It was a quiet, quieter than it should have been on the first day of school. Children shuffling towards their classes and groaning was mostly what you could hear. Listen closely though, and you'll catch the noise of a pencil drifting across the thick paper. Past the tile floors, past the rowdy kids, past the trash on the floor and the scribbled on wooden desks, sat a girl. Her pale hand was flying against the paper seamlessly, the intricate lines came to a stop when it all connected together. She moved the pencil to the corner of the paper and began to shade. Diagonally and fast, it looked like a printer as she shaded in various parts of the four letter word. Laya (Lie-yuh)

Laya loud was different than most people in high school. She was younger, at 13. She didn't like to talk much, people made her upset. Too much ignorance in one package. And her looks didn't help her either. People constantly asked how she had her hair done, and were shocked when she said it was natural. Her genes decided to be codominant rather than incomplete, so of course, some things that showed were estranged. Her hair was a mixture of pure black, and platinum white streaks. Her eyes were heterochromatic, meaning they were different from one another. One iris was a bright yellow, while the other a deep violet. Her mother's influence ran through her veins, as she also has a liking towards things supernatural and dark. Her clothes said that as well, other than her orange t-shirt that didn't go well with the rest of her clothing. Ripped jeans, black and white shoes, and a striped undershirt. As well as a little clip on skull in her hair, which her mother had gifted to her when she as young. On the other hand, she absolutely adored life and the beautiful colors she could see that no one else could. The doctors themselves said she was a miracle when they found out she was Tetrachromatic as well, meaning she could see up to 100 million colors, 100 times more than the average man

When she was done, she hung the paper up in front of her desk like she was supposed to, and daydreamed back to this morning while the teacher looked over to make sure everyone did what they were supposed to.

Waking up this morning was normal. Laya opened her eyes and covered them back up immediately with her arm. Her mom had a habit of leaving the light on when she woke her up, no matter how many times she's asked her to stop. Getting up, she had already showered and dressed last night, so all she had to do was put on shoes, eat, and go. Her backpack was already in the car. Yanking her feet off the bed and onto the black carpet of her room. She stood up and smiled at her bones cracking. Turning towards the door, it had a vintage Ace Savvy poster on it, something her mother told her to never take down. She could only assume it belonged to her father. Opening the door, she was immediately greeted by her aunt, Lisa.

Lisa was a shorter woman, with big round glasses and constantly wearing a lab coat. Her experiments showed greatly on it. Splotches of ash and color were all over it. Lisa is the only aunt Laya's met, her mother said that her other aunts disowned her, and doesn't want anything to do with them. Aunt Lisa followed with her sister, saying that no parent should disown their child unless they did something detrimental. She was disowned as well. However, Laya wanted to know more about her family. Who they were and why they disowned her mother. Snapping out of her trance, she looked back at her aunt

"Greetings. You may be wondering why I'm here, and it's because I've decided to make an executive decision and transfer your schizophrenia medication to one that could cease it completely"

She handed the thirteen-year-old a pill, who downed it. Lisa smiled, and patted the girl on the head, before turning and leaving. Laya turned back around to get her phone charger, as she had forgotten it behind her bed. Ducking her head behind, she heard her mother and aunt speaking

"Lucy, I've given her the medicine. She should be cleared of her symptoms in a weeks time, if she continues taking it that is"

Laya felt weird hearing her mother's name out loud, usually, it was only on paper.

"Also, Lucy, he's been found. I'm guessing my trackers I implemented in all of you decided to ping for the first time in years. He's currently on his way to Royal Woods"

She heard a shatter of a plate, her mother must have been making breakfast.

"Her father you mean?" Her mother said. It was rare for her mother to show emotion in her voice, and it surprised Laya, her mother was a lot more goth than her. Laya's heart dropped, and she stepped back from the vent. Her dad? She's only ever heard about him through Aunt Lisa and Mom. That he was a great man, incredibly smart, happy, etc. Other than that, nothing. The reason why he left is because he knocked her mom up when she was 14 and had to run or he'd be killed. She walked outside the door from her room and felt like saying something. But, as soon as her guardians heard the door open, they stopped and went right back to normal.

Her mother was smiling brightly as she cleaned up the broken plate, she must have been incredibly happy to hear the news. Lisa was doing the same as she grabbed a Banana and began chowing down. Laya looked around the kitchen. It wasn't much, it was a medium-sized open area with a stove, dishwasher, fridge, and sink. Like every other kitchen. It split off into the living room, which had large black couches and a really nice TV. Eyeing the countertops, Laya saw some more notes. Men from around town would constantly ask her mother on dates, send love letters, and other things. She was gorgeous, even the guys at school drooled over mother when she came to pick Laya up. She looked like the type of woman to say "Ara ara"

Always though, her mother said she was just waiting on her father to come home. She refused to marry anyone, she already had her soulmate. With Laya in the kitchen, her mother stood up and spoke as she threw away the shards of the plate

"Are you ready for school?" Her mother said, opening the fridge door and pulling out a lunchbox. Laya's name had been stitched on it with black and white yarn.

Laya took the pack and answered as she checked its contents

"Yeah, I am. Are you or Aunt Lisa driving me to school?"

She hoped for the former, she didn't want all the boys trying to scout her out hoping that if they can keep her till she grows up, she'll turn out to be like her mom. She shivered at the thought of it.

"Aunt Lisa will take you. I'm going to visit someone today" Her voice faded as she spoke the last few words. Laya wanted to probe but decided against it. She knew how her mom got sometimes. Some of the last little light in this godless world goes out in her sometimes, but it comes back soon. Lisa put her hand on Laya's shoulder and smiled. Laya smiled back. They both waved at her mom as she got out a vacuum. She waved back, and the door was shut. Leaving Lucy alone yet again.

Thwack

The ruler hit the desk with a snap, shocking Laya. Her teacher was looking at her, his face stern. Laya gave the stare right back. She won. The teacher pointed at the board and said loudly

"I've been asking you to answer the question for the last 5 minutes. It's okay if you don't know it, I wouldn't expect you to"

It was simple biology. Something her Aunt had taught her

What does DNA stand for?

"Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid," She said.

The teacher looked at the sign in front of her desk. He read it and looked at her again.

"What's your last name?" He asked.

"Loud," Laya said.

The man smiled, and his eyes softened a little. His stern look turning into one of pure joy

"I was friends with a Loud when I was younger. That was a while ago though. Ask your family if they remember me though. Tell them Clyde said hi"

Meanwhile, with Lucy

Lucy didn't know what to think. The red dot on the satellite was getting closer to Royal woods, she would get to see him again! Tears starting forming in her eyes. It had been so long. First things first though, she has to visit where she used to live before Lisa had used some of her own money to buy this small 3 bedroom house. She walked to her front door and slipped on her shoes. She opened the door and walked out. The black roses in her front yard were growing greatly, Lisa had made them for her as a birthday gift. The stone walkway leads away from her house. The house was larger than when Lisa originally bought it. Even though she was 8 at the time, Lisa managed to secure her name on it with the help of the US government. It's been renovated quite a bit, even though most of them were for Lisa and her experiments. Like "Lulu" which is a project that neither Laya or Lucy have seen. It was a pretty house, stone tiles led up to a really nice stairway, which set on a really pretty front porch. The grass outside was wet and sparkled in the sunlight. She loved her house and she's glad this is the house Laya grew up in. She stepped into her volkswagen and turns the key. The car lit up, and Lucy was off to where she used to live. It had been years since she's seen any of them, most of them were disgusted with her. Even her own mother.

She drove for about 15 minutes, before finding her old driveway. The road was cracked and small sprouts of dandelion poured out, and the tire swing on the dying tree was long worn. The house looked grayer, and overall, dead. Stepping through the tangled weeds, and past the statue, they got to memorialize the dog they once had, she knocked on the door. She heard the tv inside turn down, and someone hop up to go and get the door. The door opened slowly, with a pale blonde haired face peeking out from behind. She was wearing a blue shirt, jeans, and a regular pixie cut. It was Lily. She looked, so grown since the last time she'd seen her.

"May I help you?" Lily said a smile on her face. Lucy felt bad about what she was about to do. She pushed past Lily, who fell back in shock. She booked it up the stairs, ignoring her little sisters cries for her to wait or get out. She rammed through Lisa's old door and looked around. The vent is what she was looking for, and it's what she found in the bottom corner of the room. She pried it open and yanked out the dust filled suitcase inside. Lisa had given her strict instructions that she needs to protect it, and don't drop it.

"Hey!" She heard a voice from behind her. It was Lynn

"Get out of here!" She yelled.

Turning around, Lynn's face dropped as Lucy ran by her.

"Lucy!?"

Lynn looked older too. She'd seen her on tv sure, but not since the Olympics 8 years ago.

She sprinted back down the stairs, and opened the door, leaving a pair of confused siblings in her wake. She opened the car door, and jumped in, being careful to lay the suitcase down on the passenger side seat. She sped off and felt like crying. It had been so long since she'd been in that house. Since she was thrown down the stairs in an attempt for her to abort, punched in the stomach, berated for not getting it.

Lucy didn't know what was in the suitcase, or what Lisa needed it for. But one thing that was certain, was that Laya was going to meet a lot of her family in the upcoming weeks.