Whispers of Orion

Chapter 1

I stand in the bathroom getting ready. I carefully straighten my hair, taking care to not burn myself. I smooth on concealer, blush, mascara. Cover my lips in red. Then carefully stepped into the dress I had slipped from sister's closet earlier. I was almost ready.

I stopped, listening for any movements outside before opening the door. There were none. It was 11:53. My family was sleeping. Good.

I stalk my way across the hall to my room, closing my door as quiet as possible. I slip on the heels next to my bed, also borrowed from my sister's room, and stop in front off the mirror.

At a glance I look beautiful. Blond hair and dark brown eyes, the dress makes my body appear to have curves, which are otherwise non-existent, and my makeup looks flawless. But a closer look would tell you otherwise. The curves are an illusion, created by the form- fitting dress. There are too many angles, especially on my face. No softness, roundness, like other girls would have. And definately a flat chest. I adjust the gel bra inserts to look more natural and sigh to myself.

Checking the clock again, I see it's 11:59. One minute to go. I deftly slide open my window, slipping one heeled foot over the ledge. When I'm on the sill, I slide the window shut, silently, before dropping the four feet to the ground. Expertly landing on my toes, so as not to mess up my heels, I see that it's 12:00. Time to go.

On schedule, as always, Solana's quietly making her way down my road, stopping two houses down, just in case neighbors are looking. I keep under the cover off the trees extending into my backyard, then duck behind a fence, before making it to the car. Solana opened the door from the inside and I slid in.

Looking at Solana, I'm always awed and slightly jealous. She is beautiful. She is mature. She is feminine. More feminine than me anyway. But we both know why that is.

"How's it going, Scar?" She asked.

"Amaze. We haven't been to Hangway in for-e-ver I replied, drawing the syllables out.

Solana turned on the radio then, and we spent the rest of the drive listening to Bring Me the Horizon.

Hangway was a small club dedicated to LGBT+ teens. Solana's girlfriend, Maya, started it about a year ago. It was a place where queer teens could hang out during the day and party at night, away from the persecution we get during the day.

After listening to Bring Me the Horizon for almost an hour,  we parked in a public garage a couple blocks away from Hangway.

The bouncer recognized us, of course,  and let us in. The music could be felt and heard in the stairwell, and became louder as we made our way upstairs. As we opened the door, we were surrounded by bodies and music. The crowd collectively swayed to the song that was on. Me and Solana made our way to the drink table and sat down. She sipped her drink, scanning the room for Maya. I looked too, but there was no sign of her. Probably taking care of business in the back.

A familiar song came on and my and Solana moved to the dance floor. We enjoyed outselves, dancing through several songs, until I felt a sheen of sweat on my body. A familiar figure came up and took Solana's hand, and I waved to Maya as Solana was dragged away. I continued dancing, alone, as the song changed again, to something with a low bass and interesting mysterious-sounding undertones. My surroundings seemed to speed up and slow down at the same time. My vision became hazy.

As I looked up, I saw a figure walking through the crowd. At first, I couldn't figure out what was off about this person. But then I realized the small details. The person had hair, darker than anything else in the room, an absolute black that I had never seen in a person before. They also had electric green eyes, that almost seemed to glow in the dim light. The person moved closer to me, and an angelic face, that had features that could have been of any gender, looked up at me. My mind went blank. The person started gyrating their hips, and I followed suit, dancing with this strange, beautiful person for what seemed like hours, or seconds, I couldn't tell.

The song started to slow, and so did the person, and I was afraid they were going to leave. They turned, and all I could think was wait, who are you? The person turned back and came close to me. Stupidly, expecting a kiss, I prepared myself. But no, the person went to whisper something in my ear.  "Orion" the voice came out clear over the music, as if spoken in my mind. I closed my eyes, savoring that one word that sounded like velvet. As if from a distance, I heard the song end.  When I opened my eyes, the person was nowhere to be found.

I was still really dizzy, my vision pulsing in and out of blurriness, but I managed to make it to the table. I got some water to try and help, and searched for the dark hair of an angel. I could see noone that even remotely looked like the person, Orion, I'm guessing that was their name. Overcome by dizziness, I lay my head down on the table. A few minutes later, there was a hand on my back. "Scar?" "Scarlet?!?! Wake up!" I looked up to see Solana and Maya with worried looks on their faces. "Scar are you okay?" Do you want to go home? Feeling weak, I nodded my head, and slowly rose to leave, giving the room one last sweep in search for Orion.

In the car, I lay my head against the window, relishing in the cold feeling. I stare out at the stars as we made our way out of the city. Orion  I thought like Orion's belt. I'm not able to make any coherent thoughts after that.

At my house, I refuse the help of my friends, insisting that I can make it up the steps by myself. As soon as I get to the door, my mind clears, and the dizziness goes away. Thank goodness. I use the spare key from a potted plant next to the door and open it, still trying to keep quiet. I realize a few seconds later that that was useless.

A bright light cuts through the darkness that I'm used to, and I stare up into the angry faces of my parents. I look down at my heel-clad feet, knowing that I'm about to get yelled at and possibly killed. But my dad only replies with two sentences.

"Get that crap off of you and go to bed. Tonorrow, we're gonna have a long talk, young man"