Boundless

Chapter 5

"What did you just say to me?" Angler said through gritted teeth.
"You heard me, don't act like you didn't!" Johnny shouted.
"That's it young man. Out!" She screamed at Johnny. He flipped her off and stomped out of the house, slamming the door behind him. Emilia stood on the stairs watching them fight. They always fought but never like that. She slowly made her way down the stairs and picked up her bag and Johnny's.
"Don't worry, he can't hate you forever." She said resting her hand on Anglers back.
"He might." Angler sighed.
"Maybe, but you're his mother. He'll always love you, even if he says he hates you." Emilia said walking towards the door. Angler strained a smile.
"Thank you."
Emilia left with a smile and a wave.
She walked to school with Johnny's bag still in hand, pondering what had gotten into him. When she made it fifty meters away, she spotted him out the front with a group of friends, talking and laughing, like nothing just happened. She strode up to him, not caring about the stares she got from his friends. She tapped him on the shoulder, interrupting him mid sentence. He turned around to face her.
"Thanks, Milly. I was hoping you would bring it for me." he said reaching out to take it. She pulled her hand away sharply and she received a confused expression from him.
"Why'd you yell at her?" she asked calmly. Johnny rolled his eyes.
"She started it, she was being a b-"
Emilia cut him off.
"No, Johnny. She's your mother, she doesn't deserve to be yelled at like that, or flipped off. You should know by now, seeing you're a young man, that it's not right to treat her like that."
He crossed his arms over his chest,
"I know she's my mother. At least she is mine." He said with a disgusted expression. "I don't know why she adopted you, I never wanted a sister."
Her heart twisted at that, he had never said anything like that to her before. He never would. She could feel her face heat up slightly.
"Maybe you don't deserve one." She said coolly. All of his friends who had stopped to watch let out an 'oh'. Emilia gave them an icy stare, making them silent, and dumped Johnny's bag and walked off. She could hear all the snickering behind her, even though she was a good fifty meters away. She thought she might cry, but she never cried. Not at something like that, anyway. It still hurt her though, those words that he spat at her. Her body felt stiff, her shoulders were tense and her steps weren't as graceful like they usually were. She only relaxed when she got around the corner of the closest building. She could hear a tap running, looking over her shoulder she saw that she was outside of the girls toilets. A girl strutted out of the bathroom adjusting her long, blond hair. She stopped short just in front of Emilia and looked at her for a moment.
"You're in my way." The other girl said gesturing to where Emilia was standing. Emilia locked eyes with her, startled by the control and intensity in them.
"There's plenty more room for you to walk." Emilia said, mocking her gestures. The other girl just rolled her eyes and pushed past her, mumbling. "Whatever."
Emilia didn't get a proper look at the girl but she knew who it was. Guinevere, the new queen bee. She'd only been at Coast Side High School for one day and she managed to seduce everyone to follow her lead. Emilia knew that she wasn't quite normal, but wasn't completely sure of what she was. She'd studied her a few times, not all that closely. She had gorgeous blond hair, that reached midway down her back, pale skin, clear of acne, small, red lips, that seamed to be the only colour on her, and eyes that were a grey-silver. Guinevere was beautiful, and she knew it.
Emilia sighed. Gathering herself and her thoughts she dragged herself to Roll Call. She was tempted to run out of the school gates and never return. Never return to school, never return to the Coast. But she couldn't, she had a mother now, who was struggling with a young teenage boy. She also had Myles, leaving him and not having his back would only cause him to come after her again, her father trailing in his wake. No, she had to stay put, and staying put meant going to school. As much as she hated it, she had to do it.
~•~
The lunch bell rang and Emilia packed her books neatly into her bag.
"Emilia, could I talk to you for a moment?" Her teacher, Mrs Jone asked. Emilia slung her bag over her shoulders and walked steadily over to her teacher. She taught history, Emilia's preferred subject. She was all through history. She was a nurse in WW1 and was claimed to be a witch in earlier times. Errors had appeared and little details, that were important slipped out of the pages of history books. But Emilia knew what was true and what was false.
"I know it's only the second day, but I've been keeping track of everyone and you haven't been contributing as much as everyone else." Mrs Jone said. "Basically I'm saying, if you need any help I'm here. All you have to do is ask." Mrs Jone said with a smile. Emilia smiled back softly.
"Thank you, Mrs Jone, I will let you know if I'm having any trouble." She said sweetly.
"Wonderful! I better let you get to lunch, have a good day." Mrs Jone said turning around to clear the black board of chalk. Emilia turned on her heal a left the room. She made her way down the halls to her friends. Walking down the pathway she could feel someone's eyes on her. She turned around to find Myles sitting on a bench in the middle of the senior lawn, grinning at her. She quirked an eyebrow at him. He smiled smugly and tapped the bench beside him. She cautiously walked over to him and stopped a few paces away.
"Hello there, would you like to join me for lunch?" He asked, pulling an apple out of his bag.
"Can I help you?" She asked a little irritated.
"I don't know if you could help me but eating lunch with me would be great." He said, patting the bench next to him again. She didn't want to sit as she didn't plan on staying long.
"Myles, as much as I'd love to eat lunch with you, I do have other friends. Enjoy your lunch." she said turning away but was soon stopped by Myles standing in front of her. "Please." he wined.
She sighed. "Is there something you want to tell me?"
He glanced around and shook his head. "Uh, no, well yes, but I can't tell you here, it's too dangerous."
Emilia nodded and started walking off.
"Aren't you going to have lunch with me?" She heard him call after her. She stopped walking and looked back over her shoulder.
"Maybe some other time. I'll see you later." She continued walking over to where her friends were sitting. It still felt like someone's eyes were on her. She looked back to where Myles was sitting, but he wasn't there. When she arrived to great her friends Jordan wasn't sitting with them.
"Hey guys, where's Jordan?" She asked looking around. Billy, a small girl with colourful braces, looked over at the 'A list'.
"She's over there, talking to the new girl." Billy pointed over to where Jordan was standing. Emilia couldn't help contain the puzzled expression that covered her face. She made her way over to where Jordan was standing with Guinevere. A shiver ran over Emilia as she got closer to them.
"Jordan," She said, interrupting their giggling. "What's going on?"
Jordan looked at her like she was an idiot.
"Talking." She said with no further explanation. Guinevere gave her a thin, fake smile. Emilia rolled her eyes and turn back to face Jordan.
"Why aren't you sitting with our friends?" She asked.
"Why are you still here?" Jordan asked irritation written all over her face and words. "Seriously, not too long ago you were telling me that I should socialize more. Now you don't want me to. If I'm right, which I am, you're jealous of me."
Emilia shook her head slowly.
"No, no I'm not." She spoke slowly. "Yeah," Jordan nodded "You are."
Emilia sighed. "Look, I'm not asking for an argument. I'm asking, why aren't you sitting with us?"
"Because I don't want to sit with some weird, ugly dorks who spend their time drooling over boys they can't have," Jordan said. "I'd rather be here then over there." She waved her in the direction of Billy and the other girls. Emilia looked over to them, they seemed happy enough. Happier even, now that Jordan wasn't with them. Jordan always brought a negative energy with her wherever she went. It effected their friends most, she always managed to bring them down in one way or another. Emilia decided that she wasn't worth her time, or any of her friends time.
"Alright, whatever." Emilia said. "Do what you want, but don't ask me for any help."
Guinevere and Jordan glared at her. Guinevere's effected her more though, sending cold shivers through her body. Emilia left, unable to shake the feeling of Guinevere's stare. She could feel them starring her down, as if they could burn a hole in the back of her head.
Emilia sat on the senior lawn, as far away from Jordan and Guinevere she could get. She couldn't care less about Jordan not wanting to be friends with her. It had happened a few times to her, so it didn't really effect her. But it did still leave her with no close friends. She had Myles but she didn't really know him. She looked around to try and spot him and found him talking to a group of girls. He didn't look all too happy, he never really looked happy. Emilia decided that she was going to make an effort with him. She didn't make an effort with anyone that much because she'd have to leave them anyway. But since she knew he was like her, she'd never really have to say goodbye. Emilia didn't hear the bell ring, she was too deep in her thoughts. She realized by the time everyone had cleared the playground, except one person. He stood across the lawn from her, watching her. She locked eyes with him. She kept her eyes on his. Emilia was the first to break the trance by standing and turning away. She didn't want to be late to class and she didn't want him to be the reason. She made it to class just before Mr Gomopoly shut the door. Not raising her eyes once she shuffled up the back to her seat. She slipped into it and quietly took out her books.
"Afternoon, Emilia." A boy said frightening her slightly. She looked up at him. Not right at him, more at his nose. He had a light spray of freckles across his nose and cheeks. She gave a small smile and a nod, before turning her attention back to Mr Gomopoly. He was talking about poems, the basics of poems. Emilia already knew everything there was to know about poems. She let her mind and her eyes wonder. She found herself staring at Rhys, who was right next to her. He looked eighteen, but the way he held himself showed he wasn't. Light stubble grew along his jaw, that was tightly clenched in concentration. His light brown hair was almost shaggy, due for a cut, it curled up at the ends and a thick layer of loose curls covered his forehead down to his eyebrows. To Emilia, he had the most gorgeous eyes. They were a deep, never ending chocolate brown with a milky brown swirled through, the tips of his thick brown lashes were lighter. She was transfixed his soft yet defined features. She had come across many attractive and pretty men but none of them could compete with Rhys. He was handsome and cute at the same time.
"Uh, did you need something?" Rhys asked. She shook her head and tried to stay calm. When all she really wanted to do was punch herself for getting caught staring.
"No." She waited a moment before asking. "Where are you from?"
He smiled slightly.
"Canberra, but I moved there from London."
Emilia didn't catch the light accent the first time he spoke. But it was there.
"You don't have much of an accent." Emilia said.
"It's been a while since I've been there." He said, his warm smile replaced by a sad one. "Have you lived here your whole life?"
"No, I moved to Australia a few years ago." She said smiling up at him. He returned the smile, he smiled in a way that made her feel warm and sent soft, electric sparks all over her body. She liked Rhys, really liked him. She didn't care if she had to say goodbye sometime soon, she liked him and wasn't going to let anything get in the way of that. She caught herself smiling thinking about him, but that only made her smile more.
"What are you smiling about?" He asked. She could hear his smile through his words.
"Nothing." She said simply.