Two Worlds, One Heart
This is the Real World-Part One
Britny sat in front of her TV. Her chronic-insomnia was keeping her up again so she sat there watching the sixth season of Charmed, her favorite show in the whole world, one more time.
She was sitting there in her long white tee-shirt and underwear, her legs pulled beneath her. Her arms were wrapped gently around her and her hand pushed up the nose of her silver rimmed glasses habitually.
As the episode that was playing ended she yawned and glanced at the clock. Three o'clock. She yawned and picked up her bag off of the floor, deciding to do a little bit of studying.
With that she slid to the floor with a silent thud. Then she picked up her bag and pulled out her psychology book and flipped to the chapter she'd just started to read, even though the rest of her class was five chapters behind her current position.
Her green eyes skimmed the page as she habitually toyed with a lock of curly medium brown hair. As she sat there time slid by slowly till her five o'clock alarm clock went off and she stood up. She didn't even dress as she walked through the house to her brother's door and opened it just enough to let his dog out. Then she went to her mom's room and did the same thing.
The big blonde lab male walked lazily from the bedroom to the front door while her brother's hyperactive black lab did laps back and forth from her to the front door and back again.
She smiled as she opened the door and walked out barefoot. The Iowa winter winds filled with snow licked at her bare flesh but Britny ignored the 'chill'. She stood there as the cold bit at her. The dogs ran around and did there business while her mind replayed the Charmed episodes she'd just watched.
After a while the dogs came back to the door and Britny opened it and stepped inside where the warm air hit her. She jumped in shock and realized she was cold, a natural response yes but one she often didn't notice or feel. She closed the door and fed the dogs each a scoop of dog food and the cats received half a scoop of dog food all together.
Then she went and led the animals back to there respective rooms once they were done.
It was then that she glanced at the clock. Five fifteen already. She was behind schedule. With that ominous thought burned in her mind she quickly went and unloaded the clean dishes from the dishwasher. Then the dishwasher was full of dirty dishes and was running.
From there Britny sprinted to her mom's bedroom and opened the door. She reached inside and found a pile of dirty laundry waiting for her. She carried the laundry to the bathroom/laundry room combo but not before closing her mom's door silently. Then she went to her own laundry basket and grabbed the clothes and did the same to her brother's clothing.
She quickly hung up the dry laundry; put the just washed laundry in the dryer and the dirty laundry in the washer. It wasn't a long process; it was just one she hated. From there she went and dusted all of the visible objects and vacuumed the carpeted rooms that were currently unoccupied. She also swept the hard flooring, scrubbed the counters, made breakfast for the others and then went to her room. She immediately jogged to her closet, slid on a black and dark blue halter top, a pair of blue jeans, and slid on a blue jean jacket.
At seven o'clock, like clockwork, her mom walked out of her bedroom and Britny was waiting with a warm plate of food and a cup of coffee.
Her mom sat down and Britny stood back and watched as her mom ate. Her head was lowered and her eyes watched her bare feet. As soon as her mom was done Britny stepped forward and took the dishes. Then her mom left, neither one speaking a single syllable to the other.
As soon as her mom was gone Britny went to her brother's door and knocked. He swore as he rolled out of bed with a thud, the morning norm.
"I'm up," he yelled. She stood there waiting and after a few minutes he walked out in a black tee-shirt that had a skull on the front. His coal black hair was long and shaggy, his skin was extremely pale, his eyes were incredibly bright blue, he was nothing like her. He walked to the table and ate half of his food before giving the last bit to the dogs.
Like with their mom neither one spoke a word. Her brother got ready and at seven fifty-five the bus pulled up in front of their house. Britny watched her brother walk out. Slowly she cleaned up and pushed up the bridge of her glasses.
She cleaned the house some more till her watch beeped fifteen minutes to nine.
"Crap," Britny muttered as she led the dogs out of the house to the dog run in the back yard. There she closed the door and both went to the dog house and pouted. "Sorry puppies," she whispered.
Then she ran back into the house and slid on a pair of socks and a pair of ankle high boots that had thin stiletto heels. Then she grabbed her book bag from her room that contained all of her school books
Britny ran to her room, slid on socks and a pair of heels, grabbed her books and shoved them in her bag, then ran out of the house, making sure all of the dogs were locked in the run just one last time.
Slowly she went to her big black jeep and drove from her home, down that gravel road they lived on. After a bit, she drove past her grandparent's farm where she spent every weekend helping out. She drove to the 'big city'. It wasn't really that big but it was still big enough to have a community college.
She pulled into said community college and parked as far away from everyone else as she could. She made her way through campus when someone bumped into her. She went to move on when someone stopped her.
"Do I know you?" a voice asked. She turned to see a kid she'd gone to school with. The guy shook his head. "Never mind, your not who I thought you were."
She sighed and kept walking. No one ever remembered her. She went to her classroom and took her desk. As the teacher walked in they began the class. She took notes, her English text book open to the page her teacher was talking about.
Her eyes skimmed and she took in every thing he said. Finally, the class ended and she waited for people to leave before she stood up.
"Ms. Hetzler," the teacher called and she looked up. Nobody ever knew her name. "Would you come to my desk for a minute?"
She glanced around to see the empty class room. She frowned and picked up her bag and books and went down front.
"I would like to commend you on your paper," he said handing it to her. She frowned till she saw the grade. A+. Her eyes grew wide and she looked at him confused.
"I haven't seen talent like yours in a long time," the professor said and she blushed. "Keep up the good work."
She smiled embarrassed and then whispered awkwardly. "Thank you, sir." Then she turned and walked out. She had to run from that class to her psychology class across campus. She arrived and hurried to her seat and sat down just as class started. Psychology. She learned about the recesses of the brain.
After that class was done she hurried to her next class, Another English Class. She studied and took notes there too.
As soon as that class was over she jogged from the school to her car. She tossed her bag in the car but from it she pulled out a shirt. She then went to a stall in the ladies room and changed her shirt. After tossing the shirt she'd been wearing in the back of her car she jogged to work, two blocks away, across a busy intersection. She walked into the video rental place she worked at and sighed.
"You're early," he said and she sighed, his voice like grating nails on a chalkboard. "Get to work, girl."
She just nodded and went about restocking the shelves, putting away the rentals she checked in, helped out a few customers. It was just like all of those hours she'd put in during high school, volunteering at the library. Only here, she couldn't read the books she wanted.
At about seven twenty-five, her work was done. She walked back to her car, her feet killing her. Britny drove home, her radio playing softly.
Natasha Beddingfield's Soulmate began playing. Britny glanced around but when she saw no one else was around she began singing.
'Here we are again, circles never end
How do I find the perfect fit
There's enough for everyone
But I'm still waiting in line.
Who doesn't long for someone to hold
Who knows how to love you without being told
Somebody tell me why I'm on my own
If there's a soulmate for everyone
If there's a soulmate for everyone
Most relationships seem so transitory
They're all good but not the permanent one
Who doesn't long for someone to hold
Who knows how to love you without being told
Somebody tell me why I'm on my own
If there's a soulmate for everyone
Who doesn't long for someone to hold
Who knows how to love you without being told
Somebody tell me why I'm on my own
If there's a soulmate for everyone
If there's a soulmate for everyone
She sang along, her throat sore due to the lack of use she'd always endured. She never spoke, she sang when she knew one could hear. When ever she did speak it was always in whispers.
Her elementary teachers had all believed she was mute because she never spoke, she never laughed, she'd never made a single normal noise. She'd always been a loner, spending recess by herself at the table with a book or a pad of paper and a pen.
That was why she'd been able to graduate high school at age sixteen, skipping two grades. She'd always been a nerd. That's why she was on her third year of college, yes, third. She couldn't even afford a regular university.
Slowly Britny pulled up to the front of her home to see the lights on. She crawled out and went to the dog run and opened it. The dogs yapped around her, happily, as she led them inside. She walked in the door and went to the kitchen. She began dinner.
She made pineapple glazed Ham, Candied Mashed potatoes, and her brother's favorite baked beans with bacon bits. It was about eight thirty when her mom and brother sat back and ate dinner. She stood in the background, cleaning up and packing up leftovers.
As soon as they finished with their dishes she washed them and put them away, not even messing with the dishwasher this time. That thing never worked right anyways. Slowly she cleaned up the kitchen, looked after the animals, all the other stuff.
Finally, eleven o'clock came around and Britny was done with her chores. Her brother and mother were asleep. She finally slid out of her boots and socks. She picked up her book bag and carried it with her.
Walking past the calendar she went to cross off the date and was startled by the exact date. January 16. Today was her nineteenth birthday and she'd completely forgotten about it.
"Happy birthday to me," she whispered before walking to her door.
She opened it expecting to see her pitch-black room like every night before that one. However, she hadn't expected the glowing blue triquetra glowing on her wall.
Her eyes grew wide. She took a step backwards when a powerful wind began to blow through her room. Silently she felt herself get pushed into the glowing triquetra.
Britny's only thoughts was, 'This shouldn't be happening. Stuff like this only happens on Charmed.'