When my weight moved to my left leg I felt the tightness in the muscles from the gash on my calf. Blood was soaked through my pants but the pain was almost nonexistent. So many things had happened in the last few months, pain became constant and my tolerance grew. I wanted to check my bandages but I didn't want to see my scars. The strange skin on my legs, arms, and faded on my neck were the only signs I had left. I checked my thoughts; I can't think of her, not right now, I'm not ready to think past her name. Peony was supposed to only be a beautiful plant, the only Peony I knew was my sister.
I refocused on what I was doing, navigating the alleyway, stepping over glass and trying to not look at anyone. When I walked over to the back door of Iko's house I paused, thinking. Iko would help but then she would worry, I didn't want to worry her but when I looked down I felt a wave of dizziness and I knew I was losing a lot of blood. I gently rapped on the door and I heard footfalls just outside of it.
The door swung open and the girl standing on the other side had long blue braids, her face filled with worry and she pushed me inside.
"Cinder! What happened to you? I mean, I know what happened but what did he use?"
"Iko, I'm fine it was just a piece of glass and I just need some numbing stuff and a new wrap for it." I tried to console my worrying friend.
"Garan! It would have been better if you could have stayed with Adri and Pearl. They didn't adore you but anything is better than the way he treats you."
"We both know why I can't do that. I was adopted in the first place and ever since Peony..." I stopped, I couldn't get her out of my head.
"That was Levana's fault not yours! She set the fire not you, you can't keep blaming yourself for something she did." she stopped talking when she saw the pained expression on my face. I sat on one of their stools while Iko fixed up my leg. Her parents knew that something wasn't right but they had known me long enough to stay out of my way. I was glad because if they had known the extent of my problems they wouldn't leave me alone. Only Iko knew everything and she wouldn't tell a soul.
The wrapping prevented any more blood from staining the jeans but I didn't know what to do about it. The first day of school walking around with stained pants. After expressing the problem to Iko she lead me up to her room, more specifically to her expansive closet. I selected a pair of jeans similar to the one's I was wearing so if Garan pays any attention to me he won't notice that I am not looking like the abused girl that I left as.
After good byes with Iko I left through the alley door and continued walking to school feeling much better after my fifteen minute stop. My head was clear and I wasn't feeling any of the new school nerves. I had lived through so much it will be a nice break to just sit down and be ignored.
After a walk though I could feel my leg throbbing and I casually glanced to make sure that you couldn't see any blood. My leg looked fine but glancing down caused all the blood to rush to my head. I unsteadily walked onto the school grounds, stopping at the first unoccupied bench. I was surprised I was being affected so much, it was probably a combination of nerves and my traditional reaction. I looked up when a girl I recognized sat down next to me.
Levana. I felt my blood run cold. "What are you doing here?" I tried to keep my tone pleasant but my words had a definite edge to them.
"Well my mother moved me here after I had problems at my old school. You see one of my friends siblings died in a fire. It was very unfortunate for the young flower."
I blinked back the tears that I knew Levana wanted to see. "Very unfortunate." I walked away and my whole body throbbed, a splitting migraine was forming at the edges of my temples and my leg echoed the beat of my heart. I stopped in the bathroom hoping it would be empty. I rubbed my face with a wet paper towel until my heartbeat slowed down. The bell rang and I continued on hoping that I would get a few moments break from the day.
When I walked in I relaxed, I didn't recognize anyone in the class. Everyone looked tired and most were probably planning next summer's vacations. I slipped into a spot toward the back hoping to look nondescript. As the final bell rang a girl slipped into the seat next to me, she had bright red hair, even though most of it was hidden under a hoodie. On my other side was a guy who carried himself like the king of the world. When the teacher began the task of calling everyone's names I prayed that Garan hadn't had time to sent in any unusual information that would make teachers want to pull me aside and ask me to talk about my past, but I should have known because when the teacher called my name she merely glanced up at me and continued. The girl was named Scarlet and the guy was named Thorne. (Or at least that's what he asked to be called, he made such a scene about it standing up and winking at the teacher to get his name "changed")
The first two periods were simple and required little effort, I signed my name and answered a lengthy list of favorites but the teachers mainly wanted us to listen and that was something I had learned to at least pretend to be good at. When break was called I found a new bench in the corner and examined my leg. You could see small flecks of red through the dark fabric but otherwise the wrapping seemed to be holding up. I heard someone sit down and I stiffened but when I glanced over my shoulder it was a short girl who was already deeply involved in her notebook.
As the day progressed I evaded Levana until fourth period, the only class we had together. She was sitting behind and spent the whole time muttering about flowers and ashes. Her flowery voice grated on my nerves and the people around her just looked away. Apparently four hours into her first day she already had a reputation. The teacher as always was oblivious to Levana's antics. After around fifteen minutes Levana got bored with my lack of reaction. She tossed a small eraser at my back striking one of the tenderer scars, I turned because then maybe she would leave me alone.
"What." I tried to make my voice flat and uninterested.
"I was really curious about how your second home was going. I mean Garan is like... well you know! But your so quite, I really hoping you aren't thinking of... dying... you know things are hard right now but it will get better!" She almost sounded honest but then she chucked another eraser and mumbled, "Ya. Turn around but I know how to make you cry." She kept whispering and throwing from her limitless supply of erasers and I went as far as discreetly using my palms to block some of her noise. She wouldn't stop though, words echoed in my brain. Peony. Fire. Ashes. Scars. Drunk. Pain.
The guy sitting in front of me glanced back tossed an eraser and Levana and muttered, "Be quiet jerk." Levana was shocked into silence, and the teacher then became aware.
"Kai? Do you want to go to the principal's office for throwing things? I thought that topic was discussed in preschool." There were some snickers but Levana looked ready to blow a fuse she threw one more eraser at the base of my neck, where Garan had smashed a bottle last week and caused my head to resonate with pain. But that was Levana's mistake the teacher had been openly watching the exchange and then glanced at the twenty something erasers around my desk.
"I stand corrected. They must not teach it in preschool because no one seems to know it." He then moved Levana to the front right corner, right next to the teachers desk. And I couldn't help but smile, when I looked up Kai was grinning too.
Levana dropped a piece of paper on my desk that read, You think you can mess around Ash. Well I know more than you think.
I crumpled up the paper and thought firmly to myself. I'm Cinder, and Levana can only throw erasers.
The day was over. I walked cautiously, expecting Levana to ambush me but nobody stopped me. I traveled the alleyways and walked through crowds of the strangest sorts of people. Some people couldn't imagine visiting these sorts of places at all but I understood it. The ally ways and it's people spoke and wrote a language that you had to learn, a set of words coded from the population.
I approached a shack like house toward the end of the alleyway and slowly opened the hole ridden door. After slipping in silently my body tensed up when I saw the poorly shaven man in a drunken sleep with a large bottle clutched in his fist. He looked up his eyes unfocused and rage filled, when he saw me he growled not unlike a dog. He looked down at the bottle and poured it all over himself, when he blinked and I was still there he charged. Like a deer frozen in the headlights I was unable to move, he slammed his empty bottle against my skull, shattering it on impact.
The room darkened and my stomach threatened to give up its pitiful lunch but I managed to retaliate with a death grip on my guardians wrist causing the drunken man to back away. I wobbled into the closet that I called home and barred the door. I turned on the small lamp and fell back onto the pillow. I felt my forehead and a lump was already forming. I could acutely feel every issue with my body. I attempted to dismiss the pain but when I glanced at my leg it was stained red, I felt the flash of pain and I entered unconsciousness, the first pain free moment I had experienced in weeks.
I woke thirty minutes in a cold stiff sweat. I was exhausted and all I could do was pull my hair out of it's ponytail before I fell asleep. I woke later and spent a few moments worrying about what time it was, I got as ready for school as I could in the small space with a blinding headache. After unbarring the door I snuck past Garan and walked outside where the sun was just rising. I walked over to Iko's house and opened the door with the hidden key. If Iko learned that I came without getting her to help she wouldn't let me hear the end of it. After wrapping my leg I grabbed an ice pack and a bag to put it in. I would tell Iko the next day but my head was throbbing and I didn't want to risk waking up her parents. After returning everything to its rightful place I quietly left holding the ice pack to my head and feeling the numbness set into my palm.
As I walked I couldn't help but think about how much easier it had been when I had been living with Adri, Pearl, and... Peony. The pain accompanied with the name was overpowering, visions of a fire in a small kitchen where the young girl had been attempting to bake a cake for me for my birthday. She had never done anything with an oven so she had asked for help from one of Pearl's friends. I stopped my vengeful thoughts but instead focused on my scars, proof that not even Levana could find a way to get around. That I had done everything I could to save my sister. As I approached the school grounds I resigned myself to the constant reminders of what I couldn't do that would come hand and hand with having another school with Levana
The weeks went by and I surprisingly found myself getting connected with people. Scarlet, Thorne, and the girl who sat with me a break named Cress. In my fourth period class Kai continued to call out Levana even though he hadn't said anything to me to my face. I ate lunch by myself though because I generally had some issue that I needed to deal with at lunch. At one point in my conversations with Scarlet and Thorne I accidentally said something about that. They both needled me about it nonstop.
I honestly wanted to, but I didn't know why I kept refusing. I thought about when they stopped for a moment and I realized that I had seen the table where they sat and that Kai sat their. If I was completely honest with myself I realized that I was terrified of having an actual conversation with the only person, in the school, who probably had some inkling of my background from Levana's choice of words.
When I left for break even Cress requested that I join them for lunch she gave me a piece of paper with a list of names. The names were Wolf, Scarlet, Thorne, Winter, Jacin, Cress, Kai.
When I looked at the names I realized the were probably nicknames, I folded up the paper and shoved it into my back pocket resigned to thinking about it.
When I walked into my third period where the only person who knew me was Scarlet so she sat down next to me and said,
"Hey, I am going to ask only one more time because I'm sure you're getting frustrated. No one who sits with us will ask you again. Today at least." she smiled and I felt a longing to get to know people. Maybe I could introduce them to Iko and just hang out with people instead of worrying about my life. I made a split second decision that would hopefully relinquish Levana's hold on my life.
"Sure." We both smiled even though I was immediately regretting my decision. If something happens then Kai knows a lot of my life, he could pretty much ruin school for me. It was too late now though. Their was nothing I could do, and it might work out perfectly.
As the day continued Levana ignored me and I longed for her to do something so that she will work whatever she wants to tell me before she has an audience but if she somehow heard about the lunch I had planned she would definitely wait.
When lunch came I was a bundle of nerves, I had managed to re-wrap my leg, which had taken much longer to heal then I had originally thought and take some pain medication for my throbbing head ache. When I approached the table only Scarlet and Cress where there. At my questioning glance Scarlet explained,
"Everyone else gets lunch from school! You wouldn't catch me eating those microwave meals." She pulled out a sandwich full of vegetables that she quickly announced were from her and her grandmother's garden. When a group of three guys and a girl walked up to the table talking quietly and arranged themselves. I was quickly introduced to all of them, I glanced over Kai wondering why he hadn't mentioned the fact that he knew me but not willing to challenge my luck.
We hadn't been sitting down for ten minutes when a girl grabbed Kai from behind, apparently in a tight hug. It was Levana, she sat down next to him, almost on his lap and he simply looked resigned. This had probably been happening for a while. She motioned to the only girl I didn't know, Winter.
"Cousin. Cousin. Cousin. Introduce me to your friend. Wait I know her! Cinder, right? Were in the same 4th period class." A few looks were exchanged and I assumed they now knew that Kai and I knew each other. "Such a pretty girl. But with such a sad story. I assume you all have heard it. You see..." her voice stopped and she stared at Kai. He had thrown an eraser at her. She got up walked over to me and smacked me, and then walked away. My face felt hot but I couldn't help but start laughing. Everyone else soon joined in, I glanced down and realized there was a piece of paper with Levana's handwriting on it addressed to me. I didn't want to read but I had learned the hard way to read her notes.
I unfolded it with shaking hands. It read,
Dear Cinder,
I know too much of your life for you to keep treating me this way. I am going to blackmail you, you have to leave Kai alone because he is mine. You have to leave his friends alone. You have to stay quiet and then I won't spill your secrets or do anything worse. Like take action. We will see what your decision is in fourth period tomorrow.
From,
Someone with power
I felt a chill and I quickly looked up to see that a few people were looking at me strangely. I got up unaware that I dropped the paper and made some excuse and left. I sat where I normally sat during lunch and tried to calm myself. I took out a piece of paper and wrote over and over again to hopefully drum out into my brain.
Alone.
After filling up both sides of the paper with small writing I realized that my next class was 4th period. I would have to deal with Levana and Kai. I carefully packed up my paper and pen and walked into the bathroom to get a wet paper towel for my cheek, more for something to do than anything else. As I placed the cold paper on my cheek I felt tears well up in my eyes. My life sucked. And two people know it, one who hates me and I see every day and a sister who I see rarely.
The bell bell rang signaling the end of lunch I felt a cold shock and resigned myself to the fact that there was nothing I could do. I walked over to the class and sat down where I usually do. Kai came in after a minute but he didn't say anything different, but instead of sitting in front of me like he usually does he sat next to me. I felt a rush of panic but I attempted to calm down. Levana came in next and sat right behind me ignoring the glares she was getting from Kai. Levana looked at me and I realized what she was going to do. She was going to pick on both of us. I was right, not fifteen minutes into the class she started throwing pencils. Sharp pencils, that hurt, they were hitting both Kai and me equally. I was doing much better hiding and not flinching. They were bouncing off my back leaving little marks of led that would come off with one wash. Kai kept flinching and I could tell was slightly regretting sitting there, when Levana wasn't getting a reaction from me that she wanted she threw one pencil at the newly bandaged glass wound, hitting it right in the center not breaking any fabric but I noticed a red stain quickly spreading on my pants.
I quickly blinked back the tears and swore quietly as I pulled the jeans away from my leg. Kai was looking around probably wondering why the pencil assault had stopped. He glanced down and his eyes widened.
"What happened to you?" He whispered. I just shook my head and folded up the jeans knowing that this could be the worst mistake I have ever made. When he saw the bandage he sighed, the teacher was still oblivious so I grabbed a wrap from my backpack after quickly unwrapping it and trying to ignore Kai's gasp at seeing the clean that was definitely intentional I re-wrapped it and grabbed a packet of headache medication and slipped a pill into my mouth swallowing it with a mouthful of water. Trying to ignore the stares I was getting from both Kai and Levana; who would probably never guess that I would be so trusting to deal with the problem immediately. I tried to look nonchalant and I quickly returned my focus to the teacher and I realized that she was passing out a test.
"Great." I muttered to myself, because of Levana I never was able to focus in this class and it didn't help that the pain in my leg was gradually intensifying. Kai glanced up from his shocked stupor and came to the same realization I did, they were going to fail. When the teacher stopped by our desk and gave us a letter instead of the test the others were receiving my first thought was, what did Levana do? We both opened our letters and I quickly read.
To whom it may concern,
We have reason to believe that you have been entering the alleyways surrounding the school and students are worrying. The fear a gang like attitude coming from someone who frequents these less than pleasant places. If you have a reasonable reason for traveling in such a manner then please have a discussion with the school counselor. Apologies if this interferes with private life.
-The School Board.
"What the heck?" I muttered quietly to myself. I glanced over at the paper Kai was holding but his was talking about extracurricular activities and what to do if you want to get enrolled into Harvard. I glanced back at the paper that kind of ruined my life and folded it up and shoved it in my backpack. The bell rang and I lept to my feet but as soon as I put pressure on it my leg have out. I fell back into my chair glad that only Kai saw my first attempt.
I shakily got up and using my heavy bag as an excuse for my trembling legs. I managed to walk to my locker to set my bag down and I realized that I would have to risk calling Iko. I sneakily grabbed my phone and hit the only person's name in my contacts. It rang for a little bit but Iko soon answered.
"Hey. How can I help?"
"I am kind of having a bit of a problem." I paused and rushed this bit out fast so anyone walking by wouldn't understand but I knew Iko would, "I can't really walk and I am not aloud to go through the alleyways anymore, it makes students, fear a gangster presence or something, but it's a problem because I can't walk and someone besides Levana might be onto part of my problem."
"Ok. I'll be there in ten. Be waiting outside."
And with that she hung up. I breathed a sigh of relief as Iko proved once again that she would always be their.
I grabbed my stuff and wobbly walked over to the front exit to wait for Iko. After two minutes I could find myself getting fidgety. Somebody sat down next to me and I realized that it was Kai, and this meant he wasn't in class. Which meant he cared more about answers than school. Perfect.
"So are you going to tell me what the heck is wrong with your leg or am I going to skip class for nothing?" Kai said after a moment's silence.
I waited for a beat to formulate an honest answer," I hurt it."
Kai swore silently," No duh. I knew that much already. I want to know who hurt you. As much as you try to hide it I can tell. I help at a foster home and, no offense intended but you act exactly like those kids."
More than a few colorful phrases flitted through my brain when I waited to think up an appropriate response a sharp beep blew through the still air. I jumped up and hobbled over to the door leaving a slightly shell-shocked Kai.
I sat in the car trying to calm the tremors on my body, Iko looked at me concernedly. "What's wrong Cinder? What happened?"
I explained it all, Levana and Kai and the complexities of my life. "And now I can't even walk home!" I could feel the pressure from the past few days threatening to overwhelm me. She glanced at me and seemed to make a decision. "Ok. Here's some good news to brighten up your day. I am going to change schools!" What! My mind exploded, was she moving? Wait why would that be good? Does she hate me? Is that why it's good? What on Earth is she talking about? Panic set it.
Iko took one look at my face. " I'm moving to your school, dummy!" What! My initial response was almost identical to my original except for the smile that somehow managed to sneak out even through the pain.
That was the greatest news I had heard in awhile.
"So you are coming to Eastern Commonwealth high. Really?" I asked, excited that the one person I was friends with was going to be at the same school as me.
"Yeah, isn't that what I just said?" Iko said with a small smile on her face.
Smiling I thought that maybe my life wasn't so bad as I thought it was if Iko was with me at my school.
After the long wait I have decided to publish the first chapter of Sticks and Stones. This story was adopted from BigZabba and is actually a mesh of all the first chapters with some of my own original work. From here on out I will be publishing my own content and continue the story. But, be warned that I have a lot in my life happening at the moment so if I take a pause do not be scared. Thanks for the patience and hope you enjoyed!
On my other story of Gajevvy (fairy tail) I will be taking it down since I rewrote it and will re-publish it soon.
Please R&R!