A World Of Treason and Tides

Chapter 1: Reality is Harsher

It was one of those days of my life when everything seemed dull, even the gorgeous dress lying in front of me failed to catch my interest. Not that I ever cared about beautiful dresses but I was never that much detached with all the splendour of my life. The credit for giving me a colourless expression on such a fine morning went to my sister, Lindsey, who lost a rare signed copy of my favourite fantasy book in school. Those who are wondering why the book meant so much to me, you must know a few facts about me.

I am Venus Hill, 17. I like reading books and collecting book collectibles, signed copies from authors and everything a book lover loves to do. I even have a pretty big library of my own at home. Since I was a child, I have enjoyed reading all sorts of novels, I have enjoyed getting to know the characters, falling in love with fictional characters  and sometimes I have enjoyed hating the characters too.

I have always wanted respect in the society, I have always wanted to do something of my own and to achieve my goal, I have become somewhat rigid, as my sister will say, though to me, I am only determined. Books make me a different person- they make me a girl who is not afraid of love, not afraid of taking risks. Books give me a third eye. A fourth eye. And a fifth eye. Books make me look at the world in a thousand different ways.

"Bloody Hell Venus! Stop frowning for a moment and look at that dress. It's so gorgeous. You will look lovely in it." Lindsey was screaming, jumping and shaking me at the same time. If only I could be that excited.

"Lin, I might not go to the party. I am not in my best mind today."

"Venus, are you saying this because of the book? Please come to the party, Venus," she pleaded with her big, green eyes. "I promise you I'll never lose your book again, or even better, I'll never borrow your books again. I don't even like to read..."

"It's not that," I interjected. "You can borrow my books whenever you want-" I held her hands and smiled mildly. I was upset that I no longer had the book but Lindsey was my sister and sisters made mistakes. My mother said that elder sisters should always forgive their little sisters, as long as they owned up to their mistakes.

"-no, no, listen to me. I wanted to show the signed copy to my friends as they were not believing me at all," she frowned a little and looked at me. "But from now on I'll take your books only if I want to read them. Please come to the party. I'll be totally miserable without you. Please, please, pl-"

"Okay, okay. I'll go to the party. Now stop whining, Lindsey." I rolled my eyes and she let out a small laugh.

"I can't believe you have grown so mature, that you are not denying your mistakes anymore." Lindsey crossed her arms infront of her. I ignored her and went on saying, "But, you do know right? That we don't really have the book anymore. So, always think of the consequences before you make decisions, okay?" I shot a questioning glance towards her which she did not fail to return before rolling her eyes and muttering something about elder sisters.

"So, Lin, show me your dress. I assume it's lovely."

"Why, it's not prettier than yours," she pouted.

"Oh stop pouting." I shoved her. "You can always wear a different one if you don't like this, as long as it matches the theme though." I knew very well that Lindsey would loathe the idea, still suggested it to her anyway. Unlike me, Lin very much cared about dresses and parties and boys and what not.

"Wear different one?! No way, Venus. Are you out of your mind?" she screeched which in turn elicited a hearty laugh from me.

***

The afternoon was a blur of dresses, jewelleries, perfumes and hair products. My dress had a rose-gold, satin fitted bodice with a square neckline, and silk cherry-red flowy skirt. The dress made me feel good. I twirled the subtle folds of the skirt that swayed like a soft breeze . An effect of rippling fire was cast by the tiny red and orange sequins embellishing the insides of the folds in the skirt.