Fervent

Chapter 1 { three months }

 {Now I sleep, I sleep the hours that I can’t weep. And all I knew was steeped in blackened hopes, Well, I was lost.}

Chapter 1

He slammed his hands down onto the table all of a sudden, waking me from my daydream. I glanced at the hands in front of me and then let my eyes trail upwards to his face.

“Three months and they’ve got nothing. Nothing!” He shook his head and his face went a weird shade of red. Jamie hardly ever got this angry, not even if we accidently deleted the articles he’d worked three hours on; he wasn’t an angry person.

“They’re doing their best.” I rubbed my eyes with my hands, leaning back in my chair. Three hours sleep last night. It was getting worse.

“The murderer is out there, Ebony!” He snapped, moving away from my desk and leaning on the wall next to the door. I sighed and looked him with sorrow. I’d never seen Jamie be this passionate about something before. He usually just sits in his chair and sulks at life, but the murders really have affected him.

He was close friends with Jacob, so I don’t blame him. Just as I was about to reply with some meaningless comment on how they’ve probably found some new evidence when the door swung open and my mom walked in. I scowled at her, putting my arms on the table.

“Mrs Larson.” Jamie nodded at the woman standing proudly at the door. She nodded sideways to him but kept her eyes trained on me.

“Mom.” I growled as she stepped into the newspaper’s club room. There were folders and paper everywhere because we’d published nothing for three months. So much for ‘it’ll only be off for a couple of weeks’. She stepped over a pile of stranded sheets and looked around in disdain.

“Where’s the rest of your little team?”  She inquired curiously, leaning down to see behind the row of shelves. Her voice irritated me so much, the sudden urge to stand up and hit her round the face with a chair was resisted, though.

“Getting lunch.” I replied flatly, wanting nothing more but for her to disappear. Let’s just say we hadn’t exactly seen eye to eye the past couple of days… weeks… months…

“Aren’t you two hungry?” She raised her eyebrows, turning to look at Jamie for the first time. He still looked overly angry and intimidating, yet she seemed unfazed by him. He pointed to the table next to mine where an empty lunch box sat. He had packed lunches. She smiled, laughed, and then turned to me, waiting for my excuse.

“Why are you here?” I asked. She was too busy trying to make small talk. She only comes here for a reason, and I want to know it. I deserve to know it, this is my room. But then again, it’s her school.

“So blunt.” She gushed, laughing and shuffling on her spot. When no one laughed, or even replied to her she stiffened up and stared straight at me again. She can go from bubbly mummy to over-strict and over-powering single parent in the blink of an eye. “I need to speak to you.” She said.

I laughed, shaking my head. She didn’t find it quite as funny as me, raising her eyebrow in confusion. I was her daughter and she needed to come and hunt me down at school to tell me something. Did it ever occur to her that we live together? All it took was a little word at dinner and a shout down the hallway. I wasn’t that far away, even if I wanted to be.

“Have you booked an appointment?” I questioned her in my best accent, her accent; her snobby little too-good-for-everyone accent. I looked down at the piece of paper on the desk and picked up the biro pen to the side of it, pretending to skim through a list.