Synthetic Beauty (re-posted)

Chapter Fifteen: Being Abandoned

Chapter Fifteen:

Anger washed over her like a tsunami. A billion different feelings crash upon her like a billion different waves. She backs up shaking her head continuously.

"You-you can't be Kevin! Kevin died in a plane crash!" Phoebe backs away slowly, but ready to run.

"Is that what they're saying? They must have been too embarressed to actually admit I betrayed them while they controlled my mind. I turned my back on them when they had forced me to become a Pilot," Kevin shakes his head thoughtfully as wails continue to resonate through the halls.

"You are not Kevin! Kevin is my best friend and he died two summers ago! You lie and only bring hope to my heart to tear me down! You mock my pain!" tears burn in Phoebe's throat. She spat at him in disgust and turned to her room.

"Phoebes. Tanuflamore," this word brings a memory.

In a treehouse, two children play, one with platinum blonde hair and the girl with curly brunette locks. They giggle and play catch in the wooden fort. The little girl grabs a small watergun, pointing it at the little boy.

"Sheriff Jones wants you dead or alive, choose," the little girl uses a fake cowboy accent.

"Neither! He'll never take me!" the little boy giggles as the little girl chases him, the fort unnaturally shifting to a bigger size.

"Phoebe! Kevin! Can I come up?" Phoebe's Mom sings. Phoebe and Kevin open the tiny hatch and look down to the adjustable metal ladder that is the only thing still connecting the two friends to the real world.

"What's the secret word?" Kevin and Phoebe chorus, but giggling knowing they don't have one.

"Please?" Phoebe's mom guesses.

"Nope!" Kevin smiles a toothy, flawed grin.

"Kids, it's time for dinner pills! Let's sit and eat," Phoebe's mom gestures for them to leave their fortress.

"You have to guess the password!" Phoebe grins, giggling and holding hands with Kevin.

"You probably don't have one!" Phoebe's mom teases.

"Oh, yeah?" Phoebe and Kevin smile.

"Ta..."Phoebe begins.

"Nu..."Kevin and Phoebe look at each other, thinking of something else to say.

"Flamoreh!" Phoebe finishes. Then, they chorus together, "Tanuflamore!"

"So, then! You have revealed your password to me!" Phoebe's mom says like a cowboy.

"Oh, fine, we'll come down," Phoebe and Kevin laugh, descending on the metal ladder. The room around them shifts from a backyard to an underwater glass observatory.

"I bought lobster pills today, is that okay?" Phoebe's mom leads them back inside.

The memory fades from Phoebe, bringnig her back to stare at her supposedly dead best friend.

"You-you," Phoebe strives for words, but cannot find any. Her heart beats fast. This can't be happening. Kevin's dead. Kevin would have never came to the side of the rogues... Would he?

"Phoebes, I'm Kevin. You have to believe me," Captain Smith pleads.

"You-you..." Phoebe's words fade away and her breathing turns heavy as if an elephant stands on her chest. Instincts take over, pulling a cement wall around her that blocks her from being hurt.

"Phoebe. I'm sorry. I've really been a total jerk to you," Captain Smith shakes his head.

"Yeah, you have been. Have you thought about maybe how I felt?" Phoebe says, anger bringing words to her lips.

Captain Smith sighs, "I don't-"

"Did you forget to say goodbye to me when you turned Pretty, or was it just convenient to leave everything behind?" she spits out,

"I-" Kevin begins, but is caught off guard by Phoebe grabbing his arm forcefully as she looks him in the eye.

"Did you ever think I wouldn't feel pain when you shot me at that party? Did you think I would be happier here, than being a Pretty where everything is served to me on silver platter? Kevin, I was a Pretty for two days... Two freaking days! Then you came in and messed up my life! The time you were gone, I built up feelings of hate for you and when I thought you would be there for when I turned Pretty, I went straight to your old apartment to find that you were dead. And you know what? It came as relief to me! To finally know that I wasn't just some burden to someone who had left behind everything! To know that that was in the past and buried in the grave! You were on my mind this WHOLE ENTIRE time! And here you are, not giving a shit about ANYTHING I'm going through! Now you tell me you're KEVIN?!" Phoebe says, breathless, tears rolling down her porcelain cheeks.

"Phoebes, I didn't know-" Kevin starts again, but Phoebe wasn't finished.

"Shut up and listen. It's time for me to speak up because you left me behind Kevin. Not only that, when you bring me to you, you're a rogue! A rogue! And now when the Pretty government sees me, it'll be because of you that my name is under a 'Wanted: Dead or alive,' sign! It's. All. Your. Fault," Phoebe growls through her teeth, "I already had a plan of getting out of here, but you had to come along and make things even more complicated! Are you even someone who has the ability to have emotions? Because if you are, then you wouldn't have brought me here. It's. All. Your. Fault," Phoebe throws his arm back to his side.

"It was a relief when you heard I was dead?" was all Kevin mumbled.

"Yes, because you were apart of the abandoned feeling that kept me hanging onto the hope that I would see you again. When I found out you were gone, not only was that hope smashed, but that abondonment, too. I was finally enjoying life again, until this," Phoebe gestures around them.

"You know what, Phoebe? This would have happened even if we didn't know each other and even if," Kevin pauses, meeting her eyes, "I was dead. My request in my dying breath would have been to get you away from those airheads, that do not think for themselves!" Kevin shouts.

Phoebe gives an exasperated laugh, "Really? And this is your better solutions? Think about it real hard, Mr. Airhead. I am choking every second of every day by this shock collar made for dogs and I am forced to be a vicious animal. Sure it's cool, but I had my hand cut off and it resewed itself! That's not natural!" Phoebe argues.

"And being a Pretty is?" Kevin spits back.

"More natural then being locked up like dogs and forced to work for someone who you never dreammed of working for! I never woke up and thought, 'I want to be a rogue!' No! I thought I could be popular! I was the girlfriend of TYLER TRAVIS! I had it good and you snatched that away from me! How dare you?!" Phoebe stomps her foot on the wooden board.

"Wait... what was that?" Kevin tilts his head to listen to no sound.

"What? My anger for your abondonment?" Phoebe growls.

Kevin looks at the ground thoughtfully, then looks up with shock "No... we have intruders."