“Alright, so now that you’re in between the bars, you can put your hands on them. Remember to put your weight on your arms, like you do with the crutches. Good, careful. Can you take a step?” Jenny asks.

     I try. I’m able to move my left leg like I would when I walk, but the movement in the right is uncomfortable. I lean forward, shifting my weight onto my left leg, and then drag my right in front of me.

     “Good job Rhea, but you don’t have to do it so fast. Let’s do the whole thing twice more, and that’s enough”, she says. 

     I repeat the process with help from Jenny, and from the corner of my eye I see a doctor step into the room, one I don’t recognize.

     “I’m afraid we have an interviewer asking for Rhea Hale to do an interview... If that’s all right”, he says.

     I look at Jenny. She says it’s fine, as long as I agree. So I nod, and sit back down in my wheelchair. A year or so ago Jason told me it’s better to deal with interviews immediately. They get more aggressive if you wait.

     The doctor pushes me through the door, down the hallway and through another. I notice how everyone in the hallway seems to leap out of our way, whispering as we pass. Some people give me sympathetic smiles. I keep my face blank. We enter a cosy office. There, a woman with blonde hair, maybe in her forties, waits at a table. I hear the door close and the woman uncaps a pen. 

     “Hello, Rhea, I’m Ramona Stoker from the Hani Times.” She speaks quickly, like they do in Bayree.

     “Hello”, I reply.

     “Let’s get right to the questions, shall we? We won’t waste any time that way. First. How did you meet Jason?” 

     So this was going to be a “love story” interview.

     “I think I’ve said this before, we met at an art class we both took”, I say. Ramona looks at me, waiting for me to say more. I close my eyes and lean back. After a few seconds, I her her pen write something down.

     “Did you know immediately you would fall in love?” Ramona asks.

     I open my eyes again, trying to keep my face clear of any emotion. “No. It was a few months in to the class, when he asked me out. I was very surprised... but I said yes.” 

     Ramona writes something down, and I wonder why she chose real paper and a pen, rather than a recording device. Less expensive, I guess.

     “Did you have any fights?” She asks.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

     There’s no way you can handle it. No.

     His voice echoes in my head, those words that made me break. I nod.

     “We almost broke up”, I say, struggling to keep my voice straight. I squeeze my eyes shut for a few seconds, willing myself not to cry.

     A man enters the room. 

     “I’m sorry, but Ms. Hale’s mother is here to pick her up. It’s four o’clock, you see”, he says.

     Ramona nods once, and begins gathering her stuff. I am wheeled out of the room. we take a right turn and go through the front doors. It’s cold outside for a May afternoon. We come to a stop by a side wall and I am given crutches and a metal leg supporter. I wave goodbye to the doctor and turn the corner, where I see my mom’s car waiting. 

     I sit in the passenger seat, shoving my crutches behind me into the back.

     “Ow!” Someone says.

     I jump, not realizing who it was for a second. Brandon. 

     “Why is Bran here? Doesn’t he have school or something?” I say, annoyed because Bran seems to always make me mad.

     No one answers. I take out my computer and open Bubble, the messaging app installed on all devices, even netscreens. 

     Kamilla’s sent me a message. 

     I’m at Fili’s, do you want to join me? 

     I consider. I was looking forward to staying home the rest of the day, but I haven’t seen Kamilla for days... I decide to go.

     “Mom, can you just drop me off at Fili’s? Kamilla wants to meet me there”, I say, waiting to type back.

     “What’s Fili’s?” Mom asks.

     I stare at her. “The place I go every few days? It’s the Hot Chocolate and Cloud restaurant.”

     Mom nods. “Okay, just tell me the address.”

     “3AC”, I say automatically, and type back a message to Kamilla.

     Sure. I’ll be there soon.

...:::...

     “Thanks! I’ll take the tube home”, I say before closing my door. 

     I wave to the car, and Bran sticks his tongue out at me. I ignore him and walk inside. 

     It takes awhile for me to find Kamilla in the cozy cafe. Eventually I see her, standing by the self-serve hot chocolate machine. She beckons me to her. 

     When I reach her, she takes two cups from the stack and gives one to me. 

We walk to the end of the line, which isn’t long, and start chatting.

     “So, Rhea, have you seen Nebula yet?” She asks.

     I blink, wondering who she’s talking about. I shake my head quickly, suddenly understanding.

     “Oh, you mean the school. Yeah, I have. Right now it’s first on my list-“

     “Mine too!”

     “- At least in Hani. There’s one in Darka I want to look at and one in Avera, Bayree. I’ll see that one when I visit my grandma next week”, I explain.

     It’s our turn in line. I fill my cup with creamy, light brown hot chocolate while Kamilla fills hers with dark. We move to the Cloud buckets. 

     “Wow! You don’t mean Primrose School, do you?!” Kamilla says while scooping a Mint Cloud into her cup.

     I can’t contain my smile as I nod. “They said they’d take me!”

     I put one more scoop in my cup and we walk towards the back door. 

     Kamilla raises her eyebrows, smiling. We take a table on the patio, farthest from the door. 

     And that’s when the speakers turn on.

————

Thanks for reading the first chapter! I really like getting feedback and any is welcome! I might add on to this chapter later to make it longer.