Dawn

10

Dawn

When I got home after spending the day with Hayden and Dylan, I collapsed on my bed, sifting through my thoughts. I felt bad that mine and Sid's arrival had forced Dylan and Jason to leave, but it puzzled me about how protective Ash had been over Sid. Sure, Sid and he were friends, but he didn't have to push his best friend away to stay close to her. Poor Sid had come home, despite having a nice time with Ash, and pouted in her room ever since. It probably frightened her to see Jason and Ash so angry at each other— especially since they'd been fighting over her.

Then there was Dylan, who had been a little bit too nice to me at some points in the day. Like when we'd been messing around in the garden he'd thrown me over his shoulder and skipped around the garden, laughing maniacally. It was fun, don't get me wrong, but I'd seen the angry glares Hayden had been shooting his best friend. I kind of felt like piece of meat with Dylan constantly looking at me.

It was five-thirty and I was bored out of my mind. Although I had spent the day laughing a giggling— with a minor mishap —I now had a few long, boring hours to kill.

"Dawn!" Mum called from downstairs. I shot up, eager to be distracted, and ran downstairs to where she was in the living room, obviously searching for something.

"What are you looking for?" I asked, making her jump and spin around to face me.

"Have you seen that small, wooden box that Grandma gave me?" she asked, showing me the rough size of it with her hands.

I shrugged and frowned. "No, I don't think so."

"I can't find it anywhere! I'm supposed to give it back to her when she gets back from Italy next month, but I just realised that I have no idea where I put it," she groaned, looking stressed.

"Well, you have a month to look for it," I pointed out.

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "But what if Ryan or Sid took it? Your grandma told me not to open it under any circumstances."

"What's she keeping in there, cocaine?" I scoffed, flopping onto the sofa lazily.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Mum told me, amused. "She's always been a little bit crazy."

"Really? She's never come across that way," I mused. I didn't see Grandma much: she was almost always abroad— she had a passion for travelling to places with legends. She's spent time in Scotland, Tibet— even the Himalayas. I had no idea what she was doing in Italy, though.

Mum plopped on the sofa beside me and rested her arm over my shoulders. "When I was little she used to tell me crazy things about my dad. That he was a long lost prince, that he had a hidden palace in a 'land with a secret' that she'd been to once, but she couldn't remember where it was. I think that's why she's out travelling the world, trying to find this 'palace'. She's adamant that it's real. I've tried talking her into coming home permanently, but your grandma has always been stubborn."

"I didn't know that," I said, shocked.

Mum shrugged, "Yeah, well... I suppose I never really bothered to tell you. You adored her when you were younger, though. She used to tell you stories about a called Dawn who felt like she was invisible, until her prince turned up out of nowhere one day and whisked her off to an entirely different life, one where she ruled by his side. I'm pretty sure she based it off Cinderella."

"I don't remember," I frowned.

"You were only little. And she left soon after, when you were six, flying off to who-knows-where. There are some things Mum was right about, though. I'll tell you about them one day," Mum stood up, and slapped her thighs as she let her arms hang loose. "Well, I've got to get looking for that box. Oh, ask your brother and sister if they've seen it, will you?"