𝕽𝖊𝖇𝖊𝖑𝖘||𝕺𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖆𝖑 𝕬𝖕𝖕𝖑𝖞𝖋𝖎𝖈||

Chapter 2

"Nick!!" The brown haired girl called. The 3-month-old black and white puppy- Nick- stopped playing long enough to turn around to face his owner; his floppy ears lifted with attention. He bounded up the deck stairs and up to her, running around her legs. Aiofe laughed. "Calm down, Nick!" Finally, she was able to clip the leash onto his collar.

Aiofe was turning 16. Most normal people would spend the day with their family, but Aiofe wasn't normal and her family really wasn't normal. She loved her father and step-mother, but she missed her real mom. Nothing had been the same since she had died. So instead she was going to hang out with her recently made friend, Lydia Heart. Yes, the Lydia Heart. The two had met at Aiofe's school when Lydia gave a motivational speech in Aiofe's class. The two then ended up bumping into each other after school, and voila, a friendship was born.

Lydia wasn't like other famous people- she didn't do anything for the money, she did it because she wanted to. And she was so... inspiring. She was the poster child for chasing your dreams. And so far, Aiofe loved hanging out with her. So today they were going to hang out at the dog park with Nick.

Al Aideen settled down on the sidewalk bench with their siblings, Noah and Aster, and their white cat, Magic. They pulled their guitar out of its case and settled it on their lap.

"What are you going to play?" 10-year-old Aster asked.

"Not sure." They answered. "What do you want to hear?"

"Lovely!" Noah- Aster's twin brother- begged.

"She plays that one all the time though!" Aster groaned, but then he stopped. "Sorry, they. They play that one all the time."

"Aster, you know I'm cool with anything." Al said with a smile.

"Do something new, something we haven't heard!" Aster continued to beg.

Al thought for a moment. "OK." They gently began to strum the strings on their guitar. And then they started to sing.

"'Some days

It's hard to see

If I was a fool

Or you a thief

Made it through the maze

To find my one in a million

And now you're just a page

Torn from the story I'm living'"

Their voice was so beautiful, it drew a crowd. Normally, they would sing original songs, but Al didn't have anything fresh, so it was a cover instead. They were nearly done with the song before two people barreled through the crowd, two cops chasing them. The two girls probably would've gotten away, had someone not tripped them up. Both of the girls fell onto the sidewalk, the smaller one on top. The one on the bottom had teal-black hair and she closed her eyes, probably admitting defeat. Magic, frightened, tried to run off, but Al grabbed her and handed her to Aster.

Time for a bit of acting.

"There you two are!" Al exclaimed, pretending to know these strangers. They turned to the two cops. "Officers, I am so sorry. What did my sister and her friend do this time?"

"Which one is your sister?"

Al looked at the two girl and decided the one with the dyed hair would probably be a more believable story. "The one with the dyed hair. Her name is Alison." They wildly invented.

"Well, Ms. Alison here was caught beating up a defenseless boy." The cop explained. The two girls on the ground must've been smart, because they had yet to move.

"You make it sound like I beat a toddler. The guy was my age." 'Alison' sassed.

"Alison, knock it off." Al said. The girl gave a glare that hid confusion.

"It doesn't matter what his age is, you can't beat someone up for no reason."

"He touched my girl!" The girl said angrily. Al stepped in between the officer and the two girls, still laying on the ground.

"Officer, I am very sorry for the trouble my sister has caused, she has extreme anger issues. She's going to therapy for it and she's doing better, but sometimes she can't control it all that well. Can you let her off with a warning? Just this once?" They begged.

"Fine." The officer said after a moment. "Just this once." With that, the two cops walked away. Al helped the two girls to their feet.

"Thanks." The smaller girl said.

"No problem." Al brushed it off. "So who are you really?"

"Why would I tell you that?" The taller girl asked gruffly.

Al giggled. "Well, I'm the person who just saved you from jail time. I'm Al Aideen." Still, the tall girl did not respond. The smaller girl rolled her eyes.

"I'm Razia Khan. This is my girlfriend, AJ Kane." She said.

"Nice to meet you." They looked the other girl- AJ- up and down. "AJ suits you better than Alison, what was I thinking?"