Chapter Two:
Finally catching her breath, Hay Lin came to a stop at the park. Resting her hands on her knees, she exhaled loudly. She straightened up and looked around her. Three little kids were swing on a swing set to her left and moms looked on while chatting. Five girls who looked about fourteen were sitting under a tree talking. The sight of the five girls brought a smile to her face and she remembered the time when she and her friends had done the same thing.
Curiosity got the best of her and she edged closer. One girl was leaning casually against a tree, blowing hair out of her eyes. She was pretty tall, probably a basketball player. Her hair was the color of coffee and gold streaks were scattered throughout it. Her long legs were in faded jean capris and her feet, which had on white and lemon yellow skater shoes, were wide spread. Her arms were crossed over her hot pink tank top. Big sunglasses covered her eyes but her mouth showed her obvious distaste for the situation and the topic.
The girl sitting at the base of the tree was talking animatedly, her hands flying every which way. Her blonde hair was the same shade of color that you found on a ripe peach and the curls bounced energetically in time to her actions. She was wearing a lime green baby-doll top and short khaki shorts that showed off her long legs and ended in plastic blue flip flops. Tons of bracelets jangled around her wrist as her hand flew around her head.
Next to her, a girl looked on with excitement. Her hair was the color of ink and it was a short A-line cut finishing out by brushing her chin delicately. Sparkly butterfly clips held back a couple loose strands and her big innocent eyes were wide. A black tank top followed her thin build down to a jean skirt that sparkled in the sunlight. Ankle high brown leather boots completed her look and the zipper on them had a little silver fairy attached to it.
Another girl was rocking back and forth on her feet, her gaze focused on the girl talking. Thick dark brown curls cascaded down her back and her eyes were narrowed in concentration. A vibrant red shirt hugged her body and green, black, and red plaid Bermuda shorts were hemmed just above her knees. Woven sandals were on her feet and ankle bracelets decorated her ankles. Her hands were on her hips though not in anger, but rather confusion.
The last girl in the group was nodding her head and smiling slightly. Her almost-glowing orange hair was pulled back in two French braids and navy blue ribbons were intertwined into them. A loose flowing tan peasant shirt waved around her and her brown cargo shorts had a big white belt holding them up. To Hay Lin's surprise, the girl was barefoot. The girl casually pushed up her gold wire glasses as she continued to listen to the girl that was still talking.
Hay Lin edged closer, getting more curious as she got closer. There was something familiar about the expressions on the faces. Luckily there was a bench nearby and she was able to slide onto it and hear their conversation. It was impossible not to, the girl talking was talking with so much vigor, she was extremely loud. "I'm telling you, that dream was so real I couldn't believe it. Morgan and I were walking around school and then everything was like on fire and then – BOOM! There was this explosion and we were thrown into the air. Everything was chaos until this symbol thing appeared."
The girl with black hair suddenly reached into a bag next to her. She pulled out a piece of paper and showed it to the blonde girl. "Vanessa is this the symbol?" she asked, flashing the picture in front of her friend. Vanessa shrieked in surprise. "That's it exactly! Oh my gosh, how did you know? I mean come on, it's not like you're – " she was cut off by the girl giggling. "Calm down Nessa! I dreamed about it too!" The girl wearing sunglasses snorted. "Okay, let me get this straight. We," she gestured to all the other girls, "are supposed to believe all of this because you and Morgan dreamed about it?" Vanessa nodded.
"Well, yeah. That's kind of the point in me telling y'all about it," she said in a sort of bemused voice. The girl with the dark brown curls spoke suddenly. "So besides the symbol, anything else we need to know about because other wise we didn't learn much." Her voice had a lyrical sound to it but at the moment it was filled with skepticism.
Morgan looked to the girl with the orange hair for help. The girl shook her head. "I hate to say it but I agree with Lesley and Danielle. What are we supposed to know?" Danielle pushed herself off the tree. "Exactly. What are we supposed to know? Morgan? Vanessa?" Neither girl responded. A triumphant look took over Danielle's face and she pushed up her sunglasses. "That's what I thought. That dream means absolutely nothing." She started to walk away.
"But wait!" Vanessa cried out, causing Danielle to sigh and turn back around. "What?" she snapped, obviously not in the mood for more chitchat. "There was more. Suddenly this voice spoke to us. It was all calm and stuff and it said 'Young as you are, you will soon learn like the girl before you. Candracar needs you." Hay Lin's head jerked up. Had she heard Vanessa correctly? Was she talking about the Guardians of the Veil and the Oracle?