Other Worlds - The Wilds

Chapter 1

  Her stomach had only just settled when Martha's little boxy four wheel drive flew around the corner by her house and came to a grinding stop in front of the driveway. Toni did not know much about cars, but she was sure that the screech, akin to the sound a dying crow would make, did not suggest a viable driving technique. The thought of entering Martha's swerving, speeding death trap made her stomach flip once again but she ignored it and chuckled as Martha rolled down the window and drawled in a poor English accent, "May I offer you a ride m'lady?"

  Toni rapidly rubbed her hands together trying to defrost her frozen fingers before reaching for the passenger seat door handle. "Hey Marty."

  "Don't worry about it. I was going this way anyway." Toni knew that she wasn't. In fact this route to school was completely out of her way. She was thankful anyway though. "What is up with your foster mom anyway?" Martha asked, shifting the car into first gear and taking off.

  "Ah who cares about her," Toni replied. She ran her tongue over her furry feeling teeth remembering something. She leaned forward, opened the glovebox and immediately the little emergency kit that Martha had put together for when she ran away from previous foster homes. She didn't know what she had done to deserve a friend like Martha.

  Waving the newly found toothbrush and toothpaste in front of Martha face she asked, "Do you mind if I quickly brush my teeth? I overslept after my evening with Dot."

  "Yeah sure." Martha didn't seem to read any deeper into that excuse as she reached for the volume button and let the music blast through the car again. Toni laughed as Martha rapped along to a song she hardly knew and with a mouth full of toothpaste she joined in using her toothbrush as a microphone as she sang random words to the unfamiliar verse.

  She briefly forgot about the trauma of her morning, the way she always did when she made her best friend laugh.

  They pulled up at the school, miraculously, on time. Mindlessly, Toni reached to unbuckle her seat belt causing her to keel over and let out a gasp. Winded, she straightened up and turned her head towards Martha, careful not to jostle her injuries. The look of concern all over her friends face sent a wave of rage through the injured girl.

  She should be able to enjoy a journey to school with her best friend, dance freely in the passenger seat, or even laugh without pain. She couldn't think with her fists at this home the way she did in every other situation that caused her or others to be victimised. She was on her final warning for disorderly behaviour; if she got kicked out of this foster home she would be sent to a group home. Toni would not put herself through hell the way she was doing now if there was a group home within a 50 mile radius of her school, which there was not. She simply could not live without Martha.

  She just had to stick it out for two more years. Two more years until she could finish school and move into her own place.

  "Toni..." Martha trailed off, her voice barely a whisper.

  Toni hung her head, guilt rippling through her chest for causing her best friend to worry and for the next lie she had to tell. "It's nothing, I got into a fight yesterday at basketball practice." Luckily her knuckles were already bruised and scabbed from a fight she had gotten into earlier in the week which helped to sell the lie.

  Martha sighed in annoyance, indicating that she believed her. Toni would rather Martha be disappointed in her for picking a fight rather than worried about her home life. It was not a hard lie to believe; Toni lost her temper on a near weekly basis at school. "Show me."

  "What?" Toni replied, confused about her friend's apparent disinterest in her fake fight.

  "Show me your injuries, take of your shirt."

  "Oh." Toni smirked, letting out a small chuckle. "Had I known..." She trailed off with a mock seductive wink.

  "Toni, don't joke. I am serious," Martha groaned out in frustration.

  She hadn't even looked at her own injuries yet. There was no way she was going to show Martha without knowing how bad they were herself. "Look, I am fine. I've been through worse and injuries are always more tender the second day." She climbed out of the car before Martha could respond, noting the empty parking lot and realising that first period had probably already started.

  A faint mumble sounded from the car before Toni heard a door slam and snow crunching as Martha jogged to catch up. "You and your fights have made us late once again," She joked, giving Toni's hand a light squeeze.

  "Oh please," Toni scoffed good-naturedly giving Martha a small shove. "The amount of times your dangerous driving and lack of direction have brought on weekend detention for tardiness is far higher than my quarrels."

  "Quarrels? Try all out brawls!"

  Relieved that she had sidestepped any major drama with Martha this morning, the pair walked into their first period math class 15 minutes late and were immediately presented with tardy slips.

  Not a great start to the day, Toni thought, Could have been much worse though.