EMMA
Zoe trod unceremoniously back into her wing and up to her own room when her alarm gave a loud shriek.
“Oh, come on!” she moaned angrily.
Stomping back downstairs again she said, “Emma, time to get up, hon. You’ve got to get ready for school.”
Tossing my covers off, I got up and made my way over to my own wing. The scalding hot shower did nothing to drown my sleepiness, if anything it made things worse. In my room I pulled open my wardrobe to dig out something suitable for the first day at a new school.
I opted for a creamy blouse with a velvety leafy print and a lacy camisole beneath. My tight trousers were black and I picked out a pair of polished black ankle boots to match my small black handbag. I grabbed my grey coat and stomped back down into the kitchen.
Zoe had already prepared a lunch bag for me and breakfast.
“You’d better eat this before you go. Don’t want you leaving on an empty stomach.” She said, pushing forward a plate of toast and scrambled eggs.
“So where is my school?” I said, pushing around the eggs with a fork.
“Not too far from here. Aren’t you going to eat that?”
“I think I’ll be sick if I even try.”
“Well, put some more snacks in your lunch bag in case you get peckish.” She said, taking a bottle of Pepsi from the fridge and storing it in my bag.
“So are we going by bus or… ?” I asked outside.
“No, there’s actually something I’ve been holding onto for a couple years. Dad left it for you in his will.”
“Really, what is it?”
She led me round back to an old run down garage that looked in even more despair than the house it sat behind. There were two large doors wide enough for a car to fit through and a regular sized door in between them. On the left was an old Harley Davidson and a Honda CR-Z on the right was the outline of a car hidden beneath a sheet of tarpaulin.
“Dad, left this for you.” Zoe said, whipping off the old dust covered sheet.
It was the Lotus Elise; the last car I could remember my Dad driving before he died. The red paint on it was so dark it almost looked black and even though it had been sat under this sheet for over a year, or more, possibly it still looked brand new.
“Are you crazy? I can’t drive this?”
“Why not? You used to drive a car as expensive as this to your school down south.”
“Yeah, that was when I went to private school. It’s very different when you’re going to public school. I don’t want to be that snotty rich kid who flashes all her money. Besides, if anything happened to Dad’s car…”
“Fine, we’ll take my car.” She said, throwing the tarpaulin over the Lotus again.
ZOE
Emma got out of the car without a word. She gave one fleeting smile before waving me off. A crowd of kids her own age soon stole her from sight.
YOU ARE READING
The Quixwood Diaries
FantasíaSP: Sometimes being bad is good for the soul LP: Zoe and Emma Quixwood haven't seen or spoken to each other in years. The two estranged, half sisters have been forced to live with one another in a small rundown building in the centre of Edinburgh...
