This chapter's dedicated to Aiden, because he bought us a poutine. Thanks, buddy :)
A/N YAY AN EARLY CHAPTER WOOT WOOT
This Monday is Thanksgiving here in Canada and both of us are going out of town, so we decided to post chapter six early!! YAYYY :DD
In the days after I was left to drown, I stayed cooped up in my room, nothing to do but remember and relive the traumatic event. I lay in my bed, tears staining the pillowcase, sheets tangled around my ankles as I sobbed for hours on end.
"Birdie, you're so stupid!" I would tell myself every time I would think of what happened.
"We're so sorry Birdie!" Claire had insisted, the other kids nodding. "We want you to be our friend!"
"Really?" I asked, blinking in astonishment.
"Absolutely! We feel terrible about how we treated you!" A boy had said, and I beamed.
"You wanna come for a walk to the docks with us?" Claire asked and I nodded earnestly.
I followed them down the path to the docks, laughing along with them as they joked and played games. First the first time in my life, I felt wanted.
The feeling was washed away immediately as the nets lying on the dock tangled itself around my legs.
"Guys, can you help?" I call and they looked at each other deviously. Without hesitation, Claire stepped forward and shoved me into the black water.
I can't believe I fell for that again.
Papa drags me out the woods that crawl behind the barn, fuming with anger.
"Papa, I swear, I-" I start but he cuts me off with a sharp look.
"Birdie, I can't believe this."
"Then don't!" I exclaim, pulling out of his grasp. "It's not true!"
Papa glares at me. "Don't talk back to me, Kestrel. We're going back to Mr.Koppinger's. You're in big trouble."
He turns around and yells "Come on, Tyler!" to the boy sulking behind us. The night is silent except for the crunch of leaves beneath our feet and my father's loud breathing.
"You need to believe me" My eyes well up. Papa thinks that I'm the kind of person that would do something as horrible as force other people to do illegal things. What else does he think I do?
We arrive at Leon's quaint house, and Pa tugs us inside. The old man is sitting by the kitchen island, wrapped in his housecoat and drinking a mug of tea.
"Oh, thank goodness you're here, I was worried!" Leon runs toward us, spilling scorching liquid all over the hardwood floor. Papa's face reddens, and he storms ou the door, about to explode. "What was that about?"
We sit down on the disheveled couches.
"Papa's mad at me b-because he thinks he saw m-me doing something illegal" I sniffle, realizing that Leon would never believe me. "But I wasn't!" I add. Ty shifts uncomfortably, probably wanting to say something, but deciding otherwise.
"I believe you, Birdie" Leon smiles, and wraps his arm around my shoulders. "Don't worry about your father. He just needs to get over the initial shock of the situation" A smile brightens both of our faces.
After a few minutes of us slouching on the chesterfields, he speaks again.
"Tyler, I would like to have a word with you, if you don't mind"
With two steaming mugs of mexican hot chocolate in my hands, I maneuver my way over to where Papa is sitting. He motions me to sit next to him on the rotting old bench, and I gladly accept. For awhile, the two of us drink our cocoa quietly, enjoying the stars.
"Birdie, I'm sorry about accusing you of... that... I know you'd never dream of doing such a thing." I hhug him, tears threatening to overflow once again.
"P-papa" I wrap myself around his torso, letting my mug topple to the ground. "It was so s-scary" My voice is muffled by his warm turtleneck.
"I know, I know" He comforts me by rubbing my back in soothing circles. "I'm sorry for my actions"
"Me too" a smile flashes in his eyes. Rattling comes from Leon's house, and the two of us turn around.
"Is that Ty and Mr.Koppinger?" Papa asks me, knocking back the bitter dregs of his drink. "Why was Tyler with you earlier anyway?" He says, looking at my eyes hesitantly.
"He... I hfollowed him to the barn. All of my childhood bullies were there, and they said that they wanted to be my friend again" I take a deep breath before continuing. "I must be pretty stupid and gullible to believe that joke twice" A forced smile flashes through the tears dripping down my cheeks.
Papa shakes my head, and positions his empty mug beside mine on the mossy earth. "You know that's not true, sweetheart. They're just jealous of you" He grins.
"Why would anyone be jealous of me? I'm a pathetic, ugly, mean, talentless girl who could use some curves" I point at myself, pouting.
"C-come here" Papa's eyes shine, and tugs me in for another hug. "You're the most amazing girl on the planet. Don't forget that" He unlatches from me, gathers our dishes and stands up with much less difficulty than a few days ago. "I'll be inside, someone needs to break up those two" Yells continue to emit from the cottage, and I sigh.
After my father leaves, I decide to take a walk to the beach. Halfway to my destination, rays of sunlight begin to light up the sky. For the first time, I scour the small town of Wrenside for any wrecked buildings. Most of them are pretty banged up, but none as badly as my house. I groan. If there wasn't a giant tree lodged in the ceiling, the night's events would never have happened.
Mind you, Ty would have been in much more trouble... and more drunk. It suddenly makes me happy to share the blame with him, Tyler isn't one to let an argument go. He'll just get hurt more.
I walk the short distance from my house to the Marina, and gaze at the rickety dock. Luckily, all of our customers were able to take their boats out of the water before the storm hit. That happiness is clouded when I realize that the whole shack that once lay at the very end of the dock has vanished.
I run across the creaking panels, and stare down at the ground where it had stood. There's snapped pieces of board scattered in the ocean, but no shack, which contains all of our supplies, to be seen.
The lack of sleep and amount of worrying causes me to curl up on the dock and doze off.
"Yeah, I found her here, completely passed out" I rub the sleep out of my eyes, and sit up groggily. Kittie and Papa are sitting on the picnic bench, which has miraculously stayed bolted to the dock, and talking quietly.
"Thanks for taking care of her, Kittie" Papa smiles and pats her on the back. Kittie turns to leave, but stops after taking a few steps.
"Uh... Boss... I have something to ask you" She stuffs her hands in her grey sweatshirt.
"Sure, ask away"
"I- I've been having financial issues lately" From what I can see from my end of the marina, he raises his eyebrows. "Birdie told me it'd be okay to ask you, but I've always been sort of nervous about this kind of stuff..." She blushes and looks away, before inching towards him.
"Dear Kittie, you don't need to worry. I'll always be looking out for you!" He hands her a wad of bills, and smiles. Papa is always so kind and generous.
The young woman leaves hurriedly. Papa looks towards me, and I smile before dragging my feet over to where he sits.
"You always seem to disappear, don't you?" He laughs, and shoves his wallet back into the back pocket of his jeans. I giggle. "Oh yeah. Are you still going to the beach with Tyler? We could grab more stuff from the house if you need a bathing suit"
"Sure" I moan, snacking on a bag of vegetable chips.
We scramble over broken dishes, branches and glass to reach our bedrooms. A huge limb from the tree covers my bed, but I walk around it to get to my overturned set of drawers. It takes quite a while to flip it over, but after I finish with that job, a backpack is filled instantly with clean clothes. On my way out of the room, I snag a purple sweatshirt that hangs from my door handle and tug it on.
When Papa and I meet in the hallway, I laugh at all of the stuff he has in his arms.
"I'm sure Leon has some extra toothpaste for our week-long stay" I point to the boxes of toiletries piled in a basket he's holding. "You pack like a girl" I giggle.
"ALMOST DONE" I scream through the bathroom door, while trying to tie my swim suit. It's my least dorky one, with ties on the hips and halter. The bright green colour brings out the colour of my eyes, and I smile. Izzy gifted it to me last Christmas. I finally finish the strain of tying a bow behind my neck, when I hear the door creak open.
"Are you done yet? Ty peeks into the bathroom, and I cover myself quickly. He smirks at my blush, and throws a beige towel over his shoulder. "We're leaving soon" I rush out, and grab my goggles that are on the kitchen counter.
"Ready to go?" Leon asks, hiking up his ridiculously neonic swim shorts.
When we arrive, the first thing I notice is a mob of my childhood bullies crowding around Ty, who drove to the beach instead of walking. They all turn around to see the rest of us hiking down the path.
"Oh. My. God." Claire giggles, hooking her arm around Ty's. "What is with your bathing suit?"
"Nothing" I reply monotonously, and gesture to the ocean, waves lapping up onto the sandy beach. Random debris is scattered across the sand, so I hop around them carefully. The water is the perfect temperature, and diving in isn't a problem. Underwater, it's live with colourful fish.The fish flash by within an arm's length, willing me to reach out and touch their rough scales. As I surface to take a breath, I catch a glimpse of Ty bumping a volleyball back and forth with his new friends. I try hard not to notice the bright blush creeping up his collar as Claire slips off her dress and exposes her bathing suit, which appears to be a couple sizes too small and doesn't cover where it really should.
I glance down at my own swim attire, which is much different than her's. I still like it though and decide that I really don't care what they think as I slip below the waves again.
I sink down to the sandy bottom and land gently on the soft ground. The calm water and serenity of it all never failed to amaze me. I had loved swimming since I was very young.
"Mommy! Hurry up, I wanna swim!" Izzy dragged Mom down the path towards the beach, Papa balancing our belongings and carrying me towards the ocean.
"I don't want to go to the beach." I whine, tugging on the bottom of Pa's shirt. He scoops me up in one arm and tucks me into his shoulder.
"But Birdie, you've never even been to the beach!" Papa chuckled as I pounded his chest.
"I don't care! I hate the beach!" I wailed, my father still completely calm as his little girl acted like a complete brat. When Papa put my little feet onto the hot sand, all my grumpiness was forgotten as I immediately started grabbing shells and piling them in a bucket.
"Look, Mama!" I called every five seconds. "Look what I found!"
Every time she would push herself to her feet and jog over to where I had wandered to see my little treasures.
"Look at this rock, Kestrel!" she smiled, tucking a red stone into my plastic container. "Isn't this fun?"
Once Papa and Izzy were in the water, I immediately wanted to join them. My mother carried me in, dipping my toes into the salt water as she waded in slowly.
"Can I swim, Mama?" I ask Mom and she glances sceptically at Papa.
"Sure, Birdie." Pa grins. "Swim from Mommy all the way over here to me."
My mother sets me into the water and my legs and arms are instantaneously paddling as fast as they can. I reach Papa in no time and beam up at his proud face.
"Again!" I cry and I race back to Mom.
"What a big girl, you are!" she exclaims, hugging me in her arms. "I can't believe how good that was!"
I push off from the bottom and tread water at the surface, my head hurting from the memory. That feeling of pride and accomplishment was so rare lately that it felt weird to even think about it.
Claire, Ty and the rest of the group are slowly wading into the refreshing water. I roll my eyes at Claire's girly squeals every time the water rises a tiny bit. It wasn't even cold.
Ty stops walking in at about waist level, staring out at the water unsurely. Claire gingerly continues to step in as I duck into the ocean once again.
I squeeze my eyes shut and exhale, the bubbles from my breath tickling my nose. I slowly drift to the bottom and lie suspended in the water, staring up at the sky through the rippling waves.
The calmness and tranquility vanishes in an instant as I feel the string loosen around my neck. I grab for it, but it slips off. I flip around to see Claire floating in the water beside me, my top dangling between her fingers.
I throw my arms around my chest, panicking and charging at Claire. She slips away before I can snatch back my bathing suit.
I swim to the surface, being careful to only poke my head out of the water. Claire stands closer in shore, holding out my top like it's a dead animal.
"This thing is hideous!" she hollers, wrinkling her nose in disgust. The others laugh as she pretends to throw up.
I look around desperately for help, but Papa and Leon are nowhere in sight and Tyler is back on shore, wrapped up in his towel.
"Please, Claire." I beg, my legs growing weak from kicking.
"You want it?" Claire sneers. "Go fetch!"
She tosses the bathing suit further along the beach and I swim after it as fast as I can. I reach it quickly and wrap it back around me, tying the strings in an improvised knot as tight as I can. I climb out of the water and head to the beach, my face hot.
"What's wrong, Kessy?" Ty smirks as I walk past him. I shoot him a harsh look and continue to the pile of our towels stacked by the pinic table. Papa and Leon have disappeared, so I search though the bag of items and pull out a ham sandwich. I chew on it and watch the other teenagers frollick and giggle in the ocean.
I long to jump back into the waves, but I don't dare. Claire is a devil.
I pull out my sketchbook from underneath the stack of towels and start to draw the beach. I can't get the waves right, so I crumple up the page and drop it onto the sand beside me and start fresh.
"What's this?" Claire unrolls the ball of paper before I can grab it from her. "Ooh! A love letter! To Ty!"
"It is not." I mumble, closing the sketchbook and trying to get away, but Claire blocks my path.
"Ty, come here!" she calls, waving to the blonde boy. He dashes over and stands beside her.
"Listen to this," Claire laughs, pretending to read from the page. "Why I love Ty Koppinger, by Kestrel! How sweet."
Ty chuckles, "Gee, Kessy, sorry but I don't feel the same way... You're just too..."
My heart sinks. "Too what?" I ask as Claire drops the terrible drawing of the shore into the water.
"Too you" He rolls his eyes, and his hand floats over to the girl's shoulder. "Let's go"
I watch the two walk back to their friends, but after they've faded into the distance, I rest my head in my trembling hands.
"Why doesn't anyone like me?" I moan.
"Birdie, it's time to go!" Papa beckons me over to where he and Leon stand on the boardwalk. "We need to tour around town to see what damage's been done" He grabs my hand once I reach them, and we walk back to the Koppinger's in silence, leaving Ty behind with his friends.
After a few minutes pass, Leon speaks up.
"I'm sorry about what happened last night, Birdie. When we're driving around, I'll have a word with the children's parents" He receives a nod from Papa, but I refuse his offer.
"Leon, as much as I appreciate that, I don't want anyone else to be hurt because of me"
"If only everyone thought like that" he sighs, and pats my shoulder comfortingly. "The world be much more of a better place" The old man pauses. "But I'm still talking to their parents. They should know about this incident, it's their right"
"Sure"
I run into the house, and race into the bathroom. Luckily, I'd left my clothes in there when Ty forced me to leave, so I snag them and change quickly. On the way out, I grab some energy bars and bottled soda from the fridge, knowing we'd get hungry.
Papa maneuvers the car through the tight streets, turning around fallen trees and chunks of plaster. After the first two blocks, we stop to see how the businesses are taking care of the recent hurricane.
There's only a few different stores in Wrenside, and they're all condensed into one street. From where I sit, behind the passenger's seat in Leon's Hummer, I have a good view of the shops. The only one that's banged up is Redman's. The pet store, embroidery supplies shop, barber, and ice cream parlour seem to be in decent shape. The three of us hop out of the vehicle, and step into the grocery store, which seems to have a chunk taken out of its tin roof.
"Hello, hello, nice to see you again!" Mr. Redman runs up to my father, and pats him on the back.
"Hey, Gregory" Papa smiles, wrinkles forming in the corners of his eyes. "We're going around town, to see if everyone has a house" The man doesn't listen, and instead turns to me.
"Oh, my! Little Kestrel! It's been a long time" Mr. Redman gushes, giving me friendly one armed hug.
"Yeah. It's good to see you!" I smile, despite the fact that I had visited his store only a short while ago. As Papa and Leon chat with him I venture over to the corner of the building, looking around for any further damage.
"Is it okay if I check the back for leaks?" I yell to the plump store owner, and am replied to with a nod. The back of the store is musty, and the floor creaks with every step. Pots and pans are scattered randomly across the whole room, protecting the floor from any more damage. I step over the kitchen supplies, water dripping from the ceiling onto my face. Brushing the drops from my cheeks, I open the back door and step outside into the humid air. The stench from a nearby dumpster stings my nostrils.
The three men pop out of the door, fresh water droplets clinging to their hair.
"You need to get that ceiling fixed" Papa sighs, running a hand through his thinning red hair.
"Really, I don't even notice anymore" He shrugs. Leon trails behind them, obviously the third wheel. I give him a glance of reassurance and he smiles appreciatively.
"Well, we should get going." Pa says, heading back through the store, the three of us trailing behind. In the dark room, I don't notice one of the pots in front me. I stumble over it and land on the ground, my legs twisted awkwardly beneath me.
"Ouch!" I rub the scrape on my leg as Mr. Koppinger, Mr. Redman and my father rush over. Leon grabs me by the elbow and hauls me to my feet.
"Are you okay, Birdie?" Papa asks as I lean on him.
"I need to fix that ceiling." Mr. Redman stares up at the little holes in his roof.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I hobble back to the front of the store, and plop down in a chair behind the till. Pa comes and stands beside me, Leon joining him seconds later.
"Here!" Mr. Redman rushes over with a box of bandages. "These are for free. Take the whole box."
Leon sticks a dozen colourful band-aids on the wound on my shin.
"Thank you, Mr. Redman." I try to smile, but I cringe with the pain in my leg.
"Gregory." he insists. "Call me Gregory, Kestrel."
I nod and get to my feet, following Mr. Koppinger and my father out the door.
"Stay in the car, Birdie, you don't want to hurt yourself more" Leon orders, winking to confirm his hat flavour. :))))))))))
"Okay, but I'd rather go to the pet shop." I tell him and he chuckles.
"Well, if you feel up to it..." Papa trails off and I bounce up and down on my toes in joy.
"Yes! I'm fine!" I race down the street and into the pet shop. The bell above the door jingles as I enter the store, and when I take a breath I notice that it smells strongly of mud and sawdust. I smile when I notice the bird cages. Ever since I was little, I've been fascinated by birds. Their feathers, wings, and of course, flight.
A speckled chickadee chirps, and I turn around. It hops across its little perches towards me, and I snag a stool that's been left unattended and slide it in front of the cage.
"Hello, sweet bird" I coo, jam my finger between two bars of the cage, and wiggle it around as if it were a worm. The chickadee hops over to my finger, and steps carefully onto it.
"Why aren't you flying?" I pout, and am surprised when someone behind me answers.
"We clip our bird's wings, so that they don't escape" A woman smiles behind me, her atmosphere bubbly and happy.
"Isn't that cruel?" It must be horrible to have the ability to fly, but you're not allowed to.
"Oh, no, the birds appreciate it" The lady pats me on the shoulder and hops away. I roll my eyes, and focus my attention back to the cute little bird chirping a tune.
"You know, in a way, you're just like me" I sigh, leaning into the cage far enough that my nose is squished against its metal bars.
A while later, Leon, Papa and Ty peek through the door of the pet store.
"Birdie?" My father asks, and I usher them over to where I sit.
"Isn't it so cute?" I giggle, the little bird pecking at my finger. "OW!"
"You're so weir-" Tyler stops himself before he goes too far, and slinks away to watch the fish.
Leon sighs, before saying "Anyway, we're leaving now. Your father and I took the liberty of stopping by the rest of the houses while you were here." he says. "Luckily, there's only a few other houses that have damage like yours" I grin. There's definetely been worse years.
"I'm going to go now" I tell the chickadee, and place the stool back beside a giant aquarium. We fetch Ty, and head home.
I poke at the generous helping of unappetizing lasagna on my plate. The kitchen is silent as we chew on the cheese with the texture of plastic.
"So-" Leon starts, but is interrupted at the ringing of the ancient phone hanging in the hallway. He begins to push himself to his feet, but I jump up.
"It's okay, I'll get it!" I call, sprinting out of the kitchen and towards the phone. "Hello?"
"Hi... Is this... Who is this?" The line crackles.
"Well, who's this?" I ask, leaning against
the wall.
"This is Issac. Issac VanTaraden."
A/N We actually finished this on Wednesday, but yeah :)
It's been a relatively busy past two weeks, but I (what) took the week of Tae Kwon Do. We can finally be a little ahead in the story!
So... here's a beautimous picture of the two of us :D
A/N YAY AN EARLY CHAPTER WOOT WOOT
This Monday is Thanksgiving here in Canada and both of us are going out of town, so we decided to post chapter six early!! YAYYY :DD
In the days after I was left to drown, I stayed cooped up in my room, nothing to do but remember and relive the traumatic event. I lay in my bed, tears staining the pillowcase, sheets tangled around my ankles as I sobbed for hours on end.
"Birdie, you're so stupid!" I would tell myself every time I would think of what happened.
"We're so sorry Birdie!" Claire had insisted, the other kids nodding. "We want you to be our friend!"
"Really?" I asked, blinking in astonishment.
"Absolutely! We feel terrible about how we treated you!" A boy had said, and I beamed.
"You wanna come for a walk to the docks with us?" Claire asked and I nodded earnestly.
I followed them down the path to the docks, laughing along with them as they joked and played games. First the first time in my life, I felt wanted.
The feeling was washed away immediately as the nets lying on the dock tangled itself around my legs.
"Guys, can you help?" I call and they looked at each other deviously. Without hesitation, Claire stepped forward and shoved me into the black water.
I can't believe I fell for that again.
Papa drags me out the woods that crawl behind the barn, fuming with anger.
"Papa, I swear, I-" I start but he cuts me off with a sharp look.
"Birdie, I can't believe this."
"Then don't!" I exclaim, pulling out of his grasp. "It's not true!"
Papa glares at me. "Don't talk back to me, Kestrel. We're going back to Mr.Koppinger's. You're in big trouble."
He turns around and yells "Come on, Tyler!" to the boy sulking behind us. The night is silent except for the crunch of leaves beneath our feet and my father's loud breathing.
"You need to believe me" My eyes well up. Papa thinks that I'm the kind of person that would do something as horrible as force other people to do illegal things. What else does he think I do?
We arrive at Leon's quaint house, and Pa tugs us inside. The old man is sitting by the kitchen island, wrapped in his housecoat and drinking a mug of tea.
"Oh, thank goodness you're here, I was worried!" Leon runs toward us, spilling scorching liquid all over the hardwood floor. Papa's face reddens, and he storms ou the door, about to explode. "What was that about?"
We sit down on the disheveled couches.
"Papa's mad at me b-because he thinks he saw m-me doing something illegal" I sniffle, realizing that Leon would never believe me. "But I wasn't!" I add. Ty shifts uncomfortably, probably wanting to say something, but deciding otherwise.
"I believe you, Birdie" Leon smiles, and wraps his arm around my shoulders. "Don't worry about your father. He just needs to get over the initial shock of the situation" A smile brightens both of our faces.
After a few minutes of us slouching on the chesterfields, he speaks again.
"Tyler, I would like to have a word with you, if you don't mind"
With two steaming mugs of mexican hot chocolate in my hands, I maneuver my way over to where Papa is sitting. He motions me to sit next to him on the rotting old bench, and I gladly accept. For awhile, the two of us drink our cocoa quietly, enjoying the stars.
"Birdie, I'm sorry about accusing you of... that... I know you'd never dream of doing such a thing." I hhug him, tears threatening to overflow once again.
"P-papa" I wrap myself around his torso, letting my mug topple to the ground. "It was so s-scary" My voice is muffled by his warm turtleneck.
"I know, I know" He comforts me by rubbing my back in soothing circles. "I'm sorry for my actions"
"Me too" a smile flashes in his eyes. Rattling comes from Leon's house, and the two of us turn around.
"Is that Ty and Mr.Koppinger?" Papa asks me, knocking back the bitter dregs of his drink. "Why was Tyler with you earlier anyway?" He says, looking at my eyes hesitantly.
"He... I hfollowed him to the barn. All of my childhood bullies were there, and they said that they wanted to be my friend again" I take a deep breath before continuing. "I must be pretty stupid and gullible to believe that joke twice" A forced smile flashes through the tears dripping down my cheeks.
Papa shakes my head, and positions his empty mug beside mine on the mossy earth. "You know that's not true, sweetheart. They're just jealous of you" He grins.
"Why would anyone be jealous of me? I'm a pathetic, ugly, mean, talentless girl who could use some curves" I point at myself, pouting.
"C-come here" Papa's eyes shine, and tugs me in for another hug. "You're the most amazing girl on the planet. Don't forget that" He unlatches from me, gathers our dishes and stands up with much less difficulty than a few days ago. "I'll be inside, someone needs to break up those two" Yells continue to emit from the cottage, and I sigh.
After my father leaves, I decide to take a walk to the beach. Halfway to my destination, rays of sunlight begin to light up the sky. For the first time, I scour the small town of Wrenside for any wrecked buildings. Most of them are pretty banged up, but none as badly as my house. I groan. If there wasn't a giant tree lodged in the ceiling, the night's events would never have happened.
Mind you, Ty would have been in much more trouble... and more drunk. It suddenly makes me happy to share the blame with him, Tyler isn't one to let an argument go. He'll just get hurt more.
I walk the short distance from my house to the Marina, and gaze at the rickety dock. Luckily, all of our customers were able to take their boats out of the water before the storm hit. That happiness is clouded when I realize that the whole shack that once lay at the very end of the dock has vanished.
I run across the creaking panels, and stare down at the ground where it had stood. There's snapped pieces of board scattered in the ocean, but no shack, which contains all of our supplies, to be seen.
The lack of sleep and amount of worrying causes me to curl up on the dock and doze off.
"Yeah, I found her here, completely passed out" I rub the sleep out of my eyes, and sit up groggily. Kittie and Papa are sitting on the picnic bench, which has miraculously stayed bolted to the dock, and talking quietly.
"Thanks for taking care of her, Kittie" Papa smiles and pats her on the back. Kittie turns to leave, but stops after taking a few steps.
"Uh... Boss... I have something to ask you" She stuffs her hands in her grey sweatshirt.
"Sure, ask away"
"I- I've been having financial issues lately" From what I can see from my end of the marina, he raises his eyebrows. "Birdie told me it'd be okay to ask you, but I've always been sort of nervous about this kind of stuff..." She blushes and looks away, before inching towards him.
"Dear Kittie, you don't need to worry. I'll always be looking out for you!" He hands her a wad of bills, and smiles. Papa is always so kind and generous.
The young woman leaves hurriedly. Papa looks towards me, and I smile before dragging my feet over to where he sits.
"You always seem to disappear, don't you?" He laughs, and shoves his wallet back into the back pocket of his jeans. I giggle. "Oh yeah. Are you still going to the beach with Tyler? We could grab more stuff from the house if you need a bathing suit"
"Sure" I moan, snacking on a bag of vegetable chips.
We scramble over broken dishes, branches and glass to reach our bedrooms. A huge limb from the tree covers my bed, but I walk around it to get to my overturned set of drawers. It takes quite a while to flip it over, but after I finish with that job, a backpack is filled instantly with clean clothes. On my way out of the room, I snag a purple sweatshirt that hangs from my door handle and tug it on.
When Papa and I meet in the hallway, I laugh at all of the stuff he has in his arms.
"I'm sure Leon has some extra toothpaste for our week-long stay" I point to the boxes of toiletries piled in a basket he's holding. "You pack like a girl" I giggle.
"ALMOST DONE" I scream through the bathroom door, while trying to tie my swim suit. It's my least dorky one, with ties on the hips and halter. The bright green colour brings out the colour of my eyes, and I smile. Izzy gifted it to me last Christmas. I finally finish the strain of tying a bow behind my neck, when I hear the door creak open.
"Are you done yet? Ty peeks into the bathroom, and I cover myself quickly. He smirks at my blush, and throws a beige towel over his shoulder. "We're leaving soon" I rush out, and grab my goggles that are on the kitchen counter.
"Ready to go?" Leon asks, hiking up his ridiculously neonic swim shorts.
When we arrive, the first thing I notice is a mob of my childhood bullies crowding around Ty, who drove to the beach instead of walking. They all turn around to see the rest of us hiking down the path.
"Oh. My. God." Claire giggles, hooking her arm around Ty's. "What is with your bathing suit?"
"Nothing" I reply monotonously, and gesture to the ocean, waves lapping up onto the sandy beach. Random debris is scattered across the sand, so I hop around them carefully. The water is the perfect temperature, and diving in isn't a problem. Underwater, it's live with colourful fish.The fish flash by within an arm's length, willing me to reach out and touch their rough scales. As I surface to take a breath, I catch a glimpse of Ty bumping a volleyball back and forth with his new friends. I try hard not to notice the bright blush creeping up his collar as Claire slips off her dress and exposes her bathing suit, which appears to be a couple sizes too small and doesn't cover where it really should.
I glance down at my own swim attire, which is much different than her's. I still like it though and decide that I really don't care what they think as I slip below the waves again.
I sink down to the sandy bottom and land gently on the soft ground. The calm water and serenity of it all never failed to amaze me. I had loved swimming since I was very young.
"Mommy! Hurry up, I wanna swim!" Izzy dragged Mom down the path towards the beach, Papa balancing our belongings and carrying me towards the ocean.
"I don't want to go to the beach." I whine, tugging on the bottom of Pa's shirt. He scoops me up in one arm and tucks me into his shoulder.
"But Birdie, you've never even been to the beach!" Papa chuckled as I pounded his chest.
"I don't care! I hate the beach!" I wailed, my father still completely calm as his little girl acted like a complete brat. When Papa put my little feet onto the hot sand, all my grumpiness was forgotten as I immediately started grabbing shells and piling them in a bucket.
"Look, Mama!" I called every five seconds. "Look what I found!"
Every time she would push herself to her feet and jog over to where I had wandered to see my little treasures.
"Look at this rock, Kestrel!" she smiled, tucking a red stone into my plastic container. "Isn't this fun?"
Once Papa and Izzy were in the water, I immediately wanted to join them. My mother carried me in, dipping my toes into the salt water as she waded in slowly.
"Can I swim, Mama?" I ask Mom and she glances sceptically at Papa.
"Sure, Birdie." Pa grins. "Swim from Mommy all the way over here to me."
My mother sets me into the water and my legs and arms are instantaneously paddling as fast as they can. I reach Papa in no time and beam up at his proud face.
"Again!" I cry and I race back to Mom.
"What a big girl, you are!" she exclaims, hugging me in her arms. "I can't believe how good that was!"
I push off from the bottom and tread water at the surface, my head hurting from the memory. That feeling of pride and accomplishment was so rare lately that it felt weird to even think about it.
Claire, Ty and the rest of the group are slowly wading into the refreshing water. I roll my eyes at Claire's girly squeals every time the water rises a tiny bit. It wasn't even cold.
Ty stops walking in at about waist level, staring out at the water unsurely. Claire gingerly continues to step in as I duck into the ocean once again.
I squeeze my eyes shut and exhale, the bubbles from my breath tickling my nose. I slowly drift to the bottom and lie suspended in the water, staring up at the sky through the rippling waves.
The calmness and tranquility vanishes in an instant as I feel the string loosen around my neck. I grab for it, but it slips off. I flip around to see Claire floating in the water beside me, my top dangling between her fingers.
I throw my arms around my chest, panicking and charging at Claire. She slips away before I can snatch back my bathing suit.
I swim to the surface, being careful to only poke my head out of the water. Claire stands closer in shore, holding out my top like it's a dead animal.
"This thing is hideous!" she hollers, wrinkling her nose in disgust. The others laugh as she pretends to throw up.
I look around desperately for help, but Papa and Leon are nowhere in sight and Tyler is back on shore, wrapped up in his towel.
"Please, Claire." I beg, my legs growing weak from kicking.
"You want it?" Claire sneers. "Go fetch!"
She tosses the bathing suit further along the beach and I swim after it as fast as I can. I reach it quickly and wrap it back around me, tying the strings in an improvised knot as tight as I can. I climb out of the water and head to the beach, my face hot.
"What's wrong, Kessy?" Ty smirks as I walk past him. I shoot him a harsh look and continue to the pile of our towels stacked by the pinic table. Papa and Leon have disappeared, so I search though the bag of items and pull out a ham sandwich. I chew on it and watch the other teenagers frollick and giggle in the ocean.
I long to jump back into the waves, but I don't dare. Claire is a devil.
I pull out my sketchbook from underneath the stack of towels and start to draw the beach. I can't get the waves right, so I crumple up the page and drop it onto the sand beside me and start fresh.
"What's this?" Claire unrolls the ball of paper before I can grab it from her. "Ooh! A love letter! To Ty!"
"It is not." I mumble, closing the sketchbook and trying to get away, but Claire blocks my path.
"Ty, come here!" she calls, waving to the blonde boy. He dashes over and stands beside her.
"Listen to this," Claire laughs, pretending to read from the page. "Why I love Ty Koppinger, by Kestrel! How sweet."
Ty chuckles, "Gee, Kessy, sorry but I don't feel the same way... You're just too..."
My heart sinks. "Too what?" I ask as Claire drops the terrible drawing of the shore into the water.
"Too you" He rolls his eyes, and his hand floats over to the girl's shoulder. "Let's go"
I watch the two walk back to their friends, but after they've faded into the distance, I rest my head in my trembling hands.
"Why doesn't anyone like me?" I moan.
"Birdie, it's time to go!" Papa beckons me over to where he and Leon stand on the boardwalk. "We need to tour around town to see what damage's been done" He grabs my hand once I reach them, and we walk back to the Koppinger's in silence, leaving Ty behind with his friends.
After a few minutes pass, Leon speaks up.
"I'm sorry about what happened last night, Birdie. When we're driving around, I'll have a word with the children's parents" He receives a nod from Papa, but I refuse his offer.
"Leon, as much as I appreciate that, I don't want anyone else to be hurt because of me"
"If only everyone thought like that" he sighs, and pats my shoulder comfortingly. "The world be much more of a better place" The old man pauses. "But I'm still talking to their parents. They should know about this incident, it's their right"
"Sure"
I run into the house, and race into the bathroom. Luckily, I'd left my clothes in there when Ty forced me to leave, so I snag them and change quickly. On the way out, I grab some energy bars and bottled soda from the fridge, knowing we'd get hungry.
Papa maneuvers the car through the tight streets, turning around fallen trees and chunks of plaster. After the first two blocks, we stop to see how the businesses are taking care of the recent hurricane.
There's only a few different stores in Wrenside, and they're all condensed into one street. From where I sit, behind the passenger's seat in Leon's Hummer, I have a good view of the shops. The only one that's banged up is Redman's. The pet store, embroidery supplies shop, barber, and ice cream parlour seem to be in decent shape. The three of us hop out of the vehicle, and step into the grocery store, which seems to have a chunk taken out of its tin roof.
"Hello, hello, nice to see you again!" Mr. Redman runs up to my father, and pats him on the back.
"Hey, Gregory" Papa smiles, wrinkles forming in the corners of his eyes. "We're going around town, to see if everyone has a house" The man doesn't listen, and instead turns to me.
"Oh, my! Little Kestrel! It's been a long time" Mr. Redman gushes, giving me friendly one armed hug.
"Yeah. It's good to see you!" I smile, despite the fact that I had visited his store only a short while ago. As Papa and Leon chat with him I venture over to the corner of the building, looking around for any further damage.
"Is it okay if I check the back for leaks?" I yell to the plump store owner, and am replied to with a nod. The back of the store is musty, and the floor creaks with every step. Pots and pans are scattered randomly across the whole room, protecting the floor from any more damage. I step over the kitchen supplies, water dripping from the ceiling onto my face. Brushing the drops from my cheeks, I open the back door and step outside into the humid air. The stench from a nearby dumpster stings my nostrils.
The three men pop out of the door, fresh water droplets clinging to their hair.
"You need to get that ceiling fixed" Papa sighs, running a hand through his thinning red hair.
"Really, I don't even notice anymore" He shrugs. Leon trails behind them, obviously the third wheel. I give him a glance of reassurance and he smiles appreciatively.
"Well, we should get going." Pa says, heading back through the store, the three of us trailing behind. In the dark room, I don't notice one of the pots in front me. I stumble over it and land on the ground, my legs twisted awkwardly beneath me.
"Ouch!" I rub the scrape on my leg as Mr. Koppinger, Mr. Redman and my father rush over. Leon grabs me by the elbow and hauls me to my feet.
"Are you okay, Birdie?" Papa asks as I lean on him.
"I need to fix that ceiling." Mr. Redman stares up at the little holes in his roof.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I hobble back to the front of the store, and plop down in a chair behind the till. Pa comes and stands beside me, Leon joining him seconds later.
"Here!" Mr. Redman rushes over with a box of bandages. "These are for free. Take the whole box."
Leon sticks a dozen colourful band-aids on the wound on my shin.
"Thank you, Mr. Redman." I try to smile, but I cringe with the pain in my leg.
"Gregory." he insists. "Call me Gregory, Kestrel."
I nod and get to my feet, following Mr. Koppinger and my father out the door.
"Stay in the car, Birdie, you don't want to hurt yourself more" Leon orders, winking to confirm his hat flavour. :))))))))))
"Okay, but I'd rather go to the pet shop." I tell him and he chuckles.
"Well, if you feel up to it..." Papa trails off and I bounce up and down on my toes in joy.
"Yes! I'm fine!" I race down the street and into the pet shop. The bell above the door jingles as I enter the store, and when I take a breath I notice that it smells strongly of mud and sawdust. I smile when I notice the bird cages. Ever since I was little, I've been fascinated by birds. Their feathers, wings, and of course, flight.
A speckled chickadee chirps, and I turn around. It hops across its little perches towards me, and I snag a stool that's been left unattended and slide it in front of the cage.
"Hello, sweet bird" I coo, jam my finger between two bars of the cage, and wiggle it around as if it were a worm. The chickadee hops over to my finger, and steps carefully onto it.
"Why aren't you flying?" I pout, and am surprised when someone behind me answers.
"We clip our bird's wings, so that they don't escape" A woman smiles behind me, her atmosphere bubbly and happy.
"Isn't that cruel?" It must be horrible to have the ability to fly, but you're not allowed to.
"Oh, no, the birds appreciate it" The lady pats me on the shoulder and hops away. I roll my eyes, and focus my attention back to the cute little bird chirping a tune.
"You know, in a way, you're just like me" I sigh, leaning into the cage far enough that my nose is squished against its metal bars.
A while later, Leon, Papa and Ty peek through the door of the pet store.
"Birdie?" My father asks, and I usher them over to where I sit.
"Isn't it so cute?" I giggle, the little bird pecking at my finger. "OW!"
"You're so weir-" Tyler stops himself before he goes too far, and slinks away to watch the fish.
Leon sighs, before saying "Anyway, we're leaving now. Your father and I took the liberty of stopping by the rest of the houses while you were here." he says. "Luckily, there's only a few other houses that have damage like yours" I grin. There's definetely been worse years.
"I'm going to go now" I tell the chickadee, and place the stool back beside a giant aquarium. We fetch Ty, and head home.
I poke at the generous helping of unappetizing lasagna on my plate. The kitchen is silent as we chew on the cheese with the texture of plastic.
"So-" Leon starts, but is interrupted at the ringing of the ancient phone hanging in the hallway. He begins to push himself to his feet, but I jump up.
"It's okay, I'll get it!" I call, sprinting out of the kitchen and towards the phone. "Hello?"
"Hi... Is this... Who is this?" The line crackles.
"Well, who's this?" I ask, leaning against
the wall.
"This is Issac. Issac VanTaraden."
A/N We actually finished this on Wednesday, but yeah :)
It's been a relatively busy past two weeks, but I (what) took the week of Tae Kwon Do. We can finally be a little ahead in the story!
So... here's a beautimous picture of the two of us :D
No effects used! We swear!
:))))))))))))))))))))))))))
P.S.- please please please comment with feedback!
:))))))))))))))))))))))))))
P.S.- please please please comment with feedback!
