Separate Moons

Chapter 3- Herina

Why? Why does it always have to be me?

I'm not trying to be modest or anything, but why do I have to be so outstandingly clever? I don't think of my-self as the IT girl type, but I'm crowned the 'Queen of New York girls' ( The top beautiful girl in America). 

People tell me how lucky I am and try to be friendly with me, but I can see their greedy eyes from close. I don't want to be this perfect, not that I am.I have bad things too. I blame my mother.She doesn't care about me, and uses the money I earned to go to Night clubs and Parties, I don't even wanna know what she does there.

My Father wasn't the greatest parent either. He wasn't doing well at work until I won the 'Essay Contest of America'. As soon as I was interviewed for the front page of the newspaper, his reputation became quite good, and his works were graded much better and he got paid 8 times more than he used to.To him, I'm just a tool to earn money.  

Our new mansion was bought with the money I won for winning the 'American Children Literacy Contest' (*I don't know if this exists, but if it does, keep in mind that this is fiction and it's not true)  three times in a row, making history. There were a lot of prizes, but the best of all was the 10 million dollars. Not bad at all for a 'Children's' Contest. 

I was very proud of my self, but as soon as we got settled in the huge house with the lawn and pool and everything, he started being cruel. He asked me, uh, more like ordered me to publish a book for me to sell, so here I am, in my dimly lit room, nothing but a pencil and a stack of lined papers in front of me.

Just then, the door bell rang. I peeked outside from the window to my right, and gasped in astonishment. It was Michael Slyne, one of the richest men in the world. The last time I talked to him was when I was 12. I had gone to Riley Corten's concert as an emcee. The concert was held by him. I remembered something weird from that night.

At the after party, when Riley, Jake and I were talking animatedly about how school is so boring, a bright light shone towards us. At first, we thought it was some kind of game and we were chosen as the contestants. We looked around, but then realised that we were wrong, and no one seemed to be bothered with the spotlight on us. We looked at one another, and just shrugged it off continuing with our endless complaints and silly imitations of teachers.

I frowned in confusion at the sudden flashback and came back to reality. Now, Mr.Slyne was waiting for the door. I thought of getting a maid to get it, but I hated depending on them so I rushed down the stairs and answered the door.

"Hello, Ms.Beurance." He greeted. HIs voice was low and slow like Severus Snape, sending a chill down my back.

"Um, Good afternoon, sir. What brings you here?"I replied, and he continued.

"I've come to ask you a favour."

"Uh, yes?"

"Jake has been quite a rebel recently, and, he.... well, ran away."

"Wh,what?"

"We had a fight, I mean, quarell, and he basically just stormed out of the house." Well, I guess that's something Jake would've done so it wasn't actually much of a surprise.

"Okay, I understand the situation. What can I do?"

"My retainers are on the search for him. Once he's found, I need you to look after him."

"What!? Why? I mean, why me?"

" I don't know, really. Jake has a lt of friends, I'm very sure of that, but they're not mature as you are, and he seemed exceptionally happy when he was tlking with you and that Corten boy."

"Why not Riley then?"

"Ah, have you not been watching the news, or reading gossip magazines, which I'm under the impression that every teenage girl do?"

"You see, sir. I'm not quite like a 'teenage girl'."

"That, I see. Well, Riley has a little 'problem'."

"Problem?"

"Yes, his girlfriend died because of his fans, and he blames himself for it. He's hurt, both physically and mentally."

"That's not fair for him, though."

"We all think so. Well, will you accept my request?"

"If you wouldn't mind, I would like to have a day to think about it."

"Sure, I'll be expecting a response tomorrow, at the same time when I visit here again."

"Why don't I just send you a messenger?"

"I want this to be just between us. I don't need another scandle about my son, and it's quite private."

"Yes sir, I understand."

"Thank you." He bowed a little, and walked down the porch to his limo outside the gate.He had no guards with him, and I felt very honoured. It meant that he relied on me, a lot.

After a while, I looked back to the huge staircase behind me and decided to take a little break from writing. I walked ouside and carefully closed the door behind me and headed for the woods. In my  gut, I felt this strange pull. I looked up to the moon, shining brighter than ever. Then it began to separate into three. I tilted my head in confusion, and rubbed my eyes. When I looked up again, there was only one moon. I looked around to see if someone was causing this illusion, but there was no movement or sound except for an owl whooting in the distance.

I saw a clearing ahead of me, and started towards it. Then, a singing voice stopped me in my tracks. It was full of sorrow and despair, and I recognized the voice. It was Riley. I stood there frozen, when someone tripped on the other side of the clearing. I hid my self between the bushes that seperated the clearing and the rest of the woods. I sneaked a glance to the person, but I froze like a deer caught in the headlights. It was Jake. Jake Slyne.