Project GoldCrest ✓

Prologue

Charlotte

The chilly air against my face, felt like a foreshadowing of the events to come later that day. I just didn't know it then.

It was after school, and I'd just said goodbye to my friend Chrissy. I craned my neck, searching for my mother's car. I finally spotted the grey thing at the end of the lot.

I walked over and slipped in the back. Next to my little sister Maddie. She scooted over with her bag. "Hey." I greeted.

Maddie remained silent. I realised why when I glanced at her and saw her ears stuffed with ear pods. Music, of course. She was only 15, so I guess it was understandable considering she was a young teenager.

My mother on the other hand, greeted me back with a hello. "How was school today?"

"Good. Normal." I smiled and saw her roll her eyes in the rear mirror. I knew I had to unpack the details of today's school day and so I started talking again. Careful not to raise my voice too high.

"There's a new girl in school today. I was paired up with her for physics. Her name is Sophia." I said, actually very bored with this subject.

She smiled and looked at me through the rear mirror. "Who are her parents?"

My mother always questioned the parents of my friends. She had her own way of selecting which ones were worthy enough to become new friends of hers. She'd invite them over for tea and stuff like that. Just another little aspect of my life she could control.

"I don't know, mom. I barely said a word to her. But I think her surname was Shermmer."

"Sophia Shermmer? Right, that new family that just moved here."

"Where'd you hear that?"

"Around," With that, my mother dropped the conversation. We drove all the way home, and got inside the house.

Dad was still at work, I could tell based on the empty home. So I made myself an egg sandwich, changed out of my school uniform and took a stroll to the park. I was going to meet my boyfriend, Cole.

I found that the bench where he'd wait for me was empty. This was wierd. I knew that he was very punctual. Maybe he had jumped into a problem on the way.

So I sat down and waited. Ten minutes passed. Five more. When another five passed, I decided to call him. His phone went to voice mail. I left a text message.

Me: hey babe, I'm here waiting for you and you're not here yet. So I'm going to go. You know that my mother doesn't like me staying out long.

I stood up to leave but came to an abrupt stop. I heard something between my ears. Something that could be identified as sniffling. More like crying. I looked around and found that the rest of the people were undisturbed.

Well... all of them except a girl with blond hair. She was walking towards a bench. But another girl was following her as if something urgent was happening. She caught up with her eventually, and roughly pulled on her arm to slow her down. The people in the park paid no mind to them. I, on the other hand, was curious.

Upon closer inspection, I found that the crying girl was Sophia. And that girl who was following her, was Chloe.

That girl who sits at the back of the class and pretends as if she's invisible. No one really talked to her during lessons. Except that boy who followed her around. They also disappeared during break time. Although, this time, he was nowhere to be seen.

From where I was standing, I could just barely make out what they were saying.

I hesitated before walking closer. Maybe I could help resolve whatever problem they had. Sophia had been nice to me earlier at school, considering that it was the first time she saw me. Maybe I could return the favour.