Chapter Two of “The Shadows We Feed”

Helplessly, Maya watched as Anya stalked towards her confidently, causing Maya to fidget with the hair tie on her wrist. Anya’s hair swooshed back and forth, somehow managing to punctuate her movements even more.

    Finally she stopped three feet in front of Maya, and Maya went dead still, cold sweat running down her spine.

    She flipped her hair just to wink at her friends, and it all landed behind her. Looking back at the group, Maya saw them whispering furiously, some with their hands over their mouths in surprise at the sudden confrontation. 

    She was surprised too.

    She was happy it was a surprise, and was hoping that would prevent the entire thing from getting too bad, but she already saw someone with their phone out, excitedly recording the entire thing, hoping for something interesting to happen.

    Likes are one of the most important things though, so she had some measure of understanding for this member.

    That didn’t help her conscious though.

    Finally, Anya spoke. 

    “Hows it been going, old friend.”

    She said that last word with some measure of sarcasm, causing the girls in the back to chuckle.

    “Good enough. What brings you back Anya. I thought you moved away.”

    “I did, but I’m back now. Why, does that bother you. Did you enjoy your time without me little pigeon.”

    Using her old nickname was a jab at her that no one else could see. She was often called that because she was a people pleaser, and she would run messages back-and-forth between people, causing her to live in the middle of drama all the time. She hated it.

    “More than you could ever know,” Maya replied. “Now, why do I feel like you’re avoiding the question. What brought you back. And you know what, while you’re at it, what caused you to leave in the first place. Was it that little dispute among your parents about who had to keep you. Last I remember, they weren’t fighting for you, but to get rid of you, correct?”

    Anya’s face hardened. She drew her lips to a line and then let out a deadly smile. She stepped forward and slapped Maya right across the face, leaving a giant red hand mark. 

    Putting her hands on her hips to show her small waist that was hidden underneath the modern baggy shirt, she smiled yet again. 

    “You’re going to regret that little pigeon.”

    Her voice was ice cold when she said that, despite her smile. She smirked at Maya, then spun, whipping her hair to the side with the motion, and stalked away.

    Completely stunned, finally the bus driver got back to her,  and asked what happened. When Maya told him, he walked straight up to Anya, and in front of all her friends, ordered her to sit in the front of the bus. That way, so when the bus reached its destination, he could hand her right over to the principal so the proper consequences could be assigned. That would mean Friday school.

    As Anya passed Maya again, she stuck her tongue out and covertly flipped her off. Maya not wanting to be close to Anya anymore, understandably moved to the middle of the bus, where it was still pretty empty.

    Maya sat down, still processing what happened. She felt at her face and it stung.

     I don’t know if I should consider myself good or bad under pressure, because I can’t seem to control my mouth, she thought bitterly. This always gets me in trouble, why do I have to take jabs at people like that? Why can’t I act normally under pressure? Oh my god, Ive already started a fight on the first day of school. I haven’t even got to school yet!

    That’s when she remembered the video.