The Society

Chapter 4

  Jacob's grip is strong on my hand as he drags me along searching for the Banks family. We weave in and out between the crowd of people huddled together. Every once in a while I bump into someone and they give me a confused or aggressive look. It is quite intimidating to be completely honest. I try to look up and give them a weak smile, attempting to apologize to them, before I am yanked forward again. 

    We search for what feels like hours, though it has probably only been twenty minutes or so. Jacob is relentless as I plead to go back to Mom and Dad. He just glares at me for a few seconds then turns away. The last thing I want to do is run right now because my legs are becoming over the top sore. As I am pulled along I begin to feel a sharp, excruciating pain on the back of my right shoulder and side of my right thigh as well. My eyes move downwards to peek at my thigh to see my jeans torn and blood stained. It's hard to examine the cut closer considering my brother is clinging to my hand and tugging me around. I let out a depressed sigh and bring my head up again. All around me people are chatting away. Some are laughing, some are crying, and some are just standing alone, eating or looking at other people with absolutely no emotion in their expression at all. 

"Aurora! Look!" Jacob shrieks, his voice full of excitement. He's pointing at a little brown haired boy and his family, a mother, father, and little sister.. The Banks.

      We run up to them and I almost slam into Mrs. Banks as Jacob whips my arm around to flip me forward. Pain shoots through my body, especially my shoulder, and I wince as I fall forward. My feet catch me and I stumble up into a straight standing position. Mrs. Banks looks down at me and snickers at my clumsiness. I smirk at her and laugh along with her. I really am a klutz.

"Hello Jacob and Aurora," Mrs. Banks says. Her voice is sweet and sincere. I've practically grown up with this family. When I was little, I would go to their house everyday until my parents arrived home from work to pick me up. My mom, Holly, and my dad, Louis, have known the Banks for forever. Both couples started out in the Lowers, then over time, moved to the Uppers. Mrs. Banks' real name is Alice, but it feels wrong to call her by her first name.

"Hello Mrs. Banks. How are you?" I know she's not doing well because her house was the one across from mine. The one that burned to the ground. Oh gosh. Tears brim my eyes as I think about the houses. Hold it back Aurora. Hold it back. I blink them away and try to think happy thoughts. I probably look like in crazy flipping from one emotion to another so quickly. Haha, oh well.

"We're doing pretty well for the situation. Thankfully, Mia and Charlie don't fully understand what is going on. Charlie knows that the house is gone, but it just hasn't sinked in yet. Thank goodness for that." She looks at me in a sympathetic expression before pulling me into a light embrace. She is about a foot taller than me so my head rests on her chest. The hug is so familiar that I have to stifle my tears again. I wish I could stay like this forever honestly. These people are like my second family. I hear Jacob and Charlie talking next to us about some new car movie. They seem ecstatic about it. 

   Mrs. Banks pulls away and so do I. She wipes my face of the tears I didn't even know I was crying. I guess I am not that great at hiding my emotions after all. I gulp hard then sniffle. I lift my arms and use my hands to wipe my face some more. Her hands are still wrapped around my upper arm give or take four inches from my shoulder. She kisses my forehead, then slowly releases my arms. We turn to the boys to see them wrestling each other to the ground like brothers. Talk about a turn of events. 

    Charlie has Jacob in a head lock. He is surprisingly bigger than Jacob by an inch or two. He is going to be very tall and strong when he is older. I mean, he is 8 years younger than me and almost as tall as and already much stronger than me. His hair is a short and light reddish brown. He has hazel eyes and pale skin, not to mention his ton of freckles. His face shape is a bit like Jacob's, but just a bit more round. His a skinny little boy, with giraffe legs. He reminds me of a half grown puppy hahaha. Mia, Charlie's 18 month old sister, is just sitting down on the concrete playing with a plastic cup. Her hair is curly fire red and her eyes are baby blue. Her skin is pale white with freckles.