Endless Decent [Part2]

Don't critique me! I'm being edited. If you want to read then ask my author to PM you when the updated version is up. Thankyou =]

She moved back and forth in front of the bathroom mirror a few times, folded down the toilet seat and stood on it, climbed back down, up, jumped down, hovered with one knee bent, but in the end it was no use.

The mirror was too small, and by the height of it, had probably not been adjusted since Luci had arrived four years ago.

Her uniform was strange. After years of stiff collars and rigid sleeves, varying in colour from city to city, the soft cotton blouse and snug boots felt too lax and informal. Lan seemed to know a lot more about her than she knew about him, and she couldn't figure out which would have been more uncomfortable- if he had bought the wrong size, or the fact that he bought the right size.

A tight knot in her stomach still resisted the fact that she was wearing something new. It was only the second day and she had already broken her pledge to a minimalistic lifestyle. But this was school uniform- she needed it. So that didn't count, right? It's not like it was something she might miss when she left again.

The hot tap whistled as icy water gushed into the sink. When she used it to restyle her hair a few cold dribbles escaped down her collar and she swatted at them like insects. Even her own hair reminded her of the fire. A hatred of her own reflection wouldn't be a good habit to get into. She swivelled round away from it and almost walked straight into the door.

This place was no different than anywhere else, she told herself. She'd started a new school a dozen times over. It was the same as before. The same as every time.

She tried to believe it, but things do change. Every time you leave through the front door you return, unless one day it gets locked behind you.

Downstairs she sat at the breakfast table opposite Luci. He barely acknowledged her, but proceeded to scoop bread and jam into his mouth faster than a starving dog. It was probably a good thing he didn't put his clothes on first. When the plate was cleared he shot off upstairs again.

'Did your mum ever teach you to cook?' Lan asked.

'She's an awful cook. She burns everything.'

He laughed. She didn't. It took a splinter of a second after she'd said it to realise and that heavy, hard feeling set into her stomach again.

'Sounds about right!' He said, loud enough to shake her out of her thoughts before they swallowed her again. 'I tried to teach her, when we were not much older than you two. Maybe a few years. She set my kitchen on fire twice. Actually it was my parents kitchen. My dad said not to invite her round again, but next time she turned up he didn't seem to mind.'

'Did you two date?'

'No, no. I'm not that way inclined, you see. Maybe that's why were such good friends- I'd never dare say it was my own charm. She was a beautiful girl, she had... maybe that's not the best discussion for us to have.'

'She's not as pretty as she used to be, is she?'

Uncertainty clouded his eyes and he paused for a few seconds, plate in hand, and sat down slowly at the table. It took a few seconds for him to decide how to respond.

'She's not a girl any more.'

That was answer enough. Upstairs Luci was yelling something about lost homework and she looked up to follow the sound of his feet stamping across the hallway upstairs.

'Where's Luci's parents?'

'Haven't seen his dad in a long time. Mother is a hurricane.' There was a crackle of bitterness in his voice that he didn't try too hard to suppress. 'Turns up every once in a while, picks him up and rattles him about. Then she dumps him back off on my doorstep in a bad mood and disappears again. Not that I don't adore her... but you know. I wish she wouldn't. Luci's the closest thing to a son I have.'

'Hey!' He came storming downstairs with a shoe in one hand, and with the other he grabbed the bread from Mele's plate. 'If there are going to be three of us we can't do this talking about each other, ite? It'll drive me crazy.' He kicked the bottom of her chair. 'Are you ready, we have to catch the bus.'

'Normally you don't leave for another ten minutes.'

'Normally I run. Let's go, go, go!'

She got up from her seat and walked slowly towards the door. Maybe she could mother these two a little- or at least teach them not to shout inside.

When was the last time she stepped outside to a place so bright? In the city the only green was a park two miles away, and even that was a dangerous place, full of alcohol and needles and their victims. Here there were yellow dirt roads and bright green hedges and bees and skies that stretched blue for miles. She drew a deep breath. The fresh air stirred up a low rattle in her chest and the taste of smoke stung the back of her throat.

Lan put his thick hands either side of her head and planted a hard kiss on her forehead that made her heart tingle. 'You'll do fine today,' he said in a voice as soft as the wind.

Luci knocked her on his way out the door. 'Let's go!'

She hovered awkwardly at the door for a few seconds longer. 'Thanks Lan.'

'Anything you need, sweetheart, just ask.'