Children of the Sea

Chapter 2

After another week and a few days, it was time for me to leave the nest and run off to boarding school. It would be a lie if I ever said it didn't terrify me. I'd never really been alone and now that Theodore was no longer with us the feeling of loneliness made my anxiety even more intense than it would be normally. I truly was without a friend. Theodore was the only person I had befriended.

"Get going, Elsie. Jeremy doesn't have time to wait for you." Willow's sharp voice rang in my ears as she pushed me out the door.

I nodded in reply, picking up my heavy suitcase that sat outside on the steps. I hadn't packed much since I didn't have much to pack, but it still felt like someone had put boulders inside. Heaving out a sigh, I stepped up to the bright red car parked in the round driveway. Jeremy, Willow's tall, muscular, Ken Doll-like fiance leaned against it as he waited, puffing on a cigarette. Coughing a bit as I waved my hand around, I pulled the trunk open and tossed my suitcase in before pulling it shut.

"Ready to go?" He asked, tossing his cigarette on the ground, stomping it out.

No. I don't think I will ever be ready. I thought to myself before I replied, "Yeah... I guess we should get going now."

Jeremy wasn't actually a bad guy. Thankfully, he treated me nicely and stopped to consider my feelings every once in awhile, unlike Willow, who just couldn't give a rat's tail about me. I understood that they were both "pretty people," but I didn't understand how he could even consider wanting to spend the rest of his life with a snob like her.

He pulled open the door on the passenger side and gave me warm smile as I clambered into the vehicle. I sat down and the door slammed shut then my eyes followed the man as he walked around to the other door. He pulled it open with ease and closed it just as effortlessly as he sat down. Still, my eyes were placed on him as he started up his car.

"Seatbelt, Elsie." Jeremy glanced at me, causing me to start fumbling with my seatbelt.

"Er. R-Right." I stumbled a bit, knowing he had caught me staring.

Of course, I never meant any offense with my gaze and it wasn't a gaze of adoration. It was just observation. It may sound a bit weird, but sometimes I'd rather just see what others do rather than actually interact. Theodore said it wasn't the best idea, but I guessed I never listened to him. I felt he was the only person I could ever talk to and boy did we talk. We would chat for hours on end. There was nothing ever really specific that we talked about. It could have been about the animals that lived in seashells to our favorite songs. I vaguely remember the time I asked Theodore where babies came from. I thought it was quite amusing when he got flustered.

I was always too curious for my own good. Normally, he had answers to my questions, but sometimes he didn't. After he took me to a park I saw all the other kids had mothers. I questioned him about it, asking whether I had one or who it was. He then explained to me that he wasn't exactly sure if I did. Turns out that he found me as he took a walk on the beach after a terrible storm. I was only about 2 years when he found me and I really knew nothing about the past.

He named me Elsie Pepper Clerr. Elsie after his wife who had died of cancer a few months before he found me. Pepper because he loved peppermint. He grew a whole garden along the side of his house. Clerr is also his last name. He told me we were family so we should share the same name.

"Nervous?" Jeremy's deep voice interrupted my fond memories.

"What?" I cocked my head to the side a bit still a bit spaced out.

"You're going to a new school all alone. Are you nervous about it?" He explained, his eyes glued to the road. "You seem a bit quiet."

"I'm always quiet... but yeah. I'm nervous." I reply.

He took his eyes off the road for only a second to give me a sympathetic smile. However, he turned his attention back to the road to my relief. I hated when people wouldn't focus on the road. It was a hazardous thing, but I didn't say anything to him.

"It makes sense. I think you'll make friends though. You're not a bad kid and kind-hearted. Just remember that and always be yourself. If you have to change yourself for them they might not be the best of company." He said in an encouraging way.

I made no effort to hide the smile that made its way onto my face. His words were very effective against the fear that kept me in chained.

"Right. Thanks, Jeremy." I quietly thanked him before looking out the window next to me, laying my head on it as I watched everything pass by in a blurry flash.