The New Girl

The new girl chapter 11

"Do you want that teddy bear, Seline?"

"I'll call him Martin!"

"Will you hug him to bed everyday?" Aunt Elda smiled lovingly at me.

"Yes!! I will kiss him goodnight every night too!" I clenched the fluffy brown teddy bear to my chest and exclaimed with conviction.

Aunt Elda laughed and ruffled my light brown hair. "Then Aunt Elda doesn't get a goodnight kiss from Seline?"

"No! Aunt Elda will get 2 kisses from Seline every night!" I ran forward and hugged Aunt Elda's leg, squishing Martin in between.

Aunt Elda's laughter could probably be heard across the small store. I looked up at her and gave her the biggest smile my little face could afford.

"Okay, okay. You don't have to use that smile on me. I was already planning on buying it for you." Aunt Elda raised her arms in mock defeat.

"Yay!" I jumped happily. "We're gonna be family, Martin!" I told Martin as I followed Aunt Elda to the cashier.

"Here you go, Seline." Aunt Elda passed me Martin after she had made payment.

I took Martin from her. Hugging Martin tightly to me with one hand, I held Aunt Elda's hand with the other. "Thank you, Aunt Elda!" I smiled from ear to ear.

Aunt Elda gave me a look of adoration and replied, "Make sure you don't lose him, okay?"

"Okay!" I skipped down the streets with my tiny legs, still clutching onto Martin.

Then I realised I was alone. Unfamiliar voices surrounded me. There was no sign of Aunt Elda. I turned back and started to search for her frantically, looking left and right. There wasn't the brown bob of hair I was used to seeing. I couldn't find Aunt Elda anywhere. On the streets. In the shops. On the road. Nothing. I started to run.

"Aunt Elda!" My heartbeat was racing. Where is she? I bumped into everyone, pushed people away, but I still don't see her. She was.. gone. Why did she disappear? Did something happen to her? Did she get into an accident? I jerked my head towards the road. No.. There was a mass of people surrounding something on the road. Cars were honking. I could hear the siren of an ambulance. Is it.. No, it cannot be. It looked like the body of a female, lying on the road. My heart sank. I held onto Martin and ran towards the scene, dreading the worst. I could only hear the sound of my breathing, my footsteps, as I ran. If anything happened to Aunt Elda... Tears were flowing down, leaving a trail on the ground. What would I do without her? She was both my mum and dad, she was the one who was always there for me when I was down. She always left the best for me, even if she didn't have anything for herself. She was contented just seeing me happy. How could she leave me alone? I was approaching her closer and closer. My breath became bated, my heart felt like it would explode.

"Aunt Elda!" I shouted and jerked upright. Sun rays blinded me as they hit me from above. Wait.. It was all.. a dream? The black-painted storeroom was right in front of me. I was sitting on the grass patch beside it. Suddenly, everything came rushing back to me. The party. Being locked in the storeroom. Receiving the call from Dylan. Aunt Elda. Shit, Aunt Elda!

"Hey, are you okay?" Skye asked as he crouched down beside me. He looked badly hurt. His elbows and fists were bleeding, and there were long scratch marks on his bare torso.

"Aunt Elda.. I got to go back!" I tried to get up, but forgot about my leg still wrapped in Skye's shirt, and sat back down in pain.

"Careful, you're hurt." Skye said, though he looked like he was in a worse shape than me. "I'll get a cab for us." He staggered to the side of the road, still holding on to his torso wound as he flagged down a cab. He gestured for the driver to wait as he got back to me.

"Here, hold on to me." He put my hands around his neck, and slowly helped me stand up, with him supporting me by the waist. We walked to the cab slowly.

"What.. happened?" I asked him on the way to the cab.

"You fainted."

"How.. How did we get out? Did someone find us? What happened to you?"

"I smashed the window, then climbed out."

"You what?!" I stumbled. Luckily, Skye caught me and pulled me back up before I fell. That could have been a disaster. But did he just say he smashed the window?? Was that why he was so badly hurt? Ouch, that hurt. I winced in pain as I looked down at my leg. Maybe I should worry about myself first. Shouldn't have kicked the door so hard.

"Careful! We can continue once you get your clumsy ass into the car." 

He's rude, but I guess we should probably get to the cab first. He did help us get out of the shed, after all. I decided to keep quiet for now.

Skye supported me the rest of the way and we finally got into the cab. I told the driver my address and we started moving.

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