2: Moved On

H E R   B R E A T H I N G   W A S  fast while she felt the wind brush across her face. She rounded a corner which led towards her house where she came to a stop after her usual morning jog.

Opening the door, Natasha Johnson found her mother in the kitchen as she walked towards the fridge.

"Breakfast is ready, " came Jenna, whipping something from the pan, "I made pancakes, your favorite! "

"I think I'm gonna be late for school, mom! " Natasha teased before brushing back a strand of her golden pony-tailed hair and taking  a gulp of water from a bottle.

"You know how great your pancakes are!" Natasha added.

Jenna smiled as she handed her a plate with two pieces of pancake.

She took time to notice how her daughter had grown over the past fifteen years from when she was just the tiniest, cutest thing back on a boat in Hawaii to a fairly tall girl with long blond hair and blue eyes not forgetting what a big heart she had.

"I wish Dad was here, " Natasha said, taking a bite from one of the pancakes.

"I know..." Jenna muttered, all the while trying to avoid a conversation about Natasha's father everytime she brought it up.

"Mom, how... "

"Nat, we talked about this. It was an accident. "

Jenna was getting annoyed and it was something Natasha never understood and only made her press even more.

"But Mom...!"

"Natasha, enough!" shot back Jenna, "finish your breakfast and go to school!"

They had been doing this for quite a while, especially after Natasha had tried to learn more about her dad from Uncle Damon and Aunt Rachel who never seemed to tell her anything until  they both left Georgia for California back in 2021 after getting engaged.

Then there was Katherine or 'Katie' as everybody called her whom she guessed seemed pretty honest about not really knowing her father that much. Her work partner, Carter—woah! Seriously, you two. We all see what's going on, no matter how much you try to hide it;  Natasha would say to herself—was also not that open when it came to questions about her dad.

All of that had led her to one other person and the only other adult (apart from her mother) she had come to trust—Carol.

"You know what?I'm not hungry, " Natasha walked up to her room, closing the door behind her.

Once  inside her room, Natasha leaned against her door for a while with her eyes shut and for a slight moment, she felt tears trying to form up but she pushed them back in.

She knew what her mother was going through but she just didn't understand why she never really told her anything about her father. That pissed her off a lot.

Well, putting away all of that aside, Natasha had hit the shower and put on a fresh pair of blue jeans with a pink top and a white sweater before getting into white sneakers.

She let her blond hair rest above her shoulders as she grabbed a bag and put something in a sort of cage right next to her closet.

"Come on out, V," she started after setting down what she had put at the base of the cage.

A moment later, something slithered out from a dark corner of the cage. A snake;a green viper to be exact.

Taika had given her the snake when she and her mother had gone on a visit to Hawaii, where she had learnt was her birth place.

Her mother had mentioned something about looking after things her dad had left there and that's when she came across Taika's snake collection or petting zoo as he called it.

Natasha had always loved snakes and the viper was her favorite regardless of how vicious and dangerous it was—which only made her love for the serpents even greater.

She was eleven at the time when she was gifted the snake, despite her mother's pleas for Taika to take it back.

"Mom, if you don't provoke it, it won't harm you," said eleven year old Natasha.

Obviously, her mother gave in in the end and Natasha has had a pet snake ever since.

She watched as the snake dug in to the beef jerky she had pulled from the fridge. The sleek green skin moved so smoothly as she stretched out a hand and stroke it. They seemed to have established a connection as the snake had never lashed out at her but always seemed to enjoy her company and it went both ways.

Grabbing her pack, Natasha left after waving her mother bye despite the tension between them.

"Have a nice day!" came her mother as she walked out of the door.

The school wasn't that far from where she lived hence Natasha had always opted to go on foot, besides, she preferred walking to anything else.

"Hey, wait up!" called a voice from behind her as a girl turned up.

"K!"

Natasha walked in slowly, smiling.

"I said wait up!"

Natasha stopped and turned and sighed, waiting for the girl to catch up with her.

Once she did so, Natasha yanked out one of the earphones she had stuck to her ears.

"You shout like hell every time you wear these things, Cassie."

"What? I can't help it if Zeppelin's irresistible!" came the brown-skinned girl's response.

Cassie Richards; Natasha's best friend ever since she set foot at North Atlanta High, just a few months ago.

Natasha had met her while she was doing what she always did best; listening to music though that particular day, she was doing a sing-along with some group of kids, probably friends of hers.

Natasha had been studying an announcement banner next to the group of kids when a girl accidentally jabbed her at the shoulder while chattering about some song.

"Oh, sorry!" the girl added.

"No, it's okay, just trying to get along on my first day here," came Natasha's response.

"You're new here?" the girl stopped singing.

"Yeah..."

"I'm new too!"

The girl went on.

" I think I've seen you before. We're in the same class!"

Natasha couldn't help her own grinning as to how...high spirited this girl was and she kinda liked it.

"I'm Cassie."

"Natasha."

"You know how Principal Loyd hates loud noises, right?" Natasha said as she and Cassie walked on to school.

"Argh!" Cassie spat, "don't even remind me about that. That guy is just the worst!"

Natasha giggled and the two went on chatting until they stopped at the school's entrance.

"Look at that," Cassie added, "we beat the bus!"

The school bus revved past the entrance and came to a stop as kids began to alight.

One of the kids, a boy; short with thick dark hair, was stepping out of the bus when he fell face first and hit the ground flat, causing a wave of laughter to follow.

"What's the matter, Danny boy? Forgot where the ground is?"

A tall boy scoffed. Ben. The Sophomore bully—as he was known. He slapped another boy's hand after they both got out of the bus, laughing.

"And...yet another day begins..." Cassie said, rolling her eyes dramatically and grabbing Natasha by the arm as they rushed in to class.

Natasha turned a glance down to Daniel, the boy on the ground, as he struggled to undo his shoelaces which were tied up across each other.