I plan on only updating this once a week, probably every Wednesday from now on, but per request I've decided to post the second chapter. Enjoy.
ALSO
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize. Surprise surprise.
Chapter Two
Crawl
The bell rang, school was done for the summer. I stood and left the classroom, setting my eight page long essay and final packet on Mrs. Zera's desk. She smiled warmly at me and nodded. I just returned the glance.
Kerry was gone. Kerry was gone. Gone. Forever. I felt like just giving up, running away and living in the woods. I knew how to survive and fight and hide. The police would never find me. Heck no one would realize I was gone. I walked through the hallway, towards the buses. Pushing people out of my way, staring lifelessly ahead of me. People stared, people always stared. I wish I could blind fold them so they wouldn't stare at me ever again. So they didn't stare at anyone the way they store at me. It wasn't fair.
The night Kerry had left I had pounded on the ivory keys of the piano in the basement. Shirley, in result, took that away from me, locking it up and hiding the key in her room. My piano, my only link to freedom, to sanity. I wasn't going to survive without it. Never again. Rain pelted my face but I didn't care. It soaked my naturally slicked back black hair and washed away the little makeup I had on. I didn't wear much, only a little bit to blush to hide the unnatural pigment of my skin. The last thing I needed was for people to make fun of my fare face.
I tripped walking up the bus steps, people burst out laughing, hoping my face would burn with embarrassment. They slowly stopped when they saw the way I stood up slowly, barely supporting my legs. The stopped laughing when they saw the dead look in my eyes. They stopped laughing when they saw how unaffected I was by their teasing. They felt no sympathy, though. Only boredom. They would make fun of the next person to trip, and they would continue to laugh when they shot glares around the room, like I used to. I couldn't anymore though. I was too weak to even move my lips in song.
I shakily made my way to the back of the bus. There was an empty seat today, to my relief. I collapsed into it, realizing how stiff my aching muscles were. I closed my eyes tightly, blocking out the light. At the time, all I wanted to do was curl up into a ball and cry my eyes out. That would earn me a summers worth of staying at home, stupid rumors.
"Excuse me, can I sit here?" My eyes fluttered open. I hadn't even realized anyone was there. How long had he been standing there? It was Fop. I considered him a friend, of some sorts, or maybe an acquaintance.
"Um, sure." I said, scooting over a little. Fop was dressed, once again, in a dressy white shirt with a plain black jacket, long black pants, and what appeared to be dancing shoes. His black bangs hung dismally in his teal and amber eyes.
"What's your name?" I asked out of sheer boredom after around five minutes.
"Alexander." He replied shortly.
"Okay." I said quietly. Something about this kid was really creeping me out, which was saying something, because I usually was the one doing the creeping.
"Yours?" Alexander asked suddenly.
"Cherry." I answered.
"Oh, nice to meet you."
The bus stopped and Alexander stood up, grabbing onto the seat to keep from falling over.
"This is my stop," He said quietly. "have a nice summer." He inched through the aisle, crowded with backpacks and popular kids trying to trip him. I felt rather awkward in that moment. Reality hit me suddenly; I had gotten off before Fo-AlexanderAlexander Alexander. Yesterday. Red hot anger bubbled in my stomach. That kid hadn't let him out at his stop, he probably didn't get home until seven or something.
Ten minutes passed, twenty, somewhere around thirty three the bus finally stopped at the long wooded gravel road that led to my foster house.
I was drenched as a wave of water submerged me when the bus pulled away, leaving me another pair of muddy shoes to clean. The air was freezing and the drafty breeze didn't help matters. It was unnaturally cold for a summers day, and rainy.
After trudging through the high grasses I stalked up to my room, threw my backpack on my bed, and practically ran down the stairs to the basement. I needed to see if the piano was still locked up.
After running through the clutter and mess, jumping over a few piles of trash, and breaking down a door with rusty hinges, I came to the room the piano was in.
It was relatively small. There was a musty window in it, but the dead light only illuminated the excessive amount of dust particles floating in the air. The cover was down on the piano, but the lock was penetrated with something, that something obviously being the key. I squealed in enjoyment and slipped on the dust coated floor was I ran to the piano. I needed now more that anything to play.
I spun the key in its lock and threw up the cover, revealing the yellow ivory keys. I sat down on the rickety bench and posed my fingers in song. I paused for a brief minute, trying to think of a song, when it hit me. It wouldn't be nearly as powerful on the piano as it would be on the organ, but I was short an organ at the moment, so the piano would have to do.
Toccata and Fugue, it was one of my favorite songs. Unfortunately, as soon as I struck the first few notes, Shirley's voice came booming through the vents.
"Cherry!" Shirley roared, making the vent shake and more dust to boom out of it. I ignored her, for once, and continued to play, adding the pedal and slamming down the keys more furiously. "Cherry get up here now!" Again, I ignored her and continued to pound all my rage and sadness into the song, still only on the third chord.
The door to the piano room flew open just as I finished the ascend, and started the descend. My favorite part. Shirley came stomping over to me and grabbed me by the shoulder, whirling me around to face her. There was a man standing in the doorway. He was completely dressed in black, save an antique looking cravat that was actually the color of dark liquor. I froze in place, his greenish teal eyes focused on me, specifically on my hands, which were starting to bleed from the intense pounding. They were shaking, but were piano player's hands nonetheless.
A chill went down my spine when I saw the bone white mask that covered the right side of his face. I had never in my life seen something so odd, perhaps it was some kind of fad in a foreign country? I couldn't for the life of me realize what was going on.
"I'll take her." The man said. I shivered again, his voice was deeper than I had expected. Like pure midnight velvet, or maybe my favorite dark chocolate manifested into an almost physical from. I suddenly felt very insecure and I crossed my arms over my chest. It sounded like a slave auction to me. Shirley's witch like crackle filled the room.
"Her? HER? She's the stupidest ugliest girl I've ever fostered." Shirley looked towards me as if I was a blob of dirt.
"Now, it isn't very polite to make false remarks." The man said quietly. Shirley made a 'humf' sound and turned, leading the man back upstairs.
I just sat there for a moment, transfixed on the doorway where the man had just been standing. I jumped up and sprinted to my room, hoping to pack my things as quickly as possible.
I threw my door open and ripped an old suitcase from my closet. I paused briefly when I blew the dust from it and it bounced into my face. I gasped and continued to unlatch it.
It didn't take long to pack the few outfits, boots, blanket and pillow I owned. I stacked my drawings carefully and weaseled them into my backpack. I threw my canopy under my bed, hoping the moths would find it before Shirley.
I slung my backpack over my shoulder and heaved my suitcase down the stairs. I couldn't believe what was happening, I was going home, wherever that was, whatever that meant.
When I made it down the stairs five minutes after I had gone up, the man was waiting for me by the door, Shirley by his side. Shirley was, as usual, sneering at me. I approached, tugging my suitcase behind me, when Buttercup, one of Shirley's many cats, came and jumped on my shoulder. Buttercup was only a little kitten, though, so I continued walking as if she was never there.
After what seemed like an eternity, I made it to the door. The man offered to take my suitcase and I gave it to him gratefully.
"Well," I said quietly to Shirley.
She looked at me, her eyes squinted. She took Buttercup off my shoulder. "Good luck." She said quietly.
I looked towards the man. He smiled at me briefly and nodded to Shirley before opening the door and motioning me to go out first.
"Thank you," I said after a minute or so of walking towards his car.
"It was my pleasure." The man said offhandedly, dismissing it with a wave of his hand. I felt my cheeks tint pink as I saw how easily he carried my suitcase. I silently decided I would have to start working out this summer.
"Is that your car?" I gasped as I saw a rain drenched Rolls Royce Phantom parked on the gravel. It seemed so out of place with the crummy trees and the horrible road.
"Don't get too excited, I spent so much on that I didn't have much left to spend on the house." The man said with a slight frown.
"Dear God this is probably the most expensive thing I've ever seen." I muttered. The man popped the trunk and set my suitcase in. I walked over to the passenger seat, itching to grasp the handle. I had to repeatedly remind myself that this would hopefully be my car for the rest of my life, but I couldn't get over the feeling that I was actually going to touch thousands of dollars.
The man appeared in front of me, from thin air it seemed, and opened the door for me.
"Thank you." I sputtered once again. He smiled briefly before walking over to the opposite side of the car. I sat down gently, barely believing that an hour ago I was sitting on a rickety bus.
"Do you always sit so stiffly?" The man asked with a slight chuckle. I slumped down in the soft leather, relishing in the way it seemed to mold around me. I sighed. The man chuckled again.
"I'm sorry, as your legal guardian I believe it best for you to know who I am," The man held a hand out for me to shake. "Erik."
I looked at him stupidly for a second before regaining my senses. "I-Cherry, I'm Cherry." I stuttered. Erik smiled softly and nodded. The engine started with a purr and I fell off into the oblivion of sleep almost immediately.
Reviews are very much appreciated :) Thanks for taking the time to read this, it'll get better. I swear.