"I know," he said with a grin. I jumped back. Wasn't he supposed to be asleep?
"Yeah... Um... are you... feeling better?" I asked stupidly.
" feel fine. Just a few bruises here and there," he replied weakly. I laughed. I excused myself outside, so I could find some plants and herbs to heal him.
"Here," I said, coming back with some greenish brown plants called marth leaves. My mother who was a biologist lectured me on this kind of stuff, and I was glad that it came into use.
"Thanks," he said, spreading his arms out so I could spread the leaves over his wounds.
"Can I?" I asked, taking the tip of his shirt in my hand.
"Sure," he replied, before I peeled off his shirt, and helped treat the cuts on his chest. I laid the leaves where the lash marks were deep, and used a towel that I soaked in the lake nearby to scrub the blood off him. Once he was cleaned I helped him get his shirt back on, and wrapped him in a blanket, before helping him in bed. He leaned on me for support and slowly we made our way to the other side of the shack.
Once he was tucked in and asleep, I moved over to the door which I opened to let some fresh air in. I breathed in the calming winds, and let my hair free from the braid. I swept my hair over my shoulder and let it blow in the wind. I stared at the deep night sky, the darkness tinged with light coming from the few stars scattered across the sky. I stared at it and think to myself: In darkness comes hope. The last things my father said to me before leaving. Leaving for war. I leaned my head against the door frame, and stared into it, letting sadness take my body over. Sadness because I knew I would have to leave Everest. Sadness because my life was in danger. Sadness because my life would never be the same. Soon the sadness turned deeper, more personal, and I began to feel sad over things that I got over years ago.
Losing my parents. Losing my brother. Losing my house. Losing ability to go to school. Losing food. Losing... everything. Then... finding hope. Finding Everest. I found myself back in bed as I let the thought take over my mind. I lost everything. My family. My home. My education. My food. Everything was dark until that one day I found Everest. The one day I found hope in my darkness.
My dreams were like a memory. Like going back in time.
"Twelve dollars please," I said, as a teenager boy, a few years older than me sat a glass rose on the counter.
"Here, keep the change," the boy said, handing me $50. I stared at the money hungrily, before I came to my senses and put the money in the cash register.
"Keep it," he whispered to me. I looked at him wearily. What was I supposed to do? The manager said to always listen to the customer... but was this what the manager wanted? I decided to listen to the costumer, and slipped the money in my pocket.
"Thanks," I whispered back to him.
"Your welcome," he answered. There were a few moments of silence before he spoke again.
"What's your name?" he asked. I hesitated. I wasn't used to customer's talking to me.
"Eila... Eila West," I answered him.
"What a nice name. Mine is Everest Brooke," he told me. I stared at him a minute before nodding and saying
"What a... nice name."
he laughed, as if I said something funny. And maybe I did? I didn't know. I wasn't used to having someone talk to me. In fact I hadn't had a real conversation since my brother left me.
"Thank you, would you like to... meet me near the woods after your rotation?" he asked. I gave him a surprised look. I was definitely not used to people asking me to meet them. Especially near the woods. The woods were illegal! But... I was supposed to listen to him so...
"Sure," I answered him carefully. And he gave me a smile before walking off. I stared off into the distance after he left, and the next customer had to shake me to bring me back to presence.
Later that day when my rotation was over I walked to the entrance in the woods. The boy was there. Everest. He was in the woods. Behind the gate. I stared at him. Should I tell someone this person was breaking Syra law?
"Hello there," he said to me playfully. I eyed him slowly, before answering.
"Hi."
"Come on, it's fun over here," he told me. I stared at him then at the sign.
The big bold words: Warning! Do not Enter! Then back at him. I wasn't just about to break the law for a boy I don't even know! He must have noticed my weary look because he came over to me and said
"Don't worry I won't hurt you," I stared at him.
"Why... why are you talking to me?" I asked. His face immediately turns red and he looked away. I stood there waiting for an answer, and after twenty long seconds I realized I wasn't going to get one. I carefully stepped toward the entrance of the forest. He looked back at me, smiled, and then followed me into the woods.
"What are we... going to do here?" I asked him.
"Oh. Well, I just wanted to see if you would like to be my... friend," he said, the blush returning to his face.
Friend.
The word was so foreign. I didn't think I'd had a friend in my life. And now... this random boy was asking me to be his... friend? I was most definitely not used to being asked to be a friend. Especially bye boys. Especially popular good looking boys. I only knew he was popular because I had seen him walk by the streets with tons of pretty girls swooning over him. I didn't want to be another one of them. But then again... I needed the company...
"You... don't have to if you don't want to," he said quickly, probably seeing the doubt in my face.
"I'll be your friend. I've never really had one though, so I don't really know what friends do," I told him.
"Oh? Really? What do you do your whole life? Don't you at least go to school?" he asked me.
"It's kind of a long story," I said uneasily, not sure if I should tell this boy everything.
"We have lots of time. Well I do. I don't really know about you..." he said, leading me over to a nearby rock.
"Ok... well, my parents died in the military about two years ago, and I was left alone with my brother. But then he married a woman named Jessica and moved to Aurum. He got me a job at the antique shop and I worked there ever since," I said, in one deep breath. He looked taken aback by what I just said, as if he couldn't believe it.
"Wow. Your life... is rough," he finally said. I laughed emotionlessly. Rough. Another word to describe my horrible life.
"Well don't worry. I can help. I'm here with my sister, and I could stay here an extra year or so for you to take the test. Then I can help you have a better life," he said. His words were so unexpected. He wanted to help me? He wanted to... live with me?
"Uhm... okay," I said, still a little confused. He smiled at me, then took my hand and led me farther in the woods to explore.
Hope.
Hope. The word repeated in my mind, until I was awaken by blinding light.
I rubbed my eyes groggily, and got up. Like always, Everest was up.
"Big day! You're taking your test!" he called to me.
Shoot. Not the test! I completely forgot that I had to do the test today. This could mean... it was the last day I saw Everest. Curse or no curse. There was a good chance that I would never see him again. I looked up at him, and saw that he was smiling. I tried to force the same expression on my face, but it was difficult.
"Come on. Let's get you cleaned up," he said, helping me out of bed. I let him pull me up, until I could stand by myself. That's when I remembered again. I had to help him. He was the one who was injured. Once I got myself some cold water, which I splashed on my face to help wake me up, I helped Everest treat his wounds again.
"We need you to look your best there, don't want to get into Aragon like my sister did. It is supposed to be the lowest class,"
"Okay, what should I do then?"
"Maybe put your hair up differently, wear your nicest clothes,"
"Um... okay, but I don't exactly have nice clothes," I replied, gesturing to my old frayed outfits sitting in a pile on the floor.
"Why don't you buy something? After today you won't be needing money. The element groups will give you a fund when you get chosen for one,"
"Okay. I'll be back soon," I told him, taking the little money I could scrounge up, and dressing outside before going out to my favorite shop.
At the shop, a friendly woman greeted me.
"What can I help you with today?"she asked in a chirpy, high pitched voice.
"I am looking for an outfit for the testing," I told her.
"Oh! I remember taking mine! I got into Aragon, but they told me to go back to Syra because I was doing a bad job protecting the air," she told me, he expression turning sad.
"Well, I hope you have better luck than me! Here let me find you something to wear!" she told me, going back to her happy self. I followed her through racks of clothes, admiring every piece of clothes there. All of the clothes were beautifully designed.
"Perfect!" the woman exclaimed, coming to a rack of summer dresses. She searched around the rack for something, and finally came up with a flowy knee length summer dress, that matched the color of my eyes. It was beautiful.
"This will be perfect for you, try it on!" she said shoving the dress in my hands and leading me to a dressing room. I got into the room, and slipped the dress on. It was so smooth, and soft, unlike my rough work clothes. I loved it. She was right, the dress was perfect. It was like it was made for me. Perfect size. Perfect shade of green, to match my eyes.
When I came out of the dressing room, the woman had a ton of accessories for me.
"Do you want a necklace, bracelet, or ring?"
"I'll have a necklace," I told her, she smiled at me, happy with my answer.
"Here, this will bring out the flecks of gold in your eyes," she told me, handing me a butterfly necklace. It had a short gold chain, with a small golden butterfly in the middle. That was when I catched her words. Gold flecks in my eyes? I didn't have gold flecks in my eyes. But when I put the necklace on and looked in my reflection, she was right. My eyes do look like a mix of deep green and bright gold. I looked like a whole new person.
"You look perfect!" she said excitedly. I smiled at her. How much would this all cost? Would I have enough to buy it?
"How much is this?" I asked her. Her expression was worrisome when she told me that the necklace is $85. I gasped. How could it be that expensive? That was more than I made a year!
"But It's fine! I'll let you keep the necklace no charge," she told me. I stared at her. No charge? But... I had to pay for something that expensive. The first lesson I learned in my life was that NOTHING was free. She must have saw the doubt in my expression because she convinced me it was a gift from her. And finally I agreed. She took the price tag of the necklace, and did the same with the dress.
"How much is the dress?" I asked her.
"Twenty dollars. It's on sale," she told me. I knew she was lying, but I accepted it anyway.
"Here," I said, handing her my twenty dollar bill. She smiled at me.
"I have one more surprise,"she told me, returning to the front desk to retrieve a makeup bag. I stared at it. I wasn't a big fan of makeup, but I didn't know how to tell her that. She smiled and sat me down in a plush white chair, in a corner of the shop. She handed me a mirror, and started applying a soft pink lipstick to my lips.
"This will be perfect!" she said, a squeal in her voice, and I wondered if this was more for her than it was for me. She took out a light gold eyeshadow, and started brushing it on.
"This color will also help brighten up your eyes! You'll look gorgeous!" she said happily. Do all stylists act like this? I couldn't tell, never have been to a real clothing shop before.
She added a hint of blush to my cheeks, before starting on my eyes. She took out this thing she called mascara, and started to apply it to my eyelashes. It felt cold and strange on my face, but after a while I got used to the feel. She took out eyeliner and began drawing artful strokes to accentuate my eyes, ending in a short wing.
"This is probably the best makeup job I've done!" she exclaimed proudly. And she was right. What she had transformed me into is truly gorgeous. My eyelashes were long and thick. My eyes outlined in perfect stokes. My eyes were a ravishing green, with fleck of gold, brought out by the eyeshadow, and the lipstick and blush were light enough to think it was natural. She smiled at my expression and took out a comb and some pins.
"Sit down," she ordered. And I obeyed. She took my hair, and brushed it out until it was nice and smooth. I thanked her, but she told me she wasn't finished. She started to braid my hair into what she told me was a dutch crown braid. Once the hairstyle was completed, she sprayed my hair with a thing she called hairspray and let me go. I took a quick look in the mirror and thanked her again.
"Best of luck for your testing!" she told me.
"Thanks," I relied, before I left the shop. The woman smiled at me, and waved farewell.
I trudged home, the sun beating my back as I walked to the shack. What was actually blocks away felt like miles. The sun was melting me to a crisp, and I did everything I could to ensure my makeup didn't melt right off my face. When I got home, Everest welcomed me.
"You look stunning!" he told me, staring into my eyes. I gave him a hug, and he returned it.
"I was getting worried about you. It was taking you forever to get ready,"
"Don't worry about me," I told him. Luckily I hadn't had anything but good luck today. Maybe it would continue and I could get into Benile? Hopefully.
"Come on, let's get to the square before they close," he said, taking my hand and leading me to the door of the shack. I took one look behind me. This was the last time I'd see the shack. I stared at it and then turned towards Everest.
"Ready?" he asked me. I took a deep breath and held his hand tight. Dreading the time when I'd have to say goodbye.
"Let's go,"