Revived

Chapter 16

Chapter 16 - Shadows on our faces

"Good bye Miss Georgie." The girls chorused as the lesson ended.

 I nodded to them. "Bye girls. See you tomorrow."

One by one, they marched out of the room. It's quite funny actually. They looked like mini army cadets but dance style. Turning off the lights and shutting the door, I deposited the studio keys in the office and skipped down the outside stairs. A flash of red hair caught my eye.

"Emmelyn?"

She flinched, the movement shuddering down her slouched posture as she sat on the stairs. "Hi miss."

"What are you doing here?" I raised an eyebrow at her. She didn't turn around to face me. So I sat down next to her.

"My sister's late today. I have to wait."

Silence. "How's your sister been?"

"Good."

"That's good." I paused. "Have you seen your mother?"

"No." Pause. "I miss her."

"Has she come to see you?"

"No. Sis won't let her."

"Do you want to see her?"

"Miss you're asking too many questions."

"I read the letter. You were willing to tell me by words. Why can't you speak them?"

"Miss, I'm 13. You tell me."

"I'm here to help. Even if you don't trust me."

She took a deep breath and turned around, looking me in the eye. "I love my mother. She brought me into this world and gave me a chance at life. I would never abandon her or hate her, despite what happened. I know it wasn't her fault."

"What happened?"

She hesitated, her green eyes flicking away from me. "My ass of a dad. He left us for some other rich woman. It broke my mother's heart. She went into a bubble of depression. She started drinking and all that stuff. My sister thought she was dangerous and took custody of me." She looked me straight in the eye and whispered. "I don't think she's dangerous. She's strong. She got over the addiction once she realised I was gone."

"Oh Emmelyn." I murmured. I wanted to comfort her, to hug her, but my arms stayed glued to my sides. It felt like I was invading her privacy.

"I'm not gonna give up on her. I love my mum. And love is enough to power my spirit and determination to mend this. Love makes it worth the pain and suffering."

The full force of the words smacked into me. There was nothing in this world that could describe this feeling right now. This girl was only 13 and wiser than me. And she was right.  I'll wait for you. Smile. Jordan's text rushed back to me, bringing chills to my body. I didn't want to think about him. It was strange. The feeling just hadn't disappeared.  "It's okay. It will turn out right in the end." I whispered, more to myself than her. "It always does."

"I hope so." She whispered just as the screeching of a car killed our conversation. Emmelyn's head jerked up and lit up in glee. "My sister's here."

A rather old black car stopped right in front of the stairs. The driver's door opened and slammed shut immediately. She was in a rush. Emmelyn shot up and threw herself at the hooded figure and I watched as they embraced tightly. Sister bonds were beautiful things; it's a shame I'm an only child. My eyes were focused on Emmelyn, but I could hear the murmurs of "I'm sorry I'm late." and "Are you okay?" Then for the first time, I looked up at her sister's face. The hoodie had fallen back to reveal a face I knew too well.

"Alice?" I couldn't believe my eyes. Emmelyn's striking hair contrasted with Alice's strawberry blonde hair; their eyes were completely different colours. But that was where the difference ended. The same fair skin as white as clouds, same pale pink lips, same light brown freckles dotted around the nose.

"Huh?" Alice's head jerked up and her eyes fell on me. "Oh sh*t."

"Hi to you too."

"No sorry that wasn't what I meant." Her face lit up in embarrassment. "Sorry."

"It's okay?" I answered, amused. "So you're Emmelyn's sister."

"Yeah. Sorry you weren't meant to find out." She scrunched her face up. "Hey can we talk? After I drop Emms home?"

"Uh yeah sure." I stuttered.

"Get in."

***

"Lock the doors Em. Just in case." Alice called out from the car.

"Yes ma'am!" She called back and slammed the door of their house.

Alice turned to me. "So I'm guessing she told you about my mother."

"Yeah." I whispered.

A sigh escaped her lips. "She's too young and naïve. She sees the situation so simply."

"I reckon she's got a pretty good understanding. What do you mean?"

"Let's go somewhere to talk." She murmured and drove off. We ended up at a small park, just out of town. The sun was just setting, casting red and orange shadows over the area. Silently, Alice exited the car and walked towards the swings. Slowly, I followed her and watched as she sat on one of the swings. I sat on the one next to her. The skinny skeletal branches snaked along the sides of our faces.

"What did you want to say?" I murmured.

She took a deep breath. "I knew my father. Em didn't. She was only 6. We were thorns in his side. He never loved us. He only stayed for my mother's beauty. But she loved him, so much that she would stay up every night waiting for him to come home.  But like many other people, he was greedy, ruthless. Almost evil. He didn't dare hit mum because he wanted to preserve her overwhelming beauty. So he hit us instead." Her eyes bore into mine. "I've got his eyes. And I hate them. I hate him. If I ever see him or that b*tch he cheated on I'll kick them all the way to hell."

"Oh Alice." I whispered.

She shook her head, swallowing back the tears. "He met another woman at some work party. And was attracted to her wealth. He left us, on my birthday." She swallowed another lump of anger. "My birthday!" She cried out. "We were meant to watch the meteor shower that night." She whispered, the tears trickling down her cheeks. "Mother started drinking and taking drugs. She started deteriorating right before my eyes. She was sick. So sick. I was only 18. Fresh out of high school. Do you know how hard it is taking care of a 10 year old and balancing uni and work to support us? All she would do was stay in bed. Not even respond when I call for her. She did nothing to help me. Nothing." The water droplets hung on the sides of her clenched jaw. "I was scared. Scared that she'd start hitting us and hurting Emmelyn. I had to take action. So I took custody of Emmelyn and I rented a house for the two of us to live in."

I gnawed at the side of my cheek. I couldn't imagine the pain. I was wrong. She was a victim. But she was strong. "Are you okay?" I whispered, scrambling to find a tissue.

"Yeah." She whispered. She looked me in the eye again. "When I met Skandar, I was at my weakest. We were running out of money to pay the rent and Emmelyn nearly had to quit the dance studio she was at. She loved dance so much. I couldn't bring myself to force her to stop. Skandar was there for me. He helped me. I swear I didn't know he had a girlfriend. Otherwise I would've never accepted his help." Alice bit her lip. "I'm sorry Georgie."

"It's okay." I whispered. "I understand."

"No I'm really sorry." She murmured. "I know I hurt you. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. You have Skandar now. He'll take care of you." Please forgive me heart. But she needs him more. And I'm willing to give her what she needs.

~~~~~~~~~~

hi sorry. XD. I'm trying I swear.

Not Edited.

~staraniseblue XD