A New Sky

Chapter One

Belle opened her eyes slowly, the warm morning sunlight pouring through the slightly ajar window. The wind had picked up over night, and the curtain was moving silently in the breeze, creating a soft draft over her face. Glancing over at her at the large grand clock on her bedroom wall, she groaned gently, sitting up. It had just struck the eighth hour of the morning. Looking around at the multiple beds around her, she soon noticed that they were empty. Frowning slowly, she wondered. Why are they all up so early? She rubbed her eyes with disbelief. Her sisters were usually ones for waking in the later hours of the morning. Sitting up higher in bed, she pushed herself out of bed hastily, brushing down her long nightdress. She peered for a moment in the full length mirror by the door, seeing her sleepy face looking back at her miserably. Belle was an unbelievably average girl. Average in height, average in weight. She had long dark locks and pale skin like her mother, and large hazel doe eyes and full lips like her father. Yes, Belle was exceedingly average.

She wondered whether she should dress yet, then dismissed the idea, assuming her brothers and sisters wouldn't have done so either. She stepped outside the room, stretching slightly as she went. The girl's room was on the third floor of the house, and so she paced down the hallway and began to descend the stairs. She heard the familiar laughing and chatting of her family, the sound welcome to her ears and making her smile. Entering the kitchen, her mother turned to face her, a beaming smile upon her face.

"Darling! What took you so long, dear? Didn't you remember? Me and your father told you over dinner last night that it was an early start. Oh well, let's just get you fed and then you can go and get washed and dressed. We have company today." Company? Belle almost groaned aloud at the thought. Company often meant her dad's business associates coming round for dinner and a few games of snooker or darts, or her mum's cookery class friends making a 'play-date' with their children and one or more of eight possible Nicholson children. Yes, there were eight of them.

"Here we go, dear." Belle had been pondering this for so long that she had nearly missed her mother passing her a full plate of egg, beans, sausage, and bacon. She smiled and rubbed her stomach in appreciation, headed for the large dining room across the hall.

She sat in her usual spot, in front of the mass fireplace and large overhead mirror. Organised chaos went on around her, but it was nothing Belle wasn't used to. Francesca and Fillmore were nattering on away at each other, arguing about a missing piece of jigsaw puzzle. Dale was sitting with his head down, a book in his lap, hidden under the table. He was blatantly avoiding to eat his breakfast.

"Smelly belly, what took you so long?" Came a familiar voice from behind her. Her younger sister Cleo had come over to eat beside her.

Belle narrowed her eyes slightly. "You could have woken me, C. I went to bed late last night, and completely forgot about waking early today, toad," She poked her in the ribs gently, then went back to her bacon.

Cleo's eyes glowed. "I know why you were up late last night, Bells. You were chatting to that boy next door in the garden again, weren't you? Umm," She giggled and Belle blushed, feeling bashful.

"No I was not. Don't you tell anybody Cleo, or I'll feed Juno to the foxes!" She hissed defensively. Cleo put her hands up in the air and added, "You don't deny it. And Juno has nothing to do with it." She put her nose in the air and picked up her plate, going out to the kitchen.

Belle sighed. Being the oldest girl in the family really came with some responsibilities. She couldn't be woken up, she had to be the one to wake everybody up herself. Belle wasn't lazy but her mind was in fact the opposite. It was so overreactive that she would take hours and hours to get to sleep every night, her mind imagining something. Be it a person, a world, a home. She usually had pale violet circles round her eyes reminding everybody that she'd gotten no sleep the night before. Oh, how her mother would nag her about it. She could imagine that without even trying.

"You really don't get enough sleep, Belle-Ann! I think I will have to restrict your television time. You should be getting a good eight hours sleep, just like the rest of them. Me and your father didn't bring you into this world for you to be malnourished and sleep deprived! We are only looking out for you, sweetheart. Don't be upset, we are just trying to help."

But Belle didn't need any help. She felt fine! She was happy as her summer holidays had just started and she was going to have a lot of free time. Yeah, she didn't eat a lot. But who did these days? And as for the sleep thing...well that was already explained by her explosive imagination. And Ike. Thinking of him spread a blush across her cheeks. She had been talking to him the night before, but she got embarrassed when it was mentioned by the two of her sisters who knew about it. It was her personal thing, something she looked forward to and she didn't like her sisters talking about it in some stupid little girly way.

Ike was the next door neighbour's grandson. He was fifteen, a year older than Belle, and he came down to visit is grandmother three times a week. He would deliberately offer to do her gardening so he could get the chance to come out and see her, reading in her garden, sitting on the bench. He was a nice boy. Friendly, caring, and very sweet. He'd had a soft spot for Belle from the first moment they had laid eyes upon each other, very few weeks ago. He had been pruning Kathleen's plants out in the back garden, and Belle had just finished up a horrible argument with Aaron. She had stormed out back, in floods of tears, and Ike had just thought to himself, aloud why this pretty young girl was so distressed. At first Belle thought he had some nerve practically flirting with her when she was obviously very stressed, but it turned out he just couldn't help it, and it did make her feel a little better.

The previous night, he had creeped over the fence, and laid down on the grass next to her. They had watched the beautiful sky together, commenting on the way the stars were just so free, to do whatever they wanted. It had ended in a strong hug, and then Belle had scurried away inside to bed. That was what had distracted her from waking up early.

She sighed and picked up her half finished plate. Her mother sighed at it when she entered the kitchen, and Belle looked at the floor, feeling guilty. Taking the plate from her and placing it on the sideboard, she looked her dead in the eyes, and put both hands on her shoulders. "Bells, you would tell me if there was something wrong, wouldn't you?" All Belle could muster was a quick nod, then she wiggled her way out of her mum's grasp, muttering something about getting ready.

...

Belle was scowling. Emily was in the shower, and being the little prima donna in the making she was, taking her time with it. She banged on the door once more. "EMILY! Don't make me charge down the door! Hurry up!" She cried irritatingly, then paced away from the door to lean on the hallway wall. She hated being part of such a big family sometimes.

After a few minutes, Emily emerged from the bathroom. Belle choked. There was a strong overwhelming scent of perfume and bath product. "Phew, Em!" She cringed and walked past her eleven year old sister into the bathroom herself. Looking at herself in the mirror, she quickly washed her face and body, then pulled on her clothes. She was wearing her usual - long flared faded blue jeans, and just a normal spaghetti strap top in black. Very simple, very ordinary. Just like her. She felt at home in her clean clothes, they were comfortable and suited her.

She smiled at herself in the mirror as she brushed through her dark hair, still in a little bit of a day dream daze about Ike. She smiled and looked down at the ground as she did so. Emily nudged Cleo and they both fell about laughing. Belle's eyes narrowed and she turned to face the two of them, who were sitting on Cleo's bed. "What?" She snapped suddenly, making Emily jump. They both shut up and Belle sighed exasperatingly.

Cleo stuttered. "Sorry, Bells. We just know who you're thinking so hard about!" And they both spluttered with laughter again. Belle smacked herself on the forehead. "You two are so childish! You wonder why mum doesn't let you wear make up, Em. And you wonder why both of them had to really consider getting you Juno." She stropped, looking away from them and continuing to brush her hair.

Juno was Cleo's pet rabbit. It was very cute, a small Netherlands Dwarf in grey. They had only had her for a few weeks but Cleo was besotted with her. Everybody was, she was sweet, timid, and endearing, but Belle took her mind off that now, as they were holding back their laughter through bitten lips and it was annoying her.

"Laugh all you wish, dithering dodos!" She said angrily and stomped out of the room. Aaron was coming downstairs from the boys room as she stepped out on to the landing. "Hey Bel- whoa, what's up sis?" Belle only replied with an angry frown and a strangled growl. She was tired of everybody pushing her around and trying to change who she was. She was perfectly happy!

Aaron knew something was up. He was the oldest of the Nicholson children and nearly sixteen years of age. He and Belle often fought, but deep down, he really did care for her. "Hey. Belle." He called out after her, and Belle stopped in her tracks, turning around on the stairs to face him.

"Yes, dimwit? What do you want?" Her eyes were narrowed and you could tell she was trying hard not to be even ruder than that. Her eye colour had also changed - instead of their normal light hazel, they had darkened to a deep brown.

"I can tell you're not okay. But me, being your helpful older brother and always being here to support you-" He paused and grinned at his own joke, "I want to know what's going on. You've been acting all funny recently, mum and dad told me." He looked at her a bit closer, as if trying to figure out the problem. His facial expression had changed to one of concern.

"Nothing is wrong! Why does everyone think that..." The last part was murmured quietly, as if it was to herself. Belle was sick and tired of people thinking something was wrong, she felt fine! The only thing that was wrong was...well...just. Loneliness. With everyone always trying to tell her what to do, she felt like everyone was against her and she was just alone. With all the other kids around, her parents never had time for her anymore. They didn't want to know about her problems at school, her arguments with Aaron or her budding friendship with Ike. It was like none of them cared at all, apart from when she did something wrong.

"Maybe there's a reason they think it, sis." And with that, he shrugged his shoulders and edged round her to go downstairs. He called over his shoulder "And by the way, the 'company' will be here soon, whoever they are. Better get downstairs Bells." Hearing her nickname from him brought a warmth to her - it had been so long since he had said her name like that. She hugged herself quickly, suddenly feeling a little more positive about the day.

Bounding down the stairs quickly, she nearly toppled over little Grace. She mumbled something of a sorry and patted her softly on her little curled head. Her mother was calling everyone into the big dining room.

"Oh Belle, you're here. Good. The McIntyres will be here any minute, and Norman, the father, works with Daddy. He's trying to warm him up to get a promotion." She glowed with pride and happiness and Belle couldn't help smiling at her positivity. She certainly didn't inherit that from her, that's what she thought. The youngest of the bunch, little Harry, mumbled out "What's a pobotion?" Everyone laughed and mum added. "It means lots of new toys for you, baby," to which he laughed along and clapped.

"Now now." Said her father. Leonard Nicholson was a kind man and a good father. The sort you would definitely trust with your secrets, and the kind that never got mad, just disappointed. He loved all of his children dearly, and more than them, his beautiful wife, Marian. Their love was like a burning beacon, never to be doused out. They had met when they were just six years old, and their relationship had grown into something beautiful. They had gotten married at twenty, and had Aaron by the time they were twenty-two. They both loved kids, and vowed to have as many as possible. It was straight out of a fairy tale, and every time that Marian had told the story to her girls, they were ooh-ing and aah-ing.

"This means a lot to all of us, kids, that I get this. I want you to be on your absolute best behaviour. Be friendly with their kids, and helpful to the parents. Help your mother out with serving dinner too. Just act like the kids you are -" He hesitated then laughed, "But a little bit more graceful, okay? I know you can do it." And on that, the doorbell rang.

The room split in chaos. Marian and Leonard went bolting for the door, telling the children to stay in the dining room and 'act normal'. Belle wondered what was so important about these McIntyre people. Her father worked in a big architectural firm, designing houses. It was what he just loved to do. Sitting in her seat, she realised a few moments later it was probably best that she did. Leonard's boss and wife came in, all smiles and pleasantries, and behind them, three children. One moody looking girl with dyed black hair and wearing all black to match, one chubby young red headed boy - and one that looked exactly Belle's age, maybe a year or so older.

It was Ike.