21/ / choices

Victoria was a volunteer for a youth group that gave support to girls in detentions centres.  Victoria sat down with best smile in front of the girl who was on the other side of the glass.  She really wanted to help this poor girl, but it had been three months and yet she still refused to talk to her. 

Victoria had asked Luna to come with her several times, in hope she would be able to help her out but she had been too preoccupied.

Victoria was a patient person but she no longer knew what she could do or if she could even help this girl.  She had ended up just talking through her own day with Yeri every time she came to visit.  It was the only thing she could do, since Yeri refused to talk to her. 

“Hi Yeri,” Victoria said in the brightest voice she could muster.  Victoria had tied her hair back and wore a simple white shirt with black pants, hoping she would appear more professional.  But that didn’t matter to Yeri.

Because as usual there was no answer, only a blank stare back at her. 

Yeri was a pretty girl, even when the detention centre had forced her to have her hair cut short.  She had small delicate face with big brown eyes and long eyelashes like a doll.  But there was no emotion in her.  It was like her soul had been dry.  All she did was sit looking blankly into the distance, like she was just waiting to waste away.

The first time Victoria met Yeri; it looked like she had come from hell and back.  Her right eye had been bruised a brilliant purple-brown, there were numerous cuts on her face, her hair was a mess and it looked like she hadn’t showered for days. 

“I hope you had a good day today.  My friend Luna, you know the one I told you was an awesome singer, the funniest thing happened to her today.  There a guy trying to talk to her but she was trying to hide behind me, which is kind of stupid.  I mean, its not like they are going to go away if they already know where you are.”

Sometimes Victoria wondered if she was going overboard by telling Yeri her day.  She didn’t want to come across as spoilt or boastful.  It was a life that Yeri would have had if she didn’t end up in a juvenile detention for violently stabbing her abusive boyfriend with a broken glass bottle and into a coma.

The problem was she never owned up to it or denied it.  She kept quiet.  The judge had been lenient due to the domestic abuse she had been suffering, but she needed to give a statement in court to avoid being transferred into a regular prison for another 5 years. 

Victoria had subtly hinted this to Yeri several times in order to let her know if she didn’t say something sooner or later, she was going to suffer longer.  But Yeri refused to say anything.  Victoria thought there must be something else missing; there must be a reason why Yeri was keeping silent.

Victoria continued her story, telling Yeri how she thought that the guy looked like a good match with Luna.  And then she remembered why she thought the guy looked so familiar. 

“I just remembered.  That guy, he reminded me of you.  You guys have very similar features.”

It was at this time that Yeri looked intently at Victoria, as if she wanted her to go into more detail about it.  It was a look that Victoria had never seen before.  Why was Yeri so interested all of a sudden?

Victoria observed Yeri intently as she asked, “You want me to tell you more about this guy?”

She nodded her head eagerly and looked at her wide-eyed with anticipation, like a puppy waiting to be fed.  It was the first time Victoria had seen so much emotion coming from Yeri. 

Yeri had had bad experiences with guys so Victoria saw that if she was reacting well to this, maybe she was heading in the right direction.  It was a glimmer of hope she had long thought not possible, despite always coming to see Yeri and talking to her. 

“He’s very good looking like you.  Maybe it’s the long nose or wide eyed expressions you guys both have that remind me of the two of you.”

“What’s his name?”  Yeri asked in her raspy unused voice, which was barely a whisper. 

It was the first set of words that Victoria had ever heard out of her.  Victoria felt her heart race at this sudden chance of development.  She stammered to regain composure for a while but quickly took a deep breath before she could give Yeri an answer. 

“He’s name is V