2012, December 17^th, 6.49

“School ,” said Krystal as she kicked a big pile of fresh snow out of her way. She was currently walking to school which was around six kilometers away from her home. Krystal’s little house was located in the rear forest, not too deep into the wilderness, but still quite away from the town. Alice and Krystal walked around half an hour every morning just to get to the school. Sometimes it took even more time, like today, when it’s a cold winter. The little foot-printed road was really slippery and had a lot of snow on top of it, so the girl walked slowly with much precaution.

Walking out of the forest, Krystal saw a lot of people gathered near a huge truck. Finding some familiar faces, she jumped thought the snow towards one man.

“Hello…”

“Ah, Krystal.” The man turned around and greeted her with a big smile. He works in the forest, cutting down the trees for fuel. She knew him since the town was too small not to know all of the people that lived here, but there were a lot of new faces too.

“What’s going on here? What’s with all these people…”

The man looked around and chuckled. “New family is going to be living here. They got all the workers from neighboring towns to build them a house, me included. They want the job done as soon as possible, so the building starts today.”

“Woah…” Krystal’s eyes and mouth widened; finally something new is going on in town. She’s going to have neighbors! “What’s the family like? Do they have any children?”

“I think I heard something about two brothers... At least one of them should be at legal age, since they won’t be living with their parents,” the man answered.

“So interesting!” Krystal clapped her hands in excitement, earning a few chuckles from workers around her. Giggling herself, she bid everyone goodbye and proceeded on her way to school.

Since Alice is in the last grade, she sometimes doesn’t have a first lesson and can stay longer at house, just like today. Not that the sisters went together, either way. Usually Alice’s friend came to pick her up with a car, but even with much persistence, Krystal still wouldn’t accept the ride proposal. She liked taking long walks in the morning, because that way she would truly wake up.

Stepping onto the sidewalk, Krystal stopped in her spot and looked around. Only nine minutes are left till the first period and all the students were in a hurry, not even sparing her a look as they passed her.

The town’s only high school had quite a big building for such a small population. The building was divided into two separate sections, clearly seen from afar. The bigger campus was for younger students, grades five-ten and staff offices, while the other part allowed only seniors in. Krystal had one more year till going to the smaller building.

“Get out of the way!” Krystal heard somebody shout and turned around. A motorcycle was going straight at her, but she was too shocked to move from her spot. She stiffened, closed her eyes and waited for confrontation, but loud gasps around her made her step out of the trance. Daring to open only one eye, Krystal watched as the raider passed her just by ten inches, stopping right next to her. He immediately took off his helmet and jumped from his seat.

“Hey! Are you deaf or something?” He shouted, grabbing Krystal’s wrist. There was a crowd of intrigued students forming around them, even though the school stars soon. Trying to free her hand, Krystal glared at him.

“Maybe you’re just blind!” She shoot back, punching his chest with her other hand. He grunted his teeth and let go of her. The raider looked pretty angry, but not angrier than Krystal herself. He messed his hair in frustration and looked past her. Krystal sensed that someone else was standing behind her now, the other person’s shadow falling on the ground.

“Calm down, both of you,” another male voice spoke; a slight chuckle could be heard in it. Still glaring, Krystal turned to the person.

With the sight in front of her, Krystal opened her both eyes widely to take a better look at the boy. He stood tall, taller than Krystal by ten inches, maybe even more. He had light brown hair that was a bit curly and still looked naturally messy. His pale complexion brought out his plump pink lips the best. His brown orbs were quite light toned too, almost golden. Eyeing him from head to toe, she was surprised by his masculine build; he probably had a really beautiful toned body underneath his clothes. But he couldn’t be way older than her; at least his childish face said so to Krystal. She also noted that he had a great style of clothing, that is, if no one else dressed him up in those expensive looking skinny jeans and dark grey jacket.

She stared at him for quite a long time she thought, when he couched awkwardly, grabbing her attention to his face again. ‘I probably look like a total creep right now,’ her inner self said. Drifting her gaze to the raider again, she wanted to smack her face in frustration. This boy looked older than her by at least two years and a bit dangerous. It wasn’t really smart of her to get in trouble, even if it was the raider’s fault.

While Krystal was standing between the two boys, she could see all the surprised and interested faces around them. Stepping away from the boys so she could see both of them, Krystal crossed her arms and signed.

“It was your fault for driving so carelessly,” she pointed at the raider, only to receive a grunt from him. “Look at the gates. Do they look wide enough for a motorbike to drive through?”

“It would be, only if you didn’t stand there like an idiot,” the raider smirked at her. Krystal would gladly teach him some lesson only if the bell wouldn’t ring any time now. She wanted to wipe that arrogant smirk of so badly, she didn’t really care of creating a fight. Krystal is hot-blooded and probably everyone around here knows it. These boys were definitely new in town.

The younger looking boy held his hands up in defeat, grabbing Krystal’s attention once again. She gave him a questioning look, but he looked at the rider and nodded.

“Park your motorcycle somewhere, I’ll deal with this,” he said to the other boy who only nodded in agreement and turned around, sitting on his engine. Krystal didn’t want this to end unsolved, but the younger boy came up to her and the rider drove away to the parking lot behind the school.

“Sorry, my brother sometimes is a rock-headed fool,” he said while smiling to Krystal. The bell finally rung, making the students walk towards the building, leaving the two alone.

“Yeah, I can see that.”

The boy chuckled and extended his hand to her. “I’m Gabriel La’cre. That is my older brother, Daniel.” Krystal liked how he called his own brother, so she accepted the hand shake and finally smiled.

“Really unusual names,” she said. The boy smiled widely and retrieved his hand, putting it in his jeans’ pocket. Introducing herself, she said “I am Krystal Marregon. It’s my first time seeing you.”

“Yeah well, I hope we didn’t make such a bad first impression,” he joked. Krystal laughed at that and glanced at her watch. If she’s late, she’ll get in trouble. Not with the teachers, but with her sister. The teachers felt as if Alice was responsible for her, so they always gave reports to the older sister. Krystal can’t do anything that would attract her sister’s attention even more.

Noticing her look towards school, Gabriel let out a sign. “We should hurry inside. I still have to go to the principal’s office.” He took his backpack from the ground (Krystal didn’t even notice it was here) and started walking away. “Maybe we’ll see each other next time,” he shouted before turning to the bigger building.

Inhaling deeply, Krystal started running to the class.

After all these years, it was the first time that Krystal was glad for having Physics as the first lesson. The teacher was currently in the hospital for an unknown sickness and a young teacher from other town was teaching in his place. The young teacher, who let his temporary students call him by his name, Kevin, really liked Krystal so he didn’t scold her for coming late. Of course, she still had to come up with an excuse, so she lied that some teachers called for her. Well, Kevin obviously didn’t believe it, but at least it convinced other students. Taking the seat near the window at the front row, Krystal was free to think about the boys she met this morning. First, they are new. Second, the older one seems like a total jerk, while the younger one seems just fine. Maybe she’ll have the chance to get to know Gabriel better. But the thing was, why did they come here? This town is mostly unknown, nothing special to find here. Furthermore, they even came here after the semester started. Why now?

“Kiddo!” Alice appeared in the cafeteria, walking towards Krystal’s table with her friend Tiffany. Hearing the adorable nickname, Krystal’s friends burst out laughing, making the young girl frown. She has told Alice many times about how she feels about the nickname. She totally hates it.

“Hello kids,” said Tiffany, putting her bag on the table. Now it was Krystal’s friends’ time to grunt their teeth. Probably the only similarity you could find between Krystal and her friends was this big dislike for being looked down as small kids. Other than that, Krystal’s group consisted of very different personas.

Victoria, year eleven, is the mother of the group. She’s really reliable, but also a bit bossy. Nevertheless, everyone loves her. Her classmate, Amber, is a big tomboy. She actually rarely hangs outs with the group, as almost everyone in the school is her friend; nevertheless, Krystal likes to consider her as a true friend. The girl sitting across Krystal is Jinnee; they were classmates in fifth grade and since then, they’re good friends. Jinnee has a really cute face which gets her popularity up. Not that there are something like popular kids in school or something, but the girl attracts a lot of attention.

There are also two boys sitting with the girls right now. They are twins from Jinnee’s class, Jason and Aaron. They got into the gang quite recently, only one year ago. Krystal and Jason were a bit similar in character, so they freely called themselves best friends. Aaron is a bit of an airhead just like Jinnee, so it’s still quite strange how he and Krystal were on really good terms. Well, nobody can resist the older twin’s adorableness. Since they are identical twins (only by looks, of course), Aaron always dyes his hair in light colors, while Jason sticks to his natural color which is dark brown. What they hate the most is people mistaking their names. That’s probably the only reason why they don’t have many friends, aside from this group.

Signing, Krystal got up from her seat and went to line of people buying food. Getting the trail, she stood behind one senior and looked around the small cafeteria. She noted that her group’s table was being really loud, with Jinnee laughing madly and clapping her hands. That girl sometimes looked like a clown, thought Krystal. Probably Tiffany or Aaron told some sort of joke. Signing, Krystal bought her food and was walking back to her table, when she saw Gabriel. The boy was in the same line, right behind her. How could she not notice him earlier? Stopping, she nodded to him. He smiled back, ordering his food. Not waiting for a response, Krystal walked to her friends.

“What was that all about?” Jason asked her as soon as she put her food down. Others weren’t paying any attention to Krystal nor Jason.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Krystal then smiled, “wait, are you jealous or what?” Victoria turned her head towards Krystal, only now interested in the chat.

“As if. In your dreams, maybe I would be,” Jason retorted while smirking. Krystal rolled her eyes and could hear chuckles from Victoria and Alice. Now the whole table was listening to the conversation, probably Victoria told them to.

“He’s a new student here, named Gabriel. I met him this morning, that’s all.” Krystal explained, stabbing a tomato with her fork.

“Such a cutie…” said Tiffany, getting a smack on her head from Alice. All the girls were now eyeing Gabriel, who was standing with a trail in his hands, choosing where to sit. He was there all alone, after all.

“Hey, don’t give us goose bumps, aunt,” said Amber, who always liked to tease the older girl. She was sitting in a safe distance from Tiffany, so she confidently got her revenge for being called as ‘kid’ earlier.

Victoria suddenly stood up and waved to Gabriel, waving her hand to him. “Sit here!” Almost everyone in the cafeteria looked to their table because of Victoria’s shouting. Gabriel, with a confused look on his face, slightly nodded and started walking towards them. Krystal was gaping at her older friend, so were the other ones. Leaning in, she muttered ‘what are you doing’, but before Victoria could respond, Gabriel set his trail next to Krystal and sat down. An uncomfortable silence fell on the group. Everyone was looking at the new boy, making him a bit uncomfortable. Victoria broke the silence.

“Gabriel, wasn’t biology so boring?”

Glad for some sort of talk, the boy smiled at Victoria. “Nah, I think literature after that was more exhausting.”

“Wait…” Aaron begun, “…do you know each other?” Victoria opened to respond, but Amber beat her to it.

“Well, we are classmates now.” Jinnee and Krystal looked at each other, still confused. Krystal thought that he was the same age as her. Apparently, he’s not.

“Why did you come here so suddenly?” Jason asked, tapping his chin.

“I and my brother just recently lost our parents, so we decided to change our surroundings to clear our minds.”

Krystal felt that she knew the feeling; she put her fork down and looked at Gabriel straight in the eyes. “I’m sorry for your lost. It must be hard for both of you.” Others nodded their heads in agreement. Gabriel gave them a small smile.

“We’re doing well, right now. Of course, it would be even better if we found a place to stay here temporary.”

“You don’t live here already? Where are you staying?” Alice finally spoke up. Her motherly instincts kicked in.

“We’re staying in the neighbor town right now…”

“But isn’t it like fifty miles away?”

“Yeah, well…” Gabriel looked at Jinnee, who asked him the question. “We had to wake up at three o’clock to get ready and everything.”

Victoria let out a loud gasp; the whole group was dumbfounded by his words.

“I should ask my father about it, but my grandparents are currently abroad, so maybe…” Jinnee began but was instantly interrupted by the new boy.

“We are building a house near the forest right now. With all the workers we gathered, it should be done by the New Years.” Girls let out a sign; they were put to ease.

“So fast! You need to be super rich for such a quick work to be done,” Aaron tried to joke. However, Gabriel didn’t say anything. “Or are you rich?”

“Our parents were, at least. Since my brother is already legal, he already got his part of share. What can I say - it’s more than enough.”

Not knowing what else to say, the group fell silent once again. Gabriel signed and ate his food. Krystal was feeling really awkward, so instead of creating some talk, she took out her phone. Only two minutes were left till the next lesson.

“Gabriel, you should sit with us from now on.” Krystal felt bad for the boy. Remembering something, she also added, “And bring Daniel too. I was too harsh on him this morning.”

Smiling widely, Gabriel nodded. Soon the bell rung and the group scattered.

After the last class, Krystal was sitting in the cafeteria, waiting for Victoria. They had plans on going to a bigger city for shopping. With all the allowance she was getting, Krystal could finally buy Christmas gifts and a maybe even something for herself. Never did her family had enough money, so Krystal and Alice learned from the grandma about saving it. Alice was really strict about what they were buying, so Krystal was really excited about today’s outing. Her older sister understood her needs and approved the trip. The only thing left was to wait for Victoria’s lessons to end.

Not really knowing what to do in the mean time, Krystal was wondering around the school, not really having any destination in mind. From cafeteria to library, from second floor to parking lot, Krystal went aimlessly. Bored, she finally decided to go to the garden. Retrieving her phone from the pocket, she wrote few messages to her friends on the way. Apparently, Jason decided to skip the lesson and go the grocery shop. He said he’ll be back in ten minutes, so she’ll wait for him first. Maybe he’ll decide on going with the girls for shopping. After all, he hasn’t bought any gifts yet, at least he said so.

Sitting under one big tree where no snow has fallen, Krystal warmed up her cold hands and looked at the sky. As usual, the clouds were dark; it will rain in the evening, again. Krystal didn’t really know why, but looking at the sky always made her eyes to tear up. Maybe it was because of her parents’ death. She heard only a little bit about if from Alice. The night the car accident took place it was raining. But maybe that wasn’t the only reason Krystal felt like crying right now. Every single day, always, it was raining. The young girl was feeling as if her sanity might break any moment. She dreamed of some better place, of some better life. She dreamed about having a big, full family.

A sorrowful tear escaped Krystal’s eye. Wiping it off instantly, she felt as she started crying. Trying to control her emotions did no good. She would still cry later this night, crying herself to sleep. As always. Since the age of eight, Krystal cried at least once a week. Sometimes, the tears slipped out randomly, without any cause. No true meaning behind the tears was hidden. Trying to conceal the puffy eyes, since the fourth grade, Krystal started applying makeup. Nothing heavy looking, she did not want to attract too much attention. Just a bit of correction here and there, that’s all. Even if Alice or Helena noticed Krystal’s pain, they neither did nor said anything. Furthermore, Krystal didn’t hang out with her friends as much she would have liked to, so they still haven’t noticed anything.

Mondays are probably the only free days besides weekends for Krystal. Deciding to finally rebel, Krystal will drop out of some clubs and other activities. But she won’t do so until next week. Or the next month. But she will. She has to. She doesn’t want to be controlled anymore.

“Krys…”

Krystal looked around. She heard someone call her. But no one was there. She was alone.

“Don’t cry…”

It downed on her; it was the same voice from last week. It was a ghost, it has to be. Feeling more frustrated than scared, Krystal took her ear-phones and e of her favorite upbeat song. Loudly. She still was afraid of the ghost, so she closed her eyes and tried to sleep. She knew it was dangerous to sleep outside in this weather, but if it meant that the voice will disappear, she’ll gladly take the challenge.

“It won’t work,” the voice chuckled. Krystal bit her tongue and tried to concentrate on the lyrics. Soon she felt a metallic flavor in : blood. Maybe she was biting her tongue too hard.

“Try living, not existing, Krystal.” Mysterious voice sounded a bit angry. Krystal accepted the fact that the voice was only in her head, probably not some ghost. It may be her inner self or something… She doesn’t even know what to think about the voice anymore. Only one thing was sure- it annoyed her to no end.

“Are you really my inner mind?” she muttered, feeling like an idiot right away. She was talking with some voice only she could hear. Maybe it was already too late to keep her sanity together.

“If I was, would you need to voice out your thoughts for me to hear?”

“Then are you a ghost?”

“Would you feel more secure if I said I am?”

The voice’s way of talking frustrated Krystal even more now. “Shut it. Stop talking. Go away.”

“Trust me on this, Krystal. I’m helping you. If I won’t look out for you…”

“You sound just like Alice. And I don’t want any older sisters besides her.”

“You should listen to her, then.”

Crying again, Krystal started hitting her head, that way trying to calm down the voice. In the mean time, Daniel walked over to her. Still not opening her eyes, Krystal just sat there, smacking her head and face even more intensively. She suddenly heard someone near her sign and pull her into a hug. Surprised, Krystal’s eyes fluttered open and she saw the older boy kneeling down, embracing her.

“What do you think you’re doing?” She screamed, both embarrassed and shocked. Pushing Daniel away from herself, Krystal wiped off her tears and tried to stand up. Feeling the resistance, Daniel let go of her, looking deeply into her orbs. Getting help to get up from him, Krystal couldn’t break the look. She saw her own reflection in his almost black eyes that were full of concern. She even saw her red cheeks and puffy eyes in the image. Trying to act normal, she straightened her back and wiped off the last tear. Not daring to look at him now, she hung her head down.

“Are you okay now?”

“Yes,” she lied. She didn’t know how she felt, but she definitely wasn’t fine.