Hidden Identities

'You're my Clara'

|Avril|

I sat on my bed with Larry opposite me whilst scavenging through an address book, trying to disguise the obvious tension in my body. I flicked another page looking for a certain surname.

Valentina?...Valvis?...Vaquera?...Vega?...Vega!

'I found it' I gasped suddenly, startling Larry who was engrossed in my quote book.

I glanced at the page and wondered why it was so hard for him to understand my favourite quotes. 'Her heart was a secret garden and the walls were very high '

'Lemme see' He finally said, leaning forward towards me to see the heavy book on my lap.

'Can you read upside down?' I asked him curiously.

Ignoring my question he muttered 'James and Phiona Vega...180 Langton Avenue. That's only about 15 minutes away'.

I gulped, this was probably the biggest decision of my life: To find my parents. 'Larry can you cover for me if I go?'.

'I'll cover for us both'.

'Both?'

'You need a drive'.

'But you don't have...wait you don't mean drive on your motorbike?'.

'Yes'.

Short and stiff answers were how our conversations would go on, as he began walking to my door I muttered a word of thanks.

'I'm pretty sure I owed you it anyway' He softly replied.

I shrugged in return.

After that panick attack I was broken.

I calmed down after Larry finally got hold of Gina and she coaxed me out of my cave. I couldn't be angry at them, they had given me such an amazing childhood. A wrong childhood. Thought it was still a childhood. Yet at the same time I felt guilty, they deserted Larry...

~

'I. Can't. Do. It'.

'You have to!'.

'I went on your scary motorbike for you'.

'You only went on it to get here'.

I let out a shaky breath, 'But what if they don't accept me? What if they don't-'.

Larry groaned, 'Shutup and just ring on the damn doorbell before I throw you through a wall to get into that house!'.

|Larry|

She stared up at me with those wide puppy dog eyes as her lips began to tremble. Was she 5 months younger than me or 5 years?

'Will you hold my hand?' She asked as I coughed in surprise.

'Why?'.

'Moral support?'.

I rolled my eyes but took her left hand into mine and flinched at the coldness, 'Okay ring the doorbell now' I instructed, I feel like I'm talking to a toddler.

I winced at the memory of Avril and I having to babysit my aunt's son.

That should have been teen abuse.

Seconds after my flashback a woman with dark brown hair opened the door with a confused expression on her face, 'Hello, can I help you?'.

I looked at Avril, assuming she would give an answer but the doll had turned mute with a goldfish expression across her face. Oh yeah and she was pretty much stopping the blood circulation in my hand.