She was on the ground, shaking and gasping for air.
Gerri kneeled next to her, taking ahold of Bella’s overnight bag. “Are you okay? I didn't realize you suffered from panic attacks. If I’d known, I would have given you something to help with the trauma of your first transport.”
“What?” She lifted her head from the ground and took a shaky breath. Her lungs burned from the oxygen deprivation.
“I haven’t had a panic attack since high school,” she mumbled, trying to get back on her feet. Gerri grabbed her by the arm and helped her stand. Her legs wobbled in her trainers.
“Well, you just had one, darling.” Gerri lifted most of Bella’s weight as if she was light as a feather and moved along with her toward a rock for Bella to sit on. “What caused the one in high school?”
Bella clenched and unclenched her hands into fists, trying to bring back the circulation into her fingers and stop the tingling. “Some guy invited me to the prom.”
Gerri grinned and pushed Bella’s long curls away from her face. “Honey, a date for the prom isn’t usually a reason to have a panic attack.”
Bella’s shoulders felt weighed down by emotions she hadn’t experienced in far too long. “It wasn’t the fact he asked me to the prom that gave me an attack.”
She glanced around, her mind still a whirlwind of confusion, but with every breath she took, the fear she’d experienced slowly dissipated.
“Then what was it?” Gerri asked.
“He showed up at my house with a limo full of his friends,” she said, hating the reliving of the story. Why had Gerri gotten stuck on it? “I was impatient and ran out of the house, not giving him a chance to come and knock at my door.” She bit her lip. “Not sure if he would have, but anyway. I got to the front, and all my neighbors were out taking photos of their kids getting ready to leave. He popped half his body out of the limo and threw a balloon full of green paint on me.”
SIX
Gerri gasped. “Oh, honey. That’s horrible!”
Not as horrible as living through it. “It stained my new, gold dress.” She gulped back at the renewed dryness in her throat. “I stood there. In shock. Watching him laugh and yell at me over how I could think he would really want to go anywhere with a fat girl.”
“That son of a bitch!” Gerri growled. “I swear, kids are assholes.”
She shrugged and let out a slow breath. “I know.”#p#分页标题#e#
“What did you do?”
She glanced up at Gerri and met the other woman’s concerned gaze. “I ran for the limo, yanked him out of it by his tux, gave him a bloody nose, and then proceeded to have a panic attack.”
“That’s the fighter in you. I’m glad you didn’t let him get away with it.”
“I couldn’t even if I’d wanted to. The anger and hurt I felt were too great.” She pushed the painful memories away and cleared her throat. Her gaze roamed the trees surrounding them. “There’s so much color in this forest.”
Gerri laughed. “Bet you never thought you’d see a purple forest, did you?”
Not in this lifetime. “Let’s just say, I have imagined a lot of things, but never this. All these different shades of purple and fuchsia are so awesome!”
“You think you can walk, or do you need help?” Gerri stood and offered her a pale hand. “We’re not far from the main gate.”
Bella tested her feet. It was as if someone had attached weights to them, but she could walk without the wet-noodle sensation. “I think I’m good.”
“All right. We’ll take you straight to your room, so you can rest and allow your body to adjust. I’ll have someone bring you tea, and later we can explore the library.” Gerri’s enthusiasm came through with her smile.
“Is it a cool library?” she asked, following Gerri through a myriad of branches full of pale-purple baby flowers.
“Honey, it’s an unbelievable library. Full of so many amazing books and artworks. You’d be a fool to pass it up. And I know you like books.”
“I love books,” she said, excited.
“Exactly. So you’ll definitely enjoy this. Alyx’s desk and chair have been passed down through multiple generations of his family.”
She lost her words when they saw a massive rock wall in front of them. “Do we have to climb?”
Gerri shook her head. She pressed her palm into the rock, and it reshaped to Gerri’s hand. Then, the area disappeared before them.
“Holy shit!” she screamed. “That’s some serious alien stuff you just did.”