Chapter 2 - Our Quintet

The Greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge. ~Stephen Hawking~

I woke to the sounds of birds; their soft whistles of song hurt my ears. I pulled the pillow over my face and winced. I sat up and looked in my mirror that faced my bed and sure enough, as last night’s event flooded my mind, I saw the bright pink hand shape on my face. It was beginning to become a bruise with purple-bluey-black bits colouring my washed out cheek. With a sigh I got out of bed and had a steaming hot shower.

The water scalded my skin, my fresh scars stung when soap bubbles passed them and I could not put my face under the running water because it was sensitive and hurt like hell when it passed under any pressure.

I dried my body as best I could and threw on some clean underwear. I hurried into my room, pulled on my jeans and hoodie from the day before and began covering the mark on my face. I winced as I put on moisturiser and foundation but when I had added a little bit of blush to other cheek, I looked almost healthy.

Firetruck. I hate you James Krintah! I thought angrily as I studied my appearance.

I continued with my usual makeup; grey eye shadow, thick black eyeliner and mascara. My look was complete so I slid on my converse sneakers and grabbed my black ‘Emily the Strange’ shoulder bag. I ran my black hairbrush through my thick dark hair and fixed my fringe before leaving my room.

As I snuck past my father’s bedroom, I looked in. He was asleep with his hand draped across Maria’s bare back.

“You’re just like your parents.” I whispered to him as I snuck out of the house.

 

The sun was barely above the horizon and there was a chill in the air. I locked the door behind me and headed down to the nearest bus station.

My dark wet hair clung to my neck but thankfully not my face. I tucked my fringe behind my ear as I waited for the bus that would take me to the shopping plaza near the city. I looked at my reflection in a nearby car and saw that I had done a good job of covering my face with make-up. Cake-face, I thought bitterly to myself as I turned away.

“Lisa! Lisa? Is that you?” a familiar voice called. I looked up rather reluctantly to see my childhood friend Kathy walking towards me.

“Oh, hey Kathy.”

“Hey! How have you been?” she asked. Her brown eyes were full of concern and life. That was something I kept noticing, everywhere. Everything was filled with life. Maybe it was because my life had died when my mother did.

“Fine, I guess,” I replied. “You?”

“Great! Mum is taking me and my sister to Queensland!” Kathy’s father had moved to Queensland with his work so they were probably going to spend time as a proper family on the Gold Coast.

“That’s great Kathy.”

“Yeah! And she said that I could bring a friend! Do you want to come?” Kathy’s brown eyes now shone with excitement. That excitement disappeared though when I declined.

“No thanks. Why don’t you take Jonathan? You guys have been friends almost as long as we have.” Besides, I thought, I couldn’t handle being an extra member of a Happy Family.

“Oh, yeah okay.”

We awkwardly stood in silence for a few minutes until the bus came. I loved her, I really did; we had known each other since primary school and I would never forget her, but that last thing I wanted to do was pretend to be a part of her happy family, an add on….

“Um, this is my bus. I’ll catch up with you later, yeah?” I asked

“Oh, okay. Sure. Bye.” She hugged me and I got on the bus. There were only two other people getting on the bus with me. An elderly man wearing a brown plaid shirt and brown slacks, who carried a walking stick and a newspaper and a woman who I guessed to be in her mid-forties with un-naturally blonde hair and a lot of makeup.

I validated my ticket and sat in the second half of the bus, close to the back. I put my back against the window and my feet on the chair space next to me. My bag rested between my leg and the back of the chair. I pulled out my black iPod and turned it on as I grabbed a novel out of my bag and went into someone-else’s world.

 

Someone stood in front of me. I ignored them; there were still plenty of seats left on the bus. This person didn’t need the one next to me. The person seemed to shrug and sat in the seat in the other isle, one ahead of me.

Stealthily, I lifted my face slightly and studied the person with my hair covered eyes.

It was guy around my age, maybe a bit older. I had seen him on the bus before; he was a regular, like me. I knew his name was Jarred and that we had similar music tastes. We had spoken once when I had worn an AFI shirt. It seemed to be the base of our conversation. We had talked about our favourite bands like Slipknot, His Infernal Majesty (HIM), My Chemical Romance, AFI, etc.

Jarred had his own iPod playing and his brown straight hair was in his eyes as usual. He flicked it to the side and his brown eyes flickered towards me. I dropped my own.

When I looked up again, he was staring at his iPod, changing songs. I noticed he was wearing a Slipknot shirt and black jeans. His lanky body was slumped slightly, but his face was calm and he seemed happy. Knowing Jarred, even as scarcely as I did, I knew that today, he was planning to smoke weed and drink with his mates at the park. It did not bother me a lot. I mean, I didn’t like the stuff myself and I didn’t like being around the people that did, but Jarred seemed nice enough.

The bus stopped at another stop and more people got on the bus. The noise level began to rise. I didn’t like noisy busy buses.

 

I got off the bus one stop before I was supposed to. I felt better as soon as both feet were on the pavement by the side of the road. I kept my iPod on with the tiny black headphones in my ears, blocking out every sound except the music and the beating of my own heart. My head was swirling with voices. Some shouting at me, the others chatting to each other. I ignored the voices and turned the music up until it hurt my ears and gave me a headache.

I began walking in the direction of the plaza, my footsteps making next to no sound on the pavement as hundreds of cars sped past in the already high heat. It was still morning, around nine or ten o’clock, but it was already hot. The sun was just above the trees and its yellow light warmed my skin through my clothes. I walked for about a kilometre before I began to get hot. I removed my jacket and threw it into my bag without breaking stride. I kept my head down, staring at my flat-chest and my feet as I continued walking to the plaza.

When I reached the bus stop I would have gotten off at, I sat on the bench and shut my eyes, mentally preparing myself for the time with my friends. I didn’t want to have to tell my tale of events from the night before, so I’d have to get a mask up to hide.

I changed the song on my iPod from All Time Low, to Sleeping With Sirens and stared at the black tires that sped across the black bitumen road. I sat there for five songs before I felt one of the headphones fall out of my ear and as I went to put in back in I heard people calling my name.

“Lisa!”

“Hey, Lisa!”

“Over here!”

“Oi!”

“S**T!”

The last one made me and several strangers turn our heads. I saw my real family and smiled as they waved in relief. I rose and began walking over to them. Jasmine made me lose my balance when she ran to me for a hug when I was close enough and I nearly swallowed a mouthful of her black curly hair.

“Lisa!” she shouted in my ear.

“Ow!” I replied emphasising the word. “You’re too loud, and you’re crushing me.”

“Sorry.” She loosened her grip and took half a step back, keeping my hands in hers. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” I lied. Her chocolate brown eyes looked at me doubtfully.

“You’re lying.” And? So what? You don’t need my issues…. I thought but I did not tell her. She was too close to me. Too close to my heart for me to ever burden any of them with my thoughts, feelings and issues.

“No I’m not!” I took my hands out of hers and shoved them in my pockets.

“Lisa,” she sounded like a mother. She put her black-finger nailed hands on her hips under her grey cardigan but over her black tank top. She also wore dark jeans and beaten black Converse sneakers.

“Jasmine,” I mimicked putting my hands on my hips. Jasmine gave in first and laughed. I smiled and walked around her to the others.

“Hey.” I said, still smiling. I didn’t feel like I needed to pretend with my family. Well, pretend most things.

“Hey.” Mikki replied with a half-tired smile and I saw her sketch book was clutched in her hands. She wore faded denim shorts and a black strapped top with big black boots to complete her look today. Her white beret was clipped in with a few coloured clips and her short purple hair was curled a little with a 2B pencil sitting above her left ear. Her brown eyes looked tired and I assumed that she had spent most of the night drawing and watching cartoons.

“Hey Lisa,” Kya grinned. She tugged at the hem of her brown shirt that matched her light blue jeans and brown sneakers. Her hair was plaited down her back loosely, with strands framing her face. Over her shoulder she had a canvas bag filled with god knows what.

Jamie just smiled slightly and waved; his usual greeting and was complemented by his usual look, jeans and a red shirt. It was the comfort I desperately needed. Jasmine joined us and without another word we began walking towards the shopping plaza. 

We stepped through the automatic doors and into the cool plaza. Thousands of conversations filled our ears, creating the perfect setting to sink into and become part of the crowd. The walls were painted off white and curved into a beautiful arched roof above our heads. We walked past the ice-creamery, the cinemas and Tunzafun and into the food court.

“Has anyone had breakfast?” I asked I felt my stomach rumble as the smells of sushi, subway, McDonalds and the café’s engulfed me.

“I did but I feel like maccas.” Kya said. I smiled and walked over to the sushi bar. I ordered and waited while the Asian man put my food in a container.

“How can you eat that stuff?” Mikki whispered to me as I payed for my food with a smile.

“Easy,” I replied. “You put it in your mouth, chew and swallow. Not that hard.”

“Ha ha, you know what I mean though. It’s fish! Raw fish! DISGUSTING!” she spoke louder as we walked over the rest of the group in the line for McDonalds.

“You’re disgusting,” Jasmine said as we approached.

“You don’t even know what we’re talking about!” Mikki exclaimed in mock hurt but gave in and started laughing.

The best thing about my friends: unless something deadly serious had happened, we could always laugh.

I waited while the others ordered then we found a table and chatted idly while we ate.

“I really don’t want to go back to school,” Kya began as she picked up a French fry and blew to cool it down.

“Really?” I asked. “I can’t wait. It means less time with Maria, Amy and James and more time with my real family.”

“You shouldn’t be so down all the time, Liss. I thought you liked being home, I mean, you always seem glad to be there during school terms.” Jamie said, speaking up. He had a tendency to be quiet but it still shocked me when he asked a question, I never thought he was ever actually listening.

“Yeah, but that’s because I wind down and relax. The best bit about school is you guys, and the calming predictability of each day. At home, I never know when James will come home in one of his abusive…” I trailed off quickly, realising my slip up.

“WHAT?!” the group exclaimed in outrage. Mikki and Jasmine stood angrily, earning us a few stares from the people around us.

“Shut up and sit down!” I hissed at them. They glared at me but sat slowly.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Jamie asked. He seemed worried now which was the exact opposite of what I had wanted. Damn my big mouth.

“It’s nothing.” I said, but the damage was done.

“Ohmigod!” Jasmine breathed as she touched my cheek. I flinched confirming her thoughts. “Why? Why didn’t you tell us?” she demanded.

“Because you guys don’t need my issues. You all have your own.”

“But you just said that we were family,” Kya said. Her voice was its usual soft tone but it was tainted with something. “Family don’t keep secrets especially when they’re getting abused and it doesn’t matter whether we have a thousand and fifty two problems of our own, you have to tell us.” She added quickly when I opened my mouth to protest. She waved her arms in a huge circle emphasising the amount of problems they may have.

“Kya’s right.” Mikki agreed, nodding.

“Yeah, okay.” I replied. I began to apologise when I felt them, it, whatever it was. It was watching me and its stare pierced through my thoughts and brain function. I closed my mouth and turned around. I felt the gaze break and scanned the people who could have been the culprits.

There was the forty-something year old woman from the bus that morning, sitting three tables away, but I knew it wasn’t her. The piercing stare hadn’t come from that direction.  I stood and pretended to stretch, twisting my torso to get a good view of everyone in the direction that the strange feeling had come from.

I didn’t see anyone suspicious, but what was I expecting exactly? Someone to jump up and go, ‘It was me glaring! Here I am!’?

No.

I saw a man reading a news paper, in most movies, they were the spies, but I had strong doubts about this one. His beard was long and grey like his hair which was tied into a pony tail at the nape of his neck, and he wore glasses that looked like they had no frame. He looked up and smiled as he caught me staring. I smiled back, glad that my foundation hid the blush that was making me feel even hotter. There was a bunch of teenagers from my school, neither of them I liked or spoke to, so I doubted that it was any of them, the glare wasn’t that type of glare. A young woman in her mid twenties, with two little girls (both playing with McDonalds toys and picking at French fries) was slurping a slushy. Her brown straight hair fell straight down the sides of her face appearing lifeless, but I could see the life that this woman’s soul held, due to her little girls. I knew what that was like; my mother’s life was fuelled by mine and vice versa. I moved on to studying the next person before the hole of darkness could begin to grow as it so often did when I thought about my mother.

The only other person I could have possibly suspected was a big black guy in a business suit.  He was talking on his mobile phone constant looking around and his eyes met mine. The blue grey ones pierced through me, as if seeing through my body and into my soul and he broke contact almost immediately. Turning his back to me and talking more urgently into his phone. I felt worried and disappointed. I had read about people seeing others souls with just one glance in fantasy novels but in real life it was about as common as finding a hundred dollars lying on a busy street.

“Lisa? Hello! Earth to Liss!” Jamie waved his hand in front of my face, bringing my attention back to them. “Wake up!”

“Huh? What? Sorry, I thought… I mean, I could have sworn…” They all looked at me like I was crazy. Maybe I was.  “Never mind. Can we go for a walk?” I asked desperate to walk off my sudden nerves. It seemed that I couldn’t go even a few hours without weirdness affecting my life.

“Sure.” Jasmine said immediately jumping to her feet. That’s what I loved about her. She knew when I needed help without me saying anything to her. I shot her a grateful smile and she only just flicked a glance towards me. Maybe I wasn’t the only one weirded out then…… I felt worry grow in my chest but I didn’t say anything.

The others slowly rose as well and we took the escalator to the second floor. My mind began to slowly wander. I wondered what my friends were thinking, what they thought about me keeping secrets, about my dad and if they wondered if I was keeping anything else from them. I stepped off the moving steps and waited for the others who had gotten on after me. Kya and Mikki were off in their own little worlds, Kya staring at the ceiling and Mikki scribbling a weird shape on a fresh page in her sketch book. Jasmine had turned to her iPod, listening to music through a small black headphone, and Jamie stood silently his eyes constantly surveying his surroundings.

“What are you thinking?” I asked him as he stepped off. He jumped slightly and turned his attention away from whatever he had been staring at.

“Hmm? Oh, nothing really. I’m fair tired. Dad made me play five sets in a row last night, plus run six laps of the courts.” His grey-blue eyes reflected his exhaustion from the sport.

“That sucks,” I replied sympathetically. Jamie hated Tennis. Okay, so it wasn’t the actual sport he hated, he used to like it, but it was the competitiveness that he hated nowadays. That combined with a dad who constantly pushed him to play more and more, didn’t exactly raise his happiness level either.

“Mmmm…” came his reply. If there ever was I time I wished I was telepathic, now was it. I wanted to know what they were really thinking. How much they hated me for keeping secrets and what they really thought of me.

 

As we walked around the shopping centre I felt the mood lighten. Mikki and Jamie teamed up and began laughing and ‘captioning’ other shoppers. A large round woman walked past, breathing heavily. Her lime green muumuu had patches of sweat building around her armpits.

“Heeeeh wheeeew” they wheezed, exaggerating their breathing. “I can’t take this…what do you call it? Walking? They need a moving walkway or something to stop me from actually moving!” They exaggerated before collapsing in a fit of giggles.

“You two are so rude!” I told them, but I couldn’t help but smile. Oh, how I loved their enthusiasm.

“But it is funny.” Kya exclaimed a reluctant grin on her face.

“Don’t encourage them.”

“But you’re smiling! We’re off the hook!” Mikki cried as we walked into Jay Jays.

I laughed again and wandered off to look at the selection of hooded jackets. There was a SpongeBob Square Pants one, a grey Hello Kitty one… so many brands, even Elmo from Sesame Street.  I tried on a black Elmo one before putting it back, sighing and walking out of the shop, waiting for the others.

They joined me seconds later and we continued walking the way we had come. As we neared the round woman, Mikki and Jasmine skipped ahead and past the woman, laughing and exclaiming how good it was to be young and fit. I rolled my eyes as the woman glared at my sisters. We kept walking, browsing nearly every shop before we decided to catch a movie. Before we looked at what was showing, we went down to Woolworths where yet another argument began.

“Skittles are awesome!” I shouted playfully.

“EW! No! M&Ms!” Kya replied.

“Skittles are definitely better.” Jamie countered.

“M&Ms d****t!” Mikki sided with Kya. “Skittles lie! They say to taste the rainbow but there are no blue ones!”

 “No way Mikki! Skittles!” Jasmine called and I smirked triumphantly.

“Skittles win yet again.”

We laughed and walked to the cinemas. After ten minutes debating, we chose to see the animated movie which looked entertaining.  Together, the five of us shouted, laughed and talked until the previews began and throughout the movie, occasionally whispered a comment to the person next to us, or laughed at a funny scene. What I loved most about being with my friends, was how I could forget my troubles for the time being and wait until I could figure it all out.

 

****

 

“I better get home guys. Mum wanted me to get changed for some birthday party tonight at the pub.” Kya said three hours later. After the movie we had walked around some more and now we were back in the food court.

“Ooh. Gonna meet any guys there?” I winked at her but she rolled her eyes. Kya had never had a boyfriend in her time, but then again, neither had I.

“Ha ha,” she said sarcastically but her cheeks went slightly pink. She was pretty enough to have anyone she wanted, so maybe she secretly had her eye on someone?

“Yeah, I should probably get home too.” Jamie piped up. “I still haven’t done my chores and if mum gets home before me, I’m dead.”

“Okay, I’ll see you later then.” I replied as I hugged him. The other girls followed suit and Jamie took off towards the exit/entrance.

“Oh, hey, can I grab a lift from your mum?” Mikki asked Kya as the girl dialled on her phone.

“Sure. Hey mum. Can we give Mikki a lift home? Okay, great. Where are you?” she paused and nodded to herself. “Okay, see you there.”  She hung up and hugged me and Jasmine.

“Bye.” Mikki hugged us as well and they took off to another exit.

I sighed and turned around to see that only Jasmine was left.

“You don’t have to go?” I asked with a small half smile.

“I’m not leaving until you tell me everything.” She crossed her hands over her chest and I sighed. I knew I would not get away from this. Maybe it would be good for me.

“Can we go to the park down the road? It’s more private there.”

 

*****

 

Jasmine sat across from her friend on the smaller swing. Lisa had gotten to bigger one so it was only fair that she did not complain. Her friend was about to tell her something very upsetting, it was just in her eyes. Jasmine could read Lisa like an open book… sometimes she found out more than she wanted, or needed, but Jasmine needed Lisa as much as Lisa needed Jasmine, and both girls knew it.

“It’s always the same.” Lisa began, looking at her feet as her body rocked slightly back and forth. “Ever since my mother died my dad has been acting weird, like he’s forgotten…” she trailed off and after a few minutes she continued. “I used to like Maria, before they got married. It was on their wedding day, when she told me she would become my mother I knew that I hated her. I never began; it was just a burst of hatred for trying to make me forget. My mother was the best thing that had happened to me and when she died, I fell apart, and I’m still not back together, there are huge chunks still gone. My mother had no family so I have no-one else who remembers. James didn’t notice how I drew back from family activities with Maria, Amy and himself. He didn’t care, still doesn’t.”

Jasmine felt sorry for her best friend. She didn’t deserve to have a crap father or stepmother. Her mother shouldn’t have died, but apparently the disease was unavoidable and untreatable. Vaguely she wondered if her best friend would be the next… and shuddered at the thought.

“So, sometimes, when I get angry at Maria and she pulls the ‘I’m trying to be nice’ routine, James believes her and slaps me for being disobedient, I guess. I don’t actually know why he does it.” She winced as she wiped the foundation from her cheek and Jasmine gasped. Black, purple and dark blue bruises coloured her cheek. “That’s what happened last night. Maria bought meat lover’s pizza and she knows full well I’m a vegetarian. She then whined to James about me being fussy and James came in and hit me after I yelled at him because I don’t another mother, Jazie! I don’t want a stepmother, I want my mother!” Lisa broke down in sobs. “I just want m-my mum.”

Jasmine jumped off her swing and hugged her friend. She maybe two years older, but Lisa needed protection. She needed someone to be here to hug her at every opportunity. Every time she felt sad. She needed a boyfriend that loved her and would take her away from this horrible place.

Strangers looked on as the two girls on the swings hugged and didn’t move for hours.

 

 

Author's Note

This is Chapter Two of Aldrose.
I would really love any Criticism, good or bad.
Thanks a lot.