Heart of Steel

Heart of Steel chapter 4

Heart of Steel chapter 4

Charlie's POV

The smell of delicious pancakes wafted over to me and up my nostrils, tempting me to buy more. We - Laila and I - were sitting in a small pancake bar on the corner of town. I had just finished a pancake with bananas, strawberries, ice cream and chocolate sauce and Laila was almost finished her pancake with whipped cream and mangos.

It was almost four in the afternoon. We had walked around town all day talking about everything and i had really come to like her. There - of course - had come a time when i had to tell her about my accident and she listened to me without interupting once and then just nodded at the end.

"Well i guess at least you don't miss anything moving here, right?" she said.

I laughed and nodded. I had never thought of it that way. If i had remembered i would be missing friends and places and old neighbours but im not missing anything.

"Ready to go?" she said, placing her knife and fork on her plate. There was still a quarter of a pancake there and my hunger almost made me eat it. Before i reached out and grabbed it i quickly stood up and grabbed my bag.

I had seen alot of Matestone that day. Laila took me shopping and showed me all the restuarants, the beaches, the parks, the neighbourhoods, the schools and even some little nooks and crannies. It was a fairly small town but that didn't stop them from having lots of shoping centres.

I had bought a pair of sunglasses and a summer flower print dress and Laila...well let's just say she bought something from every shop we looked in. She was struggling to hold all of her bags and fit them and herself out of the pancake bar door. I laughed and took some bags from her, dropping a few in the process.

When we finally got out the door we saw that it was starting to rain. The sky was darkening and the clouds were covering up the beautiful blue that the sky was earlier that day.

As the rain spat on us from above we ran pathetically - hands full of shopping bags -  back to our neighbourhood. We didn't live far from the town so there was no need to take a car. We were regreting that when we stepped into Laila's house, dripping wet.

Laila was pretending to cry, squeezing her locks of hair dry. "You couldn't have eaten your pancake quicker?" i joke, shaking my head.

"Hey! If i hadn't have said we should go you would have ordered ten more. You looked about ready to gobble up mine!" It was true and i shrugged.

"What can i say? I love food."

"Afternoon girlies! Did you have a good time?" Sue walked out of the living room and greeted us, laughing when she saw that we were dripping wet. "Well i can see you made the most of a day at the shops Lai."

I looked over at Laila and saw that all her shopping bags were surrounding her at her feet. If she had have bought one more thing she would have been drowning in shopping bags.I couldn't help but laugh, she looked like a pure shopaholic.

"So, what do you think?" Sue directed the question to me.

I nodded my head. "It's nice. I can't really compare it to any other town so all i can say is it's the best one so far."

They laughed at that. "Did you want to stay for dinner, Charlie? I'm making a roast."

My mouth watered at the thought of eating a huge roast dinner but i had to shake my head. "We're doing more of the house tonight and i think i should help my parents. It's gonna be a long night."

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For the second night in a row i flop down on my double bed, exhausted from a long day of shopping and packing the house. It was almost eleven o'clock and nearly everything was ready but i still had to do all my room.

Something was weird this afternoon. With mum and dad. I had asked mum what our old town was like but she had jumped at the question like it was a bee sting. She stuttered for a while until she simply said, "It was nice."

Lately things like that have been happening. I'd ask mum or dad something about my old life and they would be reluctant to answer. They musn't want me to miss it. Yeah, that's it.

I rolled over to find a comfortable spot and fell into the hands of a dream.

I walking down a street, i had never seen it before but it seemed...familiar. The houses were all fairly small and all of their lights were turned off.

I jumped when I heard footsteps coming towards me. A girl around my age was walking while listening to an ipod. I cocked my head to the side. I couldn't quit make out what she looked like, there seemed to be a slight blur over her face but she seemed familiar.

"Hello?" i said, stepping closer to her but she didn't hear me over her ipod. She kept walking so i tried again. "I'm lost. Can you tell me where i am?"

She suddenly stopped, looking worried and i wondered if i had scared her. Although she wasn't looking at me, she was looking down at the ground. She grabbed her chest and hunched over, coughing.

I ran over to her and touched her arm. "Are you okay?" She still hadn't noticed me and kept on coughing. Her ipod dropped to the floor, the screen smashing.

I heard more footsteps coming from the right and turned to see two people who looked familiar but there faces were also conceled with a blur. I looked back to the girl to see she was on the floor shaking and trying to breathe.

The two adults went and picked her up and kept telling her she was going to be alright but she started to scream. I didn't know what to do. All i could do was stand there as they carried her off.

But at the last minute i looked at her and saw her scared eyes lock with mine. "Help me!" she yelled.

Then there was another scream. It took me a minute to figure out it was my own, echoing through my room. I sat up, sweat dripping from my forhead then jumped up and ran downstairs to get a drink. I sat down on the lounge chair and looked at the clock. 2am. Great. It's going to be a long rest of the night.

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I woke up on the couch stretched out. My back was stiff and i had to crack my kneck a few times before i felt good again.

It had taken me 2 whole hours to fall asleep last night after that nightmare. I stayed up trying to figure out what it meant and if it had some meaning. The street seemed familiar and so did the two adults, the women and the man. It was on the tip of my mind but i just couldn't grasp it.

I groaned, rolling over to get a glance at the clock to see that it is 8am. Good, i'll have some time to sleep. I've got no plans today.

My eyes shot open and i swore out loud. This was my first day of school!

I ran upstairs, showered and threw on some clothes, not even knowing what i chose. Half way downstairs i ran back up to grab my bag and keys and then quickly cooked some toast, popping it out at its barely warm bread stage. I slapped on some butter, yelled goodbye to mum and dad and then I was out the door ready for my first day of school in Matestone.

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I'll be putting more Xander in soon :D