Chapter 2 as promised! The stage has been set and the main players introduced. Enjoy, friends.
Chapter 2- Kori
"Ouch…" I whispered, feeling my aching head. I admit to being a little perplexed… One minute I was in the middle of a revolt as my beloved kingdom fell to bits and now I'm in a strange car with the wheel on the wrong side. And the cars on the wrong side. Elliott, my personal guard, is also out of his zone of comfort. It would make me feel good if he was sympathetic. But he's not.
"No! You are fine!"
"Fine..." I echo, a loser, no, at a loss… A little while ago I would have been quite cantankerous to receive a scold from a servant. Today, as Elliott says,
"You aren't Royalty here! So don't go acting like it. You are merely Kori Starr, so try to blend in and not draw attention to yourself."
"I will do that," I tell my guard agreeably, gazing out the window.
"We beat the sun." It is early.
"Yeah… I forgot to reset my watch. We're not on Tamaranean time anymore." We sigh. I miss home a lot. I miss my sister. A good Queen. She will save our Country. I will go back soon to the place where people drive on the right side of the road.
"The school is open, and you can go on in." Elliot shoved stuff at me. He made me go. I did not want to go. I did not even know where I was. Not good. But it was cold with no sun so I went into warmth. I wandered about, holding my books and papers and wishing I was in Tamaran. A beautiful home. Safe. Or it used to be. I don't remember very well the people fighting us. I got a head hurt.
The in-between rooms are all empty. Everything is empty. I am lone. I think I am lone… I walk and walk more and then I bump into a short red hair boy. It takes me a second to realize that I am dropping everything. All my papers go poof and fall all everywhere.
"Hey, sorry. Are you okay?" I nod. Okay. I am. I am okay. He smiles at me.
"I'm Gar." He offers everything I dropped. I don't want to be less short than him. It is odd looking down. I am not less short on Tamaran. I am the right amount of short. Are boys here more short than girls?
"Kori." I look hurt. Feel hurt. Ouch.
"Are you okay? I have aspirin in my locker if you need some." I nod. I am hurting. My head was hit bad. I follow Gar away from a green colored hall room and to a orange colored hall room. He opens a small metal door like magic and pulled at a shiny little bottle. Then he dumped out some pills. Two.
"Here you go. It should hurt less in a couple of hours. Are you new?" I nod.
"Do you need help finding your classes?" Another nod.
"It's early." I point out.
"Yeah… I always get here early. It's better that way."
"What way?" Gar laughs all nervous.
"Oh, nothing, just that my uncle is a bit of a bully. I bet you know people like that."
"Oh. yes." I thought about my sister. But my sister is nice! Still. She comes to mind.
"Is that why you have aspirin?" I say awkward like. Gar's smile is not real. I can tell. He lets out a breath.
"Yes." I reach out and hug him. He is surprised and drops the shiny bottle. But he hugs too. I am happy. This is my friend.
"Thanks, Kori. I needed this." He whispers into the hug, and I nod. Eventually, the rooms fill with loud and Gar pulls away and shows me where I need to be. I do not want to go. I want to be home. I want to be home with my sister. I miss her. Kay. We called her Kay. Queen Kay. She said her name sounded unfriendly. I miss her. I miss the kingdom I fell out of. My Tamaran. I can not tell people of my Tamaran.
We don't even have a Wikipedia page. Not anymore. My poor Tamaran.
I do not like this place. I am scared. I miss my home and I wish that my home were not so very far away. I am worried about my people. Even the ones that were being mean and trying to scare us from our home. My sister will fight back. My sister will save us. I will come home. I am supposed to be home.
Elliott is waiting for me. Gar has given me the address that I may write to his telephone with. I asked if we might use birds to communicate instead, however, he said that birds couldn't send emojis. I don't know what that means. I don't think he knew I joked. We rarely use the birds.
"How was your day Kori?" Elliott asks, trying niceness. I just nod.
"All the kids around here have one of these. It's a phone, Kori. You can talk to people. I know we do things different in Tamaran, have more advanced technology. And birds. For aesthetic. But that's how these people do it here. And we have to fit in until we can go back. Okay?" I nod more, glancing on the phone. It is shiny. Nice cover. Has a unicorn.
I send my new friend an electric message. I find out what emojis are. I like them! So many faces. Gar tells me what each one means. He sends the smiling crying one a lot which means I am being funny. I did not mean to be funny but it makes me awfully smiley face that I am. We move on from emoji and talk deeper.
He says, "I am going to run away."
"In which direction?"
"You're funny." Actually, he says your but I will not hold that against him I too am wrong often.
"Why?"
"My home is not a home. Do you understand?" I do.
"Yes. Can I run in a direction with you?" He does not respond for awhile. For hour. Hours.
I am almost asleep against the pillow in my new room that I do not like because as Gar said, my home is not a home. My home is okay I figure but my home is not my kingdom. It does not have my sister. It does not have my subjects. I am unhappy. Not even little whale emojis can make me happy. My eyes nearly close when my new telephone lets out a yelping buzz.
"Yeah. You can come. We'll talk tomorrow, by my locker. Remember where that is?"
"Yes." I smile. A new friend. A new direction. This is not my home. But I still have family.
