Sheila and Shaula are both kinda Terrence's height.
Wilt walked along the corridor, and stopped in front of the „Friend of the Month" pictures. They all showed him with an imaginary friend he had saved. He quickly searched for the last one… and he went even more crimson red than usual. Oh, he had told them not to put that one out!
He
was holding up a human-sized fairy, who had dark brown hair in two
small ponytails, a light blue dress with a heart in her chest, and
red trainers; she had two cute feelers on her head, both ending in a
yellow pompon, and two pairs of large, shiny wings. And she was
giving him a kiss on the cheek, while the heart on her chest was
glowing.
- NO! – he suddenly
heard her voice – I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Wilt, I
didn't mean to… oh, I am so stupid! I was just… happy. Oh, I'll
ask them to put another one out…
There
she was, standing behind him. Shaula t. J. F. (the Joyful Fairy).
- Let it go, Shaula –
he waved – it's not that important.
They stood silent for a
couple of seconds, then turned around and headed towards the dining
room, for it was almost dinnertime.
- If only I could fly
again! – sighed Shaula silently, looking at her broken wings from
the corner of her lively black eyes. They looked hurt and were
arched; one even had stitches… thanks to Frankie, at least it
wasn't an open wound any more.
Sheila…
Sheila walked into her dark, messy room and looked around. It felt so empty without that silly fairy crying in a corner tied to the wall, or locked inside the wardrobe, or wherever she decided to close her that day. Well, at least, with Shaula's keen help, she learnt to fight well and beat up the bullies that kept on bugging her for years. She'd never be the school dork any more…
She still remembered the day she went away to Foster's, then came back hiding her wings and feelers, showing some skyscratcher-tall red jerk, saying it was „her imaginary friend"! An imaginary friend adopting another one! What the hell was she thinking of when she did that!
You can break my wings, Sheila… but you will never break MY SOUL.
Terrence walked inside
his room looking grumpier than ever. When Mac stared at him
interrogatively, he simply shouted:
- DON'T TALK TO ME,
OKAY!
Frankly, Mac didn't
want to say anything to his brother… but at least he left him
alone.
Next day, right after school
Terrence stayed inside
until everyone had left. That girl too… she scared him. During the
day, she often gave him such an intense stare, with those deep black
eyes… oh, how he wanted just to disappear! He only hoped she had
told no one about the day before.
- Hello, Terrence.
- Aargh!
There she was…
sitting on the bench in front of the school. Waiting for him.
- Ooh, we're scared,
aren't we? – she asked.
Silence.
Terrence went
white as she slowly stood up.
- C'mon, I don't
wanna fight you… just don't try to provoke me, okay? – she
said.
- Er… Shanna…
- SHEILA!
And
she gave him a punch so quickly that he didn't have time even to
understand what was that pain on his cheek and why he was falling on
the ground.
He was shaking like a
leaf, waiting for the next punch… which didn't come.
Silence.
Then he felt Sheila's
hand on his shoulder.
- Get up, Terrence.
- No… please not…
not here…
-
Not here? Not here what? – Sheila raised an eyebrow – I'm
just helping you getting up. Don't be that scared! I'm not a
destruction machine, I'm not here just to beat you to a bloody pulp
whenever I get the chance!
Terrence sat on the
bench. Sheila looked down at him.
-
I trained on an imaginary friend – she said again.
- Who? Me too! –
whispered Terrence.
- You? You don't look
like someone who has an imaginary friend.- My brother had…
has… whatever… argh!
- You're not too
smart, are you? – Sheila leant down and raised his chin with her
index finger- has or had? Or what, exactly?