Miss Misunderstood

Misunderstood

Picture above is of Cheryl .

Chapter one

Sunlight poured in through the gleaming windows of the chapel, spilling in colour flecked ponds a little way from my seat. I was tempted to slip off my shoes and bathe in the sunbeams.

Cheryl, I told myself, remember where you are. People will think you're crazy. A run of notes on the organ drew my attention back to the wedding that was soon to start. No more daydreams.

King's College Chapel, Toronto, had never looked so beautiful. Pink and white flowers formed exuberant explosions on the altar. I was sitting alone near the reading lectern, looking on as the seats filled with friends and family. Despite the groom being from Britain and the bride, my sister's, relatives being scattered across the globe, there was a large congregation gathering. I had never seen so many extravagantly dressed people in one place. The bride's friends amongst the theatrical costume and design world had produced an amusing one-upmanship on who could be the most outrageous. So far, I gave the prize to a woman wearing a hat that looked like a bird with spread wings.

Following the birds imagined path upwards, I admired the world-famous ceiling, chiselled pale stone in fans of the lightest lacework. That is what a sonnet sequence by Shakespeare would look like if transfigured into an object. A favourite line of poetry swum into my mind: Like as the waves make towards the pebbl'd shore, so do our minutes hasten to their end... Pay attention, Cheryl! Stop being such a nerd.

I checked the order of service again, making sure that I had the reading correct. The choice wasn't Sonnet 60 but 116, of course: Let me not to the marriage of true minds. I had turned down my sister's offer of being bridesmaid with my other sister's, so I could read, as I was less likely to mess up than any of my friends. It was true Ocean was prone to blurting out uncomfortable truths thanks to her savant gift, and Lily was easily distracted, but I wasn't sure what I'd done to earn the reputation of being the calm public speaker. Most days I felt like I was walking a tightrope, only a misstep away from disaster.

My gaze met the brass eyes of the eagle that supported a huge bible on outstretched wings. You're going to mess up the reading, Cheryl, you're only sixteen, what are you thinking? Its expression said, you'll fumble a word or lose your place.

I glared back; I shouldn't let an ancient old bird intimidate me. I was a Bellerose, and an attitude-filled one, at that, so I ate such carrion for breakfast, hah!

My spirits rose as I spotted Lily striding up the aisle looking positively cherubic in an amazing peach chiffon dress and matching sandals, strawberry-blond hair shining in a shoulder-length bob. She collapsed into the set next to me.

"Hello, Princess Cheryl." She curtsied.

"I thought you were being a flower girl?"

"I did, but I kept flicking the flowers at Ross instead." She snorted. "I got the sack from my mom."

I rolled my eyes. "Jeez, Lily. We're at a wedding. Can't you discontinue your little feud with Ross for a measly little day?" My tone was mock-severe.

Lily clasped her hands to her chest, then threw them out dramatically. "Cheryl, you don't understand. Ross and I have had this little feud for over six years! We can't just stop it!"

I smiled. "Try. Whoa. Magnolia's new in-law family are here."

Lily craned her neck to look at them. "That is quite some boy band. Magnolia is so lucky to have found her soulfinder."

"You will at some point, Lils." I smiled, a little envious of my sister's happiness. Magnolia, the now-bride, and her fiancé, William Le Fontaine were savants, like many of us at the wedding, which meant we had a gift of extra-sensory perception. The powers varied with each individual. In addition to telepathy, which we could all do, William could control and manipulate fire, and Magnolia could turn invisible of her own accord. Mine was very different. I was something called a mimic, the royalty of savants, hence 'Princess Cheryl', and the powers I gained were spectacular. Anything a savant has ever been able to do with their gift, I could mimic and use for my own being, as well as channelling my power to other beings. I could read thoughts of any non-savant and savant alike, manipulate their thoughts, even take over their mind.