CHAPTER 1- reminiscing
I was outside a half closed door sitting in the hallway that had a strong smell of bleach and ammonia. Coming from the door I could hear whispering; my mum and the doctor were speaking about me. It was difficult to hear exactly what they were saying. I only heard the voice of the doctor say, "She is simply hearing--."
Mum came crashing out of the room in a flustered state.
"Let's go Emma!!" my mother was usually able to keep her cool when it came to these kinds of things, but when the doctors said something that was completely against what she thought, she reacted.
"Mum, calm down." I soothed
"stupid man! Idiot! He shouldn't be a doctor! I'll put gum on his plaque!" this was as mean as mum got! When she got really mad, she said things that were more or less very silly. She took a few deep breathes, smoothed down her ruffled dark hair and smiled. By the time we had reached the car and buckled both ourselves in, mum had calmed down.
"The doctor is just telling me the same story he has been telling me for the past ten years."
"It's alright mum, we'll find out eventually what it is and what's causing it." I said as reassuringly as I could; although I doubted that I'll ever know; I will die having a boy's voice inside my head.
It's funny; he has a strange accent and has been growing just as I have. I hear his thoughts, actions-everything that he thinks. Sometimes it's pretty cool; he and his friends go on little adventures. I have named him Reilly because that's what his friends call him. I get no peace-he talks while I sleep and he sleep-talks when I'm awake.
"Have fun at school, darl." my mother said as she kissed my forehead
"Yep, ok." I said as I reluctantly got out of the comfortable leather seats of my mothers Mercedes. I walked into the gates of my school, the most prestigious girls' school in all of England, Harrogate Ladies College.
I dumped my shoulder school bag on the rack and attempted to tie up my much layered straight chocolate brown hair.
"Morning Em." Lucy said cheerfully as she put her bag down next to mine.
"Hey." I replied as I tied my ribbon in my ponytail that stuck out almost horizontally.
"How many bobby pins do you want in your hair?" Lucy giggled, "And you got you hair cut again, I like it."
"Yeah, over the holidays" I answered
"Missed you." she whispered as she hugged me
"Me too." I whispered back
Lucy was my best friend; has been forever. She's about the only one who knows about my voices at school.
She has blonde curly hair with blue eyes and fair skin; the opposite to my olive complexion and green eyes.
"So, how's the voices these days. What's he saying today?" she giggled. The only difference being of course that she thought that he was real and living, were I left him just to be real, but it was too impossible to believe that he was living on the same planet as I.
"Umm, last night he was talking up some sleazy girl, what a nice type he is." I said sarcastically.
"I can't wait til I meet him…I bet he lives in a country like Australia or America."
"You're getting a little ahead of yourself, I don't even know if he's real yet."
"Have you told Sky yet?" Lucy asked curiously
"No, I don't want him to think that I'm a weirdo."
"He already knows that."
"Hay!"
"What… you have to admit, you left yourself wide open for that!" she smiled sheepishly at me
"I suppose." I laughed
"I reckon that he'd be jealous that another guy is in his girlfriends head." Lucy said
"Whatever, Luce!" I nudged her and she giggled
"So lucky." she gasped
"Huh?"
"You have the most gorgeous boyfriend ever!"
"I'm pretty sure that there's hotter guys that."
"no way, he is the hottest of them all."
"PFFT!" I glared at her
"Yer, he only got the most beautiful hazel eyes and blonde shaggy hair" Lucy gasped, "oh and his tanned muscly body!"
"GET over it!" it got annoying hearing about him…all the time. Especially when he was my boyfriend not hers.
"But it's true."
"Then ill break up with him so you can go out with him." I smiled
"Oh, please." she said jokingly, or maybe she wasn't joking.
"Nah, ill stick with him for a while longer." I laughed at the sudden change in your conversation.
"Ladies." the deep melodious hum of the voice that I loved interrupted us.
"Sky." Lucy stuttered
"Hey." I said warmly, he walked up to us, eyes set on me, his arms engulfing me. It is here that I feel truly safe. I don't have to think; I breathed in his sweet fragrance and smiled. This was all too wonderful to be true, to have someone who really loved me for who I was and didn't care about my faults.
He kissed my forehead and then let me face Lucy again, her face delighted, she always said it was because "Sky makes you happy, and that within itself makes me happy". Sky goes to the boy's school across the road from mine, so I often saw him. He is 17 and tall.
My mind began to drift; I often did this when I was in his arms. My first memory of him was when I was trying to get on a busy train, however a bunch of people shoved pasted me to get off; they were unintentionally taking me with them. There was a warm hand that grabbed my arm and slowly and ever so gently pulled me onto the train. The whistle blew and the doors closed, the hand still holding me. My eyes followed up the arm to the face of this stranger. I blushed when I saw his beautiful hazel eyes gazing at me with amusement. He let go of me and chuckled "Sky."
"Excuse me?" I said, confused
"My names Sky." he corrected with another chuckle
"Oh, sorry." I blushed again, it was silent of a while, an awkward silence, I could tell he was staring at me as I stared at the dirty carpet that covered the trains floor.
"Do you have a name?" his voice tender
"Err, nope." I said as I walked to the door, the train was slowing and it was my stop.
"Oh really." he didn't sound convinced.
"Yep." I nodded as I stepped of the train
"Don't believe you." his voice sounded so close
"Oh dear, well that's just too bad." I smiled as I got on the escalator and turned around to see him right behind me.
"Everyone has a name." he said matter-of-factly. I melted, his eyes shone with mischief and cheekiness.
"Why are you following me?" I managed to stutter.
"Who said I was following??" he was laughing now, obviously at my discomfort
"Oh, umm." I said quickly as I wove through people, trying to get away from him.
"Now I am." he said as he was one step away from me, I didn't say anything. "I want to know your name, the next train leaves soon and I have to catch it." he sounded urgent now.
"No chance, stranger." I smiled
"No my name is Sky, I told you mine, you're the stranger." he said quickly
"And I said I didn't have a name."
"But you do, come on!" he begged, "you owe me, I got you on the train."
"I would have gotten on without your help."
"Nah, you would have been lost without me, just admit it." he chucked
"Goodbye SKY." I emphasized his name
"Name?" he asked one more time, I didn't answer, "fine! Until next time fair lady."
"Who said there would be a next time?" I asked,
"One cant leave a damsel in distress to get on the train herself, who knows what could happen to her in the future." he smiled as he strode off back through the busy people all escaping from the train. I smiled after him at my own defeat. I was speechless, and amazed that a beautiful boy would chase after me for my name. My heart skipped a beat that day.
The day after the train incident; he greeted me at my school gate "hello fair lady."
"Hi." I said breathlessly.
"I have come to deliver you from the train trolls." he chucked
"I'm good, but thanks anyway." I smiled and kept walking
"And," he paused "I thought maybe I could get a name for this girl that I met yesterday?" he smiled
"Emma." I said, defeated
"Alright!" he said cheerfully, in victory.
"Fair lady," Sky whispered in my ear, and my thoughts drifted away, "what are you thinking about?" he sounded intrigued.
"Mmm?" I mumbled, then I realised that we were under my favourite tree on the oval, and no longer with Lucy. "How did we get here? Where's Lucy?"
"We walked here, actually I walked you here, and Lucy gave us some privacy, she went off with a blonde and brunette, I think."
I laughed when he tried to give more details than necessary. I sighed as I relaxed back into the trees' trunk.
"So…" he prompted
"So… what?" I questioned
"What were you thinking about? You were all over the place." he smiled
"Oh, umm," I paused, hesitant to bring it up, "the day a warm hand kept me on a busy train."
"Nice" he chuckled "you are such a mystery sometimes."
I giggled as his eyes shone on my face.
"I got so lucky to call you MY girl, MY fair lady." he smiled a proud smile, and his eyes glistened
"Are you serious!?" I exclaimed, "I'm the one that got lucky! Haven't you seen Lucy? And the rest of the girls that drool after you?"
"Yuck!" he chucked, "and no, I don't see them, the only person I have eyes for—"
"Oh, whatever." I rolled my eyes
"Fine, but its true." he nodded sincerely
I smiled at the sincerity of the tone in his voice. We sat in silence, listening to the sound of the wind through the leaves, a somewhat peaceful sound.
"Guess what!?" Sky's excited voice broke the silence, it startled me. "I get my licence in a week"
"Yay!" I tried to sound excited, but it didn't fool him
"Is that a bad thing?" he asked curiously
"no, not at all" I was honest, "I just got some stuff going on in my head, it's a bit confusing, that's all". It was true, Reilly was on a road trip, going to a gig, or that's what he called it anyway. For some reason today, I couldn't focus. Reilly was in my every thought. I usually blocked him out, his life was far more interesting than mine, but today especially I wanted to be beside him in that car, it sounded like so much fun. I was having fun, I was with SKY! I battled again to suppress the thoughts that Sky wasn't the one for me. I LOVED him, didn't that count for anything? I would die for him but still I longed to be with Reilly. Reilly doesn't exist, I kept telling myself, hoping that one day I would believe it. But I couldn't, I could not think that I was insane, that the voice inside my head was just a figment of my imagination. It was too real; I wasn't that creative to make up a voice that was talking to me all the time.
I was like this all day, confused and every time I said something, it was incoherent. Lucy was by my side all through lunch, she was rambling on about some television show that was on last night. That's all I got. That afternoon I didn't wait for Sky; I attempted the train by myself. I felt alone, and as soon as I got home I was sure I would get a phone call to check that I got home okay. He was so protective in that way and it got annoying. After we first met, Sky took the liberty of waiting at the gates to walk me to my train. He was sweet and loving and I loved him. What is my problem?!?
