Some of the Travels of Sophie

The Story of Rachel

Rachel Lestari was an ordinary girl living in an ordinary neighbourhood on planet Earth. Her daily routine was pretty similar to most girls her age; she went to school, did chores, fought with her foster parents, and anxiously waited for either her MIA father or sister who abandoned her and her brother Kris to return and bring her life back to something normal.

Since the day her mother died her life had been hell. She'd only been ten at the time, but out of her three siblings she felt like she'd been the closest to their ammi. She used to go on walks with her, helped her and dad cook dinners, showed her all her stories. She remembered curling up in bed with her when she was too sick to move, and watching science documentaries that she didn't understand, listening to her ammi's comments with awe. Witnessing her suffer the way she did for so many years, with her dad off in space having the time of his life without them, his family, had been the worst thing that had ever happened. The day she died had been unbearable. It already would've been dark and depressing if that had been the only thing that had occurred. She'd been at school when her ammi died, and she never even got to see her afterwards; when she and her siblings had arrived home it was to social workers who'd told them the news and advised them to pack up their stuff. Rachel and Kris had gone to their room, cried as they packed their lives into small bags, and then emerged to even more heartbreaking news. Sophie, their older sister who had always been there for them, had run away without even a goodbye. Looking back, Rachel got furious just thinking about it, how she'd lost everyone in her family in one day. It wasn't like Kris counted – since they'd moved into their crowded foster home they'd barely spoken. She was sure they'd been friends when they were kids, but things had changed; now she was alone. No one cared about her, and she wasn't sure she even wanted them to.

For years she'd lived a desperately empty life. Most days she didn't see the point of going on. She missed everything she'd left behind – all of her ammi's books and knick knacks had been claimed and stored away somewhere, and she had nothing but her notebook and some clothes that her dad had mended and she'd refused to throw out to remind her of her old home, her old life. She hated her new foster family, she hated the tiny room she shared with three other girls, and being forced to go to school where she was bullied by classmates and lectured by teachers, and the weird bland food they had for every meal, and the way Mr and Mrs Hesterson always talked to her in that sickly voice that told her they pitied her. She hated the way Kris didn't seem to be upset by everything that had happened to them; he played holo sports, hung out with friends, bonded with the Hestersons as if they made up for the parents they'd lost. She was furious, she was alone.

What was even the point?

She'd found ways to cope, of course, little acts of defiance against a universe that hated her. Like figuring out how to disable the house alarm so she could sneak out and go for walks at night. She liked it when the world was (relatively) dark and quiet and she could just walk around, get a break from how cramped and stuffy her house was. She had a super old and janky digifile that she used to write in. When Rachel had been younger she'd written stories, now she mostly used it as a journal. It was the one private thing she had, and it helped keep her from killing someone. Most of the time that someone was Kira-Lee, the brat of a girl she was forced to share a room with. Or any of the idiots at school. And sometimes simply herself.

So it goes.

One day, like most others, she took the hoverbus to school and headed to the floor where all her classes were. She sat down in her booth in the corner and hooked into the systems, immediately disengaging from reality as her classmates chatted or played loud music around her. School was the main place she had access to technology, so she tried to make the most of it. She was catching up with updates in Glyphscape when today's supervisor called for their attention. Rachel looked up uninterestedly and groaned internally. There was a new kid in their class and guess where the only spare seat was? She mentally prepared herself for an agonising introduction to a person who she did not want to interact with as he was directed towards her booth.