Of the Twisted and the Lost

Chapter 9:

Cami smirks, jostling her friend's hair. "If I didn't see how Junjie treated you today, I would almost support your romance," Cami teases. "But seriously, girl, how do you manage to keep track of your fantasies and reality?" 

Sera rolls her eyes. "It happened," Sera insists, folding her arms.  

"Okay." Cami shrugs, before standing up. "Come on. Let's go before your stepmother worries about where you are." 

Sera snorts. "Yeah, right," she mumbles. 

"Oh, can't you give it a rest?" Cami asks. "Nyleve is just trying to be a good stepmother." 

Yes, Nyleve is trying to be a good stepmother. "But she's not," Sera retorts. "She will never be my real mother." 

Her friend tosses the remains of her ice cream cone to the trash can, impatiently tapping her sneakers against the ground. 

"Girl, enough with the ranting," says Cami, as she starts to walk towards the main road. "Let's go." 

Sera sighs, reluctantly standing up. They walk towards the neighborhood, silence descending over them like a thin blanket. 

The soft Autumn breeze floats around, the air calm and cool, until Sera finally blurts out, "Why do you hate Avelyn so badly?" 

Cami looks startled, as they approach her house. "Well, I hate her because she's Avelyn Roberts." Cami says this in a matter-of-fact tone. 

Sera frowns. "I want another reason," she says simply. "Just because her name is Avelyn doesn't mean you get to hate her that much." 

Cami crosses her arms, mouth pursed. "How about that she's snobby and arrogant, and that she thinks she's better than everyone else?" Her laugh is bitter. "Isn't that the reason why everyone hates her?" 

Sera inclines her head thoughtfully. "Yeah, I guess so." They finally reach Cami's house. "But you've always seemed to really hate her. Like, greatly dislike her in ways that I didn't understand." 

Cami puts her hand on the door handle. "She was born a jerk." Sera's friend shrugs, as she opens the door. "Sometimes, you just can't handle people like her." 

With that, Cami shuts the door behind her. Sera stares. 

"I'm just going to go now," Sera calls out. "Not that anyone really cares. You know, because I always go home. To my house." 

Awkward silence. 

It seems that Cami won't be talking to her throughout the whole afternoon. Cami sometimes has moods like this — where, in one second, she is happy. 

The next? She's fuming about life. 

Sera lets out a reluctant sigh before she starts to walk back onto the street. Her house is not far from Cami, just a few minutes of a stroll. 

Just as Sera is about to reach her house, a shriek tears through the neighborhood. She glances up wildly, her heart pounding. 

It can't be, she thinks, panic flowing through her blood. The merpeople can't be here, can they? They can't go on land! 

Then— 

"Sera Chang!" 

An elderly lady scrambles in the area, a shopping bag in one arm. "Are you feeling alright?" Mrs. Kim asks, her eyebrows furrowing together. "Is that stepmother of yours treating you all right?" 

Sera feels her pulse slowing, back to its normal pace. 

"I'm fine." She forces a smile at her next-door neighbor. "And she's been treating me fine." 

"Goodness gracious, child, you look so thin!" Mrs. Kim tsks, mouth pursed. "She is clearly not feeding you too well." 

A laugh escapes Sera. 

"You know," her neighbor starts, leaning in as if revealing a secret, "if she doesn't feed you well, you can always come to my house and I'll feed you all the delicious food in the world!" 

Sera's mind is transported into the messy house filled with papers and teacups. The only food Mrs. Kim owned is cat food, though Sera was certainly not going to say that out loud. 

"Thank you," Sera says, shifting uncomfortably as Mrs. Kim suddenly sniffs her hair. "I think I'm good, though." 

"Goodness gracious!" Mrs. Kim suddenly exclaims, putting a wrinkly hand on Sera's shoulder. "Your hair! It smells absolutely horrendous! What has Nyleve been giving you?" 

"It's the same shampoo as I've always owned," Sera replies. "For the past high school years." 

Her neighbor sighs. "Such a shame. You're going to be ruined by your stepmother, you know. All the good ones are." 

Sera blinks, but before she can say anything, a slender figure appears at the doorway of Sera's house. 

"Sera." Her stepmother stands, walking out onto the sunlight and towards Mrs. Kim. "You're finally home." 

In all honesty, if Nyleve is a stranger and not at all a person who has stolen Sera's father, she would probably be the nicest and prettiest person Sera has ever met. 

Today, Nyleve's light brown locks twist into a delicate low bun. Her honey-brown eyes hold nothing but kindness, which Sera absolutely despises, and her mouth curves into a soft smile. Her clothes are the usual white blouse and blue jeans, hands clasped loosely together. 

"What were you and Mrs. Kim talking about?" Nyleve asks, curiosity lighting in her eyes. 

When Sera frowns, Nyleve takes a step back. "You don't have to tell me," Nyleve says apologetically. "Don't mind me being a little nosy." 

Mrs. Kim frowns as tension grows in the air. "You should be absolutely ashamed of yourself!" Mrs. Kim squawks. "Are you even feeding this child? Sera and I had a very intimate discussion about how you haven't been feeding your own stepchild!" 

Nyleve looks startled at the sudden outburst. 

"You've also been using terrible shampoo!" her neighbor continues, swinging the shopping bag around. "Do you really want to damage her hair? Look at it! It's all damaged, like your ugly clothes!" 

Mrs. Kim isn't exactly helping the situation. 

"It's okay, Mrs. Kim," Sera says, before she tugs on her stepmother's hand, directing her back into their home.