Riverview School For Girls [GxG]

twenty one

Willow felt lost. Untethered. Drifting away from everything that once anchored her down. Her roots were untangling, coming apart, leaving her floating, far above the Earth below. She thought of a bird with a broken wing. Flying, happy, free, but always falling, weak, fragile, dangerous.

She sat curled up on the windowsill, a blanket draped around her shoulders, the chill of the cold glass sending shivers down to her core. It was the middle of the night, and she was looking down at the forest below, the shadowed treetops swaying in the fresh spring breeze. The leaves were slowly regrowing, bright and green, breaking through the ice which winter had cursed them with.

Willow was named after a tree. She didn't know why. She was nothing like a tree. Not sturdy, and strong, and full of life. Willow was the dirt below; bleak and dull and ugly. She was the dirt she trod on, not the tree she on when she had first kissed Jordan Kiani.

As she gazed out the window at the vast forest, she thought about that kiss. How monumental it had felt at the time. When she thought about it now, no sparks came. It was just a kiss. Just a pair of lips against hers. Skin and hair and shallow breaths. But Jordan was still monumental. Jordan was still the centre at which she seemed to revolve. Strong, and sturdy, and full of life.

Willow needed to get her hands on Jordan again soon. To satisfy the cravings which lurked beneath her fiery skin. To quench her thirst for more. Her lust, her longing, her need. If Willow didn't touch Jordan soon, she may go insane.

She glanced away from the window when she heard the sound of sheets rustling in the shadows. A moment later, Dahlia's tired face peeked out from a mountain of pillows, her sandy blond hair piled up into a frizzy knot atop her head. "What're you doing?" She groaned, sliding out of bed.

"Go back to sleep." Willow whispered back.

But Dahlia had already crossed the room, collapsing onto the windowsill beside Willow, rubbing the exhaustion from her eyes, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Willow whispered, quickly scanning the room, checking that the others were still asleep.

"Why are you up?"

"Can't sleep."

Dahlia nodded in understanding, casting her eyes out the window, taking in the dark countryside that sprawled out around the castle, "What are you thinking about?" She whispered softly.

Willow sighed, "Jordan." She replied honestly.

Dahlia rose her brows questioningly, "Yeah?"

Willow spared another glance over her shoulder, but the silence was undisturbed, "We kissed." She admitted quietly.

Dahlia smiled; it wasn't a crude triumphant smile, like the ones Sydney wore whenever she talked about the latest boy she had slept with. It was just a smile. Soft and sweet and knowing. "I'm happy for you." She said.

Willow smiled, too, "Thanks."

"What else are you thinking about?" Dahlia pressed, "You seem...unhappy."

Willow hesitated, distracting herself by staring at the forest, imagining all the magic that lurked between the trees, "Am I a bad friend?"

Dahlia looked taken aback by the question, then, after a moment of hesitation, "No."

"Sometimes I think I'm too self-centred."

"What are my parents names?" Dahlia asked abruptly.

Willow frowned, "What?"

"What are my parents names?" She repeated.

"Sandra and Hank." Willow replied.

"And my brother?"