The Faerie Circle (Faerieland: Book 1)

Chapter Two - Faerie Song

I tucked my sneakers into my locker and pushed it shut, wiping droplets of water from my forehead, still damp from my shower. Volleyball practice had been intense; usually I'd wait to get home to shower, but I didn't want my clothes to get all sweaty.

"See ya, Mira." My teammate, Olivia, said as she jogged out of the changing rooms. She was the kind of person who was always running late for something.

"Bye!" I called, tying my hair back into a long braid. I winced as I pulled a little too hard; my hair had always been sensitive, having it cut was so agonising that I hadn't let anyone near it with scissors since I was old enough to decide for myself. Dad had argued to begin with, but once he saw how painful it was for me, he stopped insisting I have it cut.

"You were great today." Hattie, another one of my teammates, said as she walked past, completely nude apart from a small towel wrapped around her waist. Before I had a chance to look away, she turned towards me and smiled, her irritatingly perky breasts jiggling as she fumbled to open her locker.

"Thanks." I mumbled, my cheeks burning as I tried to avoid looking at her.

She ran a brush through her shoulder-length auburn hair, making no move to get dressed.

"I swear, you just keep getting better." She added, a hint of a laugh in her voice. "Soon you'll be better than me."

"Fat chance." I shot back, lacing my black combat boots. "You're our ace player. I'll never be better than you."

Internally I growled. It was true: I'd never be better than her. She was perfect in every way; from her prowess on the court, to her perpetually cheerful demeanour, and she even had a perfect body to go along with it. She was the kind of woman every girl wanted to be, and every man wanted to possess.

"Don't be so hard on yourself!" She cried, slapping my bicep with her hairbrush. "Hey, do you wanna go for sushi? My treat."

I shook my head, standing up from the bench and slinging my rucksack over my shoulder. Her well-endowed chest was still unclothed.

"Sorry, I have to look after my sisters tonight. Maybe next week?"

She smiled back at me, but it didn't meet her eyes.

"Okay. Well, I'll see you next week!"

I smiled and waved goodbye, getting an eyeful of her round bottom as she removed the towel from her lower half. I turned red and rushed away, almost jogging as I passed through the doors into the crisp evening air.

Hattie was lovely, so kind and friendly, but she had no boundaries. Every week she asked me to go to dinner with her – and I usually had an excuse – but I always ended up declining. She was openly gay, and I was not. Though, if I was, she'd definitely catch my attention. I thought she was gorgeous – and not in the way that I found most women attractive. She was so attractive that she even made straight girls like me blush.

I was so busy thinking about Hattie's body that I almost walked into a lamppost. I shook my head and ducked around the side, jogging the rest of the way home.

Later, after I'd made dinner for my sisters, we were all sat on the sofa watching a soap opera. Dad worked late most nights, so it was usually just the three of us – since Mum died, at least.

I glanced over at Katie, my chest tightening a little. It had been ten years since Mum had died, while giving birth to Katie. She was getting to the age where she'd started asking difficult questions. I worried that she'd start blaming herself for Mum's death. Yesterday she'd asked exactly what 'went wrong' with Mum. I didn't have an answer, and the guilt had been wracking me ever since.