More Than Us

Sophie

Lily introduced me to everybody. The girl with ginger hair and the big smile was called Nina. There were two girls other than Nina and Lily; Steph and Alice. Steph had lilac hair cut in a neat bob that shaped her face, highlighting her shark cheekbones and big eyes. Alice had long dark hair that reached the small of her back, but she had it tightly plaited to her head. There were two boys, Leo and Jack. Leo had light brown hair, and he was managing to make the greasy and dirty hair work for him. He had green eyes that seemed bright and alert. Jack was more laid back, with a mess of brown curls, a sharp jawline and a chiselled nose, he was real good looking, yet he seemed unaware of this, and stayed reserved, saying few words to me.
"This is the gang," Lily smiled at the group of misfits that stood around us. Steph lifted her chin, as if looking down on me.
"Don't get used to this, we are taking you to the nearest shelter," she turned and walked away, her jeans shaping her thin legs and highlighting her curvy figure.
"Don't listen to her honey," Nina said, putting her arm around mine. "I think you might stay with us for a bit." I pushed Nina away, who seemed startled and slightly hurt.
"Will somebody actually explain to me what I'm doing here?" I shouted, my voice croaky and not sounding as threatening as i'd hoped. Jack put his arm around Nina, who instinctively put her arm around his waist.
"Let's wait for Steph to come back with dinner, and we will explain it all then," Jack said to me in a stern but calm voice. He couldn't have been more than a year older, but he felt like the father of the group. I turned to find Lily, but she'd walked off towards the trees. I felt my heart sink, but I couldn't think why.
"She's just gone to get firewood," Nina let go of Jack and came to sit near me on the floor.
"Can you please explain something to me," I whispered, identifying Nina as the kindest one of the group. She looked around at the others, all too engrossed in their own conversations to notice us.
"We call ourselves The Movement," she whispered, and her voice reminded me of something I couldn't quite picture.
"We help and save children, like you, who have been locked in those houses all their lives. We take them to shelters where they will be properly looked after, except in some cases, where they join us. Steph," Nina looked over at the direction Steph had walked off in.
"Steph was rescued just like you were, but because we found her when she was 18, she was too old for the shelters. So she joined us." I heard distant shouting, and we looked over. Steph was running back with Lily on her back, both of them laughing. I found myself fixated on Lily again, the way her nose crinkled as she laughed, and her hair flopped forward as she couldn't contain her laughter. They collapsed on the floor, still laughing, and the sound of Lily's laugh filled me with such a strong feeling of happiness. I turned back to Nina, who was looking over at Jack and smiling.
"Sorry," I said, and Nina turned back to me, another big smile on her face. "But I think you've done a mistake. I haven't lived there all my life, I moved there when I was 6." Nina looked interested.
"So, you've been outside? You can remember before you moved there?" I saw Alice look up from her book as she listened into our conversation.
"Sort of," my mind flashed back to the memories I had spent 10 years trying to repress. I shook my head. Nina gave a sympathetic smile just as Steph walked over. She walked behind me and started playing with my hair.
"This is far too long," she mimed cutting it with her hands, and I felt in edge. Lily walked over and I suppressed the urge to smile.
"I'll cut it for you if you like?" I nodded and gave a shy smile. Lily returned it, and walked behind me. She knelt down and put her head closer to mine.
"How short?" she said quietly. My heart was racing too fast to understand what was happening, but I managed to choke out a sentence.
"Whatever you think." Lily ran her hands through my hair, and shivers went up my spine and into my chest. I heard Lily unzip a bag behind me, and I felt the scissors at the base of my neck.