The Cry of Calypso

Chapter 1 Liana [Author: Kathy]

Liana was annoyed. A month ago, she and her cousin Bella had gotten kicked out of Willow Brook All-Girls Academy. She'd be lying if she said she was surprised--they'd gotten kicked out of way too many schools, even with Bella's epic intelligence and Liana's artsy watercolor addiction. It's like someone was purposely pulling the strings to make sure they never went to the same school two years in a row.
But it was July--summer. Funtime. And they were at the beach, alone. Well, as alone as you can get on a hot summer day at a crowded beach by Long Island Sound. With a billion other people.
She looked at Bella, who was stopping every now and then to examine a broken shell in the sand. "Hurry up, Bella. It's not like you're going to keep those shells," she snapped. Maybe it was rude, but Liana wasn't feeling very happy. She rubbed her birthstone necklace restlessly, her other hand tapping against her thigh. She had ADHD, though Liana tried her best not to be super hyper in public. She hated attention like that. Usually she resorted to tapping with her hands or doing some sort of hand game on her legs to distract herself.
"You never know," Bella countered, picking up another shell.
Liana thought back to the day they'd gotten kicked out. She thought about Headmistress Privit's strained, sad smile when she told them to sit patiently outside of her office, while she spoke to Bella's parents, who were also Liana's guardians. She remembered her aunt--Bella's mom--just shaking her head, muttering disappointed comments in Mandarin, as she drove them home afterwards. Bella's dad had talked to them after dinner that day, his voice quiet and calm, and the girls just stayed silent in shame.
"Hey, Lia? You listening?" Bella asked, standing on tiptoe in her rubbery purple sandals. Liana shook her head, partly to say no, I really wasn't, and partly to clear her thoughts.
"As I was saying, it's summer! Relax! Be happy!" Bella rattled on. "Do all that cheesy stuff!" She absentmindedly rubbed her owl charm bracelet as she spoke, a side effect from her own minor ADHD. Unfortunately, Bella was also dyslexic on top of that.
"Let's tell stories or something," Bella suggested simply. Liana knew she loved making up stories, even if she couldn't read them.
"Fine."
"I'll go first then. So once there was a girl, and she had a horse with wings called Pegasus..."
"Isn't Pegasus the name of a winged horse in Greek mythology?" Liana interrupted, rolling up the baggy sleeves of her purple shirt. She loved reading, especially mythological stuff. Her favorite Greek myth was the one about Atlas, who was forced to hold the sky forever for going against the gods in some war.
"Yeah," Bella replied, continuing on, "So as I was saying, this girl owned Pegasus, and every single day she would fly on his back across the city that she lived in."
The story went on for some time, at most thirty minutes, with Liana interrupting every now and then to point out a reference from something she'd read.
Suddenly Bella stopped, her gray eyes brightening. Ahead of them was an ice cream cart, with a young woman, maybe 20, who seemed very tired but satisfied.
"Ooh, ice cream," Liana commented as they approached the ice cream woman and her cart. Despite their differences, one thing both girls could agree on was ice cream.
Bella started to fish for her wallet while Liana walked up to the ice cream lady. She seemed nice, though her electric blue eyes looked alert, like a scared hider in an intense game of hide-and-seek. "Hello," she said, "I'm Jenny. I assume you're here for ice cream?"
Liana nodded and tried to smile nicely, hoping it didn't look like a smirk. "Yeah, uh, we are. One vanilla and one chocolate, please," she asked politely. Bella came up next to her, a five-dollar bill in her hand. Jenny nodded and scooped the ice cream into small pink cups with "Miss Ice Cream" displayed in yellow bubble letters across the cups, handing them over the cart.
"$3.50, please," Jenny said, digging two plastic spoons out of the pocket of her blue apron and giving them to Liana. Bella handed over the money, took the change, and said thank you for them as Liana started to walk away. Jenny waved cheerfully as they left. "She's nice," Bella commented as Liana just nodded, a chocolate mustache over her mouth.
"Liana?" Bella said softly, her spoon wedged into her scoop of vanilla.
"Hmm?"
"Race you to those benches!"