No. 1: Life As They Know It
His pen tapped away on the notebook as he tried and tried to think of something good to write.
His eyes wandered around his room that he shared with his brother, insanely, and hopelessly thinking that something might spark inspiration. His side was fairly clean, the bed made up, the clothes restrained to the chair. But his brother's side looked like an atomic bomb just went off.
He groaned and slammed his head onto his desk in frustration.
"Creativity not working for you today Cliff?" A voice asked.
He turned his head so he could see his brother though his blond hair.
"M-mm." He moaned.
His brother just smiled as his thumbs flew over the Xbox controller.
"Well take a break and help me beat these guys. I'm dying!!"
Cliff chuckled and picked up the second controller and sat down on his brother's bed.
"You always need me to come save your butt." He mumbled.
"Ha! No. I can save myself."
Cliff rolled his eyes as he jumped into the game.
"Yeah right. The only reason why you made it out alive from your last date with Terra was because she saved your butt from those Phantoms lurking in the alley. You were too busy trying to get all cozy."
"Hey! Shut up you idiot. You know I don't do stuff like that."
Cliff just laughed. He knew, of course. Venn had been raised to respect a women and not to cross the line. But that didn't stop him from teasing him.
"Speaking of dates." Venn piped up. Cliff groaned.
"Just kill me now." He mumbled.
"When are you going to find yourself a girlfriend?"
"Uh, when I find one that doesn't mind a writer, likes to get chased by the monsters that hid in her closet as a kid, and doesn't mind my having super powers. You find one that doesn't mind all that, you send her my way."
Venn nodded very seriously as he let on a rain of bullets to the enemy line by the push of a button.
"Yup. I'll be sure to do that."
Terra's hands flew across the black and white keys as she played her favorite song by heart. She, of course, had to play everything by heart, since she was unable to read the music sheets due to the car accident that had stolen her sight from her, but she had been determined to learn how to play the piano, and so she spent every free time practicing.
And now she was to the point that everyone called her the second Mozart. Though she was never sure how to handle that compliment.
"Hey girl."
Terra's head turned to the voice that had just appeared. Not that she didn't know the person was walking through the closed music room in the wing of the manor no one uses.
"Hey Kale. What's up?" She said, scooting over on the bench, as Kaleigh slid in next to her.
"Ugh."
They both laughed at her response.
"Brandon getting on your nerves again?"
"Brandon's always on my nerves. But in a good way."
Terra smiled and bumped her friend in the shoulder.
"So, what did he do this time? Still hasn't asked you out?"
Kaleigh sighed and pushed her black bangs out of her face.
"No. And you know it wouldn't be such a big deal, and usually I try not to think of it, but after what he did before our showdown with Sage..." She groaned and rested her head on the keys of the piano.
Terra rubbed her back comfortingly.
"I'm sorry Kaleigh. He's never had a girlfriend, never even liked a girl before, and this is all new to him and he doesn't have a clue how to ask you out, or if he should or anything. He's just scared."
"And like I have? My love life is the funniest joke around."
"Aw, you're being way to hard on yourself."
Kaleigh sighed.
"Alright, you need a break and hang out with your best friend. So, let's ditch our love lives, and boys and get out of here." Terra exclaimed.
Kaleigh smiled at her, thankful for the escape that she desperately needed.
"Oh, and you'll never guess what I did." She said as they walked out of the music room and through the hall.
"What?"
"I stole Brandon's hat."
Terra gasped in mock horror.
"No you didn't!"
"Oh yes I did!"
.:+++:.
The violin was grasped in his hand, his fingers light and nimble on the neck of the instrument. He flexed his fingers on the bow in his other hand as he brought it up and let it flow over the strings, pouring out a melody.
He played her heart. Her happiness, her spunk, her uniqueness.
He played his own heart. The joy that ran through him when she smiled at him. Then the sadness when he also saw her holding hands with someone else. The sudden realization that she wasn't his. And would likely, never be.
The violin played both their hearts circling around close, but never close enough.
His body moved with the melody, swaying as it rose and dropped.
He moved soundlessly across the room. He had drawn the thick curtains closed, blocking out the sunlight. The unmade bed gave witness of the fitful nights he had been having. The clothes scattered everywhere told anyone who walked in that he hated doing laundry.
The knock on the door interrupted his trance. He let the violin and bow drop to his side as he padded barefoot across the room and opened the door.
He wanted to hit his head against the door jam when he saw who was standing on the other side of it. He could have seen Brandon miles away and known instantly who it was not only because of the distinct orange baseball cap that he always worn backwards, but also by the various colors of pain that seemed to be perminante stains all over his arms and hands.
"Yes Brandon?" He asked curtly.
Brandon looked a bit surprised by his sharpness, but didn't take it personally.
"Kaleigh wanted me to remind you that dinner was ready, and she doesn't want you to be late."
He nodded and closed the door in his face. He placed his precious violin in it's case, closed it and pulled on his boots and coat.
Kaleigh looked up as the door to the house she and her two brother's stayed in opened, sending in a draft of winter wind.
"Hey Stryder! Wondered if you were going to show up." She said as she pulled the bread out of the oven.
"Careful, it's hot." She said to Terra who dumped the loaf onto the cooling rack.
"I got it." Terra said with a smile.
Kale stopped and looked at Stryder with a smile.
"So why don't you take off the coat and help set the table. And then go yell at those boys, they're in their room playing who knows what." She said, handing him a stack of plates.
Stryder smiled back at her, though she noted it was one of his gloomy smiles, and took the plates from her. His golden eyes meeting hers for just a moment before he walked to the table that was at the opposite end of the near the couch.
The house wasn't very big, but since only three people lived in it, it was more than enough room. Though it was times like this that Kaleigh wished it was a tad bit bigger.
She shrugged at her thoughts and stirred the pot of spaghetti noodles.
"Okay so I put the garlic butter on the bread," Terra said. "The salad is on the table, anything else I have to get?"
Kaleigh smiled at her friend and shook her head.
"Nope, sounds like you got it all. Thanks Terra for helping out. I could have dragged my brother's into doing it but that wouldn't have gone well."
Terra snorted and shook her long brown curls out of her face.
"Yeah I know all about that."
"Boys!!" Kaleigh yelled at the top of her lungs. Making Terra laugh, and Stryder jump in shock.
"Get in here so we can say grace!" She finished.
"Alright alright, we're coming, we're coming." They shouted from their bedroom.
A few seconds later her two brothers came running into the living room.
They came up on either side of her, Venn flung an arm over her shoulders, and Cliff held her hand, then the rest of the kids joined up hands and Venn led them in a word of prayer.
Once they all said amen they sat down and Brandon and Stryder immediately dug in. But when they saw everyone was just sitting there, they hesitated.
“What?” Stryder asked.
“Usually we let the girls go first.” Cliff explained.
Brandon dropped the serving spoon and held up his hands.
“My bad, sorry.” He said, shooting Kaleigh an apologetic crooked grin.
The two girls dished out their food, and as soon as Terra dropped the spoon, the boys dished up what was left.
“How’d you do in PE today Terra?” Cliff asked in between bites.
Terra swallowed before answering.
“It was alright, Cap is hard on me though. Just today he had me run five miles, threw up afterwards.”
“Ugh, I personally liked training much better when the Professor was supervising.” Kaleigh pipped up.
“He’s getting old,” Stryder said. “He should have retired a while ago.”
Kaleigh bit her bottom lip, knowing he was right, but she hated change and didn’t want to admit that things were changing all around her.
“Aw come on Kale, change isn’t all bad.” Brandon had this uncanny way of guessing what she was thinking. She couldn’t figure out if it was their telepathic link, or she was just an open book.
“Well my experience with it hasn’t been all to great.” She mumbled. These words cast an immediate gloomy affect on the rest of the group. She sighed and got up from the table. Tossing her napkin on the table, she walked into her bedroom and quietly closed the door.
“Why do I always have to slip up like that? Everyone was having a great time and I always find some way to go and ruin it.” She whispered to herself.
Pushing herself away from the door, she played her ‘depressed’ play list on her iPod and collapsed onto her bed.
Fifteen minutes passed by before the anticipated knock rang louder than her music volume.
She pulled her earphones out, and hollered at the door.
“Come in!”
She didn’t need to look up to know who it was, she could smell the oil on his skin that had soon been associated with her Partner.
“So what’s eating away at you?” He asked, pulling the door too, and then coming and sitting on the edge of her bed.
“And don’t say nothing because I know something is by the way you walked out.”
Kale sighed and starred absently at the ceiling.
“I just have bad days every now and then.” She answered, avoiding the question.
Brandon rolled his eyes and tapped her leg.
“Come on, I want to show you something.” He held out a hand, and after a moment of starring at it, she slipped hers into it. She never realized how small she was until her hand was put to size with one of the boys’.
Brandon led her outside after saying a brief word to her brothers and making sure they knew where they were going. Then he led her to his green racer bike.
She chuckled when he handed her the exact same helmet he had given her when he took her to his favorite ice cream parlor last fall.
She waited patiently as he started the engine up, then hopped on.
After several minutes of dodging through traffic, they finally pulled up into the drive way of his mom’s house.
He turned off the engine, and held out a hand to help Kaleigh keep her balance as she hopped off. Not that she needed it.
“Aw, just what I needed, a visit with the family.” She said with a growing smile as she slipped the helmet off and ran her fingers through her raven hair.
“Was that sarcasm?” Brandon asked with a grin, coming up beside her and opening the door for her.
“No! I was being dead serious! I love your family, they’re so nice to me and don’t treat me like I have problems. They treat me like a…normal girl.”
Brandon smiled the kind of smile that came strait from his heart.
“I’m glad you like my family. I do too.”
She laughed as they both stomped their boots on the door mat and entered the house.
“Mom! I’m home! And I brought Kaleigh!” Brandon shouted as he took Kale’s coat and scarf and hung it up in the closet.
Brandon’s mom came running into the room, her brown hair hung down at her shoulders, and though her face showed signs of age, her smile and eyes were still as youthful as ever.
“Oh Kaleigh! It’s so glad to see you again!” She cried, rushing over and hugging Kaleigh so tight that it was like she had found a lost daughter.
“It’s good to see you too Tracy.” Kale said with a smile.
A second later, Kaleigh’s lungs were crushed by a strong bear hug, and blond curls were in her mouth.
“Hey Maddy, how are you?” Kale asked using her hands.
“I’m great! I’m so glad you came, I haven’t seen you in ages!” Maddy signed back.
“Well I’m here now, so all’s forgiven?”
“Of course!”
“Can I get you anything to eat or drink Kaleigh?” Tracy asked. Kale shook her head, and answered politely.
“No thank you. I just ate.”
Tracy smiled and looked from Kaleigh to her son. “Well we’ll leave you two alone. We’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything.”
Kale caught Tracy’s wink and knew she was blushing. The poor boy hadn’t even asked her out yet, but they all knew the feelings were there.
Tracy and Maddy left for the kitchen, leaving Kaleigh and Brandon in the living room by themselves.
“Come on, I know you want to talk, but let’s go out to the garage.” Brandon said, already moving in that direction.
In the garage, Brandon pulled the swivel chair from his desk and set it near his easel, where he was working on a sketch of what looked like six figures standing side by side, with either their arms draped over each other’s shoulders or holding hands.
Kaleigh sat down on the swivel chair, and watched as Brandon picked up his pencil and did a few touch ups.
“Wow! Even for just a sketch I’m impressed.” She muttered. Now it was Brandon’s turn to blush.
“I’ve been working on it for a while now, trying to get it just right and all.”
“Wait you’ve just been working on a sketch? You haven’t even started painting yet?”
“Nope. Like I said, I wanted it to be just right.”
Kaleigh leaned in over his shoulder to get a closer look.
“Oh gosh, yeah I’ll say you’ve got it right. I mean look, that’s me! And it’s actually a pretty good resemblance…I’d say you did a fine job on all of them, though…you made your nose too big and your eyes aren’t that close together.”
As she made observations, she watched as Brandon erased his own face and made the adjustments she suggested.
“That good?” He asked.
A very studious look crossed her face as she studied the drawing, and then his own face.
“Yep, looks good.” She replied after a moment.
Kale watched quietly as she watched him mix up his paints, and carefully pick out a brush, which he tested the thickness of the line on his palm. After he had created a flesh color, he began to paint Terra’s face.
“So we came here so you could talk, not just watch me.” He said after a moment of silence.
“Yeah but watching you is calming.” She blurted out before her brain could catch up to her mouth.
He glanced at her, but she forced herself to stare at the painting.
Brandon shrugged and continued painting, if she was going to talk, she would talk when she felt like it.
It only took a few more seconds of silence before she started talking though.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m a nobody.” She whispered, knowing that he probably wanted to know why she had stormed out earlier.
“Why would you feel like that?” He asked calmly.
Kale let out a sigh and ran her fingers through her hair.
“I guess…because my past isn’t really my past. I mean it’s hard enough being an Elemental, and know that I’ll never be a normal girl, I’ll always have a secret to guard and if it was just that I might be okay. But because of what the Professor did to me…I just have identity problems I guess.”
Brandon paused a moment and turned to her.
“Kaleigh, everyone has identity problems. Yes I understand what you’re saying, your’s are unique. And I know it can get lonely because no one really knows what you’re going through, but that doesn’t mean you’ve got to face the fears on your own.”
Kaleigh gave him a small smile.
Brandon always knew just what to say to make her feel better.
