mora

written by: natalie kirkpatrick

The office sounds surround me, the beeping and buzzing of Machines. The tapping of pens, the shuffling of papers. But you get used to it, now it’s just like white noise. I’ve figured out the best way to go about this process, every time you go into a new room, choose a spot on the wall to stare at. This way you can avoid all possible eye-contact and if you stay still you draw as little attention to yourself as possible. ‘Hey hun, can you follow me’ said the lady with the plump red face and awful Christmas sweater. I stood up and waited for the room to stop spinning before following her into a small office that smelt like coffee and had ceramic cat statues lining the shelves. She sat at her desk in front of the enormous cat painting that hung on the wall behind her and motioned for me to sit opposite her. I followed her wordless request and sunk into the stained crimson red armchair that sat at the center of the room making sure to find a spot on the wall that is nowhere near her face. She started to talk ‘I understand how you feel-’ ‘no you don’t’ I interrupted as I glared at her sideways, ‘well, I guess I don’t. But I feel… uhhm whats the word, oh well I… I feel for you’ she said with a pitiful look on her face. ‘You feel sorry for me, I don’t need you to feel sorry for me, I just want to go home’ I said with a shaky voice and a lump in my throat.

‘Well that’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about’ she shuffled her papers and straightened her posture, ‘i’ve been told that you are allowed to continue living at your current home due to the fact that your parents had paid it off before their deaths, and they left you enough money to keep paying the bills and other household expenses. Or you could go live with your great aunt Cordelia up in the mountains’ she explained, looking quite proud of herself. ‘I want to live on my own and keep going to school just like before It happened’ I insisted with a big gulp of air. ‘Well if that’s what you want ill sort that out, we also have to cover the grounds of their will, they left you an enormous fortune and said that no one was to supervise you because they have… well, had complete trust and confidence in you’ said the plump lady as her eyes darted back down to her papers. ‘Umm, how much exactly did they leave me’ I mumbled listening intensely, ‘i wasn’t told the amount but ill get someone to come down and tell you later today’ she finished with a slight smile, soft eyes, and the now way to familiar sympathetic head tilt. ‘Is um… that it?’ i asked ready to run to my now lifeless home and flop down on my not so comforting bed.

I stepped out of the suffocating building and took in a deep breath of fresh autumn air, I scurried down the footpath and found an empty park to lie down in, as I reached the greenest part of the grass threw my bag down then I flopped down next to it with a hard thud and just lay there thinking. ‘You okay?’ said an unfamiliar voice from above me, I bolted upright, my heart was pounding so fast it nearly tore out of my chest. I whipped my head around and saw a boy around my age, he looked concerned and a little scared. ‘Well now I know you’re not dead’ he said with a little smirk, ‘WHY THE HELL WOULD I BE LYING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PARK DEAD’ I shouted with exasperation in my voice, he stepped back and bit his lip nervously. ‘Uh.. I don’t know, I was just walking home and realized it was getting dark, then I saw you and wondered why anyone would be lying in the park at night, so I came to check if you were alright’ he replied with an anxious look on his face. ‘I’m fine’ i stated while pulling myself up, grabbing my bag, and storming off. When I was far enough away I looked over my shoulder and saw the boy standing there looking a little bit confused, I wanted to say sorry for screaming at him but I couldn’t, I was always so angry these days and I didn’t know why.

A few weeks pass and as the holidays end I have to start thinking more about school and about buying my stupid school supplies, and going to my stupid classes, and dealing with the stupid stares from the stupid sympathetic students that I’ve never even spoken to before. It’s Monday and as I’m walking through the halls I see the boy from the park, I avoid eye contact and scamper into the nearest room because I’m embarrassed about how I acted that day. As I shut the door and turn around and realise that I had just ended up in the office, I was about to leave when ‘oh miss brown, the headmistress wants to see you’ declared the tall miserable office lady with droopy eyes and small oval glasses hanging around her neck. I waddled into the headmistresses office and sat in the large wooden chair without her instructing me to do so. I found my spot on the wall and waited for her to start talking, ‘I’m aware of your situation and have decided that It’s best for me to assign you a study buddy’ she announced with an emotionless face and empty eyes. ‘A what?’ i exclaimed with a confused expression painted across my face and a tone of disgust in my voice. ‘A study buddy, due to your new situation I thought it might bring on a few new emotions and make it harder to focus in class, so I found someone who is in all of you’re classes and took it upon myself to ask if they would mind being there to help you and lend you a hand’ she said with the same look of pride the plump lady had the day she told me I could choose where to live. ‘Wait right here’ she insisted as she pat me on the shoulder and left the room. A few minutes later she walked in with the boy from the park, he took a seat next to me, my head started pounding and I clenched my fists as hard as I could. This can’t be happening. ‘Ally, this is Michael, Michael this is Ally. This is your study buddy’ she explained while glaring at me. Michael stepped forward with a grin on his face, ‘nice to meet you...again’ ‘oh I didn’t know you guys had met each other’ said the headmistress hopefully. ‘Briefly’ i said with a sour tone, I don’t know why I always seem sour when I talk to or around him but I instantly regret it. The bell rang and as the headmistress was talking to Michael I slipped out unnoticed.

A few weeks past and Michael and I had barely spoken, in fact, I had barely spoken to anyone, my new number one rule was to avoid, avoid the stares, avoid eye contact, but most importantly avoid conversations. I apparently wasn’t very good at this since Michael had cornered me in the library and lent against the printer that I was trying to use. ‘We’ve hardly spoken’ he said as his deep green eyes cut into mine. ‘Let’s hang out’ he blurted out, his cheeks grew red. ‘Why’ i replied, ‘well firstly, neither of us have friends, so I assume finding a free day won’t be hard, and secondly, I want to get to know you, and your one-word replies aren’t giving me all that much insight into who you are.’ ‘Ok, well..uh.. when do you want to’ i said giving in way too easily, but knowing it’s better than sitting at home alone. ‘Oh wow, more than a word’ he said shocked, I shot him a look that said I didn’t have much patience and he quickly recovered from his shock. ‘Well, what about Saturday. you live on beechley street, right? Why don’t we hang out there?’ he said with excitement in his eyes. ‘No, I don’t want to hang out at my house, what about the park?’ i replied bluntly ‘the one we met at?’ he asked innocently ‘uh- yeah sure’ i replied feeling a little bit guilty about how I treated him that day.

As I walked up to the park i sat down on a bench and I saw him swinging on the swings, the light shining through his sandy brown hair and a smile plastered up across his pale face, he held under his arm a magazine, ‘oh hey didn't see you there’ he said as he jumped off the swing and found a spot on the bench next to me. ‘So... i found this magazine that has questions to get to know each other, and i thought we could do it’ he said with a hopeful expression, ‘oh yeah sure’ i replied trying to sound nicer and nicer everytime i talk to him. ‘Alright first question, ‘is you name short for anything?’’ he asked with a patient expression on his face. ‘Yeah, my name is actually Alohomora, my parents were huge harry potter fans’ i answered feeling a little embarrassed. After we finished reading all the questions and making up some of our own we got up to leave. ‘Uh is it ok if i call you mora, from what i’ve learnt today i just think it suits you better’ he babbled while nervously biting his lip and shifting his eyes all over the place, ‘sure, i guess thats cool, i mean it is still technically my name’ i said trying to give him a warm smile

A few weeks went past and we got closer and closer, we learnt so much about each other, from allergies to family history. I think he was my best friend, but i wouldn’t know, i mean i’ve never actually had a best friend before. We hung out everyday, at first I thought it was him feeling sorry for me, but I later learnt that he just needed someone to be there for him like he was there for me. Since my house was so empty and lonely he often slept over and tried to keep me busy by playing board games and cooking strange foods with whatever was left in the fridge.

One day we were at the park watching the sunset, ‘hey its dark now want to go home?’ I asked wanting him to say no. ‘Mmm, nah i like it better here’ he replied to my surprise. ‘wanna watch the stars?’ he asked, lying down on his back. ‘Sure’ I replied, copying him. He grabbed my hand and we lay there for a long time not talking until I said ‘Thanks for being here for me’, ‘no problem mora’ he replied with a sincere tone to his voice. We lay there gazing up at the stars, fingers intertwined, and just when I had lost the only important people in my life, here was another one.