Araceli Arbon
April 08, 2016 8:15 AM
Starting over by Araceli Arbon
This was it. Show time. They had traded back at the start of the summer. She was supposed to feel like she had her life back. That was how everyone else seemed to view it. It was certainly true for Delphine, who had pretended to be someone else for the last two years, but she had still been herself - with a bit of a disillusionment charm on top. Those two years had been real to her, had shaped who she felt she currently was, and she had to pretend they’d never existed. She had to be happy to be here. She’d passed well enough through the parties over summer but those were different. Parties were a whirl of decorations and frocks, everyone else was just as new to each situation as she was, and within a couple of hours it was over. Not that it hadn’t been scary meeting her classmates again but it had been easy to be swept along in the flurry of activity, knowing it was all just superficial. This was different. This was every day, up close and personal, with people who were used to coming here, being here every day, and who thought she was too.She hadn’t followed her belongings to her room. She might have met Makenzie there, which would have been the best possible outcome - her best friend, who, in spite of not really knowing her for the last two years - for the majority of their friendship - in spite of being lied to and manipulated by Araceli’s family, still seemed to value her, a fact which amazed and comforted her in equal measures. But she might have met Shino, whom she had always found intimidating, and who seemed to always be sniffing suspiciously around Araceli’s business. Though it seemed Shino had some secrets of her own, if the Satori was to be believed. Araceli liked to think that it wasn’t Makenzie it had talked about because she hoped the other girl would have confided in her if it was. The rumour had been that they ‘weren’t themselves’ and given what that had meant for her, she shuddered to think what skeletons Shino might have in the closet.
She made her way into the Cascade Hall instead, not really caring who she met. Any person would do, really. It would be nice to just… try things out. To try being herself without all the noise and hubbub of the feast. She just wanted a casual, easy conversation, and perhaps a lemonade. She poured herself a drink, small hands wandering through her blonde hair, tucking any escaped strands behind her ears, and finding a reassurance in the solidness of her own body. A body which matched what people expected of Araceli Arbon. The one thing that might not come out awkward or different. And a body which, for the first time in two years, was hers and hers alone.
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Starting over
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