Boundless

Chapter 3

Emilia walked down the crowded pathway, to where her friends were eating lunch. She sat down next to Jordan and stretched out her legs. Jordan turned to face her and grinned. "Hey, Milly." she said brightly. "How were your holidays?"
Emilia shrugged. She hadn't done anything other then surfing at the little private beach they had. She would paddle out past the red and yellow stripped buoys and float back in to shore. The waves weren't all that big, but that didn't bother her. She preferred the soft splash rather than a raging wave. She would lay on her board and ponder things, things that a normal teenage girl would. She'd catch the last wave in and sit at the waters edge, watching the glowing sun dip below the horizon. Emilia always thought that sunset was the most magical time of day. Her mother, real mother, used to call it 'the golden time'. Everything took on a golden tinge, lighting but softening the sharp shapes that everything gave off. At that time the shadows grew longer and lighter, the air was always at a delightful and comforting temperature. Emilia loved to spend that time alone, it brought her back down to earth and reassured her, before sending her back off into her dark and lonely universe.
"Just some surfing and, uh, family time." Emilia wasn't sure if it was family time or 'getting to know the people who loved her as much as they loved each other' time.
"Well, while you were off in your own little world, I found out some goss." Jordan said, her eyes sparkling.
"Spill." Emilia said, pulling out her lunch. "We have five new people coming into our year. I'm pretty sure they start today. And you'll never guess who came to see me." She whispered the end part. Emilia looked at her, then looked around a bit, before resting her eyes back on Jordan and shrugged. "My dad."
Emilia raised an eyebrow. She didn't need to ask, she already slipped into her mind earlier. Jordan's dad had left her family when she was only 9. Her mother stopped caring for her and her brother, Josh. They got put into care of their Aunty and Uncle. Their mother died from a drug overdose and slitting her wrists. It left Josh traumatized and Jordan a wreck. Jordan got over it much faster then Josh. He sits at school alone and sometimes someone might catch him sobbing. Jordan's family is torn apart and un-fixable.
"How'd that go?" Emilia asked holding her hand.
"Not too well. Josh lost his cool and attacked him."
Emilia new what it was like to not have a family. She had a younger brother too, but from what she new he wasn't her dads son. She'd tried to find him for years but gave up, figuring that he wasn't alive anymore.
"Don't spend too much time thinking about your dad. He shouldn't deserve to be on your mind. And I know that isn't the only thing." Emilia said, a small smirk appearing. Jordan started to blush and let her eyes travel over to the 'A group'. Emilia followed her eyes to where Tristan Bell was sitting. Tristan had adopted the name 'golden boy'. He had golden hair and golden, tanned skin. He was the most popular person in the school, everyone loved him.
"Oh, one other thing. Stacy is making up rummers about you. Well I think they're rummers."
Before Emilia could say anything else she was interrupted by a teacher.
"Jordan. Emilia. We have a few new students and I would like you to look after them for the first few days."
A group of students were standing near by him. He started to introduce them but Emilia already knew their names. Lilias, Guinevere, Myels, Finn and Rhys. Emilia's eyebrows drew together and her eyes narrowed. She got a strange feeling in her stomach. Something wasn't right. Whenever she tried to dip into their minds she got stuck at a wall. She tried one more time on Rhys, but was caught off guard by an explosion of a memory. Emilia sat on a stone bench, surrounded by bright green trees and vines. She was sitting next to a boy. She couldn't see his face, it was blurred. She looked about 9. It must have been just after she ran away. They were talking but Emilia couldn't hear herself or the boy. She could only see their mouths moving. It started to rain, but they still sat there. Emilia was looking into the boys eyes. They were a deep, chocolate brown.
Emilia was flung out of the memory but remained looking into those deep, chocolate brown eyes. She felt the urge to throw her arms around the owner of the eyes, but also wanted to run away. The owner of the eyes smirked, that snapped her out of her reverie. She realized that she was looking into Rhys' eyes. She looked at Jordan, who was already looking at her. Emilia looked down at the ground and felt heat spread over her cheeks. She hasn't blushed in years. It made her feel queazy and vulnerable. Before anyone could say anything the bell rang. Emilia was out of there in a second. Making sure she wasn't going to fast. She heard her name being called. She didn't want to turn around and look back into those eyes. Rhys made her feel warm and happy. He made her want to curl up in a corner and cry. He made her want to run as far away as she possibly could.
Once Emilia made it to her classroom, Rhys was already there. He was sitting up the back with an empty seat next to him. Emilia looked around the classroom to find a vacant seat but was disappointed. She slinked up the back to the spare seat and slipped into it, without once looking at Rhys.
"Hey, I'm Rhys."
That's all it took to get Emilia to look at him and she was gone. Sunk back deep into his eyes. She quickly looked away and turned her attention to the teacher. She tuned out most of the lesson. It was history and she knew everything about it. She caught herself thinking about Rhys and cursed to herself.
"You know, it's not nice to curse." Rhys said, scribbling down some notes.
"What? I didn't-" Emilia started but stopped short getting a glare from the teacher. She then realized she had said it out loud. She sunk down low in her seat and ignored everything around her. She couldn't wait until it was over. It was only the first day of school for her, after many years, and she was already dreading coming back.
The bell finally rang dismissing them. Emilia shoved her things into her bag and quickly walked out the door. She had only just made it out of the door when a hand grabbed her arm. She spun around about to make an excuse not to talk to whoever it was, when she realized it was Jordan.
"Oh, it's you." Emilia said relaxing a bit. They started to walk out of the school gates, quieter then usual.
"What's up?" Jordan asked, realizing how quiet Emilia was. Emilia shrugged. "Just school stuff." That wasn't the whole truth but it wasn't a lie. Emilia already had stacks of school work that she planed on doing as soon as she got home. The whole truth was that Rhys was still playing on her mind. The way he looked at her made her feel at home. He looked at her like they were old friends and that he would protect her no matter what. She hadn't had that feeling in years.
"Damn, I was hoping we could go to the beach and have a surf." Jordan said disappointed.
They went their own ways after saying goodbye. Emilia made it home and walked through the front door.
"Emilia, is that you?" Angela called from the lounge room. "Could you come in here please? We have some guests that I would like you to meat."
Emilia dropped her bag off at the front door and walked into the lounge room. She stopped dead when she saw who was sitting in the chairs.
"Ah! Emilia I would like you to meat Jenifer and Tim Ribe and their son Myels."
Emilia swallowed and recomposed herself. She hadn't completely met Myels but something about the way he smiled at her, made her not want to.