Apricity [a-PRIS-i-tee]: The warmth of the sun in winter
Briar Elizabeth Maddox
Became a social outcast over the summer and now her used-to-be friends treat her no better than the dirt under their shoes. But no matter what she's been through, she'...
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The last time Briar was this quiet, I learned that it was because she didn't get enough sleep. This time, it seemed like more than that.
There were obvious signs of exhaustion from the dark circles under her eyes or the fact that she didn't pay much attention in class. She didn't talk and didn't offer any answers like she usually did.
I look at her when the class shifts into free time work. She doesn't notice me at all at first, she just taps the eraser of her pencil on her notebook.
She's thinking really hard about something. I know that not only from the faraway look in her eyes but because she's tugging on the underside of her hair and slowly running her fingers through the strands.
She does that a lot when she's working. She's not working now, so something else was knocking her nerves.
"Bear," I finally try. She blinks as if she were waking from a trance. Her eyes find mine and she lifts her brows in question. "Hm?"
"You sleep okay last night?"
She looked even more tired from my question alone. "I've had better nights." She offers me a small smile. "You?"
I shake my head at her. "This isn't small talk. Why didn't you sleep?"
Something sparks in her attitude. "You know, I'm not a big fan of your tone, pal." She stretches her arms out on the desk and hides her hands in her sleeves before resting her head on them.
I lean my head down to block her eye line of the wall. "What's bothering you?" Just like that, the spark was snuffed out.
There's just a moment that she looks at me before she speaks. Just a moment where I could see some of what she was hiding. Something darker than what she let on.
"Why should something be bothering me? I'm just tired, Roman." Maybe there was some truth to that, but...
"You're not just tired."
"Okay, maybe I'm stressed out then. From this presentation we have to do on Wednesday."
"No."
She whips her head around to look at me. "No?"
"That isn't it. You cheer for a bunch of jocks in large crowds, you don't have stage fright."
She leans back in her chair and crosses her arm in a huff. "Well, why don't you tell me what I'm upset about then?"
I would usually find her sass mildly amusing in another scenario. Right now however, I shove it aside. "So you admit that you're upset?"
Her frown is immediate. She doesn't like I caught her off guard. "I'm fine, Roman."
Her words are just in time for the release bell. I don't move to get up until she's halfway out the door. By the time I make it to the hallway after her, she's nowhere to be found.
