Smiling down at my feet, I made my way back home. The grin touching my lips had nothing to do with school having ended for the weekend, but rather a certain grey eyed boy who'd captivated my attention the whole day. However, all of these feelings of happiness dissipated the minute I went to dig in my pocket for my keys.

My parents were probably on the other side of that door, waiting for me. I'd come back home really late after the fainting incident with Ian, and then had left again before anyone could wake up, so they'd be furious. Not just that, but they'd still pressure me with the ideas that had made me leave the house in the first place.

"So, Althea, we've been wondering, your mother and I." My parents were really into their British accents and their posh language, but I was willing to separate myself from them and let them get to their own devices. In the back ground, a toddler squealed, then one screamed. No one even turned a head in the direction of the shouts.

"Um, yeah?" I could see my dad waging whether it was worth it to tell me to not say the word 'yeah' – too vulgar for their delicate, money-grown ears. But mum placed a hand on his shoulder and the struggle was over, finally going back on track.

"There's another savant family in town. The Benedicts. You've heard of them, yes?" Already rolling my eyes, I muttered some form of agreement, not even bothering with giving them a proper response. I could see where this was going.

My parents, they weren't all that hard to read. All they ever said was 'do that so we can earn more money' or 'don't spend on that so we can have more money'. I was guessing that they'd go for the former today. Joy.

"They have a soulseeker in their family, a very powerful savant who's addressed by the name of Crystal." I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from shouting that 'who's called' would've been a much easier way to tell me her name.

"What do you want me to do about it?" My rebellious streak was coming in, and I was digging my nails into my palms to stop it from exploding all over the place. I may do whatever I want outside of the house, but when my parents were involved it was a whole different matter.

"We've been wondering whether you want to ask her to find your soulfinder."

I felt sick imagining the idea of going over to Crystal Benedict's house and ordering her to find me a soulfinder stat. I didn't want one, I didn't need one, and I sure as hell wasn't going to actively seek him out.

Sitting down on the curb, as far away from my house as I could get, I looked up at the blue sky. My mind wanted to imagine that rockets had moulded the clouds, but I didn't let it. I needed to form a decent argument to be able to avoid them finding my soulfinder for me. It wasn't all that difficult. I could think of the first reason straight off the top of my head: I didn't do people. I just didn't. Even Maisee, who'd been my friend for close to a year now, didn't have the privilege of spending time with me outside of school on a regular basis. I wouldn't be able to maintain a healthy friendship, let alone a relationship.

Not just that, but what was to say this guy would even like me at all? I screamed at anyone who got too close, liked to wear weird clothes, and was a complete basket-case that didn't even comprehend how to act in a functioning society. He wouldn't get close enough to get to know me – the me that read books of pirate's adventures in the sea and dreamed of stars and pixy dust – before he ran a mile in the other direction. I supposed I'd put that on myself a bit, but it's the way I liked it. Or, at least, that's what I wanted to believe.

And even if he did like me, what if he was like the rest of them? Another drone that society had produced, acting and thinking like everyone else? What if he went through his life and all he ever thought about was how nice girls look and what would play next on telly? It wouldn't be that odd, my school was full of them.

He wouldn't comprehend how my mind works. When I told him about thoughts being too loud, whilst at the same time everything being so quiet that I could hear stars scraping against the sky, would he even understand? I couldn't love a rule follower when my mind didn't even understand what the rules were.

Closing my eyes shut tightly, I rubbed against my forehead tiredly. I'd stated all my reasons against soulfinders, but none of them seemed enough. Because somewhere out there, a boy was staring at the same sky as me, wondering if his soulfinder could hear stars and feel thoughts. Shaking myself to get the horribly optimistic thought out of my head, I went to stand up. This was stupid, but the sooner I said no, the more time they'd have to comprehend that their daughter would sooner give them grand-cats than grandchildren.

"Althea?" Glancing, up, still on my spot on the ground, I saw Ian, worry across his features. And I realised what I must've looked like, with my face buried in my hands and shoulders shaking with the weight of the world. I must've looked so pathetic. So I pulled myself up to my full height, which wasn't much, and smiled my most vibrant smile. Like hell I was going to let this pull me down.

"You ok?"

"I was going to ask the same thing. I thought you were crying."

"Nah, just thinking about stuff."

"Bad stuff?"

"Very very bad." I said, nodding solemnly with my words as if I was telling him my greatest secret. Sarcasm laced my words, adding to the effect of not giving a damn. His eyes lit up with humour, and I could feel my own glowing in response.

"Now you're just taking the piss."

"Maybe." I shrugged, but I still had a smile on my face so he let it drop. For a minute, we both stood there, and I was unsure of what to do. So I let myself do whatever I wanted. And that, for some reason, meant whispering: "I worry because I feel it's illicit for me to dream. I worry because sometimes I hear stars, but the rest of the world doesn't. I worry because I'm me, and thinking loudly is what I do." Before turning on my heel and leaving the most perplexed person in the world in my wake.

Hi :)

Sorry this is kind of short, but I hope you guys liked it :)

I'm gonna give a cookie to all of you who gave me a review, they made me so happy to read ^.^

Also, on a side note which has nothing to do with Hearing Althea, a story about Aubrey is about to go up! She's from fixing Petal, although you won't need to read it to read the new one. And as a sneak peak, I'm putting this up:

Aubrey is your typical goody-two-shoes, doing everything her parents say, and getting ideal grades. Her life is a far cry from perfect, so she hides behind all of this, hoping no one can catch a glimpse of what's underneath. Enter Matt, who's convinced to make her forget all about her stupid little rules. His life is in shambles too, but he doesn't care. Aubrey would love to not care, Matt to get good enough grades to pass. But when new situations arise, is that all they'd love to do?

Ok so it's still in the planning process so far, but the first chapter should come out pretty soon :) tell me what you think ^.^

Bye bye!