Disclaimer: All the characters which you recognize belong to Meg Cabot and Meg Cabot alone. Except the plot. Duh!
Ok, on with the story...
I stared out the carriage window at the downpour of rain. I really love rain….its so just so cleansing and leaves everything fresh and clean…
I sighed and turned my attention back to my mother, Helen Simon (A/N: can someone tell me her real name? I'm sorry, but its 2 a.m. and I just can't be bothered to dig up one of the books…)
Wait a minute. Her name was Helen Slater now.
That's right.
My mother got remarried…years after my father's death. And that's why she had to drag me from my life in the beautiful seaside town of Carmel, on the fringes of the kingdom of Larosse to the very center of the kingdom's biggest town: Dalarias.
My mind flickered back to the wedding day; it was the first time I was actually meeting my new step-father; he had always been busy with work when he was courting Mother to think that her sole daughter might actually want to meet her soon-to-be father.
But noooooo….I get to meet him right when my Mother was walking up the aisle, so any opinion I might have had of him could never be voiced.
I mean-come on, who tells her mother right before the actual wedding that she disapproves of her fiancé?
Not me, I didn't have the heart to put a damper on her special day.
Especially after all my mother had been doing for the past 2 months was gush about how sweet he was being to her, and how I would love his children.
You see, that's the main reason I didn't like him from the start.
Well, one of the TWO main reasons.
One, because I didn't want my mother snatched away by some strange man; I knew I was being selfish, and she had a right to live her life to the fullest but I was so used to it being just me and her….
And the other reason was this was Mr. Slater's second marriage, too; his wife and him had been separated for a year.
Mr. Slater (Mum asked me to call him Michael but he will always be Mr. Slater to me) had FOUR children already.
Just imagine! FOUR!
His oldest son was about 2 years older then me, and then there were the twin daughters-my new stepsisters who were the same age as me, and then a little boy just 11 years old.
I admit, I'm a little worried about meeting the twin sisters…I never have been great with other girls my age because of my independence; I never shy from saying my thoughts.
I should know better, my rich aunts tell me, after all, I am 16 now.
The age a young girl should be brought into society, in hope of finding a respectable husband…
But I don't care for any of that bull crap….I always have been different from the others.
Marked.
Special.
You see, I have a special ability which makes me odder then I already am and allows me to stand out from the crowd…
I can see the ghosts of dead people.
As if that wasn't bad enough, I can touch them, talk to them.
Not that I really want to…since most of conversations with them seems to end up with my coming home late, exhausted and dirty.
Because I don't have this gift just for fun.
Oh no, I have to guide them to their next lives, or the Great Beyond, heaven, or hell…whatever comes after death.
Of course, this is much easier done then said as a lot of them don't exactly WANT to me to help them by pushing them to their next existence…
I dozed in and out of consciousness, my restless mind flitting with colors…
Mother was trying to say something to me, but I couldn't really hear her. I concentrated and woke myself up.
'Susannah! Wake up, honey we are almost there!' She said, unable to keep the apprehension out of her voice.
I knew perfectly well why.
She was worried about how the two families would react to this sudden uniting.
Oh, weren't we all….
I looked blearily out of the window and saw a bustling dirty, busy town. It was early morning and I could see bakers putting fresh hot buns on racks, vendors preparing their products…
Scrawny children ran around, followed by harassed mothers.
The houses were poor-looking, but I knew we were living in a much better house.
Otherwise, we probably wouldn't have moved here; the Slaters' house must be big to accommodate seven people and the staff.
My thoughts turned to King Stephen and Queen Ariana, the rulers of Larosse.
They had five children; the oldest was Prince Jesse, heir to the throne.
I had heard so many tales about him during school; the other girls had assured me he was to die for. Privately, I thought he was a snob since I've heard rumors about him being extremely vain and spoiled due to his good looks.
Whatever.
I have bigger problems on hand then some snobby prince who would never know how the rough life truly was.
Mother was going on about sweet the twin daughters had seemed when she met them.
'And just think, darling, all the fun you three will have chatting late into the night about the latests fashions, and al the parties you can attend together!' She gushed.
I love my mother more then anyone in the world, because even though she doesn't understand me, she still accepets me for who I am and never questions me.
Ugh, but sometimes she can be so naïve.
I just smiled sweetly.
Uh oh, the carriage just came to a standtsill…
A/N: Well, there it is. My very first chapter of my very first fanfiction of my very first story-shown-to publi--
Ok, I'll stop...but please review and tell me...did it suck? nice? boring? too descriptive? confusing?
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thanks soo much if you have read it and are reading it right now and if
you do review...TTFN
