Nowhere Girl

Rendezvous

Author's Note: I have changed my main character's name from Syra to Nora, and this is what she will be referred to throughout the story now. Sorry for the confusion!

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When school ended that afternoon, Nora could not wait to rush out of class. Normally, she would always wait for Ash- Evie and Celeste usually went their own ways, but she and Ash made a point to always walk home together.

Not today.

Because today, Nora had to get home immediately, and alone- and any dawdling could cost her time that Jem could use to exploit her. So, after her last class of the day, she shot Ash a message, citing her reason for not waiting this time.

In hindsight, fumbling with the keys of her car in the school parking lot, she could not even remember what it was. Nora was the only one from her friend group that knew how to drive- which meant that she spent a lot of her weekends driving them around. Mostly, it was fun- but sometimes her paranoia gave her a sneaking suspicious that perhaps that was the only reason her friends bothered to keep her company.

Nora put her keys in the ignition, but just as she was about to drive away, there came a knock on her window. She groaned. Standing right outside her car was Jem. In her annoyance, she scowled at him, and made an effort to reverse regardless- to which he responded by hugging her car, as if sticking to it would stop her from driving away. It did.

Nora glared, and unlocked the car doors. He broke into that infuriating, victorious grin of his and slid into the front seat.

"You know, it's really easy to get under your skin." he began by way of greeting.

"Stop it." Nora said, tired of the pretence. They were no longer in the company of her friends, and she had no reason to continue donning the persona she wore in their presence. Jem looked at her, and for the first time, his expression mirrored hers in seriousness.

"Stop what?" he asked, the question calculating. The seconds stretched on before he posed his next question. "What exactly are you hiding from them, Nora?"

Nora looked away.

"Everything."

To his credit, Jem did not seem surprised. His only response was, "Quite the close friends you've got if you can't even tell them about your life."

"Because my life is a mess." Nora argued.

"It was a mess." Jem added. "You know what you are, Nora? Ungrateful. You're stuck in a past where your family was broken- but it's not anymore. Your parents were remarried. And all of you- all of you act as if she never happened."

"And what's wrong with that?" Nora argued. "She destroyed my family. She-"

"She was my mother, Nora." Jem said quietly, and Nora felt, for the first time, ashamed of her outburst. "But she's dead now. And I know she was awful to you as a stepmother- but- she died, and it hurts me to know that you pretend she never existed."

There was silence after that. Nora pursed her lips, her arms crossed against her chest. She had always tried to be understanding when it came to Jem's complicated relationship with his mother- her step mother. But even Jem- who had lived with her for years when their parents had been married to each other- did not know the full truth of it. He didn't know of the times Elena van Rijn would come into her room as she slept, and burn her arms with cigarette butts because her existence shattered the illusion of the family she wanted- herself, Jem, and her husband. Nora did not fit in that equation, and she had made every effort to push her away from it. She ached to tell this to Jem- but she had already misspoke. Her mother had always told her to not speak ill of the dead- which was precisely what she had done in a fit of rage mere moments ago. Besides- what was the point now?

The woman was dead, and it would not longer help Nora to reveal the abuse she had suffered from her while she was alive. It would only hurt Jem more- and as much as he annoyed her sometimes, he was still family, and she loved him.

Nora sighed, her hands still clutching the wheel. "You're right." she admitted. "I'm sorry I said that. But I've known these people for a year, and they've always known my family as a simple one."

"An ex step brother would ruin that image, wouldn't it?" Jem asked, rathe sardonically.

"Yes," she replied, with no small amount of shame. "But I'm going to tell them eventually- at least, Ash. The others will follow. We only have to pretend for a while."

"You know, pretending will raise a lot of uncomfortable questions." Jem said. "Rumours, about how we know each other."

"It hardly matters." she replied. "I'm going to tell them when I'm ready, on my terms. We can take on stupid rumours."

"Fine." Jem said. "Because I would die of embarrassment if-"

He broke off mid sentence, his jaw dropping in horror. Nora frowned in confusion, then looked ahead. There, in her full, polished glory, stood Michelle Yeoh, gaping at the two of them. Jem was out of the car in an instant, walking up to her. Nora groaned inwardly.

She knew, without even being given the slightest sliver of information, what this was about.

Jem was, amongst many things, a philanderer. He had been, ever since they had emerged from their teens and his handsome appearance had rendered him an Adonis. Jem must have cosied up to Michelle in the span of a day, and probably felt the need to conduct some damage control after having been seen with her- his step sister, albeit, but what did Michelle know of that?

He glanced at her minutely from where he stood, still in conversation with the girl. She knew what he was trying to say- that they would meet at her house later that evening for a family dinner. That much she had guessed when he had barged into her car.

Nora sighed, putting the car in ignition again, pressing on the brakes. From her seat in the car, she could see that Jem, ever the smooth talker, had managed to mitigate Michelle's grievances. She was a pretty girl; tall, with dark skin and glossy black hair that glinted in the sunlight. Nora almost laughed to herself, wondering how long they would last. One month? One week?

One could never know with Jem.