The girl who would wear green

Chapter Two

Amelia was the only friend Essie had in school really. Essie and Amelia had been best friends since they both had moved into their street, almost at the same time. Both the girls were tall for their age, and Essie always felt better about her height when she was with Amelia.
Amelia had a great smile, but it was a smile that was seen rarely. She was more thoughtful, quiet and rather shy, unless she was chattering with Essie.
Hallie teased Amelia as well, just not as often as she did Essie.
To be honest, Essie's responses to the teasing were a lot more satisfying than Amelia's because anyone could just about see the steam rising from Essie when the taunts came, whereas Amelia just became more withdrawn and quiet.
The girls went to Essie's to do their homework most afternoons. Essie didn't know why, but Amelia never had friends over so they didn't go there much at all. It was just accepted that they didn't do this at Amelia's house.
As they were walking home that afternoon, even Amelia said she thought Essie's name was unusual.
"Is it short for something else?" she asked, pushing back the floppy bit of her dark blonde hair that was always falling in front of her glasses. It fell straight back down, as it always did.
"I don't think so" replied Essie, thinking, "could it be?" "Essie" was all she could remember being called.
"I'm going to ask dad about my name when I get home, because if Essie is short for something else then maybe that would get rid of one of Hallie's reasons to think she is so clever."
"Good idea. I wish I could work out a way to stop her making fun of me too, and my glasses, and because they're pink." Amelia loved pink, it was her favourite colour.
"I have to go home today," Amelia said, "See you tomorrow."
Amelia's mother never seemed to go outside much at all Essie thought. She knew Amelia's dad had died a couple of years ago, not long before they had moved into Essie's street, but not much else. Amelia didn't talk about her parents at all.
Essie raced inside and out to the shed to find her dad after she had said goodbye to Amelia.
Essie's mum sort of brushed off questions like this, she was too busy for questions, and she was always at work anyway. Essie's mum was an advisor on the King's council, and was always being called back in to help sort some crisis or other. She clashed a lot with Hallie's dad as they did not agree on things involved in the everyday running of the Council.
Julia, Essie's mum, had a lot of meetings with the other advisors, all about Bryce Donald's becoming more and more determined to run things his way, and they feared he was using the monies in their treasury for his own projects.
Essie's Dad Sebastian, was a landscape gardener and he was responsible for keeping the parks and gardens looking good, but this also meant he could be at home with Essie while her mum was busy.
When Essie found her Dad, he was cleaning his tractor in the shed, and whistling the same tune Essie heard when her dad was working.
"Dad, why am I called Essie? And, dad, why do I have different colour eyes? Your eyes are both the same colour and so are mum's, and why, why do I have this horrible red messy hair?'
Essie's Dad had green eyes, like the ocean, and his sunbleached hair curled at the ends when he needed a haircut. Her mum's eyes were a sort of golden brown (a bit like a cat's Essie always thought) and her short wavy hair was very dark, so Essie could not understand why her hair was red or why her eyes were a different colour.
Essie's Dad looked at her and said "Whoa Essie, that's a lot of questions, what's bought this on?"
Essie explained, telling him that some of the girls were saying things about her name and stuff. She didn't tell him they were all teasing her as she didn't want to sound like a wimp.
"The best thing to do Essie, is to ignore this sort of thing or just laugh at them" her dad replied.
"But Dad, I'm wondering" Essie insisted "why is my name Essie? Is it short for something else?" "Why am I so different? Does anyone else have my hair? Do I have grandparents or anyone else in our family at all, Dad? Everyone else does." Essie couldn't remember having any family visit at all.
"Hmm, I think it is time you knew a little of your family history Essie." her dad said. "Let's sit for a while and I will tell you a story that I think you are old enough to hear now."
Her dad began: "We have always called you Essie and there is a very good reason for that."
"Before I go on, you have to promise me that you will keep this story to yourself, ok? It is very important now that no one else knows about this, until the time is right. Can you do this?"
Essie was a bit disappointed, her goal had been to stop Hallie in her tracks with her name calling, but she also felt a shiver of excitement. A secret? About her?
Her dad was looking at her quite seriously so Essie told him she could keep a secret, she was very good at keeping secrets.