Xóchitl

Authors note: This characters name is Xóchitl pronouncing it kinda sounds like "so chill" however her nickname is Xochi which sounds like "so chee" put together.

Xóchitil sat in her college class next to her best friend Aspen. Her long black hair cast to one side as she bit her inner cheek, checking her notes over one last time before the test her teacher had assigned for the day. Xóchitl was a petite young woman with long dark black hair. Being of Spanish decent her skin looked sun kissed from the summers spent camping and hiking. Her bright grey eyes trying to soak whatever information they could at a quick pace.

"Xochi..." hissed Aspen "Did you remember we had a test today?" Xóchitl laughed nervously

"Umm....Being 100% here.... God honest truth....." murmured

"...no" finished Aspen in an annoyed tone. "I told you everyday this week. Have you lost your brain" Aspen tapped the side of Xóchitl head in an aggressive manner.

"OW!" shouted Xóchitl enough to draw attention from nearby students. "I know but I'm drowning in a sea of homework to which there is no end " exclaimed Xóchitl "I had 3 papers due this week!"

"You need to plan ahead of time and use your time wisely!" hissed Aspen. Xóchitl rolled her eyes but nonetheless continued to listen to her friend rant and rave. Xóchitl and Aspen has been childhood friends. The girls quickly turning their friendship into a sisterly love. Xóchitl was a bit of a wild child. Always finding mischief and putting the two of them in precarious predicaments. Aspen being level headed and practical would always rescue or somehow navigate the treacherous waters they could find themselves in. As a result Xóchitl often was unbalanced, messy, uncoordinated and an all around self sabotaging person at times. She relied on Aspen's mothering nature to keep her safe. Aspen relied on Xóchitl to navigate the waters of uncertainty. While Aspen was meek, shy and reserved she was incredibly smart. The two balanced each other well. Each making up where the other lacked. Xóchitl was the sun and Aspen the moon countering each other to create a harmonious place filled with the light and the dark.

Attention class!" called the Professor "Please take one test and then pass it to the student next to you. If you find your eyes wandering into another individual's test, please know that if I find out, I will call you out in front of the group. In other words save yourself the embarrassment and do your own test. God save your soul if you didn't study" upon his last sentence he look at Xóchitl. If Xochi could die of embarrassment she would have. Her cheeks brightened red as she slumped down in her seat. Aspen lined up her prepared writing utensils and straightened up in her seat in comparison to her companion.

"Do you always have to be prepared?" Xóchitl pouted

"It's not my fault that you are neglectful and a total air head. I told you not to go down to that guys dorm." Aspen stated

"It wouldn't have happened if you would've been there to drag down the party"

"Awe I see. Next time I will be sure to chaperone your antics the night before a test." Aspen replied sarcastically

"Begin" stated the teacher and with that the conversations in the room died.

..................

After the class let out Xóchitl let out a loud breath. "Welp that sucked"

"I thought it was easy" replied a bored Aspen.

"I need to let off some steam.... I definitely flunked that one and need sometime to decompress. Can we do a reset cycle?" asked Xochi

"Hmmm..... I suppose I could go for a hike and some yoga let's do it!" exclaimed Aspen. Despite their counter personalities the girls valued their time together and would often hike together to share their most intimate thoughts knowing full well that the likely hood of someone hearing their secrets in the wild were slim. A trip to the mountains for a hike was the easiest way to stay out of trouble and to work out their frustrations with life.

"Let's hike that one trail that was supposed to be difficult what was it again...horned peak?" asked Xochi

"Hell's horned peak....sure I've got the back packs already packed in the car! We can pick up a gallon of water on the way and some granola mix" replied Aspen.

When the girls arrived at the trail a mysterious presence seemed to follow them. Although neither girl said anything, the both felt a lingering presence despite the lack of people on the trail. Nearing a good 3 miles in the girls decided to rest on a log.

"Its getting close to cooling down time...we should probably head back." stated Aspen

"Why are you afraid to hike in the dark? Besides I heard there's an abandoned cabin another 3 miles up we can hike until we reach it, spend the night in the cabin and hike down the next day." It wasn't unusual for the girls to do as typically they would pack their bags for overnights. They both had strategically scheduled their classes for this purpose. Choosing one day to have a morning class and a night class the next evening.

"No but....." started Aspen

"Nope.... nu uh Weda! Keep your lame excuses to yourself" Xochi cut in "I need this hermana. My life is spiraling away from me it feels like."

"Fine...." whined Aspen as the began the ascent to the abandoned cabin.