Fervent

Chapter 1 { three months }

“Ebony, this isn’t funny. It is a very serious matter.” She barked, her voice taking me by surprise. I didn’t show it though; I kept skimming through the paper’s non-existent list of names.

“Well, maybe I can squeeze you in for maybe… when I get home?” I looked up to her, using my all the skills the drama teacher had shown me. Drama was a good subject, I liked pretending to be somebody else; somebody without any problems or tears.

She rolled her eyes and let out a screech, stamping her foot. I smiled, my expression dripping with hatred. She did the same quickly before spinning on her heel and exiting the room. The door shut harshly behind her, making the paper scattered about the room float around for a moment. She always had to make an exit, she could never just fade away un-noticed.

She hardly acted like an adult at some times. She reminded me so much of my brother back when he was living with us, when he had been the teenager of the house and everything was going fine and to plan. Then he grew up and when he left it was like he took all of the sanity with him.

I shook my head free of the thoughts.

The pen in my hand fell limply against my fingers and in a split second I was hurtling it at the door in a moment of rage. The pen hit the door pathetically and it fell to the floor in an embarrassing second. Jamie tore his eyes off me to go and pick the pen up. He walked over to it slowly, as if the door would open on him.

“You know that–”

“Yes, I know you’re always there if I need to talk.” I sighed, taking the pen off Jamie and smiling up at him. He returned the smile but didn’t let go of the pen. My eyes fell to the biro a little irritated; just give me the pen!

“Ebony.” He said, raising his eyebrows as if I was hiding something. I looked back up at him again and his expression was literally like Jeremy Kyle’s. I laughed a little at my own comparison before replying.

“Jamie.” I said, straightening my face and being stern. I raised my own eyebrows at him and we were stuck there for a moment, neither of us knowing what to do. Why wouldn’t he give me the damn pen?!

The door suddenly opened again but this time it wasn’t the villain of Adeline Academy, it was the other members of the newspaper team. As the wind from the hallway blew into the room Jamie jumped a mile away from me, taking the pen with him. I scowled at the biro in his hands. Was it so hard to just hand it over to me?

But then again, it was me that threw it at the door.

“Are we interrupting something?” Charlotte walked into the room with a cynical look written on her face. Charlotte was pessimistic , and she hated the fact I might be friends with her step-brother. Yup, Jamie and Charlotte are step-siblings; her mom, his dad. She barely wanted him to move to this school, let alone join the newspaper club, but we needed someone somewhat remotely serious about world issues on our team.

“Nothing interesting.” I sighed, scowling at her for making this out for something it’s not. She completely ignored Jamie as she walked into the room, munching on her double choc-chip cookie. She had one every lunch time for a little after-snack. She always finished it in the club room; it was like a little schedule.

“Well, I’m seeing a lot of interest going on.” Morris, our flamboyant member, nudged Jamie and I put my head in my arms. My face was probably burning brighter than Jamie’s had been a few minutes earlier.

Jamie nudged Morris back a little harder, but without the joking manner. Morris backed off and hovered towards me, I saw his feet getting closer through the bottom of the desk.

“Go do something.” I moaned into the paper a centimetre away from my face.

“Yes ma’am!” He replied instantly, fleeing off the corners of the room. The other members of the group followed him like sheep.

I saw Fai’s little dolly shoes waddle past, followed by Carly’s high heels and Max’s converse. I smiled a little at my group, they were all so contrasting.

“Am I still coming to yours after school then Nee?” I heard Charlotte scoot onto the seat next to me and brushing all the crumbs on her clothes to the floor.

“Sure.” I muttered, despite the fact being sociable was not what I wanted to be right now.

“I thought you were talking to your mom after school?” Jamie interrupted. I raised my head from the desk and pouted at him. But he looked to vulnerable right now, just trying to help.

“She’ll wait.” I said with little interest and flopped my head back down to the desk. My eyelids felt so heavy, how was I going to make it another hour? And for god-knows how long after that with Charlotte?

“Shut up Jamie.” Charlotte muttered, engaging in their usual step-sibling rivalry.

“You shut up.” He replied faster than I had even processed what was happening and as their boring argument rose to levels of extreme dangers that risked me falling asleep I lifted my head.

“Why don’t we all shut up?” I sighed, swinging my legs under the table and looking straight at the pen that still happened to be in Jamie’s hands. The pair looked at me silently as I adjusted to the light and managed to keep myself awake.

“What’s wrong with you?” Charlotte teased, poking my arm. I shuffled away from her in the un-playful mood as Jamie snapped at her for touching me. It sounded rather possessive.

I let out a straggled noise that sounded like a pig and a horse had collided before putting my head on her shoulder and closing my eyes, despite the risk of falling asleep. Whenever I did that in school it was almost impossible to stay awake after I’d awoken. The amount of times I’d been sent to the head master’s office because of sleeping in lesson was quite humorous. But mom didn’t care.

“There, there poppet.” She whispered, pulling out her IPod and plugging herself into the music she adored. I could hear a faint beat in the air but didn’t attempt to figure out what song it was. It was probably one of the bands that she was always fan-girling over.  Peirce the Veil or something like that. She was dragging me to a concert in a month, I don’t even like her type of music, but because I didn’t want her going on her own I volunteered to be her supervisor. Don’t want her getting too messed up.

Jamie dragged himself to one of the desks behind us, dropping the pen on my desk as he went. I heard his feet scraping off the floor as he prowled to his hunting ground. He would probably sit there, thinking of everything that was wrong with the world for about ten minutes before it was last lesson. Part of me didn’t like how depressive he was, but I guess it wasn’t his fault that the world had so many faults. I just tried not to think of them, but with Charlotte and him constantly groaning on about them it was hard.

But mainly, I was too busy with my own problems to worry about anyone else’s. There was always something that seemed to go wrong, and I never knew what to do about it. And by the time the problem was solved I was too confused about it to let it go.

It probably got annoying for my friends, me always droning on about my problems. I bet they had their own too, but I never bothered to ask.

I got it off my mom, you see. But as I see the error in my ways, she doesn’t. She thinks that it’s ok. She doesn’t care about anyone but her damn self.

I don’t think she’ll ever realise it though. She lost her son because of it, but she acted like it wasn’t her fault. The same scenario with her husband, and soon enough she’ll drive me away too. She’s already started.

I can see she has emotion somewhere deep down inside of her, but wherever it is, it’s unreachable now. She doesn’t care who goes, even if it’s her own blood. As long as she’s still in power everything is fine.

If I grow up to be like her, I might personally get someone to put a bullet in my own head.

(A/N: As I've finished the stories I've currently been working, I figured I might as well post the first chapter to my new story. I'm actually really excited about this story... but I'm worried no one's ever going to read it. So if you happen to be reading this now, I love you, and if you could help me by voting, commenting, sharing with friends and adding to your libraries I would love you EVEN MORE! c: Thanks, readers. I really do adore you with all my heart.)