Four months after Kimberly's and Jane's first day at Oakhaven High School…
She'd changed so much in the past four months.
Or at least she had in terms of her appearance. Kimberly had begun wearing a type of body makeup on her face, neck, upper body and hands which made her skin look paler whilst still retaining her natural light chocolate skin colour, making her skin appear a pale greyish brown colour. Despite all this she'd left her hair its natural orange shade, thanks to some comments about how good it looked from Alastair and the fact that she thought it suited her better than any other colour. She'd also begun wearing purple eyeshadow and dark purple lipstick, to go alongside her new attire.
Now Kimberly commonly wore a dark purple jacket with its sleeves partially rolled up over a purple shirt, a dark purple hobble skirt which covered her legs completely bar the slit running down its hem negating the hobble factor and purple fingerless gloves in the same shade as her shirt and black ever so slightly high heeled boots.
Kimberly liked her new look. It was still the same old orange haired girl she knew and loved but with a new coat of paint, so to speak. Jane had said the same thing when she'd first tried out her new look. Well that and Luna thought it made her look and feel pretty sexy as well.
Then again Jane too had changed. The blonde haired girl now usually wore a long sleeved dark green V-neck dress which like Kimberly's skirt had a slit at its hem, a black spiked choker and black combat boots along with a very recent addition to her appearance, two green triangular ear rings. She also now thick black eye shadow aswell as black and green lipstick, the lipstick combination no doubt being influenced by Thorn's red and black lipstick combination.
Though unlike Kimberly Jane's personality had changed a bit aswell. The blonde was more confident around people now, abet more hostile to people who weren't close to her. It wasn't uncommon for Jane to scowl at anyone who looked at her the wrong way…or at all for that matter.
Thorn had also begun referring to the three of them as eco-goths. The black haired girl had said it was because "We're goths and we love nature, duh." when Kimberly had questioned her about it at one point. Though the orange haired give wasn't really sure if she considered herself much of a goth.
Speaking of which that reminded her of a conversation she'd had with Alastair a week ago…
Kimberly was listening to Mrs. Hannam, their history teacher tell them about their end of term assignment, saying that it would a group project. After what seemed like ages the history teacher finished explaining the assignment to the class.
"Now please get into groups of two so I can give out the task sheet." said Mrs. Hannam as she went over to her desk, the classroom becoming alive as she spoke. Kimberly stood up from her desk slower than the rest of her class and was about to head over to Alastair's desk, him being her only friend in the class, when she turned around to find him standing right behind her.
"Alastair!" said Kimberly, a little startled by his sudden appearance.
"Yes?" asked Alastair in amusement, a smirk clearly visible on his face.
"Want to do the assignment together?" asked Kimberly once she recomposed herself after being startled, straightening out her skirt as she did so.
"Of course I would." answered Alastair with a kind smile. "Besides us goths have to stick together."
"I'm not a goth." replied Kimberly, her expression becoming puzzled.
"Sure you're not. You wear dark clothes often now, you wear pale make-up, you regularly hang out with me and Thorn, you love being out at night under the moon and you love things dark, supernatural or horror related. Yeah you're totally not a goth." said Alastair sarcastically. Before Kimberly could make a retort however Mrs. Hannam began to tell the class more about the assignment as she handed it out, halting their conversation.
Was she a goth? She didn't feel like one, not that she knew what being one felt like.
Kimberly didn't really care what she was though. The orange haired girl was happy with her interests, with her friends and how she looked and that was all that mattered to her. She'd gotten over worrying about what people thought of her in the past four months after she started getting disapproving looks from other girls and Cindy picking on her, Thorn and Jane. The looks had intensified once she began dressing as she did. But she wasn't some overly sensitive weakling and just ignored the looks, who cared what they thought?
A quote from Alastair came to mind. "There are two types of people in this world, those who like me and those who can go to hell."
Though ever since Kimberly began dressing as she now did guys had been both complimenting and looking at her more. A change she didn't mind in the least, it was nice to finally get some attention from the opposite gender for once. Though that still didn't mean any of them had asked her out to the End of Year Dance which was happening tonight, which was disappointing. Still she was going round to Alastair's house on Sunday for a movie night so that partially made up for the disappointment. Instead she was going to explore some of the woods which surrounded Oakhaven with Jane, the blonde also didn't get asked out to the dance. Though Kimberly suspected that was because Jane was quite hostile and unapproachable for anyone who wasn't close to her. After she punched a jock who attempted hit on her and, wouldn't take no for an answer, where the sun doesn't shine no guy was willing to do the same and risk getting the same painful response.
Still even though she wasn't going to the dance she was making an effort with her appearance. It was the last day of the school year after all and she did want to look nice for it.
Kimberly sighed as she opened her locker to collect her textbooks and assorted school related things. The last day of the school year had dragged on way longer than she expected it too, leaving her a bit exhausted.
However one nice thing about it being the last day was how empty the hallways were. Anyone who was going to the End of Year Dance had already gone off to it in the decorated Sports Hall and anyone who wasn't going had left the school in a rush, excited for the summer holidays. That is everyone had left who wasn't going to the dance bar herself and Jane, they were taking their time packing their belongs. What was the reason to rush? The summer holidays weren't going anywhere.
"Wanna explore the bit near the old tree stump tonight?" asked Jane, snapping Kimberly out of her thoughts.
"Sure." answered Kimberly. "The meadow there has such a lovely view of the moon."
"It's always about the moon for you isn't it." replied Jane somewhat jokingly, before suddenly frowning and heading back to putting things in her bag.
"Hey Jane, hey Kim." said a voice Kimberly immediately recognized.
"Hey Eric." said Kimberly as she turned around to face the blue eyed baseball player, whom was often friendly to her. "What are you doing here?"
"I was going to ask you the same question. I'd have thought Thorn would have dragged you to off to the dance like she did with Alastair." replied Eric.
"Well no one asked us to it." replied Kimberly matter of factily. "So we aren't going."
"Not that we care." added Jane somewhat aggressively.
"That's surprising considering how often the other guys were commenting on you two." said Eric with genuine surprise in his voice. "You two should've said something!" Kimberly was about to replied when Jane suddenly cut in.
"I'm going to go wait outside Kim, it's too warm in here." said Jane rather quickly, less hostility in her voice. Before she slammed her locker's door, now graffitied with twisted and demonic looking music notes around the handle, span on her heel and headed right down the hallway.
"She's cute isn't she." commented Eric, more to himself than Kimberly as he watched as Jane kicked open the doors at the other end of the hallway and headed through them.
"Someone has a crush." joked Kimberly as she continued putting her belongings in her bag.
"Not really. I just think she's cute. Unapproachable but cute." replied Eric as he leant against the locker next to Kimberly's, also known as Thorn's. Still staring at where Jane had been a few seconds before. "Anyway I'm still here because I was helping Coach Cadaver lock up all the sports equipment for the summer."
"You're not going to the dance?" asked Kimberly, now it was her turn to be surprised. Eric was a fairly good looking popular guy, if anyone was going to the dance it would be him.
"Yeah I'm not. I didn't feel like it." answered Eric as he ran his hand through his brown hair. "Couldn't find the right girl to take to it, you know? And I'm not going by myself."
"You mean you just didn't ask Jane to it." teased Kimberly as a light blush appeared on Eric's face.
"That's not it." he said dismissively with a wave of his hand whilst his face said otherwise.
"Sure it isn't." replied Kimberly knowingly as she shut her locker, having finished packing away her belongings. "Anyway nice talking to you Eric."
"Nice talking to you aswell Kim." said Eric with one of the kind smiles she knew him for. "Remember if no one's asking you to a dance just tell me. There's quite a few guys I can think of who would be happy to good to a dance with you."
"Thanks." said Kimberly as she flashed Eric one of the smiles Thorn always did when she turned down a guy who was hitting on her. "But as Jane said us eco-goths don't care that much about dances."
A day later…
"So how was the dance?" asked Kimberly as she walked along the dilapidated road to Alastair's house alongside Thorn and Jane, the tall miscoloured brick wall of the property on their left side.
"It was ok. Me and Alastair had quite a bit of fun. Though the music could have been better." answered Thorn happily. "Did you too have fun doing…whatever you did instead?"
"Well it was interesting see more of the area around Oakhaven." replied Kimberly. "Right Jane?"
"Yeah." said Jane, obviously not interested in the line of conversation.
"It is way better in the Autumn, that's the best season here." said Thorn as they finally reached the gate to Alastair's family's home. "Anyway here we are."
"The gate's unlocked." commented Jane in confusion. "It's never been liked that before." It certainly hadn't. Kimberly had been to Alastair's home six times in the past four months, never had the gates been unlocked before. Each time Igor had come and unlocked and opened the gates for them, yet the Russain servant was nowhere in sight.
"Igor was probably just prepared for our arrival." replied Thorn with a shrug before she pushed open one of the gates enough so that she could pass through the entrance way, which she did before turning around to face them. "C'mon Alastair will be waiting for us."
Kimberly then promptly followed Jane through the entrance way after Thorn, closing it behind the three of them, before they walked up to the doorway of the manor. When they reached the big thick dark oak front door Thorn knocked on it several times before they waited…and waited…and waited.
However they never got an answer. No one had come to open the door.
"That's odd." commented Thorn, a confused expression on the green eyed girls face. "Someone always usually answers the door. Usually Igor or Mowgli."
"Maybe something happened." said Kimberly, trying to offer and an to the odd reception they had received.
"Or they forgot we're coming." mumbled Jane.
Thorn look like she was about to contest the shorter blonde haired girl's comment when a faint sound broke the eerie silence of the Selous Manor's grounds. Kimberly immediately recognized it as singing, thought he words were in a language she couldn't understand. The three girls just stood there listening to the singing, the song sounded quite depressing.
"That's sounds like it's his mother." said Jane, breaking their silent stance.
"It sounds like she round the back of the manor." added Kimberly.
"Let's go check if she is then." said Thorn before determinedly in walking off the path and heading towards the side of the manor, Jane and Kimberly following either side of her once they caught up to their black haired friend's stride.
It took them a couple minutes but once they navigated the jungle of plants which grew on grass at the side of the manor they finally arrived in the backyard. It was a mostly symmetrical yard with similar statues and plants as the front yard, the only notable feature being the rectangular fountain in the centre of the grass and the large stone patio with its stone ornate guard rail around its edges.
On the patio was Zofia, singing as she painted a canvas placed on an easel stationed in a shady corner out of the way of the sun, not a speck of paint on her usual black dress. Once she caught site of the three of them she stopped singing immediately, smiling kindly at them and patiently waited as they maneuverered their way around the garden till they reached her on the stone patio.
"It is always a pleasure to see the three of you, Thorn, Jane and Kimberly." said Zofia in her ever neutral voice, her expression changing to one of confusion. "But why did you come round the back of our home?"
"The front door was locked." answered Thorn simply.
"Yeah and the gate was unlocked yet Igor wasn't around." added Jane.
"I must apologize for my forgetfulness." said Zofia, her voice apologetic. "My husband is currently out at a meeting with his brother in Boston leaving me in charge of our home. I completely forgot you three were coming here today, thus why Igor was on a break when you arrived."
"It's ok." replied Thorn. "Though why was the gate unlocked?"
"My husband always forgets to lock it when he leaves. It is one of his few faults." answered Zofia, having regained her neutral tone of voice.
"What were you singing?" asked Jane in a mixture of shyness and curiosity.
"Souliko. It is an old Georgian folksong about a lost loved one. It's is commonly sung in Eastern Europe because it was regularly played on the radio in the Soviet Union, where I was born." said Zofia, her eyes looking far away at the mention of the Soviet Union.
"Why'd they play that on the radio?" asked Kimberly in confusion. The peaceful song didn't sound much like the few pieces of Communist music she'd heard in history classes.
"It was the favourite song of Joseph Stalin, as he was Georgian. Thus he popularized it when he led the Union." answered Zofia, her eyes still looking very distant. "My mother used to sing it to me as a child. It brings back memories of my childhood."
Silence then descended on the balcony, neither of the three girls knowing what to say in response to Alastair's mother's answers and her very distant, always lost look.
"Anyway that's neither here nor there. You came to watch movies with my son, not listen to someone from a deceased country speak of the past." said Zofia as she turned away from the three of them before she began to lead them towards the patio's ornate doors, the shapes of flowers and vines carved into their wooden borders.
Though Kimberly caught a glimpse, a mere split second of something she never thought she would see on Zofia's face. The six times she had previously been there she had never seen her expression be anything other than neutrality or a kind smile. She'd turned away from them so quick that Kimberly wasn't sure she had seen what she believed she saw.
Zofia had a tear running down her face.
"My son should be in here." said Zofia softly as she stopped in front of one of the many identical doors littering one of the many hallways of Alastair's home.
"Cool." replied Thorn as she pushed open the door and headed inside, Jane following after her whilst Zofia turned and headed silently back the way they had come. Kimberly glanced back at Alastair's mother briefly, she couldn't help but see why Thorn sometimes looked in awe of her. She was beautiful, feminine, a skilled cook, artistic, knowledgeable and most of all happy. Sure she commonly had a neutral expression on her face but Kimberly had seen throughout her visits that Zofia was extremely happy, she never showed any signs of stress though the only times her happiness was noticeable was when she was with Albert (Alastair's father, in case anyone forgot) and Alastair. She quite obviously wasn't the head of the household but she was the one keeping everything in order, be it deciding what they would have for lunch and dinner or reining in Alastair's father's eccentricities whilst still having time to paint and tend to the many plants she had littering several of the manor's rooms, the outside grounds of the manor being Igor's domain. Zofia was a wife, a mother, a cook, a painter, a gardener, a singer, happy and most of all a woman. Kimberly couldn't help but admired her.
Which reminded her of something she envied Alastair for other than that he lived in a lovely old fashioned furnished home. She envied the fact that his parents were married, kind, happy and caring towards one another. The orange haired girl wished her mother had been like that…instead of becoming a woman who didn't care about herself, her husband, her daughter, her appearance, her house and just sat at home getting drunk whilst being orange from many a spray tan. It was thanks to her that she had to travel across the country with her father whilst he desperately looked for a permanent job.
"Hey Kim you coming!" called Thorn, breaking Kimberly from her thoughts.
"Yeah I am." called back Kimberly as she headed into the room, thankfully that her and her father's troubles were all in the past now.
The room Kimberly was now in was quite small compared to the other rooms she'd seen thus far in the manor. It was roughly five metres by four metres and had ornate rectangular dark oak panelling on the walls and ceiling. The wooden floor was less polished than the other floors of the manor but the reason for that was quickly evident. It was a room designed for entertainment, not showing off or refinement. In the centre of the room was a large dark red rectangular rug with no distinguishing features other than its colour on top of which was a fairly long Victorian couch, it's legs and back carved to look like they were dragons with their heads backing as the couch's feet. Placed against the wall on a table opposite the couch was a larger than usual CTR with a VHS player attached on a shelf underneath it, either side of it were two small dark oak cabinets with glass doors filled with HS video tapes.
Kimberly quickly headed over to the couch, where Thorn, Jane and Alastair were seated, and sat down on the left hand side of the couch to the left of Jane.
"So what do you want to watch?" asked Thorn, seated on the right side of Jane and to the left of Alastair.
"What do you have?" asked Kimberly as she looked past Thorn to Alastair.
"Alien Crusaders, Legend of the Anchor, Cyber Race, Monster of Texaco, Zombie Ireland, Loch Ness Imposter, Ghoul Hall, Witch's Toast, Roo Brothers, The Enthusiastic Werewolf... " listed Alastair neutrally as Thorn turned to face him, her long black hair hitting Jane in the face due to their close proximity on the couch.
"So crap movies." interupted Jane, who was obviously a bit annoyed at getting hit by Thorn's hair.
"That's exactly the sort of movies we have. They're all mostly, as you put it, crap." replied Alastair neutrally. "Blame Igor. My mother told him to buy movies, notably not with the word good beforehand, so he did just that. As such most of what he's bought over the years isn't very good."
"Let's watch Witch's Toast first then." said Kimberly as Thorn turned to face her. This time her hair hit Alastair in the face, though he rather noticeably didn't mind much. "That one is at least funny."
"Ok." said Thorn as she got off the couch and went over to one of the wooden cabinets. As the green eyed girl leant down to open the cabinet and get the Witch's Toast Kimberly noticed that Alastair's eyes were looking towards Thorn's ass. Only briefly though before he quickly looked away, a light blush visible on his cheeks. The orange haired girl barely managed to stop herself letting out a laugh at Alastair whilst Thorn put the VHS in the VHS player and headed back over to the couch, where she sat on Alastair's lap which only caused him to blush more as Jane grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. The screen greeting them with a corny lime green logo and low budget techno music (totally not a reference to how the Witch's Ghost DVD has one of the laziest title screens I've ever seen).
Three hours later…
Kimberly felt her eyelids begin to waver as Roo Brothers reached its climatic scene. Jane had already fallen asleep as had Thorn, the black haired girl having nodded off shortly after she laid her head on Alastair's shoulder. The orange haired girl couldn't tell if Alastair was awake as Thorn and his hair hid his face from her view.
She let out a yawn, soon her father would be no doubt coming to pick her up.
Then several minutes later as a small brown dog was punching a skeleton on screen Kimberly's eyelids fluttered closed as she joined Thorn and Jane in dreamland.
The next day…
After a long restful sleep Kimberly's eyes began to open, her mind confused at first by her surroundings. She was on a couch in what appeared to be Alastair's house, surely she should have been resting in her own bed in her house.
Then as her brain shoke of its tiredness she remembered that the three of them had gone to Alastair's for a movie night and assumed that she must have fallen asleep during one of the movies. Though that didn't explain why her father hadn't picked her up the night before.
It was then that the orange haired girl was snapped out of her thoughts by movement on top of her legs. She looked down and was face to face with a large black cat with puffy untamed fur, its pair of big brown eyes staring it her own pair. After a few seconds of staring at the cat who had decided to sit on her lap Kimberly remembered who the cat was.
"Stalin?" asked Kimberly curiously.
"Meow." replied the puffy black cat before rubbing its cheek against her.
"He's always liked purple things. Thus he naturally took a liking to you due to how you dress." commented a voice Kimberly recognized right away, noticing shortly after that Alastair had entered the room whilst she'd being looking at Stalin the cat.
"Oh." commented Kimberly in both a reply and surprise at Alastair's sudden presence.
"And since you're no doubt wondering why you, Thorn and Jane are still here I'll tell you. We all fell asleep partway through Roo Brothers and my mother decided since we all looked so peaceful to let you three sleep." said Alastair neutrally. "Thus she called your father along with Thorn's father and Jane's grandparents to postpone them picking you three up till today as she did not wish to interrupt your sleep."
"Thanks for clearing that up." said Kimberly as she began stroke Stalin the cat. "I was a bit confused at first."
"You're welcome." said Alastair in reply as Stalin the cat purred happily at Kimberly's touched. "That was the easy part."
"Easy part?" asked Kimberly in confusion.
"It was easy telling you why're you're still here. The hard part is waking Thorn and Jane up." answered Alastair as he glanced over at the sleeping forms of their black and blonde haired friends, displeasure clear in his voice. "Thorn's gets angry enough when you wake her up and she's generally a happy friendly person. I can only imagine how Jane will react to getting woken up."
"Hope for the best, prepare for the worse." said Kimberly in reply with a light smile.
"That's what I'm already doing." replied Alastair, flashing her a small semi-sheepish smile.
After Alastair had woken up both Thorn and Jane, earning a glare and an annoyed exchange from Thorn and a punch on the arm from Jane, the four of them had headed off to have breakfast. It had gone by pretty quickly as Albert was still away on business as Zofia quite obviously wasn't much of a conversationalist, Alastair leaving partway through to go feed the cats.
However just as they were leaving the dining room where they had eaten their breakfast Zofia spoke to them.
"Jane may I have a word with you, in private?" asked Zofia, having silently appeared behind them.
"Umm sure." answered Jane, confusion clear on her face and she re-entered the dining room.
"I'll be just a minute." said Zofia to Thorn and Kimberly before pushing the door till it was open only a brief crack, confusing both of them.
Shortly after Thorn putting her ear to the small space left open by the door, motioning for Kimberly to do the same.
"C'mon let's see what Zofia has to say." said Thorn. Despite her best judgement Kimberly followed suit, feeling a little guilty about eavesdropping on Zofia and Jane.
"Jane you live with your grandparents, correct?" inquired Zofia neutrally.
"Yes." answered Jane, her tone one of slightly hostility.
"I presume your parents are divorced then?" asked Zofia, her voice still neutral.
"Yeah they are." answered Jane, her voice clearly with hostility now.
"Well I just wanted to say that if you ever need any help or advice in a matter relating to their divorce to ask me." said Zofia, her voice now kind and motherly unlike her usual neutral tone. "My parents divorced when I was young aswell, I know what it is like to go through that."
"Th..thanks." stuttered out Jane. All hostility in her voice had vanished. "But I'm coping."
"I know you are." replied Zofia. "But remember if you need any help with it just ask me."
Kimberly then dragged Thorn back quickly as Zofia began to open the door, the two of them looking like they'd just been waiting and not eavesdropping on Jane and Zofia.
"Thanks." said Jane timidly as she turned to face Zofia once the two of them had exited the dining room.
"You're welcome." said Zofia kindly before turning to look at Thorn and Kimberly. "The three of you should go wait out in the front of the manor now to be picked up. Alastair shall no doubt be there too."
Four days later…
Kimberly squinted as she exited the changing room and walked out into the bright sunlight. It had taken a bit of convincing but Thorn had managed to get her and Jane to go to a beach with her. The two of them had been against the idea at first because neither of them enjoyed beaches much, they didn't like being around so many people or the stares you got by strangers, but they'd come on board with the idea when Thorn had mentioned that they would go to Alastair's family's private beach, thus no people.
Well that and Thorn's cousin Lindsay was visiting and Kimberly knew that Thorn wanted the four of them to spend time with her cousin.
The beach was in a small coastal inlet which sheltered it from both wind, the view of any boat which may pass by. Around it was fairly thick forest which on the right side of the beach creating a large area of shade. At the opposite end of the beach to the sea was a small brick building with two doors. One door led to the male changing room, which Alastair obviously got all to himself, and the other led to the female changing room which Kimberly had to share with Thorn, Jane and Lindsay. There was also a wooden picnic table in quite good condition near the small brick changing rooms, five deck chairs in a line on the sandy beach placed on the edge of the patch of shade and a volley ball net out in the sunny side of the beach.
Once Kimberly's eyes adjusted to the sunlight she spotted Alastair over to the right of the deck chairs well inside the shady part of the beach, building something with sand. He was only wearing some black swimming trunks leaving his well-toned obviously shaved chest, legs and arms easily visible. Then again her body was easily visible aswell. She was just wearing a dark purple bikini top and a dark purple long sarong.
"What are you building?" asked Kimberly after she had made her way over to where Alastair was sitting cross legged on the sand.
"A building." replied Alastair neutrally. "Just something to pass time whilst I waited for you four to get changed."
"Yeah well some of us take longer than others." said Kimberly in slight annoyance.
"You mistake what I was saying. I didn't mean to make it sound like you were taking ages." said Alastair apologetically as he stood up from where he had been sitting.
"Oh." replied Kimberly, a little ashamed of her quick assumption.
"Though in the case of Thorn I imagine she'll take a while." said Alastair, his eyes notably focused on her face and not the rest of her body, which Kimberly both appreciated and was a little disappointed by. "No doubt she's making a fuss about how much sun cream she needs, worrying about burning her pale skin."
"How'd you guess?" asked Kimberly with a laugh at her odd coloured eyed friend's comment.
"Thorn's always worrying about it whenever we go somewhere in the summer. She doesn't want to get burnt at all or even worse get a tan." answered Alastair with a smirk. "Though I don't want either of those things to happen to me either yet you don't see me making a fuss. Just put on a bit of sun cream and don't stand in the sun all the time and you won't get burnt or a tan."
"I take it you don't like tans." commented Kimberly, picking up on Alastair's tone when he mentioned them.
"No I don't. To me they look unhealthy on either gender if isn't a person's natural skin colour, such as an Indian's." replied Alastair. "Well that and I personally find pale skin more attractive...your's being a prime exaple. It's harder to maintain than a tan and was a sign of high status across all countries and cultures in days gone by. Not that non-pale skin is unattractive; it's just personal preference on my part."
Author's Note: Pale skin was a sign of high status across every single culture on the Earth in the years gone by because back then most low ranking people worked outside on farms or something similar, hence causing them to have tanned skin. Thus if you had tanned skin it inplied for were of a lower class (as most outside jobs were done by the lower class) hence pale skin was associated with the upper classes as they worked in doors.
Which makes sense in a way. As the upper classes would stay inside more which would cause their skin to be paler. Hence it becoming associated with power, beauty and the like across every culture on the planet. Which gave us Europeans a little bonus advantage when we conquered the world because people assumed we must be really important or at times even godly beings because we were so pale (as we are all pale for the most part regardless of job or class).
For example the Aztecs (far detached from the paleness of Europe) for instance had several gods who were pale skinned, thus when the Spanish arrived they assumed they were some sort of godly being and were hesitant to attack the Spanish full force...and we know how that worked out for the bloodthirsty yet quite artistic Aztecs.
Just an interesting relevent fact I'd thought I'd throw in.
But before they could continue their conversation any further they were interupted by Thorn, Jane and Lindsay walking over to them, each of them having finished changing. Jane and Lindsay were wearing bikini tops and long sarongs were just like Kimberly was, abet Jane's were dark green and Lindsay's were white. Thorn's on the over hand was different, her bikini top was black as was her long sarong yet her sarong had several red bat silhouettes on it which matched her highlights perfectly. Thorn then wasted no time in headed right up to Alastair, leaving little space between the two of them.
"So Alastair, like what you see?" asked Thorn as she flashed Alastair one of the sultry smiles Kimberly had only ever seen the black haired girl use around him.
"When it comes to you Thorn, I always like what I see." replied Alastair as he put his hands on Thorn's slender waist, each on them staring into the other's eyes.
"So Kimberly we were thinking of playing Volley Ball. If the two lovebirds are finished." commented Lindsay, distaste in her voice when she talked about the lovebirds.
"Sure, that sounds fun." replied Kimberly as Alastair finally broke away from Thorn, the black haired girl frowning slightly as he did so.
"It certainly does." added Alastair. "Especially since I'll beat all of you easily."
"Is that a challenge." replied Jane, whom Kimberly had learnt was surprisingly competitive at times.
"It certainly is." said Alastair in a good natured taunting manner. "I doubt it will be that hard to beat four girls."
"Oh you're on." declared Lindsay as she began heading over to the net.
"You'll be eating those words." added Jane, following behind Lindsay.
"I doubt it." taunted Alastair with a laugh as he grabbed Thorn's hand and led her over to the net, Kimberly following behind them.
Sure enough Alastair did not eat his words. Instead he beat them with ease and athleticsm Kimberly had never realised he had. The only one of them to ever score a point against him was Thorn, and Kimberly was pretty sure that Thorn had only scared a point because Alastair had let her.
So instead Kimberly was laying on one of the beach chairs besides Lindsay and Thorn, the latter of the three using a deck chair which was firmly in the shady part of the beach and out of the sun's rays. Thorn was staring out at Alastair as he continued to play volley ball against Jane, the blonde doing quite well due to her opponent's fatigue.
"So you and Alastair are still dating then." commented Lindsay as she ran her hand through her long brown hair.
"Yeah." replied Thorn, her gaze still on Alastair alongside most of her attention.
"You all there?" asked Lindsay as she looked over at Thorn.
"Yeah." replied Thorn, blatantly not paying any attention to her brown haired cousin.
"And to think it wasn't long ago that she said boys were yuck." said Lindsay jokingly to Kimberly, causing the orange haired girl to laugh.
"Yeah when I was 10!" shot back Thorn, Lindsay's remark snapping her to attention. "Every girl thinks that at that age!"
Lindsay merely laughed as she stood up from her deck chair, straightening out her sarong as she did so. "I knew that'd snap you out of your mindless lovey dovey state." Thorn merely crossed her arms and frowned at her cousin.
"Well I'm going to go play volley ball again with those two. Wanna come Kim?" asked Lindsay, annoying Kimberly that even Thorn's cousin was now shortening her name.
"No thanks." answered Kimberly, perfectly content with relaxing with Thorn on the deck chairs.
"Suit yourself." said Lindsay before she began walking over to Alastair and Jane, joining in shortly after.
A few minutes later…
The two girls were just lying back on the deck chairs relaxing when Thorn rolled over onto her side and asked "What do you want to do after high school Kim?"
"I don't know." replied Kimberly, caught out of the blue by the sudden question. "I haven't given it much thought. Have you?"
"Well I kinda have." answered Thorn. "I've always wanted to be in a band."
"But?" asked Kimberly as she too rolled over onto her side, picking up on the uncertain tone in her black haired friend's voice.
"Well I've never had the guts to bring it up with anyone. Alastair certainly won't want to be in a band and I have no instruments of my own." answered Thorn, smiling a bit sheepishly before she continued. "So it's just remained a bit of a pipe dream."
"You could always ask me and Jane." said Kimberly, not fully thinking through what she was saying.
"Really?" replied Thorn hopefully, clearly excited by the prospect.
"Well we have sung and played instruments together in music class and we we're pretty good there." answered Kimberly truthfully, having enjoyed writing and playing songs with Thorn and Jane. "Besides being in a band sounds like it'd be pretty fun."
"Yeah well it's not like that'll ever happen though." said Thorn, becoming a bit uncertain and almost dejected again. "We don't have any instruments of our own."
"Couldn't you just ask Alastair to buy instruments." said Kimberly.
"I could but I don't want to Kim. I know Alastair would if I asked him but…I don't want to be that kind of girlfriend. I don't want him to buy me things because I ask or nag him too all the time." said Thorn thoughtfully. "I want him to buy me things unless if he wishes too, you know like when he bought me that sketchbook when we were at the mall. I don't want to be like Cindy was with her boyfriends, before they all dumped her."
Thorn then paused briefly as Kimberly laughed. The orange haired girl could easily picture how pissed off Cindy would be at a guy dumping her.
"Besides I rely on him too much, without his help I'd have never passed Math or Biology class, hell I'd have barely passed grade six Science without his help. I know Alastair has no problem with it but I know he won't always be around for me to rely on." continued Thorn. "And I want to be prepared for that day. Plus I don't want to make me feel like a burden to him or that he always has to solve my problems."
"What do you mean about him not always be around?" asked Kimberly, a little confused as the phrase "Not always be around" made the orange haired girl think of death. And she was pretty sure that wasn't what Thorn was talking about…she wasn't that stereotypically gothy.
"Alastair wants to be an architect ever since I first met him, probably longer than that. When I went to his house when we were younger Zofia would complain about him leaving Lego everywhere." answered Thorn, giggling at the memory. "He's had it planned out for years on how he will achieve that career. But it obviously involves him going to University and…well he's decided he wants to go to Moscow State University. And that's a long distance away."
"I see what you mean." replied Kimberly. Moscow certainly was a long way away from Oakhaven and Thorn certainly wouldn't be able to rely on Alastair when he would be there.
"Besides." began Thorn with a smirk. "I doubt Alastair knows anything about instruments."
Half an hour later…
During lunch Lindsay had suggested that the five of them go paddling out in the sea because as she put it "What is the point in going to the beach if you don't go in the sea." And so that's where the five of them were now, despite Thorn's protests over what the sea water would do to her hair.
Kimberly was standing beside Lindsay, the two of them just enjoying the feeling of the water on their skin whilst Alastair and Jane were splashing water and one another, each of them laughing as they did so. Kimberly couldn't help but smile at the sight, it was nice to see Jane not be so timid around someone other than Thorn and herself.
Speaking of her black haired friend, Thorn was off to the side trying in vain to stop the water hitting her hair, holding it up slightly so the water wouldn't hit it.
Then all over a sudden Jane splashed Alastair with more force than she had previously, causing quite a bit of water to hit him and both of them to laugh. He then splashed back at equal force at Jane however the water hit more than Jane. Some of it hit Thorn, soaking her from top to bottom and causing her to her shriek in surprise.
"ALASTAIR!" shrieked Thorn in anger as she stomped through the waves towards him, not caring about her hair touching the water anymore. When the green eyed girl finally reached him she shrieked in his face "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!"
"It was an accident." stated Alastair calmly in face of Thorn, despite it looking like she was about to go berserk at him over him accidently splashing her hair. "And I'm sorry for causing it. Though you do realise it's just sea water."
"Do you realise how long it takes to dry my hair!" shrieked Thorn as she shoved Alastair, which due to their strength difference barely phased or moved him. "Ages that's how long! And now it's going to smell like seawater!" She then paused briefly, seemingly calming down slightly before turning on her heel, her hair hitting Alastair's chest as she did so. "You know what! Just forget it!" said Thorn before she began moodily walking away from Alastair.
That would have been the end of it, if not for what Alastair did next. He reached forward and wrapped his arms around Thorn's slender waist, pulling her backwards and up against his body not unlike he had the day Kimberly had first met both of them.
"What the hell are you doing!" said Thorn, annoyance clearly still in her voice.
"The point of going to the beach is to have fun. And you're obviously not having fun." stated Alastair calmly, before a smirk unseen to Thorn grazed his lips. "So I've taken it upon myself to make you have fun." Then one of his hands began to tickle Thorn's stomach causing the black haired girl to both thrash and burst into laughter, all the while Kimberly just watched the spectacle alongside Lindsay and Jane.
"St..stop!" said Thorn in between laughs as she thrashed around and attempted to get out of Alastair's grip to no avail. Despite what a passer-by's may have thought, if there had been any passer-by's, Thorn was obviously enjoying herself. Her expression was exactly as it had been one night when they'd met up at the forest clearing they commonly frequented and Alastair had tickled Thorn, happy and enjoying herself.
"Not until you lighten up." replied Alastair, his mind obviously only focused on Thorn and her joyful laughter. "Besides I'm enjoying this."
Alastair then kept tickling Thorn a little longer before he finally realised her from his grip, taking her hand in his in the process.
"Happy now?" asked Alastair as he looked into Thorn's green eyes.
"Yeah." answered Thorn, clearly far happier than she had been when Alastair had been trying to avoid getting her hair wet previously.
"Good. Now let's get you dry." said Alastair before he and Thorn began walking back towards the beach, hand in hand with happy content smiles on their faces.
Kimberly, Lindsay and Jane just stood there watching the couple in silence. That is until Jane remarked.
"Remind me never to get Thorn's hair wet. Like ever."
Author's Note: I love that scene at the end. I can picture it so clearly in my mind and Thorn getting pissed off about something like that amuses me every time.
The whole thing about Lindsay Pagano being Thorn's cousion is something which popped into my head randomly a while back, so I decided to finally use it here (since both Thorn and Lindsay are singers, and Kimberly Brooks aka Luna voiced one of Lindsay's backup singers in Riva Ras Regas). Though I had no idea she wasn't just a character in WNSD, but a real person, unlike I googled to find the character's last name.
Anyway references time: 1. Alien Crusaders, Legend of the Anchor, Cyber Race, Monster of Texaco, Zombie Ireland, Loch Ness Imposter, Ghoul Hall, Witch's Toast, Roo Brothers and The Enthusiastic Werewolf are obviously thinly veiled references to those fantastic Scooby Doo movies. That reference name came about since I needed some cheesy bad sounding movie names, so instead of finding real movies I just modified the names of Scooby ones for a laugh and it worked out pretty well.
Though Roo Brothers totally sounds like something I want to watch. Speaking of which the comment about "a small brown dog punching a skeleton" is a slight reference to Scrappy Doo!
2. Coach Cadaver is a reference to the character of the same name from Gravedale High, an odd little show (only 13 episodes) from the early 90s that I found last summer. Worth checking out if you ever have some time to kill. It's by Hanna Barbera too.
3. Souliko is indeed an old Georgian folk song and is believed to be Joseph Stalin's favorite song. There's never been any conclusive proof that it was but why else would it be on the radio stations in the USSR so much otherwise, it doesn't fit in with the themes of the other Soviet songs. Also Stalin was Georgian, not Russian as many people think. Thus it's entirely likely he heard it in his childhood, as it is a quite peaceful song. It shows that despite how much Stalin was a tyrantical, sadistic, iron fisted dictator he was indeed a human...a very twisted human but human none the less.
The cat being called Stalin was meant to be irony. Since the cat is so nice and friendly yet is named after a tyrantical dictator.
And just as a fun fact: Stalin loved American cowboy movies. Yes I'm serious.