The Trials of Panic

Chapter 1. Another boring December

She looked at the full body mirror next to the door to tie her hair into a low ponytail so the wind wouldn't blow it around. She looked at herself for a few moments. Under her thick layers she was small and thin, but decently tall. Her hair was straight, but wild; her face was small, but cute. She mostly got compliments on her eyes and people telling her that she looked Asian which was odd as she didn't have a drop of Asian blood in her.

She walked out and returned her name tag to the volunteer student behind the desk. She thought about volunteering at school many times, it would help her find a job faster in the future, but she didn't want to leave Aiko home alone with him for too long.

She quickly put on her raggedy brown gloves, held tightly onto her collar so the cold wind wouldn't run down her back, and slipped outside walking as fast as she could to get home soon.

The roads were a miserable and cold muddy brown. The buildings stood together tall and strong, some looked nice, some looked worn down. There was a nice forest just outside of town, but there were few trees to be found inside. Summer was always too hot without shade. The closer she got to home the more the builds thinned out until there were only houses. The wind was starting to thankfully die down as she entered her neighborhood right behind the mechanic.

We fix anything from cars to bikes! The sign read.

Passing that sign was a road to the highway. A road that was cleaner than most of the other roads. A road she dreamed to go down one day and leave behind everything she knew. That idea was more attractive to her everyday, but she knew she couldn't do that for a long time.

Her house was the second to last on the corner. A red brick, one story house with little bushes in front that looked dead in winter. When she finally made it inside she was met with the same empty living room. On the right, one couch and one old recliner, on the left one small tv on a wooden side table.

Aiko was not sleeping on the couch where she last saw her. She walked down the hallway to her room passing Aiko's with a closed door. After dropping off her stuff she opened the door as quietly as she could and found her little sister sleeping in bed. It was four pm, but she did not wake her. Last night their dad was invited to a party with coworkers so Aiko, knowing he would be too drunk to come home, finally got to stay up and watch the midnight after party, something she has wanted to do for years.

Ramona had to admit even though she was not as into the Trials as most, she always liked to watch the midnight after party. After they interviewed the winners and the other contestants and showed off the beautiful dresses and suits everyone was wearing and showed off the feast that many would kill for, they had shows going off and on all night. They had magicians, and dancers, and acrobats, and even animal tamers. Aiko tried so hard to stay up and see the man with the tigers. Ramona never saw her so happy as she watched the big cats jump and roar on screen. And when the man put his head inside one of their mouths she actually gasped. Ramona knew that night would be a memory she would cherish until the day she dies and goes well into the afterlife. She looked back down at her little sister. She was eleven, but already very beautiful. She had dark brown hair that looked like it had a dark red tint and naturally curved up at the ends. She usually wore a black headband that would push her hair neatly back except for her sharply cut bangs. And in summer she wore bright clothes with skirts.

Aiko wants to be a tomboy like the group of girls she can't help but watch as they run around with the boys, getting dirty and hurt, but not caring. But she wasn't a tomboy, she was a little lady; quiet, polite, and nice to be around. She loved to talk with people as long as they started first, and she was always so nice and caring and would go to help people faster than Ramona. That was just who she was; and Roxanne would take her over a tomboy any day.

Not wanting to wake her she slowly closed the door and went back to her room. Like the rest of the house it was empty. Just a bed in the corner and a desk in the middle of the window, a basket of dirty clothes next to that, and a closet. The only welcoming thing in the room was the row of little clay cats lined up on the edge on her desk. One of her best pieces of work.

She kicked her shoes off and placed them neatly at the end of her bed next to the door. As soon as she straightened up tiredness hit her like a thunder strike. She usually could take staying up late pretty well, the World Trials must have taken more out of her than she thought. Everywhere she went as they played out was high energy as people talked, and betted, and argued about how it would end. Or maybe it was simply the fact that Aiko was asleep and dad was still out somewhere, nothing was stopping her from hopping under the covers and passing out. Now that was an opportunity she wasn't going to miss.

Quickly changing into her soft gray pants and soft dark blue shirt she wrapped herself in the warm embrace of her blankets. Pushing the day's worries from her mind wasn't hard tonight. Everything just felt nice today, everything felt right. It was perfect.

For now.

Quick note from the author.

This is my first book on Wattpad and I'm posting it here so I can getting better at writing so I invite constructive criticism. If you read something you think could be better please tell me so I can improve in new chapters and other books I plan to write. Thanks for reading!