Eyes Story

Chapter 2

I entered the office with only a smidgen of hope that I would find work for this week. But either way, I still have those two watercolour orders to do which would earn me about £50. Not enough to keep a family of four for a week but it would have to do. Four. It used to be five I thought bitterly but pushed the thought away before it could finish.

I walked up to one of the desks. It was manned by Rowan- who I'd been friends with since we were both still in diapers. "What have you got for me today, Ro?" I asked.

"How do tickets to the theatre sound?" he asked back, pretending that's what I was talking about.

"To see what?"

"'Headshot Strikes Back', Paige is coming too" I pulled a face. The three of us had watched 'Headshot' when it first came out a few months ago, it was a bloody and gruesome thriller- it was also laughably bad. "C'mon, it'll be a good laugh! And we can make weird sound effects again to replace the shitty ones they have." Rowan continued. I was guessing he and Paige remembered what day today was and wanted to take my mind off things. I decided I would let them and agreed to go.

"So there is a waitress needed at Icarus' for Thursday and Friday" He informed me.

"Oh yeah?" I said, relief flooding over me. Waitress' were paid about £5 an hour so if I worked evenings there for two days I'd have about £40, that and the paintings should be enough for food and other necessities for the week, including Seth's tuition.

"But that's not it," said Rowan "I also talked to a very nice old lady the other day, she said she was thinking about getting her grandsons portrait painted for his birthday and I recommended her a very good friend of mine who happens to be a spectacular artist-"

"You didn't!" I cried out before he managed to finish.

"Wait!" he replied "and that old lady also happens to be Mrs Grechley, former CEO of Grechley industries" Rowan added, looking smug.

I would have hugged him- and probably crushed him- if it wasn't for the desk that stood between us. Instead I let out a little shriek of joy while doing a little victory dance and said "you're the best Rowan! Thank you so much." He beamed at me. Rowan knew how much this meant to me and how much I needed this. When Zach went missing my father had a period of extreme anger which unfortunately, caused him to lose his job as a night warden- which wasn't even paid that much in the first place. This put us at a major disadvantage as my mother had very few commissions for her artwork and I was a few months too young to get a paid job. We were forced to ask the bank for loans and now we're stuck having to pay them back and continue with our lives. I told my father many times that I should drop out of school to get a full time job but he's fixed on me getting a proper education first.

Of course we weren't the only family with financial trouble. In fact a lot of us were. With work so scarce and food costs rising the poor are left to fend for themselves while the rich sit in their satin clothing sipping exotic tea from expensive china cups. They made me sick. Completely oblivious to their surroundings, to the hungry children that prowled the streets hoping to come across at least one generous soul to toss them a penny, or better yet; a scrap of food. Fortunately my family hasn't gotten to that point yet and I never let myself forget that. I remind myself by helping the less fortunate on the streets whenever I can but because of my circumstances that isn't as often as I would like. All the people who live on the streets have one thing in common though- they all had hazel eyes, as did my mum which would explain her lack of work. Hazel eyes are a mutation and are considered worse than everyone else.

During this time Rowan would try and help me by paying my bus fare to school every Tuesday. A little act but it made me feel better. I tried to dissuade him countless times of course, but failed miserably. We used to joke that he's like a big, over-protective brother but in all truth, most of the time it actually felt like that. Once Zach was gone this became even more true, he would look out for me and wouldn't leave my side even when I screamed at him to leave. He was the best friend anyone could have-

"Oh, you know, no biggy, nothing the mighty Rowan can't handle" although he can be a bit full of himself at times.

"Then why doesn't the 'mighty Rowan' finally tell Paige how he feels instead of waiting for some god-damn miracle to happen?" He turned red as a beetroot at that and started opening and closing his mouth trying to form some sort of sentence but ended up resembling a fish. "You can't wait forever otherwise one day someone will come down and sweep her off her feet and she'll be gone" I sang and made a swooping action. Rowan has liked Paige for just over a year now but hasn't said anything yet. It just so happens that Paige also likes Rowan but is waiting for him to say something first. The poor girl will be grey and crippled by the time that happens at this pace. There seems to be no way that I can speed things up as I pinkie swore Paige that I wouldn't tell Rowan how she feels. And a pinkie swear is unbreakable. I take my pinkie promises very seriously.

"Paige is the daughter of the head of the police force, which means she's quite famous and has a ton of boys trying to get her attention. I wouldn't stand a chance against them" he moaned.

"May I remind you that she already spends most of her time with us? She sneaks out to see you, isn't that evidence enough that you have her attention?"

"She sneaks out to see us, not just me-"he began but I cut him off.

"Just tell her, God, I can't deal with you two anymore!" whoops. That last part slipped out, but at least it would give him a hint. He sure as hell needs one.

"Not today, it's not the right time" I swear these two will be the death of me, I rolled my eyes and turned to walk away. There was a growing queue of annoyed people behind me and I didn't want to be caught up in an argument.

"See you later" I called over my shoulder as I left the office.

****

Walking down the road I stared down at my scruffy, old converse trying not to draw any unwanted attention to myself. The glimpse of blue eyes I had seen this morning have left me on edge, and walking down this particular road was not helping my poor nerves. Pluton road- swarmed with gangs and drug dealers- was known for its roughness and knack for getting people into trouble; fast. But today I was willing to risk it as it was the quickest way home- and the least watched- which is what I wanted right now.

I heard hoots and banging noises and walked a little faster.

"Skylar!" I heard someone call out. No one calls me by my full name anymore, except sometimes my parents, but not very often. I ignored it and walked on hoping they would get bored or think they made a mistake. No such luck, I heard the person calling out again. Damn.

"What?" I snapped as I turned suddenly. The boy looked slightly taken aback and paused for a second but soon regained his composure.

"Your name's Skylar, right? Skylar Kydson?" he asked.

"Why?" I said, not answering his question directly.

"I need you to come with me." He said, his voice suddenly business-like. The boy had messy, medium length, brown hair and was about half a head taller than me. He wore hipster sunglasses so I couldn't see his eyes. But of course they would be brown, like everyone else's. When did I start questioning eye-colour?

"What?! No!" I said, outraged. Who did he think he was?

He grabbed my wrist and said "It wasn't a question."

Oh no you don't I thought and used my free hand to punch him square in the nose. I guess dads self-defence training was worth it I mused as I heard the crunch of bone. The glasses flew off his head and I saw his eyes widen in surprise. But I didn't hang around to see what he was going to do next, instead I turned on my heels and ran off. I took a few side streets to make sure he wasn't on my tail and I wouldn't accidentally lead him to my house. Though the streets were deserted and I heard no footsteps behind me I continued to run all the way home.

Once there, I focused on completing my chores. When the house is clean I can start on my paintings before I leave to meet with Rowan and Paige. But questions kept plaguing my mind: what did he want? How did he know my name? Did I break his nose? I hope I did.