Descent (Dysmorphia Series #2)

|Prologue|

Caroline was used to seeing new people every day, it came with the job as a server at one of the busiest service stations on this side of the country. Her husband often told her she should quit, her knees sometimes gave out and she wasn't as young as she had been but her job kept her alert, and although she would never say the words aloud, she knew that their small family needed the money. The boy across from her had ordered two lattes, he seemed to be deep in thought about something, the crease between his brows showed that he was probably someone who thought a lot. Every so often as Caroline bustled around the cramped kitchen space he would look over his shoulder towards an equally stressed looking slender girl, he seemed to be checking up on her and she thought they were probably both in some kind of argument given the posture of the girl.

"Thank you" he said as she passed him the steaming cups, he made eye contact and smiled at her as if he were genuinely thankful rather than looking straight through her as most customers seemed to do.

"You're just the sweetest honey, your girl's lucky to have you" she said.

They both looked utterly mortified, and she realised her mistake.

"Um, we're not together just..." the girl seemed utterly lost for words and she felt bad that she had obviously made a situation that hadn't been a comfortable one even worse. 

"Friends?" 

Caroline prompted, feeling bad that she had created an atmosphere awkwardness.

"You could say so if we hadn't just met each other today," said the boy

She wondered why the girl in front of her seemed so familiar as she took her latte and bag containing two doughnuts off the counter, the pair hardly looked at each other as they walked towards the door. There was nothing particularly special about her.

And then it clicked as if pieces of a puzzle were slowly being put together, her daughter Sophia, her bundle of joy had shown her just that morning, she was a real bookworm and had been terribly excited to receive her hardback copy of the new teenage fiction book everyone was growing crazy for. Caroline had been queued up at Waterstones ready to buy the book on its release date and the look of pure joy in her daughters eyes had been everything she needed and more, there had been a black and white photograph of that same girl on the back cover.

Caroline usually stuck to the rules, she never left the petrol station while she was working, she needed this job but she had to get the girl's autograph, Sophia would be ecstatic.

"Madam!" she ran as fast as she could outside, trying to remember the authors name, in a crowded car park full of noise getting their attention was a hard feat. The two of them were getting into a black jeep and she picked up the pace, forgetting for a moment that her knees didn't need that kind of strain.

She arrived next to them huffing and puffing, the girl eyed her wearily like she expected her to brandish a knife.

"My daughter" Caroline spluttered, her heart racing and beads of sweat dripping down her forehead. "She's a real fan of your book, could you possibly sign this for me" she held out a napkin and a biro like they were the most precious jewels, to Sophia this would be.

The girl's nervous face broke into an nervous smile. It transformed her from someone slightly forgettable to someone beautiful and Caroline was seized with the urge to embrace her, Sophia didn't look like the other girls in her class with her gapped teeth and slightly pudgy figure, to Caroline she was the most beautiful thing in the world, but to her daughter being different made her upset, that was until she had picked up a copy of Dysmorphia and felt like maybe she wasn't so alone. In that moment Caroline wondered at the power of strangers.

"Of course," the girl said picking up the pen as if she couldn't quite believe what was being asked of her.

Caroline's heart gave a slight squeeze, she hadn't actually read the whole book but what she had read was awful, the poor thing had obviously been through alot.

"Who shall I sign it to?"

"Sophia please"

The girl hastily scribbled onto the napkin and then passed it back to Caroline who was already envisioning her daughter's squeals of joy and thankful hugs. If there was one person who could make the sun pale in comparison with her radiance, it was Sophia.

"This might seem a bit forward but you look like you need a hug dearie" 

The girl looked like she was about to cry. Her shoulders slightly hunched.

"That would actually be great" 

It was such a strange situation but a completely normal one at the same time, Caroline reached forwards and wrapped her arms around her thin form, holding her in a tight hug before releasing her.

"I want to say thank you..." she paused.

"Florence" the girl provided.

"Thank you Florence, your'e words have brought a kind of hope to my little girl that I don't think anyone else could, I hope that your life continues in a much better way than your previous story has been."

"Thank you so much," Florence replied, looking truly touched, she breathed out slowly like she had been holding in a breath for a while. "I hope you have a lovely day" 

Caroline smiled and watched as Florence began to walk away. For weeks to come she would tell anyone who listened about the sweet girl who had signed a napkin in the carpark, who went overnight from selling a modest amount of books to astronomical sales worldwide.

Florence Clarke fastened her seatbelt and adjusted her rearview mirror, she still hadn't gotten used to people wanting to see her for positive reasons, asking her for autographs and giving her praise rather than hurling negative comments thrown her way.

"Buckle up Cole, we've got a long drive to Phillipson ahead"