Chapter Two - Sylvie

Sylvie

            My phone is ringing for the hundredth time today. I’m reluctant to take it out but there’s no other way to stop the ringtone getting on my nerves. I open my backpack, reach into it and pull out the small, metallic grey mobile. I give a silent sigh as I press the decline button and slip it back into my bag.

          It had taken me all of five minutes to leave History after School Class; another half hour was wasted to find this precise alleyway, after all there were at least five of them here. I wasn’t expecting Kenzie to be waiting for me. I know that he’ll be out gliding somewhere, oblivious to ever have been mentioned in the first place. I know who will be in the shadows waiting to set up some excuse.

          Somewhere in my thoughts it became clear that the only way to solve this was to make peace the only way I knew how.

          Marie and Carly stalked towards me, both of their hands in the pockets of their white duffel coats and I could just make out little tremors cursing through their bodies. I walk towards them, forcing a smile as I go.

          ‘Where is he then? Did he come down with influenza?’ Their mouths open in surprise, this encourages me to continue. ‘Maybe he’s been burnt hmm? What do you know?’

          ‘He sent us here to tell you that he’s been detained by the Ministry.’ Marie says. ‘He sends his apologies but you won’t be seeing him for a week.’

          ‘What’s he done?’

          ‘Nothing for you to worry about. I’m sure you’ll find it hilarious when he tells you himself.’  

          ‘Whatever.’ Carly gives me a gentle shove.

          ‘I know you’re struggling to come to terms with your mum and all but that’s no excuse to treat everybody else like dirt.’ A cackle explodes from Roxy who places her hands on both of my shoulders. I could smell the light fragrance of her tropical smoothie shampoo that she used; she’d given me the exact same bottle for Christmas.

          ‘I think she’s got a good reason to treat you like trash.’ She says brazenly. ‘You say you’re sorry for letting the cat out of the bag about Jennifer’s illness but are you?’ Carly’s shoulders tense, her eyes squinting.

          ‘This has got nothing to do with you.’

          ‘Oh it does. You see, I’m her best friend. I have a duty to protect and kick inconsiderate arses like yourselves.’

          ‘Best Friend? Pfftt! You forgot her birthday! We’ve never missed one.’ Marie nods.

          ‘Yes, as we recall you’ve missed every single one of them.’ Her tongue darts about her lips and smiles smugly and I know what’s coming. I beg silently in my head that I’m wrong but all hope fades as she opens her mouth.

          ‘How’s Rob lately?’ Marie’s eyes narrow with suspicion but her smile grows wider but it doesn’t touch her eyes.

          ‘He’s fine; we’re celebrating our anniversary tomorrow. What’s Rob getting brought into this for anyway? It’s you were talking about.’

          ‘Ah sweet.’ Roxy shrugs her shoulders and stretches her hands out in front of her. ‘Still, nothing lasts forever does it?’

          ‘Shouldn’t you be with Jimbo in some secluded spot?’ She snaps which makes Roxy’s grin ten times the size of a normal one. ‘That’s what girls like you do right?’

          ‘What are you? Jealous?’

          ‘Of you?’ Marie throws her head back and laughs bitterly. ‘Oh my! You really love yourself don’t you? I guess somebody has to though.’

          ‘Enough!’ I yell which silences them. ‘I came here to reason but if this is how you’re going to act then you can just forget it.’ Carly turns to Marie.

          ‘Marie keep your mouth shut.’ I turn to Roxy who is glowering at Marie.

          ‘And you too. This might take some time.’ Her wide green eyes fly towards the ground, her lips upturned into a childish pout. ‘I have a proposition for you. You take it; the whole thing that happened will be forgotten. If not, then you can forget about us being friends.’

          ‘Ok. What is it?’

          ‘Stop trying to pair me up with Kenzie.’

          ‘That’s just madness!’ Shouts Marie. ‘He’s smitten with you.’

          ‘You could be right but I want to hear it from him not second hand.’

          ‘He can’t talk to you Sylvie.’

          ‘Really? He did absolutely fine that time we went gliding.’  They both swap nervous glances, I feel Roxy’s left arm poke me just beneath my ribcage. Usually I would nudge her back and we’d fall into a laughing fit but that wouldn’t happen today.

          They don’t know Kenzie at all. If they had, they would have seen that he didn’t care about me. I had spotted him and Roxy together during a break at Valek’s Canyon. He had his arms wrapped around her slim waist; her hands were running through his hair slowly and then her lips moved towards his and soon they were kissing like there was no tomorrow.

          I shouldn’t feel so bad about it I mean; I’d shrugged him off enough times emotionally. It was just hard to accept that the girl who I’d grown up with had broken the vow of friendship loyalty. The promise of not going with each other’s boyfriends or boys that we had our eye on.

          It could have been anyone. Anyone else would have been fine. Karma was funny like that.

          ‘That’s the deal.’ I tell them as I flick a strand of hair out of my face. ‘Do we have one or not?’

          ‘Totally.’ Carly says forcing a smile. ‘If that’s what you want we’ll respect that.’

          ‘You mean it?’ She places a hand over her heart and draws a cross over her with the other.

          ‘I swear.’ I catch a glimpse of a shadow moving behind her. As it comes further into view I realise it is her, Twink. The new girl that had been in our class for no longer than a few hours before being moved to another part of the school. Nobody knew where this was or that it even existed. The bitter breeze forces her long, tousled red hair upwards, towards the heavens and tumbles down over her small shoulders. Her cheeks are a pale white and matches her lips. ‘Is that the new girl?’

          ‘I think so I mean, didn’t she have shoulder length black hair before?’

          ‘Perhaps she’s a Wigger. Do you think there’s anything wrong with her?’

          ‘I’m not sure.’ She begins to pace the earth with grace and then suddenly kneels, her arms outstretched like a cat, her head touching her knees. ‘Her pupils are black and white too.’

          ‘Is that even possible? I don’t like this. What do we do?’

          ‘Maybe we should go.’ Marie suggests as she holds out her hand. Carly places her left in hers as she stands up. ‘Good idea.’ We turn to leave but a bright light stuns us from behind. I turn and stare open mouthed. Her head has lifted from the ground, the blinding yellow light which comes from both of her nostrils tasting like burnt copper in my mouth as I breathe, her pupils were now filling with luminous lilac, and dark red replaced the white on her cheeks and lips.

          ‘That’s not normal.’

          ‘On this occasion I agree with you.’ A small but wicked smile creeps onto her face; the clouds above us hide the sun, a vast bolt of ice lightning shocks us to scream and soon hundreds of birds fell to her feet. ‘Can we go now?’ Carly asks, alarm rising in her voice. ‘She’s going to kill us!’

          ‘Let her try it!’ Roxy screams in her direction. Twink doesn’t respond. She just stands there, staring at the pile of animals as if she’s amazed at what she has just managed to do.

          ‘Go ahead and defeat her. It’ll be worth a laugh.’

          ‘She’s gone.’ I told them. I witness her vanish before my eyes and yet I wonder if I had been seeing things. A teenager that fades by herself? How ludicrous! Yet that’s what had happened.

          ‘How’d she manage that without us seeing her?’ My phone begins to ring; I roll my eyes as I take off my rucksack and open it once more. Maybe it’s time I spoke to her after all. I press the green button and listen hard.     ‘Les?’ I listen to what my stepdad has to say. I feel my heartbeat quicken, my eyes widen and soon my fingers are numb.

          ‘Sylv?’

          ‘Sylvie?’ Roxy prompts as she shakes my right shoulder. I turn to her.

          ‘Sorry.’ I place it back into my bag, fasten it and throw the straps onto my shoulders. ‘I have to go.’ I scurry to my water ski, place my foot onto full throttle and speed off without looking back.

Chapter Two - Leah

Leah

            Two of my close friends live with me here at Rococoa, Gaea’s Forest. Three if you count Faye, Henna’s sister. Henna and I have been best friends since the day we were born. No kidding. We were side by side in our incubators, our mothers had laughed so hard when they’d noticed our hands were in each other’s. Henna was bawling her eyes out; it was my way of comforting her I guess.

            The musing of my mum’s voice creeps into my head and a heartstring slowly pulls and springs back. It acts like a kick in the stomach would. Tears spring to my eyes without my permission; I will them bitterly not to fall. I wasn’t a little girl anymore. I was thirteen now, a teenager and now was hardly the time to act like a baby.

            I hope deep inside that she’s ok and that, that slob isn’t walking his size twelve Doc Martins all over her. Don’t get me wrong, mum’s not a doormat, she can’t be if she’s not aware of what’s going on right?

            The slob I’m referring to is Mason, my pompous, self-obsessive stepfather. Just because he’s married to my mum though doesn’t mean that we have to have this sickly bond that normal, well deserving children have. I’ve never liked him for all the time that mum’s been with him. In mum’s eyes though it’s always my fault when something goes off between us. It’s just as well I don’t see her for the majority of the year.

            A teardrop falls down my right cheek and onto the graphite grey kitchen bench. I wipe my right hand over my left eye and reach underneath the sink for the dishcloth. At least she has somebody I guess. She has my gran too. If anything were to go off she would be able to turn to her. As for the four of us we only had each other. And the neighbours next door and over the road.

            Henna and I are the same age; Ellie is a couple of months older than us which gives her the right to order us around if we’re not pulling our weight in certain areas of the house. This morning we’d practically died of a heart attack as she’d chosen to wake us all with a megaphone in all of our ears. Faye had actually burst into tears which left it to Henna to provide comfort for her.

            The lukewarm, afternoon air hits me suddenly and then fades as the door slams. I toss my head over my shoulder and see Henna and Ellie standing there, a deviant smile painting both their faces. I dismiss them, throwing the dishcloth underneath the sink; I take off my red checkered apron and fold my arms.

            ‘What’s made you two so happy?’ I ask. Their eyes shift to each other’s faces and they burst out laughing. Briefly, I wonder where Faye is, she’s never usually absent. ‘Fine. Share the news between you. Dinner’s in the oven.’ I start to walk but they scramble to the entrance of the lounge to stop me from entering.

            ‘Wait. Seriously this is good news.’ Henna says as she grabs hold of my shoulders.

            ‘Fantastic news.’ Ellie corrects as she nudges her. ‘Don’t be so shy Henna; this is what you’ve been dreaming of for years.’ Henna grins, her hazel eyes are wide with excitement, her brilliant white teeth press down on her bottom lip. I can tell it’s big. She always looks like this when something amazing happens.

            ‘Ok.’ She gushes. ‘Huge.’

            ‘Well don’t keep me in suspense.’ I tell her.

            ‘Your brother, Steve.’

            ‘What about him?’

            ‘He has just asked me out.’ I feel my heart sink a thousand feet into my loafers. It was something I had never counted on becoming a reality. Steve and Henna hardly talked for one. And two, they were too different. They had no magnetic field. I’d never thought that Henna was Steve’s type. Sure, Henna was gorgeous but he was into bad ass girls like Simba Cummings or Alexa Ferguson. Why was this happening now? Henna’s smile fades as my face screws up into a frown. Her hands remove themselves from my shoulders. ‘Aren’t you happy for us?’

            ‘He’s my brother!’ I manage to say without choking.

            ‘So?’

            ‘So! Henna, this is so weird.’ She folds her arms as she shakes her strawberry blonde curls down to her back. Ellie places an arm round her and pulls her closer to her.

            ‘I kinda forgot to mention that Lawson’s outside. He wants to talk to you.’ My heart crawls out of my shoes and into my throat, it throbs with each beat and soon I can’t speak. What am I to say to him?

            ‘Any idea what he wants?’ Ellie and Henna walk to the other room.

            ‘Same thing as Steve if you’re lucky.’ She shouts coldly and I suddenly regret my reaction. There was fat chance of him wanting me the same way Steve wanted Henna. For one Lawson’s my stepbrother and two the Ministry would have me slain if I made any contact. I slip out of the door and let it slam behind me.

            I find Lawson slouching on the rusty old swing which had been around ever since I’d been here. I place my hands in my hands and force myself to walk towards him. I try to think of something cunning and sophisticated to say but my brain’s a fuzzy mess of what and if’s. I stand in front of him with a smile.

            At fifteen he’s a mammoth six foot two, he towers over me as he stands, his light brown, tanned face looks down at me and my heart accelerates at full speed.

            ‘Leah.’ His voice, like velvet whispers my name which forces me to swallow some saliva before running the risk of being dry mouthed.

            ‘Lawson.’ I greet back. ‘What brings you here?’ His small, emerald green eyes blink several times, his head tilts sideways to the left.

            ‘You mean you haven’t heard?’

            ‘Heard what?’ He scratches the back of his neck and murmurs something that I don’t catch.

            ‘Oh man, I am so relieved.’ He grabs hold of my hands; his lips pull apart and break into a massive grin that automatically reaches his eyes. Maybe Ellie was right after all. Maybe he was really going to ignore the Ministry and follow his heart.  I take my hands from his and wipe them on my brown tunic, why did I have to sweat so much at this present moment? I let his hands claim me once more. ‘I want you to be the first to know.’ I hold my breath.

            ‘Know what?’

            ‘I’ve done it. I asked Lauren to go out with me.’ My heart sinks deeper than my loafers; in fact I can barely feel it beating anymore. My whole body feels as if it’s had a brick thrown at it. He stares at me questioningly as the tears threaten to fall again. I shake my head and run into the house. The only place where I couldn’t get hurt anymore.

Chapter Two - Rosie

Rosie

            Every Tuesday Ceres, the Goddess in charge of harvesting sees that every item of fruit is picked for the week ahead. Bex and I always watch her skilled hands draw shiny red apples from the trees. She waits until they are bare before retreating to the corner of Illionia Park, with her brown wicker basket ready for sorting.

            She starts with the shiniest ones first, taking away small chunks with a sharp knife. She pops one into her awaiting mouth with a mixture of anxiety that writes itself in her emerald green eyes. If her face screws up while chewing we know it’s bad. Bad apples don’t have a place on anyone’s plate but if they were good and decent the chunks would regrow in front of our eyes, the red skin shinier than before.

            This reminds me of my birth; it gives me some comfort and makes me feel closer to her in a weird way which was why Bex was always my most trusted friend to watch this act of soul searching. The aftermath of my birth must have been a lot like this ritual. Wouldn’t it have been much easier for the both of us if I’d never existed at all? She wouldn’t have had to struggle for nine months carrying me, her head telling her that once I was born she’d be free of me, yet her heart would have been struggling not to bond with the enemy.

            ‘Wow!’ Bex exclaims as she passes me the crumpled note back to me. ‘Your intuition was right after all.’ I take it gently from her, my eyes resting on the neat handwriting in front of me.

Miss Jasminda Rayan

2102 Collida Falls

Mount Corona

Dandelion Simes

DE13 5SE

Miss Rosie Campbell

14A Acitta Trove

Poseidon’s Ocean

Episkopos

PO8 E70

Dearest Rosie,

                                                                                 Today you embark on the next stage of your life. Being a teenager isn’t all bad, some lessons you’ll conquer, some you’ll wish you could have had more warning about.

          You can’t beat yourself up though; nothing can be achieved by doing so. No one ever wins a war by equipping self-pity. I only wish I could be with you in person to celebrate, however this remains impossible. At this moment the Sprites are on the defence, something is happening out there. All I can say is prepare yourself.

            I will be in touch when things calm down. Enjoy your birthday and know that even though I’m not with you, you are with me always. I’m sorry I can’t explain everything right now.

          I love you with all my heart.

          Forgive me.

          Your estranged mother x x x x x

            Had I been the one that was wrong the whole time? Had she wanted me but couldn’t find a way to keep me? The cool breeze floats into my face but it feels like dry sand against my cheeks. The sun feels warmer on my clothes, making me shuffle about the grass for some short but cool relief from the burning of my clothes against my skin.

            ‘What do you make of this?’ I ask her, she begins braiding her hair three main fingers parting the strands of her long, black hair. Her nose twitches once, then twice.

            ‘I don’t know. I mean, anybody can write a letter Ro, but why anybody would want to play with anyone’s feelings is beyond me.’

            ‘Do you think it’s bogus?’ Her head wobbles sideways; her shoulders slump as she knots a purple hairband at the base of her plait. I could see the cogwheels turning in her brain as she tries to find the words that I didn’t want to hear. I hold my breath as she opens her mouth; her hands leave her hair and squeeze my left hand.

            ‘Personally I don’t recognise the handwriting or the names she’s mentioned but her voice sounds adult. Not childlike.’ My fingers curl inwards, the corners of the paper fold over the words which were bound to be disappearing by now with the heat radiating from my body.

            ‘Maybe I should just throw it away. There’s no evidence alongside it to prove she is who she says she is.’ Bex wraps her right arm around my shoulders while rocking us side to side. I want to protest that I’m okay but soon a couple of tears fall from my eyes.

            ‘I know how much this has perked you up today. Maybe you should keep it just in case something else pops up.’ I turn to her and smile, there is anything but faith in her green eyes.

            ‘Do you really think there’s a chance?’ She nods.

            ‘Sure. After all you never know what’s going to happen.’ I take the note from my right hand and fold it over. I open my bag and place it inside.

            ‘How’s thing’s been with Elliot?’ She gives a groan of frustration.

            ‘Excruciating. You know how affectionate he can be sometimes.’

            ‘I don’t know why you can’t just tell him. It’d save you dying everytime.’

            ‘I prefer that. Over being rejected anyway. Hey Nancy!’ She stops stock still on the grey pavement and waits, she is sporting a black pixie hairdo, her pale pink skin glows gloriously in the sunlight. Bex waves her over and soon she is walking over to us.

‘Hi.’ She mutters quietly bearing a weak smile. Bex draws her into an embrace. ‘Rosie.’

‘Hi.’ Bex withdraws, Nancy’s lips bite together as if she’s trying to keep something from leaping out of her mouth.

‘If you’re wondering where Austin is I can’t help you. He didn’t come home.’

‘Why would we want to know that?’ I question, my eyebrows narrow with wonder.

‘You hang around with him remember?’ Her tongue darts to the right corner of her mouth and folds her arms across her chest. ‘And there’s the small but concrete fact that you two are together now.’ Her eyes meet mine, my heart stops completely. I force out a laugh.

‘What?’

            ‘Don’t deny it! I saw you two canoodling in the Science corridor earlier. You ought to be careful, antics like that can get you into trouble.’ Slowly I close my eyes and curse him silently.

It had been innocent. Austin had been upset about always being taken for a mug by his stepdad, Bobby. I was trying to comfort him but he misread the signals and he ended up kissing me. I figure that she must have caught us in that moment. That was all it was. A moment of silliness and confusion.  I’d stormed off in fury at his nerve and that’s when he said it. ‘I’ll tell them Rosie.’ He called after me. ‘I’ll tell everybody that you’re mine.’ And that was exactly what would have happened. I heard a sharp intake of breath. ‘Happy birthday!’

            ‘Oh my god!’ Bex murmurs, horrified.

            ‘It’s not what you think. It wasn’t supposed to happen.’ She hauls me to my feet, nearly hurling me across the park lawn.

            ‘It did though didn’t it? And you didn’t tell me.’ My eyes flicker open, thin but visible frown lines arch on her forehead. Her eyes glass over as her nostrils flare.

            ‘I would have done but receiving that note freaked me out.’

            ‘If the shoe was on the other foot and something happened between me and Elliot you’d be the first person I’d tell.’ I take a step towards her, my arms outstretched console her.

            ‘I know and I’m sorry.’ Bex backs away from me and nods towards a space behind me. I turn around to find my oldest sibling Annette. I blink several times. With her living at Hephaestus’ Cauldron with my Aunty Renee, it meant that the only times I saw her was during school hours, birthdays and Christmases. To be here any other time was against their regulations and would lead her to being tortured or worse. ‘What are you doing here?’ She holds up a plastic white card, a square photograph of herself is aligned in the top right hand corner.

            ‘Free pass.’ She announces smugly. ‘I couldn’t miss my little sister’s milestone. Come, mum’s got a surprise for you but she’s not going to wait forever so you’ll have to come now.’ A mixture of excitement and curiousity fills my stomach as I go to join her. I turn to Bex before leaving, giving her an apologetic smile but she turns away from me.

Chapter One - Sylvie

Sylvie

          You hear those stories don’t you? In magazines, on the news, on the street. Everywhere. There are stories of fear, neglect, cancer and betrayal. I’m guilty of reading a few on my break, I like it because the whole activity makes me realise that my life isn’t so bad and that it has some significant, poignant meaning.

          Not once did I ever contemplate that one of those things would ever happen to me. It had of course and it was all down to two of my so called friends who thought it would be funny to stand in the centre of the AstroTurf and shout from the top of their lungs that my mum was crazy.

          She’s not la de da crazy. I mean, she doesn’t talk to herself or count how many cracks are in the pavement and such but she’s emotive. She psyches herself up about the smallest of things like completing the shopping but it can just be something just as minimal that switches her to suicidal.

          Life’s tough for me and Amy at the best of times, now they’d really pushed all the wrong buttons. I’d been home for lunch to see if mum was all right, Amy had been home earlier and had screamed at her and told her it was all her fault. You can’t blame Amy for being angry and hurt, just like it wasn’t poor mum’s fault that she was suffering. It’s hard to cope with the tribulations of being a teenager sometimes never mind a mental illness.

          ‘I’m really, really sorry Sylvie.’ Carly whines at me as I pull out the red wooden chair from behind my desk. ‘I don’t know what came over me.’

          ‘No you’re not sorry. Not yet, but you will be. If word reaches the forbearers they’ll execute her. But of course you already know that don’t you?’ Carly’s eyes widen in horror, her left hand flies to her mouth as she gasps for breath.

          ‘Gosh, look if anything comes of this I’ll swear that it was just a joke between friends.’ I feel my eyes glower at her, if she were to be wearing red now she wouldn’t stand a chance of staying upright. Friends? What planet had she been on for the past hour? I have no friends. Everybody has gone into hiding since the big announcement. And yet here she is telling me that she understands

          ‘No because if they do find out you’ll be history. My mother’s illness is not a joke. If you’d seen how torn Amy had been you’d get that into your thick skull!’

          ‘I’ve said I’m sorry. What else can I do?’

          ‘You can start by getting the hell away from me.’ She lowers her head and then smiles playfully. I clench my fists, ready to attack her with whatever nonsense leaves her mouth next.  

          ‘Kenzie wants to see you tonight.’ She pulls herself up onto the caramel brown table, allowing her legs to swing back and forth. ‘Right where the old alley lies round the back of the school. Quarter past four suit you?’ I roll my eyes clockwise. She and Marie have been trying to set me up with him since the day we’d met. Of course, every time they’d tried to set us up, Kenzie had refused to have anything to do with me in that way and that he just liked me as a friend.

          I’d found that I’d loved him ever since we’d glided over Molten Falls at Hephaestus’ Cauldron, he’d originally planned to go with his friend Rob but he’d chickened out at last minute. I wasn’t brave, I mean I couldn’t stand being in a swimming pool let alone thousands of feet up from the lava that was bubbling below. Somehow, Kenzie has always had that effect on me; he was always making me strive for better when the odds were five hundred to one. Maybe that’s how come I’d allowed myself to fall in love with him. It was easy enough to do right? At the same time though I felt ridiculous for feeling something for him, knowing that he didn’t feel the same way about me.

          ‘Quit playing games with me.’ I snap.

          ‘I’m not. Honestly, he does. It’s perfect.’ I don’t know what she meant by perfect but I’d already decided that I wasn’t going to meet him. I’d probably go and he wouldn’t be there and then they would make me the butt of their jokes for the rest of the duration. Well, it wasn’t going to happen. Not tonight. Not ever.

          ‘I thought Kenzie wasn’t interested in dating.’ Kimberly sidles up beside me. Carly’s jaw hardens.

          ‘He is he just doesn’t show it as much as everybody else.’ She protests. ‘Just because he’s not like all the other guys bragging about their conquests doesn’t mean he’s any different.’ Kimberly’s hands fly up to surrender.

          ‘All right, jeez, I was only saying.’

          My heart freezes at the sight of Kenzie hurrying in through the open door. He races around the room, making sure that every chair was in its place and that there was no rubbish left around in the open spaces.

I swallow hard as my eyes watch eagerly as he runs his fingers into his short, dark brown locks then lowers them to the base of his neckline and down to his yellow and red tunic that bulks out because of his toned torso. I will myself to look away, surely he’d realise that I was staring at him like some petulant stalker at some point and then what? His right arm flops beside him, his eyes focusing on everyone else but me.

‘Sir’s coming. He’s got someone with him.’ Everybody in the room begins moving to their seats, the scraping of the wooden legs echo off the walls along with the mixed chattering of voices. Kenzie’s big, round emerald eyes latched on mine and I feel my heart slowly begin to beat again, I can hear the blood pumping through my veins as his thick, red lips twitch into a warm smile. I give him a smile back, knowing fine well that I was turning the darkest shade of tomato red. He takes his seat without saying another word while the curiousity bubbles like the desire that was motioning through me.

         

Chapter One - Leah

Leah

            Slap bang in the middle of all of the chaos, where I exist is Gaea’s Forest. If you were to be the unlucky one gliding over Episkopos you’d just make out the resemblance of that to Mickey Mouse’s head, only difference is, is that it’s a much distorted, multi-coloured version of the Disney character. We have the best of surroundings there. We have trees which are as green as our lawns, home grown fruit and vegetables that are hand-picked and steamed, parks where everybody knows your name for good or bad, shopping centres that sell the coolest of gadgets and our school is situated here.

            What you’d also see while up above this prison are three diamond like spaces. Each of them are bordered by graphite wired fences with signs telling us bystanders to keep our mitts off otherwise we’ll be begging for death and it won’t come. I remember a while back that a young boy placed his hands onto it and soon after he began shaking. His eyes were bloodshot, the colour drained from his face and fingers but his chest was still rising and falling as if nothing was happening. I’d watched as the Ministry sent the crucifiers. They’d rolled him in a big, black sheet and they’d taken off quickly.

That was when the Ministry realised we were growing tired of being on the side-lines, after that they’d placed forbearers, three in each space, to make sure none of us ever made an attempt to get in ever. This had seemed to work. Plus two to them. Minus two to us. 

            Bending my knees I tilted the ski to the right and rode over a wave. The waters of Poseidon’s Ocean weren’t safe at the best of times, today though they seem to be on their best behaviour. I have just passed the Achati River and prepare to turn right as another wave meets the brunt of the front of the Jet Ski.

             Riding about on these waters is a big risk for me. Firstly because I’m not too great at riding a jet ski and secondly he could have been watching me from afar. I clutch the handlebars hard and desperately try and shake the thought from my mind. To think of him now would surely end up with me falling into the water and being some mermen’s lunch.

            To be honest, that sounds quite appealing. There’d be no going home to Ellie moaning at me to tidy my room, no Henna daydreaming about my hapless older brother, Steve and I can forget that ever a boy like him exists.

            I approach the docks of Acitta Trove and unmount my vehicles; my feet feel the way across the blanket of white and black ice. This is the part I dread too. Falling on my bottom and having him watch me would be so humiliating! I wouldn’t be able to look him in the face again.

 As I crawl nearer to Rosie’s cabin I take note of the icicles that have spouted above her pine window panes and the brown panel above the small black step. I catch sight of her then, walking hunched over as if she’s just been kicked in the stomach by some thug. She is wearing her black blazer over her light blue tunic; the bottom of her dark blue tights have been swallowed into the snow. Her boots are now lined with a thick coating as she stands in front of me. She kicks the brown fence with such force that it begins to keel over.

‘It’s such a good job I don’t have a camera. Your face would break it for sure.’ I say playfully to her but her eyes don’t meet mine. Her long light brown hair was tousles over her face, her cheeks are bright red with the bitter cold.

‘Har, har!’  Her eyes roam the area suspiciously, as if it’s her first time outside. I watch as her eyebrows raise slightly, her jaw opening inch by inch.

‘I’ve never seen that cabin before.’ It’s not like all the others that are dotted around the street. This one has mahogany painted planks on the outside instead of the usual light auburn that Rosie’s has. Its windows are larger too, more square than rectangular like ours and the lawn was immaculate. Rosie’s is a mass of mile high, uneven snow. Theirs were hardly covered at all.

‘That’s impossible. Things just don’t appear like that.’

‘I know right?’ There’s a big clatter that stops us, our eyes focus on a moving figure, the gate slams and suddenly she comes into view. She is a bit taller than me, three inches more in estimation. Her shoulder length black hair hides her gold hooped earrings, eye shadow licks at her eyelids, blusher caresses her cheeks and red lipstick paints her thick lips.

That’s not what gets my attention though. She is wearing a red, silky chemise which has black eyelash stitched lace at the sides, a little black bow was in place between her cleavage, making them the centre of attention.

At all four corners of Episkopos we are ordered to wear uniforms. Rosie’s consists of a blue tunic to represent the water and black tights with blue ribbons weaving over the top with black, patent leather loafers. My tunic was light green to represent the green grass of home; the trousers are the same colour with dark green ribbons and matching loafers.  How is she able to wear what she wants and not be condemned to torture? A door flies open from somewhere, I realise it’s the front door. Two women are standing with their arms round each other, both dressed in golden robes.

‘You’d better get back here now young lady!’ The woman on the left threatens her tone of voice flat and nonchalant. She has shoulder length caramel blonde hair and is smaller than the woman beside her. The girl doesn’t stop, she keeps on walking in her six inch stiletto heels, sashaying her hips as she goes. ‘I’m warning you!’ She stops and turns to face them.

‘Do as you please. You always do. What’s to say this is any different?’ The woman sighs and turns to the woman beside her who I assume is her partner.

‘I give up. You sort her.’ She leaves the doorway, leaving the remaining woman to deal with her. A hand runs through her short, jet black hair, her eyes narrow and her chin squares.

‘Come on darlin’.’ She coos as if the girl is a lost kitten. ‘We can work this out. Come back right now and we’ll talk hmm?’

‘That’s all you ever want to do!’ She yells. ‘What is the point in that? The world is going to end and all you want to do is talk?’ She shakes her head. ‘I thought you were different. I thought you’d listen to me.’ The woman catches us staring and smiles apologetically.

‘I am listening or I would if you gave me a chance to. Please, let’s just me and you go somewhere quiet and I’ll listen to anything you’ve got to say.’

‘She going to be with you?’ 

‘No. I promise it’ll just be me and you.’ The girl walks back to the cabin but as she shuts the gate her eyes meet us. Her eyebrows furrow, her breathing becomes haggard as her chest rises and falls erratically. Her hands fly from the gate.

‘And what are you two gawping at?’ Her hands smooth down her chemise seductively. ‘I know I’m gorgeous but pur-lease I have taste.’ The woman comes out in her slippers and drags her into the apartment.

‘What a tart!’ My voice is thick with disgust and horror. ‘Why haven’t the forbearers got her in custody?’ Rosie shrugs her shoulders.

‘I don’t know. Maybe they are unaware of her.’

‘No, the forbearers never miss a trick. They’d have locked up her freaky deeky parents too.’ She flinches at the word freaky and her cheeks turn a crimson red. It could have been from the cold but chances were very slim as we’d been standing here for ten minutes straight. I rub my hands together in a bid to bring heat. Rosie takes a few steps forward, her head tosses over her left shoulder.

‘We’d best get going.’ She informs adamantly. ‘We don’t want to be late now do we?’ I heave a sigh of frustration and follow suit.

‘I guess not.’ We head towards the docks in silence. 

Chapter One - Rosie

Rosie

            I imagine her. This mysterious woman of which my sensitive, emerald eyes should have lingered on. After so many tedious hours of childbirth her heart should have sang its own acapella verse, her arms should have been aching with want to hold me close and to love me unconditionally.

            Instead I suppose the opposite have happened. She had taken one look at me and thought that I wasn’t good enough. Maybe my eyes had been too big for my round face, my brown hair too thin on my head or perhaps I’d screamed nonstop since I had been born. Some people might say that it’s none of those; that she simply got scared and couldn’t face her responsibilities.

            My Aunty Dionne said once that giving birth to a baby is the most precious, most thrilling experience a woman can have. She’d always say that whenever she caught me scowling at the mention of a birth of a newborn. Sometimes, when she was really poorly she would just giggle and give me a cuddle. It’s those I miss most.

            My thin, pink fingers run along the brown, polished wooden lid and I sigh softly. God must really hate me. What other explanation is there for this kind of torture? Why else would he be putting me through hell? To tell anyone about God would be foolish anyway, the fore bearers would send me into oblivion for sure. The problem with Episkopos is that only fools will believe in the simplest things.

            Records say that Episkopos was founded in 095 B.P. All those years ago two large planets collided into each other, and then another two met them head on. This split the land mass into four quarters. Far west is where we live, Poseidon’s Ocean. If you’ve read about the myths you’ll know that he was the God of the sea and a merman. Some people say they exist. Some say that it is best staying a myth. I don’t know what to think.

            I wipe my eyes then pull off the lid in one swift movement. My fingers ruffle through the bits of paper and photographs, a sense of urgency ripples through my blood like a bullet would through the air, hitting its prime target.

            Anyone else would relish this. The curiousity of the unknown, getting to track down a missing relative and discovering little details of information that was unknown before. I would rather have a normal upbringing, a loving family who’d fight for me. Instead I’d drawn the short straw. Story of my life.

            If only there was a way to stop this insanity. Once and for all I could be what I was supposed to be, not what I wanted to be. My fingers tuck themselves into the palms of my hand, trying to bestow the anger that was building slowly. If only I could think without -.

            SLAM!

            She’s home. God, she’s early.

            ‘Rosie!’ Brenda calls up; her deep, musky voice bounces of the walls and travels into my eardrums making my ears ring. ‘Are you here?’ I roll my eyes anti clockwise at her pathetic question. Who did she think was here? I could hear the rustlings of carrier bags and I smile to myself. ‘Olly, you keep your mitts off those chocolate fingers! Don’t you eat enough?’

            ‘But mum.’

            ‘No buts. Hand’s off!’ Olly gives a whimper, a sign of his despair. ‘Rosie!’ I can see her now, flicking her long, peroxide blonde hair over her shoulders, her hands on her bony hips while her left foot taps away in an annoyed fashion. I felt the corners of my mouth pull up into a grin but stop myself. Now is not the time to be smiling.

            I avert my eyes to the other brown, polished box that has been sitting beside me throughout my search; my heart skips a beat. I’d completely forgotten about it. I take the box from my lap and place the other one onto it.

            The walls have just shaken with the velocity of her sigh, now the sound of her four inch heels are making the worn floorboards creak and my heart palpitate with panic. She wouldn’t dare come in here! Not after last time. She wouldn’t! No! The image of her tearing all my treasured possessions into shreds replayed in my mind. I swallow hard.

            ‘She’ll use this as a weapon.’ A voice whispers within the walls of my brain. ‘This will make you look badly if she finds them again. Rosie! What are you doing just sitting there? DO SOMETHING!’ Running on autopilot my hands grasp the edges of the lid and place it on top of the small but spacious box which secures the other half of me. The half that no one could ever know about again.

            A creak echoes through my ears and rattles its way into my eardrums as loud as a thousand gunshots. It was too late now. She’d caught me. I shove the box underneath my bed and wrap a strand of chocolate brown hair behind my right ear. The door creeps open ajar, her eyes lingering on where my left arm had flown from. Had she seen? The lines on her forehead crease as her eyebrows furrow into a frown, making her small nose appear huge.

            ‘I hope that wasn’t what I think it was.’ I shake my head adamantly at her.

            ‘Of course not.’ I shrug half-heartedly with half a smile, hoping that it would feign an innocence that my voice had failed to convey. ‘It’s just a project for school. That’s all.’ Brenda’s chest expands and deflates as the open ocean would the golden sand on the beach. A smile flickers across her face, causing the frown lines to disappear. It didn’t reach her brown eyes.

            ‘Good.’ Her eyes roam the room, her pink tongue clicking in her mouth. ‘Speaking of school shouldn’t you be there?’

            ‘It’s lunchtime mum. Nobody stays there anymore. The dinners are just revolting.’

            ‘Right. When are you due back?’ Her eyes glitter with interest, the nerves in my fingertips prickle. Could she really care? Just this once?

            ‘Half past. Double Science too.’ I lay my head in my hands. I was a goner. Homework had been the last thing on my mind and now mentioning Science had totally propelled me back into last week when we’d been told what to do.

            ‘The whole schooling system’s a joke! Fancy teaching all you kids useless stuff like that.’ I couldn’t help but wonder what subjects she would have us studying if she was in charge. Feminism perhaps? Or maybe even Occultism? It was hard to tell with her sometimes.

            ‘They don’t see it like that.’ I pull myself from the bed and haul my black backpack over my small shoulders. I wait, hoping that the knotting in my stomach is because of the curse of being a girl rather than that of instinct. I wait. And wait. And wait.

            Nothing. She spins me around and lets out a gasp.

            ‘What are you still doing with that bag?’

            ‘I’ve always had this. It’s the one that Aunty Dionne gave me two Christmases ago.’ Before she lost her fight with Breast Cancer I want to shout but I don’t, realising that my anger is boiling up at her distaste.

            ‘That is my point. We will have to get you a new one.’

            ‘But-.’ She holds up the palm of her left hand, her way of warning that a discussion isn’t happening.

            ‘But nothing. Dionne has been gone for a long time now. It’s about time you let her go.’ I shake my head, wanting to argue the fact that Dionne had been a big part of both our lives once upon a time. There was no point. I would surely lose it anyway. I hear a giggle from the hallway and find Olly clutching the packet of chocolate fingers that he was forbidden to have. I bit my bottom lip anxiously. He was going to be in so much trouble. He’d opened them. 

            I knelt down to his level and tickle his chin.

            ‘You’re a little tinker aren’t you?’ He giggles while searching for another finger. Pulling out three he shovels them all into his mouth, chewing on half each triumphantly. The springs of my bed mould to their rightful place as the door creaks open.

            ‘What did I tell you?’ Brenda shouts as she swipes them out of his hands. His eyes fill with tears and begins to cry. ‘You can stop that for a start. If you did as you were told you wouldn’t be shouted at would you?’ Olly begins screaming uncontrollably and Brenda sighs heavily. Her eyes glower at me. ‘You should know better. A big girl like you! Really Rosie?’ She shakes her head. ‘Get yourself to school. I don’t want you getting into trouble again. You understand?’ I don’t answer her. I rise to my feet, sparing a glance at Olly who looks at me with such sadness it breaks my heart. There’s nothing I can do for him though. As usual I’m only one girl without an array of hope.