"So, you see, Ebony, that's how it started."
"Really?"
"Really, Really."
Lively sky-painted eyes peeked up at my father's loving gaze, belonging to me. He was telling me about how our Utopian Society came to be. Dad nonchalantly lurched his upper half-forward, his hands outstretching towards me. "I think you'll find your soulmate someday too, sweetheart." With those words of assurance, his lips press against my forehead, planting a kiss.
A sigh of contentment hums through my mouth as I calmly close my lids. "Well my dear Nightingale, I must head off to work." Dad states, gazing at me with eyes brimmed with love.
"Okay Daddy, have fun." I grant.
An adoring chuckle rummages through his closed lips as he rises to his feet. "I will, Ebony." He shoots me a wink of assurance as he pushes his arms through a grey trench coat.
"And Ebony, don't forget these words." He added on, causing my lightning blue orbs to flit up to his loving hazel sockets.
His body stoops towards my face, the tips of his slender fingers curling around the bottom of my face. "I hope your soulmate will be your perfect match, and will never stop loving you. I hope that whoever you fall in love with will be your soulmate and not a waste of time. That is what I hope for you, my dear Nightingale. In fact, I'll help you find the right one."
An enlightened grin plays on my mouth, "you will?"
"Of course, Ebony."
With more words of assurance, his lips yet again greeted the skin of my head, leaving another kiss. The warmth of his hands left my cheeks, as he departed away, taking his hat off the rack, and fitting it around his head.
His hand twists around the knob of the front door, followed by a creek, as a peek of the outside world slices through the door, letting me have a preview of the outside, which happens to be a grey, cloggy sky, full of weeping clouds.
A single foot sweeps out the door a bit, shifting the body belonging to my dad; shifting him closer to the wet and depressing, outside world.
Half his body is out in the cold of the outside, half of his body is angled towards me. He shoots me a smile, brimmed with reassurance. "I love you."
Then his other half joins the outside, his hand following behind him, pulling the outside knob of the front door with it.
That was the last I saw of him.
My fingers gripped around the brim of the locker, bringing it to a slamming close. Students near me jumped, flinching their eyes at the sudden noise.
"Damn locker," I mutter.
It has now been ten years since my dad's death. Well, apparently he died. I was only eight at the time, but today, I'm seventeen.
Both Mom and I had stayed up late that night, even though she insisted I went to bed, but I was even more stubborn and insisted I stayed up, for I was worried for Dad.
Soon after, there was a knock on the door. Mom had opened it to reveal a policeman through the peaks of the creaked open door. He was standing there, raindrops cascading off the brim of his hat and the edges of his raincoat.
"Are you Mrs. Night?" He asked.
"Yes," my mom replied waverly.
"It seems that your husband, Mr. Night, was killed earlier this evening. Lab accident," his finger curled around the edge of his soaking cap, tipping it towards her. "Sorry for your loss, ma'am." The corner of his eyes caught me. "And your child's."
With a spin on his heels, he departed swiftly, out into the stormy night. My mom's fingers swept over the brim of the door, slowly bringing it to a close. An unbearable silence hung in the arid air of the house, soon broken by a detectable sound of a body shuffling down against the floor.
I just remained perched on the bottom of the stairs. Unable to move, like someone glued me down.
My body was stuck in shock, trying to process what just went through my ears.
Is this real? It can't be. It can't!
I remember letting those words cross my mind. A strangled sob scratched its way up my throat as I kicked my body into motion.
There was no voice of Mom calling me to come to her. She was just as stricken with as much grief and shock as I was. So that was the night I lost my dad. His last words to me were I love you.
Something sweet yet heartbreaking to remember.
As the years went on, we never quite found out how the lab accident occurred, causing his death.
The thought of trying to come up with the right solution for it drives me mental. I just don't know what could've caused it, but I still attempt to figure out what could've happened. And also as the years went on, I grew, what most people would describe as, antisocial. Which is only part of who I am.
Other than being shut off towards most people as I have gotten older, I have taken a liking to wear anything that's black. It has just happened to grind into my system, my character, my personality. So naturally, I'm just straight out goth. That's what seems to be the most logical explanation, as to why ninety percent of everyone in this entire school is afraid of me.
As I said, I don't associate well with most people.
Therefore, I am apparently unapproachable. Most of the girls in my classes would have trembling bodies, riveting with fear. Since I am so frightening to others, I only have a total amount of two friends. One boy, one girl; furthermore, Eren and Isabel. My two best friends in literally the whole world.
Seriously. I'm not exaggerating.
They're the only friends I've got, and I wouldn't trade them for anything. They're so undeniably close, they were lucky enough to see through my veiled manner of rudeness and intimidating aura that radiates off me towards anyone who isn't them. I've known Eren since we were kids. He moved in across from me, the day after the policeman popped up on our doorstep, and stated his information.
I've known Isabel since we were in diapers. So she was there for me and knew me before I grew cold and distant. As a kid, of course, I wasn't all goth and antisocial. I guess you could say the death of my dad really got to me, causing my heart to harden, and have an influencing change in my personality. So now, I'm basically cold-hearted, except to Eren and Isabel. I love listening to Heavy Metal and Rock, and I refuse to wear anything but black. I remember the day Eren and I met like it was yesterday.
I was wallowing in my room, that day. The day after the night I found out that my dad was killed in a lab accident. What he did for his job, was to help come up with new inventions in the successful, still growing company of Titan Industries.
They're the ones who started this Utopian society, and the source of it was all because of these bracelets that apparently lead you to your soulmate. A knock sounded on my door, and I instantly knew it was my mother. After all, it was just her and I now, who lived in this house. I had Isabel, but she wanted to give me time to recover that day. My shoulders slumped as my eyes drifted to the side.
"Come in," I sighed, permitting her entry.
The door to my room peaked open, revealing my mother standing there. "Honey, I know you may not feel like going outside, but we have some new neighbors. They moved into the house across the street." She stated nonchalantly.
"Interesting," I noted.
A sigh fell through my mother's lips, as she tilted her head against the door frame. "Come on, Ebony. Don't do that." She groaned, crossing her arms at me. I cocked my head at her, showing innocence.
"Do what?" I slightly cocked my head, earning another sigh from her.
"Act like you barely care about anything anymore. Ever since we lost your father, you've been acting -- isolated. You barely have enough friends in general, as it is. Except for Isabel, but I want you to not be so lonely." She stated.
I let out a scoff, folded my arms, and shot her a look of defiance. "Yeah -- well -- maybe I want to be lonely." My mother dropped her gaze at me, deadpanned.
"Come on, Ebony. You do not want that." She assured me.
A shrug rolled off my shoulders, "well, maybe it's just who I am, Mom." I advised curtly, earning an eye roll from my mother.
"Just -- try and go meet our new neighbors, alright? For my sake?" Mom pleaded, her expression tired and desperate.
My eyes rolled back into my head. "Whatever, sure," I grumble through a low volume. I shifted past her and out of my room. My eyes flinched by the bright rays of sunlight greeting me, the moment I unlatched the front door. My hand hovered in front of my face, shielding it until my eyes can adjust.
My sneakers crunched the blades of grass beneath my soles, as I took each step, leading away from the comfort of my home. Soon, my eyes adjust to the blearing light, letting my hand no longer be required. The heat from the pavement of the street seeps just enough into the soles of my shoes to make me wince.
"Ouch," I mutter to myself. Boy, it was hot today.
The house located directly across from us had been idle for over a year now. It was a nice house, but nobody bothered to actually take up the offer. As I drew nearer to the now occupied house, I could make out different people bustling around, settling in. Anxiety gnawed within me as the space between the house and I closed in.
"You can do this, just don't freak out." I whispered to myself.
A woman with raven hair and brown eyes caught me in her attention. A warm smile spread across her lips, as she made her way over to me. She placed her hands on her knees, stooping over, meeting me at an eye level.
"Hello dear, what's your name?" She asked, her voice soothing and full of warmth.
My eyes became interested in the pavement below me. "My mother thought I should come over, and greet the new neighbors." I mumbled.
The woman cocked her head to the side. "Aw, that's sweet, dear! But you still haven't told me your name! If it helps, I'll go first. I am Carla Jaeger, it is nice to meet you."
The woman gave me a warm smile, extending her hand for me to shake. My eyes just flitted between the extended hand and her. Seeing how I put her in an awkward state, Carla plastered a nervous grin on her face, before sheepishly retracting her hand.
"Ebony Night," I muttered, my expression stoic. A light streaked up in Carla's brown orbs.
"Oh good! Now I know your name! Mind if I ask how old you are?" She chirped.
"Eight," I muttered once more, my eyes averting to the side.
Now an ecstatic grin peeled down her lips. "You're around the same age as my son!" She exclaimed. She cast her face to the side, her volume rising. "Eren! Come out here!"
Almost instantly, a boy ran out energetically, halting when he sees me. His face was round and his skin was pretty tan. His eyes were a brilliant emerald, and he had brown, tousled hair.
He strode over, now shy. He picked up the pace just enough to shield himself behind his mother. Carla hummed out a chuckle while letting a hand of hers soothingly play with his brown locks.
Eren cast his eyes up at his mother. "Mom, who's this?" He asked, eyes returning to peek back at me from behind the safety of his mother's body.
"Eren, this is Ebony. She was the first person to greet us, and welcome us to the neighborhood." She gave him a loving gaze while gesturing to me with her other hand.
Eren stepped out, drawing closer to me. He extended his hand, "hi, I'm Eren." He greeted.
I shrugged slightly, "I know," I informed him. Feeling awkward by my rejection, he retracts his hand to rub the back of his head.
"Don't like handshakes, huh?" He assumed.
I shook my head, closing my eyes for a moment. "Nope," I confirmed.
"Figures..." he mutters, then a man stalked over. He had long raven hair and wore glasses. "Oh, Father this is Ebony. Ebony, this is my father." Eren states. I nodded at him. "Don't bother trying in shaking her hand, she doesn't like handshakes," Eren whispered to him, loud enough for me to hear.
I just rolled my eyes at him. Even though it's true, it can be annoying when people point out my flaws like I'm not even in the room.
So his father just looked from him to me and gave me back a nod.
"I'm Grisha Jaeger," he states, earning another simple nod from me.
"Well, it was nice to meet you, Ebony. I hope we'll be seeing more of you soon." Carla nodded to me.
I plastered a counterfeit smile on my lips, nodding simply, then spun around and strode away. "I doubt it," I muttered, once out of earshot.
Yeah, I thought that I'd just introduce myself, and I would never have to deal with them again. Oh, I was so wrong.
Eren had managed to pay me a visit the next day. I didn't want him over, but he insisted to stay. He was so stubborn that there was no point in trying to argue.
So he kept coming over, and eventually, I opened myself up to him. Took about a year, though. Before he got past my isolation, I treated him coldly. At first, he was hurt, but then he began to grow used to it, and he figured it was just an act to try and get him to go away. But now to this day, he's my best friend.
And I wouldn't trade that for anything.