The Goldman Estate

Chapter 5

The Name of Life- Spirited Away

Artemis Hawking, Her House

    I open my eyes to a golden glow flowing through my curtains and the ruckus from my neighbors. Mr. Hutchinson, my upstairs neighbor, was getting his children ready for school. He's been a single father for about two years now, his wife had passed away after an accident with rocks. I occasionally babysit for them. Extremely nice family, they pay well too.

    Turning off my alarm clock that had bits of chipped silvery paint, I stood up. I rubbed my eyes and yawned. Another downside to going to Themis Academy is how early it starts. School starts at 7:30 in the morning. Which means I have to wake up at 5:45 in the morning. I yawned once more and walked to the kitchen. My dad was sitting on the counter reading the newspaper and eating cereal. He waved me good morning and I waved back. His pale skin shined a golden peach color from the light through the window.

    I opened the fridge and got out the almond milk. My dad is allergic to regular dairy products. I set the milk down on the gray marbled counter. I got the bowl from the cabinet and my favorite cereal, Berry Berry Kix. My dad laughed. "What?!" I looked at him, he smiled and looked up at me. "You always eat those. Now, you understand how unhealthy they can be right?" His smile had turned into a cheeky smirk. I rolled my eyes and started to eat my cereal.

    After I finished eating the best cereal in existence, I placed my small glass bowl into the sink and made my way back to my room. Pulling out my white button up dress shirt and black plaid I started to feel off, like something bad was bound to happen. My hands started to shake and my chest felt tight. I took a deep breath but it really didn't help. I pushed aside the feeling and continued to get ready. I packed my school bag and grabbed my keys. I headed out the door.

    Starting my descent down the stairs I started repeating what I was going to say to the boy from yesterday. The apologies I was coming up with all sounded fake and sarcastic. Next thing I knew, I was down the stairs, past the door, and at the bus stop. The bright yellow school bus soon arrived. I gripped my backpack straps tightly, so much my knuckles had started to turn a pale white. I took my seat in the second row next to the window. I was one of the first ones on the bus due to my living area. I preferred the front of the bus, the back was full of rich, snobby stoners. The middle was full of the richest of the rich at Themis but in the front, nobody sits up here. I liked it that way.

    Pulling up to the rounded drop off area I was one of the first to get off the bus. Heading forward I went straight to the girls locker room. There was a pep rally early this morning. It was the first Friday of October. When I walked into the room, I was alone. No one else was there. Hell, even the lights were off. The room felt like one of those high school locker rooms someone was going to get murdered in, like in a horror movie. My hand followed the curves and dips of the walls until my hand hit a metal box. My hand continues to feel around the box waiting to feel the switch. When it did, I flipped it on. I quickly shielded my eyes from the blinding light. There was a sudden crash making my stance feel unsteady.

    I snapped my head back to face the area I heard the crash from. Even though I had no clue on how to fight, I put my fists up. Whoever or whatever it is doesn't gotta know I don't know how to fight. My feet slowly started to move towards the noise.

"Hello? Is someone there?" I said, raising my voice slightly. I hoped whoever it was didn't know I was terrified right now. There was another crash, this time louder than the last. "Hey! Last chance before I beat the shit outta you!" My voice once more raised.

    I opened the curtain fully ready to get beat up. Instead of a perv or a weirdo. There was a girl. She looked about eight years old, no older than eleven for sure. Her long darkish blonde hair was pulled into two braids resting on her shoulders. Her clothing choice was a long cream white gown. Looking as if she was from the 1800's. She rubbed her head as she stood up to look at me. Her blue eyes seemed full of confusion. "Hello, who may I ask are you?" She said to me, I was now also confused. Everyone at Themis knew who I was. I was the only one here that wasn't made of money.

    "I'm Artemis, Artemis Hawking. I'm a sophomore here at Themis. You are?" I said to her, my voice had lowered back down to my normal tone. Her face had even more confusion. "I am Elizabeth Goldman. I am pondering one thing in my mind what is a sophomore and a Themis?" I was stunned, who the hell was this girl?

    I explained to her that sophomore was a term for the tenth year of school and that Themis was a high school. Her face dropped as she looked around. Her breath became shallow. She was panicking. "I had never heard such a queer explanation! This is no school and there are no tenth years that exist! More importantly I will not have you disrespect my family. This property isn't a school. This is my family's estate." That is when I realized. She was a spirit. My dad had always said my mom had a special way of seeing the world around her and that she could talk to spirits. I thought he was lying, but now, I'm not so sure.