Sen of the elements
Chapter one: Seth
I stared at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. Long black hair tumbled down my shoulders, and eyes as black as night looked straight back at me mysteriously. My skin, as pale as a ghosts, made me wonder if I would ever look normal.
"Sen! Get down here now you're going to be late!" Mums angry voice echoed from down the stairs. I shook my head and sighed, then turned around and walked downstairs. "Can you ever hurry up? Even your little sister is ready for school before you are," Mum glared, and a five year old Louise smiled sweetly next to her, bag in hand. I opened my mouth to say something rude when I heard a meow from upstairs. Oops, I was going to get into big trouble for this. I coughed loudly.
"You go on, I''ll tell the teacher there was traffic on the way," I said hurriedly."Honestly, I can walk, it's only fifteen minutes away. And your sweet darling pumpkin needs to go to baby school," I added, struggling not to laugh as Louises face went red.
"It's not baby school it's primary school!" she screamed at me. Mum picked her up and power-walked out of the door before things started getting nasty.
"Goodbye Sen, and if you don't have 100% attendance at the end of the school year I'm going to be very angry!" Mum threatened me, then slammed the door. I didn't move until I heard the car start, and waited ten seconds for it to move out of the parking space and drive off. I breathed a sigh of relief and bolted upstairs.
"MEOW!" I went straight into my room and giggled.
"Leo! You silly thing! How the hell did you get yourself tangled in that!" I picked up the mass of fluff and a sock. I unhooked his claws from the material and slid his tiny body from the wool. The kitten jumped around the room, his fur was blonde and he had brown at the tip of his tail and on his neck. I found him sprawled near the bins in the street, and took him to my bedroom secretly. He was infested with fleas so I lied to the vet that he was mine and that he had gone missing one year ago, but that I had seen him in the town and was certain he was the same cat. Yes, I had him treated and paid for it with my pocket money, but it was worth his life and he was only two years old!
I stroked his fur soothingly, but he gave me the 'thanks - but - I - don't - want - to - be - petted - at - this - precise - moment - in - time' look and so I stopped. My Mum hates all animals so this was the first time I'd ever touched a pet cat before in all of the fifteen years I'd been on earth. If she found out about Leo then I'd be in huge trouble.
"Don't get into trouble while I'm gone," I told him, and then grabbed my shoulderbag. Leo mewed at me at let his ears flop and his eyes droop. A thought came into my head. I must be mad, I told myself, but grabbed a smaller bag and opened it wide. Leo just stared at me, questioning what I was asking him to do.
"I thought you wanted to come with me! Make up your mind I'm going to be late!" I said firmly. Leo let out a last meow and then padded into the bag. I slung both of my bags onto my shoulder and let the kitten poke his head out of the smaller one. "Ready?" I asked, and then jogged out the door and locked it with the spare key. Leo speed the air at a passing butterfly but I couldn't stop now.
I glanced at the clock in the school corridor. I was quarter of an hour late. I pushed Leo's head inside the bag and almost fully zipped it up, but left a space for him to breathe from, then ran strode to my locker. I grabbed my Latin books and my science folders, and set the bag on top of my soft jumper, then unzipped it.
"I won't be long, don't do anything stupid like meowing for help, because if somebody hears you you'll be getting the opposite of help and so will I. Understand?" and at that I walked to my registration.
I knocked at the classroom door. I hear Mrs Ray ask me in.
"Sorry I'm late. The traffic was heavy from our way," I say, waiting for her reply.
"You seem to be coming in late quite a lot recently Miss Blair. This is a warning, one more in the next month and you can see the head. Go to your seat," Mrs Ray answered sharply. I nodded and headed to my seat at the back of the classroom, next to the window. I heard a few of the girls laugh and it took effort not to stand up and shout a thousand rude words to the whole world. But I managed. Just like I always had done, I stayed quiet and sometimes the only words I would speak at school were those to myself. And when teachers picked on me.
It was then that I noticed. There was a boy just a bit taller than me with black scraggly hair standing at the front of the classroom. His eyes were bright green and it was as though you could see pictures in them.
"Year 10, this is Seth. He's come from Adeve School which isn't that far from here. Please make him feel welcome," Mrs Ray told us. This was the bad thing, it looked like the only space left in th class was next to me, and I liked to be left alone. If he was a chatterbox then I might just... "Oh no, where's the register... oh yes, reception must have it," Mrs Ray remembered and walked down to the office.
"Sorry for the inconvenience, but you'll have to sit on your own at the back," Chloe Smith said to Seth. He seemed confused until I gave him an I'm - not - here look, and propped my head on my hand and gazed out the window, shutting out Chloes words. To my surprise Seth said nothing as he sat down next to me. "Shall I come and sit next to you?" Chloe smiled evily, and she did a sort of girly catwalk over to my chair. She actually SAT on me! And boy, is she fat and heavy, compared to my skinny arms and legs! I balled my hands into fists and squeezed my eyes shut, snapping my pencil in half during the process.
"Ooh, it's feels like I'm sitting on something! But it must be just me because there's absolutely nothing here," Chloe continued, but I stayed quiet and waited for it all to be over. Come on Mrs Ray! I thought in my head, and it's almost as if she heard my pleading, because there were footsteps in the hallway. Chloe stood up and went back to her usual seat. I breathed a silent sigh of relief but then looked at my now broken pencil.
"Here," I looked at the new boy, and nodded, taking the pencil. I wasn't going to talk to this nice stranger-somehow I felt that it wasn't right.
The first two lessons went smoothly, and as soon as the bell went I laid the pencil on Seth's desk and ran off to my locker before he could ask any questions. I smiled when I saw Leo in my locker, curled up into a little ball of fluff. I poked his soft fur gently and he opened one eye. I began to hear students chattering down the corridor, so I pushed the animal into the bag and zipped it , then strode outside to the place where nobody goes. The school forest.