The Home You Never Knew

Chapter 1: Luminescent Jade

The fluorescent lights in the office hummed with a low, annoying buzz, matching the quiet vibration of my impatience. As always, I was waiting in the main office for someone to come fetch me. I'm currently in Grade 10, and once again, we'd moved to a whole new country.I've been in five different schools in three years. Five schools. Like that's a normal statistic. I've learned to stop trying, to not make friends anymore, because the pattern is always the same: whenever my life finally settles and feels perfect, it's like a slow-motion earthquake. The ground shifts beneath my feet, the foundation cracks, and the tremors mean we're about to be uprooted and tossed somewhere new.My mother is the kind of person who travels from place to place because of her work. My dad... I barely know him. All I know is that he lives in some fancy country with his new wife and three kids. After my parents got divorced, I never really saw my father again."Excuse me, are you Allison Vain?" a voice came from beside me.I snapped out of my thoughts to find the person responsible for daring to interrupt my brooding. There he stood. The most physically perfect human being one could ever see—like heaven packaged in one inconveniently attractive spot. I stared at him in involuntary awe. My brain couldn't process it: Was he really talking to me?He just stood there with perfect blonde hair and striking baby-blue eyes. He had a perfectly built body, and when he spoke, his voice was a deep, low current, the kind that vibrates in your chest, unexpected and undeniably commanding."I'm sorry, didn't you hear me? I asked..." he started again, patience thinning, before I cut him off."Yeah, I heard you," I drawled, meeting his perfect gaze with forced boredom. "The real question is, why should I care who you are and why you want to know?" I replied sarcastically, making sure he wouldn't think I was just another girl falling for his looks."I... I am James. I am here to take you to your class," he replied, sounding genuinely shocked."Let's go then." I started walking immediately, avoiding eye contact and not knowing where I was going. He almost stumbled over his feet before he finally managed to fall into step beside me.He tried to make conversation—something mundane about the school layout—but I brushed him off with monosyllables. What felt like an eternity, we finally stopped in front of a big blue door with a large, brass sign that read "Mrs. Smith". I didn't know what to expect. James knocked.After a few seconds, a girl opened the door. I was confused, as I thought it would be the teacher. She was beautiful, with bright blonde hair and sparkling sea-blue eyes. She looked too bright, too eager—like a walking advertisement for "Welcome to Happiness."James spoke to her quickly while she just nodded. She finally looked at me and said, "Hi Allison, so delighted to meet you! My name is Kelly, and I'm Class Captain. Our teacher had to run to the staff room for the rosters. Feel free to come in. I'll introduce you to the other students while we wait for her to return." I just stood there, taking in everything she said and her relentless cheerfulness. She then signaled James that he could go.She opened the door wider, and we entered the room. As I took in my surroundings, I was amazed to see everyone staring at me, yet the room was perfectly peaceful—no one was talking or out of place. I was used to the staring from all the moving, but this time felt different; this time, I felt a genuine flicker of nervousness. Kelly led me to a seat, introducing me to the classmates we walked past."Here you go, Allison, this will be your seat for the next ten minutes and every morning before school starts," Kelly said with bubbling excitement. I managed a quick, fake smile and nodded. She smiled back and walked to her seat.Not long after, the classroom door burst open. Assuming it was Mrs. Smith, I looked up to see what my new teacher looked like.She was rushing inside, and I watched her long, wavy espresso hair—which actually reached her waist—fall dramatically over her shoulder. She had a beautiful tanned body and legs like a model. When she spoke, her voice was the warm, melodious tone of an angel."Kelly, would you please take these rosters and hand them out while I go fetch the new student," she said, looking exhausted yet incredibly excited."She is already here, Ma'am. James brought her over just before you returned," Kelly's voice cut cleanly through the room."Oh, really? Where is she? Allison, please stand up!" Mrs. Smith said, the excitement causing her voice to almost scream.I slowly got up from my chair. She immediately walked, almost ran, over to my desk and gave me a hug. I froze."You will fit in just well, my child. You are so much prettier than everybody said you were. Don't worry, you are home now, my little angel," she said while holding me tight.I was confused as to why she called me her "little angel" and why she seemed to know me. For the first time, I looked into her eyes, and I was shocked. She had green eyes that were an unnatural, luminescent jade, almost shimmering. They were exactly, impossibly, like mine. But that couldn't be; my mother told me I was unique, that nobody had such beautiful eyes.What in the world was going on?Suddenly the bell rang—time for first period.I was waiting for Mom to pick me up when I noticed Mrs. Smith putting her bags in her car. She then talked to our English teacher, Mr. Heyde, for a few minutes. As she got in her car, she paused, her head turning slowly toward the drop-off zone where I stood. I quickly ducked my head, praying she didn't see me. She drove off a few seconds later.Mom stopped, and I got into the car. The drive home was silent until Mom decided to ask me how my day was."My day was quite interesting, different than always..." I said, looking out the window, my earphones dangling around my neck. I couldn't stop seeing Mrs. Smith's glowing eyes."Really, why is that?" I saw from the corner of my eye that she was looking at me in the car mirror, her interest piqued."I don't really know, everything just felt so different," I said, a knot of confusion tightening in my stomach. "My teacher, Mrs. Smith, is nice, but she was... strange. It felt like she recognized me, Mom. Like she knew something about me I didn't." I closed my eyes and leaned my head back, drifting off to a restless sleep.Mom saw my eyes shut and replied, "Sleep well, sweetheart." I thought of Mrs. Smith, Kelly, and James before the darkness finally overtook me.