Chapter Text
Amaia was a diligent girl, she would always sit in the front row of the class. She would constantly try to give her best in school to compensate for her dyslexia. She was extremely friendly or at least she tried to be. As people tend to evade her. She had a slightly crooked nose, a beautiful smile and the power to imagine a world filled with magic where she could escape everyday life. Her hands had the ability to create: she could build and fix anything or capture any moment she wanted. She had a way with craftsmanship that was uncommon for her age, but that made her who she was.
On the other hand, Janire was a quiet and withdrawn girl, she would always sit in the back of the classroom. She was autistic and generally considered too weird by her peers. She sensed the rejection as if it were a substance dumping the air around her. It made the simple act of existing unbearable. That’s why she was always reading an old book she carried around. She tended to hide herself in oversized clothing, because she wasn’t sure who she wanted to become.
At thirteen years old Amaia and Janire were attached to the hip. They knew each other from an early age, they had walked their first steps together and in sleepless nights they had told one another secrets they will never share with anyone else. Growing up they made up for each other's flaws. Janire who was a straight A student helped Amaia with spelling and writing. In exchange, Amaia taught Janire how to navigate the intricate world of social relationships. Life was difficult but they were happy.
Everything started to change when Janire had her first period. Her voice began to lose the childish lilt to it, her breasts grew all of the sudden and her height increased by a couple of inches. All of the common puberty maturation aside, her nights also experienced an enormous shift. A variety of monsters and scary creatures haunted her in her sleep, making rest impossible. She started to wear dark circles in her eyes everyday. She was so scared of her own nightmares that sleep evaded her. When she managed to sleep a tiny bit, she was woken up by her own terrifying screams, most of the time crying. Even when it became a serious problem she didn’t ask for help, as per usual she preferred dealing with her problems on her own. She was never forcibly alone, but she chose to be. She became moody, irritable and confrontational. She was drawing away the people close to her. Her behavior got worse over time, going as far as to give the cold shoulder to Amaia during their lunch break at school.
That day, tired of the unfairly harsh treatment Amaia decided to confront her friend:
– ¿What the hell is happening with you?What is your problem? – She yelled.
–I’m sorry –, Janire answered, looking sad and regretful.
– No, I haven’t asked you for an apology. Answer my question! – She demanded knowingly, as it wasn’t the first time Janire isolated herself when she was going through a hard time.
– It 's nothing. I promise.
–I know you are lying. You are doing that thing you do with the ring on your right index finger.
–What?, I’m not doing anything– she answered.
–Yes, you are mindlessly turning the ring with your thumb. You only do that when you are very nervous and only lying puts you this way– she stated.
–I don’t do that– she stuttered flustered. She felt seen in that way Amaia only could make her feel.
–Spit it out! –she demanded hitting her repeatedly in the arm.
–I really don’t want to talk about it.
-Will it solve on its own if we don’t? –she inquired.
–It’s complicated. I. I don’t know- Janire conceded.
–Then there is no other way to go about it. You have to tell me.
She inhaled and exhaled forcefully and started telling Amaia what had been going on the past month. How she was chased by monsters, how they always said that they had finally found her and that she being who she was was going to have consequences. She was scared because she couldn’t understand it, her logical mind couldn’t handle the nonsensical overwhelming emotion. From that day on, without telling her friend about it Amaia, who had always loved handicrafts, started making dream catchers in bulk and sneaking onto her bedroom to hide them on her pillowcase. Thanks to her actions Janire was able to have a pleasant night's sleep every day. Gladly, she never found out what the other girl was doing and it became Amaia’s dearest secret: helping her friend to battle out her darkness. Janire’s smile came back with her witty remarks and sarcastic humour, she started reading again and subconsciously putting her hair behind her ears and cutting her hair with scissors without telling anyone. She became herself again. In short, everything went back to normal.
Well, almost everything.