SHARDS

Chapter Two

I opened the door of the apartment, and my older sister was there, reading a book and sipping sparkling lemonade. Lune pushed past me, and twirled in circles on the wooden floor, belting the most obnoxious high note.

Cassie looked up. "Oh, hi, guys. You want to order pizza?"

I frowned and said in my Mum-voice, "Cassiopeia! That is not the reaction we were hoping for! But yes, we would like pizza IMMEDIATELY!" I waltzed over and stole her lemonade. Lune proceeded to make puppy-dog eyes until I offered her a sip.

Cassie smothered a giggle. "Why, hello, small children! Please present that drink back to me! And the usual, correct?" She meant one-fourth pepper-and-sausage, one-fourth pepperoni, one-fourth Hawaiian, (of course Cassie likes pineapple on pizza), and one-fourth meat lovers with mushrooms and olives, for me. We always order a HUGE pizza, so the fourths are big.

"And Cheerios for Polly." I reminded her, plopping the glass back on the table.

"In the kitchen," she said absentmindedly, typing out the order.

"Bnana!" Polly grabbed the end of her long hair and bit it.

"Get off, you little devil!" Cassie laughed. "The bananas are in the fridge, next to the giant rack of soda," she told me.

Her roommate, Alexis, ran downstairs. "HELLO, everyone! Sorry, I had to change. But I'm so excited to see all of you!" She held Polly's chubby little hand and he squealed. "And you can sort of talk now! Wow. Hi, Asha. Hi, Lune. Hi, Heidi and Ben." She pushed up her glasses and attempted to fix her awesome electric blue hair. "My parents are staying home, but I'm going to chill here, so Asha can take the guest room."

"Now you see the chaos produced by the huge amounts of soda." Cassie pointed out knowingly.

"Well, we all woke up at five AM, so we'll be going next door to get some rest," Dad said.

"I slept at seven yesterday, so I think I'm good. I have to get ready for The World School tomorrow." I lugged my bag up to my new summer room (for breaks) and grabbed a soda.

"Nice!" Alexis called. "It's near the Ice Cream Wonderland, right? Cass went last year and she loved it!"

I sighed and pulled out my sketchbook and my unorganized supplies. "Yeah, sounds cool." After cramming everything into my backpack and suitcase, I flipped my packet open and finished a few pages, doodling in the margins. I drew and answered absentmindedly, catching the scent of mocha from the kitchen. Coffee is one of those things that smells amazing and tastes horrible, at least to me, unless you load it with milk and sugar. But Cassie's mocha is unrivaled. I pulled my brain out of the coffee rabbit hole, and my mind wandered away from math and mocha to a dream I'd had in flashes during the car ride. I remembered a blurry image of hands, holding some sort of warm, glowing substance. I sketched a pendant dangling between them- and drew a sharp breath. My heart raced in panic. Not now, not now, I panicked, rushing to the soft bed just as I collapsed, my world transforming into a headache of blinding lights.

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I slowly opened the car door and stepped in front of the building. It was as big as you could expect an international school in London to be. Around the corner, a long line snaked into the entrance of an adorable little shop. In the area surrounding it, people talked and licked ice cream cones without a care in the world.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Mum asked.

"No, I'm fine. Bye, Mum!" I reached to give her a quick hug and then stepped out of the car.

"Bye, love you! Remember to call often!" She blew me a kiss and drove away.

And that was that. A quick goodbye- though I was used to it from regular school. I took a deep breath and gripped my plain black suitcase. It'll be fine. I can handle it.