This New Life

The Past in the Present

The first half of her walk was pretty serene as she ate her apple, the crunch in tune with the light breeze that blew through her crimson red hair accentuating her curls, and every time the sun shone into her amber eyes they lit up like pools of freshly harvested honey and she momentarily felt warm. Not the warmth one feels when standing in front of a fire or that from layers of fleece, but a warmth unlike any other she's felt before. It was empowering.

It was the latter part of her walk that got her mind racing. Out of nowhere this warmth disappeared behind a cloud and thoughts flooded her mind. Especially those that for so long she had worked so hard to bury deep within her. Her past was catching up with her and her mind could not escape it. 

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"STOP! NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Calida begged as the older kids that were supposed to be her role models pushed her to the ground and scattered her things on the ground in front of her, ripping her books and calling her names. 

"Be quiet!" One of them commanded as he ripped open the lock of her diary that she documented in it every detail and every thought that raced through her mind lest they would consume her whole.

"Please don't!" Calida pleaded as he read her own thoughts out loud.

"Well. What do we have here?" One of the boys says curiously, "Ryan looked so cool today with that leather jacket and slick back hairstyle. These feelings. I've never felt them before. They're like....like...butterflies roaming in my gut. I couldn't get rid of them even if I tried."

Her thoughts were brought out and put on display for everyone to see as one of the girls in this group, someone she considered a friend, someone that she trusted, whipped out her phone and began taking pictures and videos of this torment.

"Ryan looked so cool......Oooo look at me I'm Calida all grown up having feelings!" She mockingly stated in this video as she panned between shots of herself and Calida sobbing.

Another then dug deep enough to find a stuffed animal that young 7-year-old Calida carried around everywhere as it was the last Christmas gift her grandparents had ever given her. He sarcastically played with it before ripping its head off and flinging it to a nearby field. At this moment Calida let out a piercing shriek that nearly deafened the kids. As they skipped away, laughing, proud of their handiwork, Calida was left alone. In shock. Unable to move, or speak, as tears streamed down her innocent cheeks. Cheeks that blushed every time she saw Ryan. Cheeks that expressed an innocent childhood love. Her first love.

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This was not the only memory that replayed over and over again in her mind as she walked the quiet morning streets of the Vermenian countryside accompanied only by the morning songbirds. Other instances of this "friendly joke" that these kids "played" which in their minds was meant to help her grown up. At least that was the pitiful excuse she could remember them say to each other to help them feel better about themselves as they strutted away. 

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The next few days were hell for her as she became the laughing stock of the entire school and was awarded the nickname of "crybaby". Worst of all Ryan wanted nothing to do with her and all her "friends" had deserted her as hanging out with her was seen as degrading. She eventually sat alone in the corner of the lunchroom eating her lunch as everyone passed by and whispered her name in their forked-tongues.

Who knew that kids could be so mean to each other?

She eventually had to move as she could no longer bear the bullying. So her parents chose Vermenia, a quiet town where no one knew who she was and they hoped that she could start over and leave her old life in the past. This was however no easy feat. 

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This leads us back to the walk to school and the skeptical girl that due to her tumultuous past could not trust anyone around her. She hoped that this would not be the case and she hoped that when she entered the school her fears would dissipate and she would be filled with happiness. She knew that this was not the case and for her to trust anyone again they must be one special person. As she entered school her hopes were not what they seemed and she kept her head down all day and barely spoke. As she thought, that if she went unnoticed no one could hurt her again. Oh, how wrong she was!