should just step into someone else's house.

"Come on in," Nish pushed open the front door and entered first to switch on the lights. Nish's house looked too big for her to live alone. The interiors were mostly beige and basic with wooden furniture. The house was clean and well kept.

Now that Meraki had left Glendell, it meant she couldn't stay in the basement anymore. Neither she could go home because she was unsure of Vincent Turner's presence there. Also, the more she was near her parents, the more prone her parents are to find out she was the one who accessed the criminal records.

That's why it was better for her to avoid standoff-ish places.

"Look, I came here because you insisted you lived alone," Meraki said, hesitant to step inside. Nish walked up to her and pulled her inside, shutting the door behind her.

"I live alone. My family used to live here but now they are gone," Nish shook her head sadly as she placed her bag on the hanger and arched her back.

"Oh, sorry to hear that. Rest in peace," Meraki said with utter gratitude, the most she had shown in the 17 years of her life.

"They're not dead, they live abroad," Nish chuckled lightly and tossed an apple at Meraki from the table. She caught it and started scanning it till she found a black spot on the apple. She placed it back on the fruit bowl.

"Why are you here then?"

"We all lived here till my dad got transferred to a branch abroad. I had to stay back because of my scholarship here," Nish explained, pacing around the house. A few moments passed by silently.

"I won't stay here too long," Meraki said, making herself comfortable on the couch.

"Okay, but just so you know, you're welcome here," Nish gave her a comforting glance to let her know that she meant what she said. Meraki nodded back.

At night, Nish showed Meraki her bedroom and gave up the bed for her to sleep. Nish decided to sleep on the couch to which Meraki didn't object too much. All the other bedrooms were locked but she didn't ask Nish why. She was grateful that she at least had a hideout.

"Do you think we took the right decision?" Nish asked, muttering. She was checking if Meraki had fallen asleep.

"Do you regret it?" Meraki asked.

"I just... I feel like I couldn't live up to Gabrielle's expectations. I couldn't do justice to her death," she said, softly. Her words were hard-hitting.

"You think too much," Meraki sighed. The silence between them stretched further.

"Isis is brave," Nish remarked.

"Or just stupid," Meraki said, even if she knew it wasn't true. She was trying to figure it out herself.

~

The next morning, Meraki had left Nish's house with her school bag while Nish was sleeping and headed back to her own house. It was almost 6 in the morning and she didn't know what she expected to see when she got there.

As she arrived, she made no effort of walking into her house. Instead, she stood against the walls of the main entrance of her house and waited. Waited for the unknown miracle, waiting for the girl who stole flowers from her garden.

She waited and waited. Her eyes were stuck on the white daisies that she loved and the road ahead. But she didn't come. A long time passed with no sign of her. Meraki assumed she had scared Rose off the last time she caught her stealing flowers.

A little disheartened, she walked over to the white daisies and plucked a few. She kept them with herself. Then, without looking back, she walked away to school. Alone.

~

She was too early for school but she knew Rose was studying in the library. Seizing the opportunity, Meraki rushed off to the locker area.

Walking past the lockers, she stopped right in front of Rose's locker. Through the gap on the locker door, Meraki seeped in the white daisies inside.

She felt immediately nervous just afterwards because she couldn't undo her actions. And if Rose remembered the day they met, she'd know who did it.

Meraki resisted the urge to visit the library and instead, walked to her class.

~

Meraki considered herself a person with the worst luck when she saw Elliott enter her first class. They had history together. But she felt conflicted.

She half expected Elliott to at least spare a glance at her but his aura was quite indistinct. He had a cold gaze and an alerted walk.

"I heard it too. No one had an idea what was going on," someone spoke from behind her.

"The whole class, including the teacher had no memory of how they fainted. It sounds fake," the other girl said, chuckling.

"Someone might've supplied pills to the whole class," they burst out laughing.

Meraki had heard of the incident where all the students and teachers suddenly passed out, out of nowhere. When they woke up after a while, no one had an explanation for it.

People have been pushing it away as baseless rumours but something about the incident convinced Meraki that it had happened. When she looked over to Elliott, she found him looking down below the desk. The classes had already started but Meraki kept observing him.

He looked very conscious of his surroundings and very protective of his belongings. He was hiding something. Even if Meraki knew she had no right to be involved in his matters after she has found her way out of Glendell, she was curious.

~

In the cafeteria, Meraki waited for Nish to show up. She stood against her locker, pretending to scroll through her phone. She was reminded of something she was missing out on.

"Mom, I'll be living with my friend for a few days," she texted. The reply came almost instantly.

"That's for the best," the reply said.

"I can't believe you're still letting him stay in our house," Meraki typed out.

"We're bound," her mom replied. Irritated, Meraki shoved her phone back into her pocket and sighed with disgust. She had been hearing those words every time from her parents and it irked her.

That's when she looked up and her eyes immediately set on Nish. She stood in a corner and her face looked tensed. She was speaking to someone on what felt like a serious matter. Meraki took a step forward and stopped when she saw Isis. Nish and Isis were talking secretively.

Meraki withdrew herself from spying on them but she feared Nish was being serious about regretting leaving Glendell. Suddenly, Meraki's eyes shot to her side and she saw Rose approaching her own locker.

She was wearing a pink cardigan and a pair of white jeans. Her hair was tied up to a ponytail and she looked tired.

Meraki immediately rushed to her feet and hid against a wall, watching her make her way to her locker. She didn't know if Rose had already noticed the daisies Meraki had secretly slid into her locker but she waited patiently.

Rose opened the locker door and started sorting out the books that she needed for her next class. Suddenly, her eyes fell on the white daisies, a little crumbled, inside her locker. Meraki watched expectantly as she picked them up and brought them to her nose and closed her eyes. When she opened her eyes, she had a small smile on her face.

Meraki realised Rose knew who had placed the flowers on her locker and it sped up her heart. She watched further as Rose collected the flowers in her hand and shut the locker door.

Meraki had almost made up her mind on approaching her to strike up a conversation when she saw it. Rose started walking away, back to class, when she abruptly stopped. Rose looked to her side and her eyes focused on the trash can. After a second of thought, she extended her hand and let the flowers roll down from her hand into the trash.

Then, she left without another look.

~

Sometimes, the more you try to catch up to someone, the more the distance increases. But if you ever just get to slightly touch them, you'll want to hold onto it forever. And that ends up being the worst feeling ever.

Once school ended, Meraki found her car parked in the school parking lot again but she didn't leave till Nish showed up. Meraki didn't talk much because she was afraid she would blurt out in curiosity. They silently walked to Meraki's car and Nish got in first.

The atmosphere of the drive back to Nish's house was strangely quiet even if Meraki had a lot to say. It felt like a sense of betrayal but saying that aloud made her feel conceited.

Once they were back home, she couldn't keep quiet anymore.

"I saw you.. and Isis talking," Meraki said but received no reply. She turned around to see Nish's panic-stricken look. She cleared her throat hesitantly and spoke again, "what's up?"

"Uh, nothing. I was just asking if everything was going fine," Nish didn't meet her eye.

"Look, you can make your own decisions," Meraki shrugged even if she was conflicted if she believed that herself or not.

"You don't mean that," she said.

"Why do you think so?"

"Judging by the way you dragged me out with you that day, you didn't really let me make my own decisions," Nish said. Suddenly, the look on her face made Meraki feel cornered.

"But you could've said no as Isis did. You were free to stay back!" Meraki snapped back because it felt like an accusation.

"I was shocked, Meraki. I couldn't handle the news of them being illegal like Isis did. And now I feel guilty every moment for abandoning them after everything we've been through. I feel like I abandoned Gabrielle. I abandoned her purpose," Nish said, panting.

She was breaking down and crumbling on the floor and Meraki watched it happen.

"Don't victimize yourself. I feel the same way. It's eating me up too. I trusted them. Even if I knew they were illegal all this while, I held onto it for them and kept it a secret because I wanted to stay until the end. But now, everything feels meaningless. I have nothing to provide them with now that's Gabrielle's gone," Meraki said.

She had no powers left. Neither was she as strong as Jack or Fred. She feared she would just be a burden to them and destroy them further. Meraki, internally, couldn't deal with her death.

"I'm going back," Nish said, decisively.