A/N: First off, thank you to those of you who took the time to read and review my last story. But, I'm sorry to say, I've pretty much given up on that one at this time. At some point, I hope to take it down and drastically improve and revise it. I realize that when I first wrote it, I hadn't taken any time to plan, or to think about where it was going to go. I hope that this story will be considerably better than the last one, and that I will be able to stay on top of it and see it through to the end.
I sneaked a bite of my energy bar when my Geometry teacher wasn't looking. I'd tried making a new flavor: Oatmeal Craisin. It wasn't too bad; it was perfectly chewy and had just the right craisin-oatmeal ratio. My school friend, Emma Sparks, nudged me. I swallowed and looked up. "Ms. Gould." I nodded respectfully. "Mrs. Cain." "I do believe I have mentioned before that snacks in my class are forbidden." "You have. I'm sorry I caused a problem, but I have an extremely fast metabolism." I widened my eyes for dramatic effect. "You do not want to see me when I haven't eaten." She wasn't amused. "If I see you bring one more snack into my classroom, you will be detained." I lowered my eyes. "Yes, Ma'am." The bell jingled, signaling the end of the school day and, consequently, the school week. I stand up slowly, gathering my things together. "You wanna go shopping, Isla?" said Emma, bumping my shoulder. "I hear there's a new store opening at the mall." I groaned. "Tempting, but I can't. Friday is my self-proclaimed girl's night with my cousin." "When am I gonna get to meet this mysterious cousin of yours, anyway?" she asked, finger-combing her auburn, shoulder-length hair. "Uh, not sure. When I'm able to cure her of her shyness." Emma quirked an eyebrow, obviously not buying it. "Sorry!" I said over my shoulder as I headed out, "maybe later this weekend. Call me!" "I'll hold you to that," she yelled back.
"I'm home," I called. "Indigo?" "I am in here," a female voice sounded somewhere in the house. I walked in on a most peculiar site. "What are you doing?" I said. Her green legs were sticking straight up in the air in a flawless handstand. Her pink hair draped down to the ground. "I am performing a handstands," she said. "I can't see that. I had no idea that you had any interest in... handstands." She rolled gracefully to her feet. "I am in need of a hobby." I tried hard to hide my smile. "Don't I give you enough to do each day?" I ask, innocence seeping through my tone. Her eyes widen. "I meant no disrespect, Isla Gould," she said, "I very much enjoy keeping house for you." I the smile arch its way across my face. "It's fine, Indigo. I was only teasing. You have your own life to live; I'm just sorry I couldn't help you by creating a cloaking device or something." She visibly relaxes. "It is quite alright Isla Gould." "So, what about handstands do you find so... alluring?" She gives a dreamy sigh. "I find performing handstands to be quite relaxing, both to the body and to the mind." "Well, if you ever get sick of doing handstands, you could try cross-stitching. Or scrapbooking. Or maybe beading? I could attempt to teach you how to cook. Again." "Those are all wonderful choices, and I appreciate your wanting to help me to decide on a hobby, but I will leave all further cooking to you. At the moment, I much prefer to 'stick to' my handstands." "Yeah, we wouldn't want to start another fire." I smirked. Indigo just rolled her eyes and sighed.
After putting several large pans of tater tot casserole into the ovens, I turned to Indigo. "Supper'll be ready in an hour. What do you wanna do?" "I read about a game. Monopoly, I believe it was called. It sounded wonderful," she said, excitement lacing her tone. I smiled. "I think a game of Monopoly can be arranged." We walked back into one of the storage rooms. I'd stocked it full of games, in preparation for one day inviting Emma over. I scanned the shelves, locating the board game. "Ah, here it is." I pulled it out and carried it into the dining room.
Three hours later, and after having finished all of the tater tot casserole, our Monopoly game was still going strong. Indigo, her lips puckered and her eye narrowed in concentration, had caught on surprisingly quick. We were about evenly matched, seeing as we were both practically walking probability machines. While she pondered her next move, I stood up to retrieve snacks from the kitchen. I loaded a tray with various snacks, most of which were chocolate. I set the tray on the table. "Where did all of those cookies come from?" I asked.
~Indigo Flashback~
A ring was heard at the door. Indigo turned from the laundry and cautiously walked toward it. "Yes?" she asked as she opened it. A cute little girl, who appeared to be not much older than six, stared up at her with wide, hopeful eyes. "Would you like to buy some cookies?" she asked with an adorable lisp. Indigo stood, dumbfounded. She quickly ran through her memory banks, trying to find any files that might help her in this situation. She came up empty. Isla had never informed her of this human custom. What was she supposed to do? Then, inspiration. "One moment, please," she said to the little girl. She raced through the house, to a drawer in the kitchen. She pulled it open, revealing the contents: a wad of dollar bills of various denominations. "For a rainy day," Isla had said when she placed it there. Indigo shuffled through the stack as she walked back to the door. "Is this enough?" she asked, shoving the wad into the patient little girl's hands. The girl's small brown eyes widened. "How many boxes do you want?" "Boxes?" asked Indigo blankly. "Uh, how many do you have?" After the transaction was complete, the girl turned and said, "Thanks." she looked down at her feet, suddenly shy. "I, uh... I like your skin. It's a cool color." She looked up. Indigo, taken aback, fumbled with her English. "Thank you," she finally said. "I like yours, too." On impulse, she said, "I am Indigo. What is your name?" "Lucy," replied the girl, beaming. "Well, Lucy, I wish to meet you again, someday." ~End Flashback~ I chortled. "Well, I guess we're set for cookies for a while."
After two more hours, Indigo had finally succeeded in bankrupting me. I groaned good-naturedly and leaned my chair away from the table. I stood up and stuck my hand out at her. "Good game," I said as she shook it. "I believe I could learn to appreciate this game," she grinned. I glanced at my watch. "Oh my gosh!" I said. "It's past midnight." I began gathering all of our dishes and carrying them into the kitchen to wash. I methodically loaded them all into the dishwasher. After it was running, I turned and said, "Good night, Indigo." I turned off all of the main floor lights. "Sleep well, Isla Gould."
Screams echoed in the air around me. Fire ignited in the darkness in every direction. Something exploded underneath me, propelling me high into the sky. As I hovered above the earth, a stillness filled the atmosphere - a calm amidst the storm - before the entire planet ignited. It expanded, sending fire shooting through space. My home, my world, was exploding. "No," I whispered, before the fire consumed me.
I sat up in bed, gasping for air. I swallowed, forcibly calming my breathing. I glanced at the clock on my nightstand. 6 AM. I sighed. There's no sleeping in this Saturday. I padded over to my desk and pulled out a notebook, writing the dat at the top of a blank page. I proceeded to write down everything I could about my dream. One more page filled up. I am that much closer to figuring out where I am from, what happened to me. Who I am. I flipped through the notebook. Most of it is written, but some of it is visual. Sketches of people I can't remember, but who obviously meant a great deal to me at some point. I closed the notebook with a dull 'thud' and slid it back into the desk drawer. I pulled a suitable outfit, jeans and a long sleeved, baggy t-shirt, out of my dresser and walk into the expansive bathroom attached to my bedroom. I stripped, tossing my sweaty clothes down the laundry chute. I cranked the shower to a tolerable level and stepped in, revelling in the feeling of the cool water coursing over my skin, washing away the last memories of the dream. I exhaled, and held my hands out in front of me, mentally swirling the water around them. I closed my eyes and relaxed my body, one muscle at a time. I dropped my hands and mentally released the water. I gave a contented sigh, lathering my hair with cherry blossom scented shampoo.
I knocked on the bedroom door. "Indigo? You done recharging?" She opened the door. "Did you sleep well?" she said. I nod absently, peering around her spacious room, identical in size to my own. "Have you seen my bag?" "It is by the door, the same place it is every morning." I hugged her. "What did I ever do without you?" She shook her head, a smile on her face. "I do not know, Isla Gould." "Join me for breakfast before I head out?" I asked. Indigo nodded, following me downstairs and into the kitchen, where I proceeded to make a large spread of pancakes, sausages, and scrambled eggs, all floundering in maple syrup and dollops of butter.
After breakfast, I left the dishes to Indigo and walked over to the door. I sat down on the bench strategically placed in the entryway, slipping on and securely tying my pink and black running shoes. I stood up and slipped the messenger bag over my head. I walked back through the kitchen to the large cupboard that held my snack stash. I pulled out several bags each of potato chips and my homemade, high-caliber energy bars and stuffed them into my bag alongside my thin laptop and a small wad of cash.
"The usual," I said to the lady behind the counter. She gave a cheerful grin, "Sure, Isla," and filled the styrofoam cup. Steam swirled up from the wonderful concoction. I paid, took the offered cappuccino, and plunked down at my usual table. I slipped out of my bag handle and leaned it against the chair, setting down my cup and pulling out my laptop. I hit the power button and took a long swig of the chocolatey goodness. I pulled open my bookmarks page and selected one of the many real estate tabs. I sorted the page with the newest at the top. Hmm... I clicked on one that looked promising. It was well within my budget. Had three bedrooms, one bathroom. Not much land, but that was okay. I emailed the realtor. While I was waiting for them to get back to me, I found another house. This one was a five bedroom, three bathroom. It was considerably more than the last one, of course, but it also held promise. It had a kitchenette in the finished basement, next to a 'family room'. I shot another email off. I hibernated my laptop, stowing it back in my bag, and gulped the rest of the cappuccino. I stood up, tossing my cup on the way out the door. I gobbled down several of the energy bars, then began to run.
A/N: This chapter was meant to introduce you to my OC, Isla Gould. I hope you liked her, and I hope that you take the time to review and tell me how I can improve her. As some of you may have noticed, I do not own Indigo. I have found it slightly hard to write her, since I have never actually read the comics she was in. She is, in fact, Brainiac 8. But Isla doesn't know that yet. :)