Chapter 2
POV Lori
I woke up and Millard was still beside me, snoring. For someone who couldn't be seen, he could clearly be heard. I could see Olive slipping away from her dream island. "Millard, wake up!" I whispered. I shook him which was difficult because I couldn't see him. I could feel him get up and I saw the door quickly open and close.
Olive woke up a few seconds after Millard had left. I wanted to go into town. See what was there to see. I got out of bed and put on a blue dress. Olive put on a pale pink one and she tied her hair back with a ribbon. We walked into the dining room and I could see Emma and Claire sitting across from eachother. I sat next to Olive who sat next to Claire. Later came Hugh and Fiona, hands held. More people started to pile in. The food was served and I could see it definitely wasn't what we had in San Francisco.
It was fine with me though. Food was food as long as it wasn't... nevertheless I ate a few bites of the eggs and declared myself full. Many conversations were going on but I wanted to ask something. "Olive where is the nearest salon?" She looked at me puzzled. "What is a salon?" Of course she probably didn't know. This was an exclusive treatment to the rich, which I used to be. "Never mind." I sighed. I looked at my nails and then at my mid-high hair. Cracked nails caked with dirt and split ends.
Olive and I played. Apart from Millard, she was my only friend. Olive eventually ditched me and I was a bit relived. I sat in the shade, not wanting to burn my porcelain skin. "I wish I were home." I whispered to myself. "You don't want to be here?" I heard someone say. "It's not that it's just I don't adjust right away at things. Have to trust them you know. That's not really easy for me, I like to be left alone. Makes me feel like I'm in my cellar, away from society." Browyn sat in front of me. She was sturdy built which scared me, afraid she might snap my neck. "Hello." I said. "You don't talk much do you?" She asked me. I shook my head and we talked. "So you're from America? I could tell when you first spoke, you spoke with an accent." What accent? I don't have one.
She left to do something but it was okay. I took the blue nail polish from my pocket. It was the only that had survived from my suitcase. I painted one nail when something scared me. "What the hell was that?" I screeched. "Sorry for the bees." I could tell it was Hugh. "It don't matter know." I replied. And it was true. We stared at each other for awhile. "What's it like here for you?" He asked me standing. I looked up but my eyes squinted, the sun bothered them. "Not like home." I admitted. "Oh. Okay well see you later." I waved goodbye but as he turned around I asked," Is there anyway to get off this island for a while without Ms. Peregrine knowing?" He shook his head but he smiled.
I kept looking up at the sky, wanting so badly to go home and yet at the same time telling myself I was home and yet not believing. I stood up and walked slowly towards the sea. I wanted to play in it, alone. I twirled close to it and felt somebody push me. I fell in, my whole body soaking. No one was there but then I knew he was. I had never done this before but there's always a first for everything.
I stopped struggling to get out and focused more on sinking. I could breath underwater, what a miracle. The few air bubbles that let out were no longer there. I heard someone yell for help and relize no one was there. The saltiness of the water stung my eyes so I closed them. A splash of water was felt and I could feel someone carry me out of the water. I could breathe but not open my eyes or mouth. The person and I broke out of the surface but I couldn't see or talk.
I coughed up the water that I had swallowed and rubbed my eyes. The boy standing before wasn't Millard. I stared at the boy's face: Pale face, brown hair and blue eyes. "Are you okay?" He asked me. I nodded and slowly got up. He offered a hand and I took it. "What were you doing down there?" He asked. I ignored him and thanked him. "I have to get going." I told him. "Okay but at least tell me your name! I saved your life." I looked at him as he said it, teeth glinting in the sun. "Lori." I told him. "Nice to have met you Lori, I'm Mark." We shook hands and I walked on to change.
When Mark was no longer in view or earshot I felt Millard take my hand. I shook off his grip and ignored his apologies. "I'm sorry, I thought we could have had fun! I swear I thought you wouldn't drown." I snapped, "I didn't drown Millard I was also playing with you! I just don't take jokes." I cried my whole way to the house. My dress was still drenched. I had no hurt feelings apart from being pushed into the sea. I sat on my bed and thought deeply about what would happen. Christmas was in a few weeks and I was all alone, no family and only two friends, one whom pushed me.
I rubbed the fabric of the dress to help me relax but it didn't work. I tried to distract with another thing but found no soluntion. I whispered and rubbed my hand to help and it seemed to work until something went wrong. My hand froze and tensed up. I couldn't move it at all, all I could feel was the pain. Then, I heard splashing water and a scream. I tried to do something but I could do nothing. The pain was starting to spread, I soon had a headache.
I could hear the water getting louder and louder. Closer and closer. I hoped it was a dream, this had happened before. Only once and I still knew what would happen. I ran out of the room and out the house. But for it to work I needed a flame. Emma. I ran back inside and searched for Emma but ahe was no where in sight. Minutes later the splashing continued only on was louder until finally it had rung into my ears. I took a match box from a drawer and set my hand ablaze.
It burned me but not in the way you would think. It was soothing, relaxing my tense hand. I could feel it loosen up and finally I had control over it. I heard the water around me drop and I knew everything was okay, except one detail. My hand was still on fire, it could only burn for a few minutes and then it would actually hurt me. I blew on it and it got worse. I needed water, i snapped my fingers and water came gushing out from the faucet of the kitchen sink. It made me choke because it got all up in my face but I controlled it and held my flaming hand to the water. Instantly the flame diminished and I was left with a fever high hand.
Nobody came to my aid except Emma. "What happened?" She asked me as I raised my hand for her to see. She gasped and I myself looked at it closely. It was covered in soot and even where it wasn't there, my hand was red and scalding. "I'll be back, let me get you some bandages." It struck me by surprise, I had'nt excepted Emma to be so nice to me, she did look intimidating to me but she was starting to warm up to me. As promised, she came back with bandages and I wrapped them around my hand. "How did this happen?" She asked me, while I didn't want to tell." Whenever I have too much stress that I can't handle, my hand starts to go stiff and when that happens, water starts shooting out of every pipe and the only way to stop it is for something burning to come in contact with my skin so that it doesn't...well you know. " She did understand a bit which surprised me. No one ever did but then I remembered that she too was like me but we were at the same time diffrent.
Hours after my hand had caught on fire I wanted to study a bit on geography. I took one of the books available and started to read. I started off with America naming every state one by one in alphabetical order. I was also looking at every city in the state. I was on Colorado when a voice surprised me. "Hello" a small girl with gold curls was at my bedroom door. Claire. I nodded and she opened the door a bit more. She stepped in and looked at me. "I just wanted to welcome you to... here!" She gestured to the house. "Thank you." I said in a small whisper. As if this was a cue of dismissal Claire left smiling at me. I looked at the clock in the bedroom, it read 11:53 p.m. I could feel my eye lids drop and then as I was about to pass out, an instinct told me not to go to sleep just yet.
I thought long and hard about what that would be and I remember thenway I had treated Millard earlier. I hadn't seen him in a while and I had grown a suspicion that he was avoiding me. "I have to see him." I whispered making sure not to wake Olive or Fiona. "Are you admitting you snapped at me?" Millard's voice came from inside the locked bedroom. "Are you in here?'' I wanted to shout to him but didn't for fear I may wake the others. "Yep" he said in a proud voice. I growled at him and said," What are you doing here?" He laughed a little and in between chuckles he awnsered," Being invisible has its advantages. Now please continue." He said a little to sarcastically at the end.
" Get out!" I whispered and at the same time he shouted. "Not until you apoligize for snapping at me." I glared at him not wanting to say so. I didn't and eventually just ignored him. My pink night gown glistened in the moon light and I saw the fadeness of the already gone clouds. My eyes closed and as I knew it would happen sooner or later, I told him," I'll say sorry when I care."
"Do you care now?" He kept on asking me every single minute. It was hard to ignore him so in the warly hours of the morning I finally apoligized to him. He had spent almost the whole night in the chair in front of my bed asking me the same question every minute. I woke up and put on the dress that had been my absolute favorite since I had arrived. I put on the purple dress and walked into the dining hall where there were already people. I sat next to Claire this time, Millard on my right. He was wearing clothes which he never really did. We were served and I was a bit surprised to see it was the same thing we had yesterday. I ate it though because I was starving.
Once done with the plate I got up and washed it my self. I towel dried it and set it back where it was. I wanted to go to town and I was determined to. I knocked on Miss Peregrine's door and she gave the signal to come in. "Is everything alright?" She asked me. I nodded and asked, " May I go into town today?" She smiled sweetly and awnsered," Of course but what ever for?" This is why I had felt like she wouldn't let me.
"Um... Oh, I met this boy yesterday and he saved me from the waves when Millard pushed me in. So I wanted to Thank him for his effort." I hadn't intended to but I knew Miss Peregrine would keep an eye on me so now I had to thank him. She nodded and I was dissmissed. I brushed me hair and tied my brown hair with a ribbon of the same color as my dress. I walked out of the house and into town. My dress reached a little above the knee but that right now didn't matter. I was finally free and able to do what ever I wanted to do. But as I promised Miss Peregrine, I had to thank Mark.
I asked this girl who looked two years older than me so she was probably sixteen. She told me that Mark lived in a reasonable size house. She gave me the directions on a peice of her notes for school which she had not gone to today for she had missed the ferry to the mainland. I looked at the adress and soon I was at his door. I knocked at the white door and a middle aged woman stood there in a black dress with white polka-dots that reached below the knee. She also wore white gloves and her hair was done up like most women wear. " Dose Mark live here?" I asked the lady. "Yes he dose, do you need to speak to him?" She asked. "Yes please ma'am." I awnsered. "Mark! There's a young lady here to see you." She called to him. "In a minute mum!" He called back to her. She smiled at me and beckoned me in. I did so and I saw Mark dressed almost the same as yesterday. "I came to say thank you for saving me yesterday." I nodded to him. I turned around and as I was leaving he said, "Your welcome and see you around." I waved and I was free of that debt.
I walked around wishing I could shop for some new dresses. My parents had given me money but I had spent it on a safe passage to Wales. I sighed and I could see the next ferry waiting to arrive at the dock. I wanted to stick around to see what people in their right mind would come to this island and when I saw them I wanted to laugh at them for wasteing their money for this dump. But when the people arrived, a set of three kids had caught my attention.