3A Draught of Sunshine.
One.
I suffocate
I breathe in dirt
and nowhere shines but desolate
And drab the hours all spent on killing time
Again all waiting for the rain
Prayers for Rain- The Cure
x-x-x
She could remember, as if It were only yesterday. She could remember grinning and joking around.
Old memories of laughter echoed through her head as the horror and realization of reality finally slipped in.
"Hon, I.. Don't know what to say.. Your Aunt Jessie is in the Hospital.. In the Mental ward.. She's been diagnosed as Bipolar."
Aunt Jessie.
Her favorite Aunt.
All her memories of Aunt Jessie were of her smiling, laughing, dancing around.
An all around-cheerful person.
Lately, She had been told that Aunt Jessie was feeling down, depressed.
That she was very stressed, and having a hard time...
On medication.
Iris cringed at the very thought of her beloved aunt drugged up and out of it.
She hadn't been allowed to visit her aunt in the past few months, and certainly wasn't going to be able to now.
Iris swallowed, her vision going fuzzy and her breathing constricted.
It couldn't be true, about Aunt Jessie…
Could it?
x-x-x
School on Monday seemed to drag by, the teachers' voices muffled and indistinct.
Everything seemed unimportant.
Iris stared straight ahead unblinkingly as sympathetic hands patted her head, her shoulder, as soft voices attempted to be soothing, as wide eyes mimicked empathy.
They meant nothing to her.
The world was busy, everything rushing around her, everyone else seemingly unaffected.
She sat outside during her lunch period, away from her group of friends. They didn't seem to notice her absence. They never noticed her unless they wanted to see her 'attractive' older brother, or if they wanted to borrow something. Iris took a deep breath and tried to clear her mind; Thinking about her dysfunctional friendships were not going to make anything better. Looking towards the sky, she watched as the first few drops of rain fell from the fat gray clouds that had somehow stationed themselves in the area without anyone noticing.
When the drops turned into a violent shower, Iris stood and slowly walked towards the street, away from the school that everyone else was sprinting towards, away from the chaos of everyone dashing inside before they got soaked.
As she walked down the street, she heard the bell for class, and was momentarily glad that she'd brought her bag with her.
Sometime later, Iris found herself gazing down into a puddle, rainbow splashes of oil framing her rippling reflection.
Her face was pale, more than usual. her mouth drawn into a line, her gray eyes looking stormy and troubled. Her dyed blueberry-coloured hair was plastered to her forehead, and rain was dripping down her face…or were those tears? It was hard to distinguish.
Iris took in a deep breath, and shakily continued walking.
After a few blocks, she staggered into a cafe, and, using what pocket money she could find, ordered a cup of coffee and a sandwich that she knew she wouldn't be able to eat.
Ignoring the waitress' pitying looks at her sodden state, she gripped the coffee mug in her hands and numbly stared out the window at the gray outside, at the rain pouring down and washing all the dirt and grit away, at the few people brave enough to walk in such weather, clutching at their umbrellas or sprinting with something held over their head.
x-x-x
Maybe ten minutes after the rain let up, Iris stood, and, putting the wrapped sandwich into her coat pocket, started to walk down the street once more.
She put her earbuds in, and turned up the volume of her MP3 player.
She paused.
Turning around slightly, she looked at a nondescript black car that was parked just behind her, its windows tinted. She stared at it for a moment. It didn't seem to be anything special, just a regular car with regular wheels and license plates and lights. But she could've sworn that the same car was parked just outside of her school.
As the first lyrics of the song were crooned into her ears, she took a deep breath and turned back around again, and began to walk.
She was just paranoid because of everything that happened.
Black cars are everywhere.
...
Right?
Right.
Iris glanced out of the corner of her eye, and sped up her walking a little when she saw the car slowly come out of parking and slowly advance down the street in the same direction she was walking.
When Iris was finally convinced that she'd lost the car, whether or not it actually had been following her, (it absolutely wasn't now, not after the maze of alleys and side roads she had maneuvered around) she stopped and leaned against an alley wall, trying to catch her breath.
Checking the battery of her MP3 player, she turned it off and put it away in her bag, along with the earbuds. As she was zipping the pocket of the bag closed, she thought she heard a small scratching sound coming from the stack of cardboard boxes opposite her.
Iris froze, unsure of what to do.
She jumped back slightly, as the boxes rustled again.
She looked around quickly, and, grabbing a broken golf club that was laying nearby, slowly stepped forward, towards the boxes.
As they rustled once more, she knocked over the top few stacks with the golf club, and almost shrieked as a small furry ball tumbled down along with the boxes.
Gasping for air, she knelt down, and peered at the tiny... kitten that was cowering under one of the fallen boxes.
Thinking quickly, Iris rummaged in her pocket and brought out the wrapped sandwich, and, quickly unwrapping it, she took out the pieces of chicken and held one towards the kitten, who stared at her in fear.
"Here you go...I'm not going to hurt you," Iris murmured, feeling her voice wobble slightly from un-use.
The kitten tentatively moved forward and accepted the piece of chicken, and, as he.. she.. it? Was eating, she examined Her. Him. It.
The kitten was all black, with gray eyes an- was a boy. BOY. Yes. Boy.
"I think I'll keep you," Iris murmured as he looked at her with curious eyes.
Slowly, Iris was able to lure the kitten into one of her big coat pockets, with the rest of the chicken. Throwing the remnants of the sandwich away, She began to find her way home, this time, without any paranoias about black cars or anything else, for that matter.
x-x-x
When she got home, the house was quiet. Her brother's shoes were gone, (He was probably out with friends) Both of the cars were gone, (Her father had a meeting and her mother was probably with Aunt Jessie) And so she was alone in the house, for the time being.
Setting down her bag, she put the kitten on the kitchen counter as he mewed quietly.
She looked at him in confusion for a moment, then her face lit up as she understood.
"You're probably still hungry, right?"
The kitten mewed in response.
After a few minutes of rummaging in the cupboards, she came back victorious, with a can of tuna.
"Cats like tuna, right?", She asked as she opened the can and put some of it on a small saucer for the kitten.
The only response she got was another mew and the sound of a kitten eating tuna.
"I guess they do..", she mused.
Iris sat down near the kitten and watched him eat.
"I think.. I'll call you Bleu. Do you like that name?", She asked softly.
The kitten looked up and mewed again, but that probably was because he had already finished the tuna.
"If you eat too much after not eating for a while, you'll get sick," She murmured.
Bleu nosed around her hands, trying to see if she had any more food.
"Sorry buddy..", Iris laughed and moved them both to her room.
She gently placed Bleu on one of her pillows, and, grabbing her laptop, flopped down next to him.
Petting him gently, she put on one of her favourite movies- 'The Breakfast Club' and watched it until she fell asleep, with Bleu curled up near her.
x-x-x
Her dreams were full of conflict.
Her parents fighting about Aunt Jessie's condition,
Her grandparents arguing about whether or not Iris should be allowed visitation.
Hazily, her dreams seemed to center Iris' short visit, if you could call it that.
Aunt Jessie looked haggard and dark bruises had formed under her eyes.
She had seemed to stare right through Iris as she hugged her arms tightly.
"I'm losing my mind. I KNOW I am. You don't understand. I'm losing my mind.."
Then memories of Jessie happy, Jessie laughing.
Then dark.
x-x-x
A/N: EDIT: I have re-written the first chapter, to make the story flow together more easily, and to have it fit with the plot line. Please enjoy.
I also don't own the Breakfast Club.
Don't kill me, I beg of you. I blame Kio, my ever- restless muse.
Never fear, I SHALL update the other stories as well. I promise ^.^
I've been going through a lot of heavy stuff recently, not all of it good, and its going to partially influence this story.
Please continue reading my work, and I apologize for all the stories XD
But I think it is also good that I'm writing all of these at once, because these have future.. plans in store for them.
ANYWAY, Stay tuned, for there shall be updates~
Please review and tell your friends :D
xoxo, Mika.