Orphan

-Gwen-

      "Gwen, your room is ready whenever you are," I heard Ms. Pattinson say. I nodded, standing up and carrying my belongings up the winding staircase. She gave me a sympathetic smile as I passed, rubbing my shoulder reassuringly. "First door on the right," she told me. I nodded again, too emotionally exhausted to talk to anyone at the moment.
     
      My room wasn't hard to find, and as I twisted the doorknob, I noticed a tiny golden plaque above the knob with a name engraved in swooping letters. Gwendolyn. I frowned, but didn't dwell on it too long before stepping into the room. A huge four-poster bed occupied the space to my left, and straight ahead of me was a tall mirror. I stared back at my reflection, hardly believing it was me. My golden hair was tied up in its usual high ponytail, but that was about the only thing that looked the same. My sky-blue eyes were dull and lifeless, and my cheeks were stained with tears. Angry red burn marks blossomed on arms, and I could only assume the same for my legs. A fresh red cut slashed across my forehead and I winced as I ran two fingers along the scar. Sighing and turning away from the mirror, I slowly walked to the bed, sitting down on the soft mattress.
     
      After a few minutes, I dejectedly began unpacking my things. A single tear slipped down my cheek as I unpacked, each item smelling faintly of smoke. I didn't have very many things, but anything that wasn't charred badly was packed into a suitcase and sent with me. I decided to sort out the things I wanted to keep, and most of the items smelled too strongly of smoke or being too charred to be of any worth anymore. I had brought two suitcases full of things, but by the time I was done it could all fit into one suicase comfortably.
     
      After I'd unpacked all my things, I started exploring my room. A giant walk-in closet was located on the far wall, to the left of my bed, and a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf towered on the other side. A bedside table was sitting next to the bed, displaying a lamp, an alarm clock and a small stack of books that weren't mine. I brushed my finger along the spine of each book, smiling as I recognized my favorite titles. I glanced at the clock, realizing it was already 5:00. I wasn't sure if I was going to be called for dinner or not, so I stood up and walked to the door. My hand rested on the doorknob, my stomach fluttering. I knew there was another girl here, but I didn't have any idea what she was going to be like. Finally I took a deep breath and flung the door open, stepping out into the hallway and closing it behind me.
     
      My footsteps echoed loudly on the wooden staircase, and I was getting more and more nervous with each step. Finally I reached the bottom, biting my lip anxiously as I stepped towards the dining room. A swinging door led to the kitchen, just like in restraunts, and I could hear voices faintly drifting out from behind it. I decided to wait for them to come out, rather than going in myself. I wasn't really sure of the rules here yet. I carefully eased my way into a comfortable chair in the living room, my burns still stinging.
     
      Finally the door swung open and I got my first glance at this other girl. She was tall for her age, with long blond hair and blue-gray eyes. I guessed she was about the same age as me, maybe a little older. She was chatting happily with Ms. Pattinson, but the conversation came to an abrupt halt when she caught sight of me. Her face immediately went pale and she started shaking slightly, her eyes locked on mine. I looked down and tried to cover my arms, heat rising to my face. I hadn't meant to scare her. Were my burns really that frightening? Ms. Pattinson was speaking softly to her now, and she gulped, nodding. Finally Ms. Pattinson looked up at me and gave me a warm smile, one arm around the other girl as she stepped towards me. I stood up a bit shakily, and tried to match her smile. She was rubbing the girl's shoulder as she introduced her.
     
      "Gwen, this is Sophia. Sophia, this is Gwendolyn. She arrived this morning," Ms. Pattinson said, finally getting Sophia to look up at me.
     
      "Hi," I offered shyly.
     
      "H- hi," she said softly, color slowly starting to return to her face. "S- s- sorry, I get n-nervous around new people," she said, her voice barely climbing above a whisper. I let out a small breath of relief. She hadn't been afraid of my burns after all.
     
      "Me too," I replied, the corners of my lips turning up in a small smile.
     
      "Dinner will be ready in 5. Go wash up," Ms. Pattinson said after a moment. We stood there for a second after Ms. Pattinson had left, each waiting for the other to start heading upstairs. Finally Sophia spoke up.
   
      "Race you," she said quietly. I smiled faintly and raced after her, our footsteps pounding on the staircase.
     
      We arrived at the same time, washing our hands quickly before racing back down again. A grin had spread across my flushed face by the time we got to the table, and we were both breathing hard. Ms. Pattinson cocked an eyebrow, but didn't say anything while she brought out the steaming food.
     
      I tried to take smaller bites, but once I started eating I realized how famished I was. Food always tastes better when you're on the brink of starvation, right? I glanced over at Ms. Pattinson and then Sophia, to make sure I wasn't being rude. I'd always tried to be conscious of my manners. Luckily, I noticed that Sophia was eating just as fast as I was. Ms. Pattinson met my eyes when I looked up, and she smiled and gave a tiny nod. I returned the smile before going back to my spaghetti and meatballs, taking a generous second helping.

      I would've saved room for dessert if I had known about the brownies. The room immediately filled with the smell of chocolate when she brought them out, and I wished that I'd thought of dessert before stuffing myself with spaghetti. I politely refused them despite my sweet tooth for chocolate, explaining quietly that I hadn't realized there would be dessert. Ms. Pattinson laughed, her eyes twinkling in a friendly way.
     
      "Why, Gwen, there's always dessert," she said, smiling. I couldn't help giving in to a small smile before heading back upstairs.

      When I was inside my room, I immediately collapsed on my bed, my stomach still aching slightly. I stared up at the ceiling for a while, not really wanting to move. I could hear faint voices drifting up from downstairs, and I realized that today was the first day I had smiled and laughed since the fire. The fire. I tried not to think about it, but it was too late. I felt my face get hot as a lump rose in my throat, but I swallowed hard and blinked furiously, determined not to cry. Suddenly a wave of anger washed over me, and I clenched my fists until my knuckles went white and my fingernails left marks on my palms. My heartbeat quickened, and I felt a scream rising slowly into my throat from the pit of my stomach. Instead of screaming, I quickly grabbed a small journal and a pencil from my nightstand and started to write. I wrote with such force that my pencil ripped a tiny hole in the page, but that only caused me to write faster. I wrote and wrote, words spilling out of me faster than I could jot them down. They danced across the pages, filling the little book with my story. Finally my pencil came to a rest, my hands and wrists aching as I surveyed my work. It looked rushed and angry. Good.

~A/N~
Hey guys! I hope you liked this chapter. I'll try to publish more often, but my schedule's pretty busy right now. More characters and plot twists will be coming soon...
~L~