Ophelia Read Online Free Page A

be fine, I kept repeating in my head as I walked inside what was going to be my home for a little while.

Chapter TWO

    ***
    Haunted by the past.
    Each of my dreams relive the pain, the loss.
    My eyes are hiding in a storm, blinded by memories.
    ***
    H ere I was sitting in the corner of the communal room wanting only one thing, to be left alone. I had no friends here and it was perfect that way. Most of the other residents were here at their parents’ request. Some of them were a little more than rebels defying every rule, and some were here because their parents were too stoned or drunk to raise them. I was brought up in a good family, and I liked to follow the rules, most of the time. 
    “Why don't she talk to anyone? She's so weird,” I heard one of the youngest say about me. I wasn't deaf or mute, I’d simply decided to keep to myself. 
    The rebellious Teo looked in my direction, and our eyes locked for a short moment. He nodded as if he wanted to salute me and I decided to look elsewhere, ignoring his tenth attempt to talk to me. ”She isn’t ready yet. She’ll probably come around soon.”
    How could he say that? I could stay silent forever. Nothing mattered in my life anymore. I was alive, but that was all. I felt numb most of the time. Playing piano was the one thing that kept me sane, and I couldn't play as much as I wanted here. My time was limited because not everybody liked music as much as I did. The fact that there was a piano here surprised me. It needed repair, but at least it worked.
    Thirty more minutes before I could start to play, I kept myself busy with some reading. That way the others wouldn’t be tempted to bother me. I tried to concentrate on the book so that I would stop looking at my watch every two minutes. Half an hour was nothing, I could get through this.
    The time had come for me to meet with my passion. Each of my fingers placed on the white keys of the old piano, I started with a piece of my own, which I called Angels. I wrote this piece while I was hospitalized. Of course, I didn't have a piano to feel and listen to my creation, but from my knowledge, I was certain it had some potential. The first time I played the song, it didn't sound so good, but after reworking a few chords, the melody I imagined was there. It flowed and it made me really proud of myself.
    The sadness and loss I felt at the hospital gave an edgy tone to the song.
    As I played, my mind returned to the last few days. My first night here had been a nightmare. I wasn’t used to living with seven other teenagers, all of whom have more problems than me. I regretted not demanding to be emancipated at that point, but I remembered that I needed a safe place for a little while. The way I felt here was not like anything I had experienced. I felt as strong as a mouse, one who was surrounded by noisy hyenas. They all wanted a piece of my life, of my secrets, but I refused to share, so that made them hungrier and desperate to know what had happened to the quiet, red-headed girl.
    Here, I kept to myself. I would only speak when there was no way out of it. I didn't want to build any friendships because I knew I wasn't going to stay in Brooklyn, let alone New York. Not making friends protected me from getting hurt again. I couldn't let my heart lose a loved one again. Later, when I stabilized, I would rethink the whole situation, but not now.
    Some nights I had audience, but other nights, I played by myself and it was easy to let my mind wander to the music. It felt so good when I was playing. It was as if nothing had ever happened. I sat there in my own little universe and life became more bearable. Tonight, though, I had him sitting by the piano watching as my fingers danced on the black and white keys. At first, he had tried to get me to speak, but after more than fifteen attempts, he gave up. His name was Teodore but everybody here called him Teo. From my understanding, he'd been here for a couple of months and all the