A/N: Here is Chapter 1! It is pretty much a filler to introduce the story, sort of. Well really, the characters. Idk. I'm not exactly pleased with it, and am considering re writing it for the 3rd time. Tell me what you think and if I should re write it or not! :)
Thank you to SSALittleMonster for Stef! I LOVE her! And.. I hope I did I good job on her. Please, tell me what you think of my character. Too Mary-Sue ish? It isn't much to go by, and when I get further in please tell me if you hate my character. I do NOT want a Mary Sue! :'(
So, yeah. Done with my long sphell. Or however you spell it. Oh whatever. Lets get on with the story ;)
My pale fingers continued to drum the desk, my foot tapping along with the beat of the clock. 8 more minutes, I told myself, 8 more minutes until school ends and we get to go on our adventure.
By we, I mean me and Stef. Stef, who is also giving me hopeful glares from across the room, her purplish blue eyes sparkling.
Yeah, she has purple eyes. Yes, I'm completely jealous. Stefani Alexander, my long time best friend, is just about the most beautiful person I have ever met. She has long, almost black hair that is wavy and thick, so she can put it in any way and it looks amazing. Her skin is almost the perfect shade, and her features are flawless.
"Ms. Neomis? The answer?" the scrawny teacher called. I jumped at the sound of my name, bringing a snicker from Josie, the school bully and/or slut.
"Oh um.. 3?" I answered, giving my best guess. Then it dawned on me, I was in English. Not math. Crap.
I saw Stef roll her eyes at my ignorance, then raised her hand and gave the answer to the question (which was Shakespeare for all you Athena kids). That's Stef for you.
I do awful in school, mostly due to my ADHD and dyslexia. Also, I've always been tormented by Josie and her crew, the band of rich girls with nothing better to do with their time. I always tell Stef that if her mom never left her, and her dad never died, then she would be part of their crew. Then, she pretends to throw up and doubles over laughing.
Finally, my prayers are answered. A loud, shrieking bell is sounded through the school. Immediately, Stef is by my side, fixing my hair I messed up a long time ago. My hair is some of the weirdest hair you will ever see on this planet, which goes along with the whole getting made fun of thing. You see, like Stef, my hair is really long, almost to my waist, and silver. My best friend tells me all the time it reminds her of those veela from Harry Potter, but the resemblance stops there. My skin is pale, like really pale, with not a freckle or pimple on it. As in, I've never had one. My eyes are a gray- with flecks of dark blue and a darker shade of the original color, unlike to those bright green and blue eyes the boys fall all over. I always kind of look depressed, with my dark eyes, light skin, and pretty thin lips.
"Stef! I exclaim, getting control of my hair once more, "It's fine! I gotta go.. home.. and pack for the trip tomorrow!"
"Oh god Anna, you didn't pack yet?"
"Um… no? Did you?" She gave me one of those looks that said.. 'Well duh.' I rolled my eyes, and she punched me in the arm. This was our "sisterly" time. No, we aren't really sisters. But, with our pasts so similar we could be.
Stef and I have been best friends since we were 5 and met on the playground. We pretty much grew up together, and over the nest few years our dad's became best friends too. Turns out they both were scientists, had a daughter the same age, and had wives that dumped them with the baby. Both of our mom's left us a couple months after we were born. I have no idea who she is, where she is, or what she does. And then, that day 8 years ago came. It's all my fault.
Both of our dad's died that night, and it all started with me. I convinced Stef that we should go see some new kid movie (Its sad I don't remember what it was) on Friday. After a while, she gave in and asked her dad, who agreed. So, all four of us went to go see a movie. I recall it being fun, and exciting. But, then my whole life changed.
A drunk crashed into the car, and our father's died on impact. From where we were in the car, we should've died too, but some magical force brought us onto the pavement beside the car, the second before it crashed. It's our secret we keep, that no one but ourselves know. The police said we got out of the car at the right moment, or something.
Anyway, we couldn't find anyone to take us in, so we grew up in a lonely, old Chicago orphanage. Its this tall, old building full of a ton of kids that run around. Have you ever seen Annie? Well, its kinda like that, except we don't have to clean stuff.
So, we live in this tiny room, sharing a bathroom with ten other kids. At least, we have the smallest room, so its just us in it.
We walked down the school halls, Stef smiling to like a million other people. I just stood there, my gray-blue orbs of eyes wandering the halls, looking at people with perfect lives going home for the summer.
I could only think of how much better it was where we were going. For the last six years, Stef and I have been saving up to go on this super cool camping trip thats a month long in the summer. Best part, it takes place in New Jersey, and this one day we get to go into NYC and see a bunch of stuff. Awesome, right?
Not as much for me as Stef. Her ambition is to be a fashion designer-model-dancer-teacher in New York City. Me? I don't know what I want to be.
We wandered down the small, winding streets of Chicago, until we reached the sagging, brown building we have called home for half our life. One crooked step after another, we reached the front door.
As soon as we entered, the smell of human waste and unclean skin filled the air. Bleh. In the corner, two small children were wrestling each other. People charged up and down the old steps of the 3 story building, occasionally running into each other. I looked down, and noticed I stepped in something green, scary because I had no idea what it was. Yuck. Stef cringed beside me; she could be such a girly girl at times.
"Stefani and Dianna! Oh sweethearts, so glad your h-" our Director, Ms. Shalanski, stopped short at the sight of my shoe. "Oh dear Dianna, please, I'll have Stevie clean your shoe for you!" Stevie was this really weird 12 year old that got here last month. I mean, she's nice, but not the type of girl I would trust with my shoe. But, hey, I didn't want to clean it. So, I hopped to the side, and handed the disgusting shoe to her.
"Oh, and Ms. Shalanki? You can call me Anna," I told her. Not that I didn't like my name, Dianna Neomis, it just seemed too.. hmm.. fancy to me.
"Nonsense Dianna! Sweethearts, would you mind helping me out with the little ones this afternoon?" Of course, she needed our help. Stef and I were some of the oldest kids in the home, to like one seventeen year old who was graduating this year.
"Um, as much as we would love too-" I started, not wanting to break her heart. She was this fifty year old lady, who survived the military, and came home to find her husband died.
"We have to pack for camp tomorrow!" Stef finished for me, clearly seeing the difficulty of the task. As hard, and cold, as I kind of seem, I'm pretty fragile and hate when anyone is unhappy or sad.
Before Ms. Shalanski could say anything back, Stef pushed me towards the stairs, and we began our climb upwards, to our room on the third floor. At the second floor, Janna Newton, a 15 year old, stopped to say hi to us. Janna is one of the sweetest girls in the building, and she, honestly, has the best room. Well, maybe not seeing as she has to share with a bunch of thirteen and fourteen year olds, but her room has this awesome floor to ceiling window made out of thin, stained glass. Theres this rumor going around that someone once fell through it, but not many believe it. I guess the members of the room do, seeing as no one takes the bed by the window.
We climbed up the final flight of stairs, and shuffled down to the end of the hallway, our room. I turned the knob, and stepped inside, entering my home for the last several years. It was the same as ever: faded purple paint covered in pictures (Art project a LONG time ago- don't ask), two small beds side by side in the center of the room, a black sheet dividing the closet from the rest of the room, and a little window above the beds covered in a simple white piece of cloth. It was smelly, small, and slightly ugly, but, it was the closest thing to home I have ever had.
Stef immediately ran over to the curtain, pulling out my old black duffel bag, that was empty.
"You, Dianna Neomis, need to pack for our MAJORLY awesome trip!" She almost screamed, and I swear the entire place could hear it. What was my intelligent response?
"Yes Ms. Alexander!" I ran over to the closet, eyeing her smug expression. I smirked, struggling to think of anything snappy to say back at her. Yet, my brain was empty. So, I just threw a bunch of clothes into the bag.
"I'm done Stef!" No response. "Stef-?" I spun around to see her sprawled on her bed, fast asleep. Typical. I considered kicking her, splashing water on her face, or screaming in her ear, but in the end I let her sleep. Tomorrow at 6 we had to catch a bus that would take us to Pennsylvania, where we would catch a camp bus to the.. camp.
Pretty soon I slumped into my bed and fell sound asleep.