Hidden Realm

Chapter One: How It Started

Boarding school. These are the words that have been looming over me for the last two months. I knew my parents had threatened to send me to that cursed place, but I never thought they would really do that to me. Yet here I was, a week before the holidays end, packing yet another box of stuff.

In full honesty, I understood why I was being sent there, I hadn't really been the image of the golden child this past year. That would be my brother; Alex. According to everyone -my parents included- he was perfect in every way possible. I never heard the end of it.

I would never say I hated my brother, I just greatly disliked him, although we had our good moments. It was kind of hard not to dislike your brother when even your parents like him better. He was eighteen, about 6.2ft and had been since he was fifteen, he had blonde hair with these strange highlights of honey-brown. His smile could charm anyone within a twelve mile radius- anyone except me. We had only one similarity and that would be his dark-lashed, jewel-like eyes that shown as bright as emeralds, they were such a deep mesmerizing green. We both had our mother's eyes.

I sighed. Sometimes I missed my mother. She had died in a plane crash on the way home from visiting my grandparents' when I was nine. Although I missed my mother, I loved my step-mother Michelle. Michelle had come into our lives at a time where we were all broken, she had brought hope back into our lives, brought back the light in my father's eyes that had been gone since the crash. She had been the mother we needed.

I picked up a few books and put them in a box of stationary. I looked in my wall mirror, at the girl staring back. I remembered the nine year old little girl who always stressed about the smallest of worries, who was always desperate to be perfect and live up to her brother. The girl staring back was nothing like that little girl, the fifteen year old was always figuring out new ways to annoy her teachers, get at her brother when he -even being him- was overprotective of his baby sister and for that, even though I never liked my brother, I had to love him. We had been close once, before the crash happened, before everyhing spiralled out of control.

I'm Nova if you're wondering. Nova Stone. I'm not the tallest of girls, around 5.5ft. I have dark brown waist length long hair, creamy-pale skin, dark lashes and the same emerald green eyes as my brother. I'm rather slight and generally look quite delicate, but I'm the exact opposite. Looks can be deceiving. I dress casually, never being one to dress up, with dark denim shorts, baby blue and white stripped off the shoulder jumper and my white vans, my hair tied back into a messy bun, wih a few loose tendrills. The only thing that hadn't changed between the nine year old little girl and myself was that I loved and never passed up a challenge.

My next challenge was less than a week away.

I heard a soft knock at the door that brought me out of my thoughts. I walked over to the door and opened it. There stood my brother. "Hey, what's up?" I asked.

"Michelle told me, to tell you, dinners ready." Alex told me.

"Okay, I'll be down in a minute." I said, not once meeting his eyes.

"Nova, are you okay?" He questioned, trying to catch my eye.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" I answered, finally looking into his eyes, instantly regretting it. His eyes were filled with concern, worry and protectiveness. I hated those emotions.

"You just look upset. Is it because of boarding school?" He asked. He could read me like a book.

I nodded and felt my guard drop slightly. Alex pulled me into a hug and rubbed his hand up and down my back reassuringly. Apparently he was in one of his protective I'm-going-to-be-nice moods. There was no point arguing with him. I may as well give into the scared little girl wanting her big brothers comfort. I brought down my walls and rested my head on his chest sighing. Sometimes I needed my big brother, even though I'd never admit it, because I preferred to distance myself.