Golden Lockets

Real Love

Serenity had marched straight out of the house, slamming the door behind her and storming down the garden path. Angry tears streamed down her face and her hands were clenched in fists of rage. She could hear her father's forlorn shouts and cries, but she didn't turn back. Serenity didn't even consider turning on her heel and going back inside; she kept walking as if he didn't exist.

When Serenity reached the gate she sprinted off down the road. Her heart felt like it had been torn into tiny fragments, piece by piece. She had been lied to before, but nothing compared to this. The horrifying truth stuck to her like slime, echoing inside her mind, blocking out the sound of everything else.

"Your dad's a liar," a terrifying voice from deep within her mind bellowed, "He's lied to you for all these years."

Serenity wanted to believe her dad was an honest man. She wanted to believe that her mum really did leave to go to Heaven. She wanted to believe that George was all she had in the way of a parent. But now the truth had been revealed - it was all too real; too sudden; too scary.

Serenity ran through the busy suburban streets of London, barely watching where she was going. It felt like she was trying to run away from myself. Her thoughts were whirling around so furiously that she ran into pedestrians walking peacefully down the footpath. They shouted and pushed her out of the way, muttering abuse under their breath. This made Serenity feel worse, as if no one cared about her...

"No one cares about me," Serenity thought. "If they did then all I would hear was the truth, not a whole bunch of lies about... My dad..."

Serenity couldn't bring herself to think about it all; it would be too horrible and humiliating. She sprinted along the road, and was getting short of breath, huffing and puffing like a steam train, but she continued running. She didn't stop running until she was suddenly halted by a head-on collision.

It happened so fast that there was barely any time to stop. Serenity found herself caught up in a whirlwind of red hair, skinny limbs and a scattering of freckles - She had run straight into Adam! He had fallen onto the pavement with a heavy thud, ending up completely stunned on his back.

"Oh, God!" Serenity cried, leaping over to help him. "I'm so sorry, Adam!"

"It's all right," Adam replied, staggering to his feet. He eyed Serenity cautiously, as if she might spontaneously attack him. "Are you still mad at me?"

"No, I don't have time to be mad at you right now," Serenity said stiffly. She suddenly softened as all the memories of the past hour flooded back into her mind. She felt her eyes brimming with tears. A single tear dribbled down her cheek, and it was swiftly followed by another.

"Oh, Serenity, don't cry," Adam said, taking her in his arms and hugging her tight. Serenity took no notice of his plea and continued to sob, clinging to him like a little monkey. Adam didn't complain; he held her close and gently stroked her long golden hair.

"Adam," Serenity wept, "everything's gone terribly wrong. I can't believe it."

"What's happened?" Adam asked.

Serenity pulled away from him and fixed her bright blue eyes on his concerned face. She wiped a few stray tears from her face, took a deep breath and proceeded to explain to him everything she had been told earlier that morning. When she concluded her story Adam was absolutely speechless; he stared at Serenity in disbelief, wondering if he'd imagined the whole thing.

But he hadn't. Serenity really had just told him that she was a result of unprotected queer intercourse... and he had no idea how to react.

"I don't know what to do anymore, Adam," Serenity said forlornly. "I can't stay here anymore; it would be far too embarrassing. What am I going to do?"