I'd Call This Love

Part 1: Just A Dream

Ricella Amber pulled back her hair, facing herself in her long bedroom mirror. The house was quiet, because her mother, Regina, wasn't home, and she was by herself. She hated being alone, and tried to speed up her preparation for school so she could be there faster, where there were so many other people.

She never talked to them. It was unwise to speak to other humans, when all they wanted to do was hurt you or harm your idea of yourself. She had learned long ago not to trust people, and the only person she even considered liking was her mother.

"I'm ready," she said softly, and eyed herself one last time. Her long black hair fell over her shoulders in soft waves, but her dark blue-green eyes were very sad and shadowed in sleepless circles. She had not had a very good night last night. Her mind had been going around in circles, trying to discover a solution to her and her mother's problem. But there was no solution that could pop into her mind.

Ricella sighed and went to pick up her backpack from the desk against her wall. Her house was painted in warm colors, especially her room, which was a very rich, Spanish red. It brought out something of a kiss, she thought, that warmed her when she needed some kind of luxurious darkness to hide in.

The whole house was Spanish-styled, and had been made just for the Ambers, her mother and her. She had liked it the minute she saw it, and even now, she still didn't want to give it up. If she could have traded all this hurt and pain for this house, she would have done it a long time ago, though. The house only caused some of it, she knew. And it wasn't going to go away today.

The bus never stopped at No. 23, Silver Heights Avenue. Ricella could walk to school from her home. Her mother worked during the day hours, then went out at night with her boyfriend. As long as Ricella didn't think about her mother's boyfriend, the person who had started all of this, then she could be slightly happy.

Ecklestone High School was filled with young adults as Ricella walked onto the front lawn. She walked directly into the interior hallway, and kept her eyes away from the people who might try to get her attention. The four popular girls, who had seemed to decide they were "it", slid past her as she entered, but Ricella was thinking of other things. Her eyes focused on the space in front of her locker, and she frowned as she realized there was a new group of boys hanging out there, one of them blocking her access.

Ricella knew she would have to speak to them to get them to move, but she hated to do that. If it took a word to a boy, she was going to have a bad day. Ricella shouldered her backpack tighter, and moved down the hallway through her classmates. Then she stopped, just outside the circle of laughing boys.

At first, her presence wasn't noticed. Then one of the boys, blonde with sharp blue eyes, noticed her and smiled. "Hey, what's up?" he said, trying to seem cool.

Ricella pointed arrogantly to her locker behind his friend, a darker skinned boy with somber black eyes. The blonde boy stared at her uncertainly, then glanced at his friend.

"What, is he your boyfriend?"

Ricella hated doing this, but she spoke. "No. I want my locker," she said, her face showing bored disgust.

The blonde boy laughed. "Oh, I see," he said, moving his body slowly and leisurely. Ricella wanted to shove him out of the way, but she focused all her attention on the dark-skinned boy standing against her locker. He gave her one dark look, then shifted his feet as well. Just able to squeeze between them, Ricella hated herself for lowering herself to do this.

"Ugh," she said beneath her breath as the boys moved farther away. "Why are boys so evil?"

"Are they?" someone said behind her back. Ricella swung around, ready to face-off with one of those annoying boys, when another boy entirely stood facing her. This one had short black hair, a wide chest and shoulders, and was almost shorter then as her as he stretched up to reach the top shelf of his locker.