Angel (Chapter 1)

1

She had to stop for gas. She hadn’t seen a gas station for the past five miles, back when the ticker was hovering around half and kind of empty. She fucking hated her clunker of a car.

She drummed her fingers to the beat of the Fall Out Boy song-her Angry HeartBreak Playlist- on the steering wheel. Her windows were open, or she would have sung out loud. She was a dancer, not a singer.

The sun was setting and her car was starting to give away as she pulled into a gas station. She got out, checking her cell phones interface. One from Anna, her best friend, Jessi, the girl she hated. Nothing from the one person she wanted to talk to. She popped gas valve cover and untwisted the cap. She could have called him, if she weren’t so stubborn. He said he was going to text her, and that means he was going to text her. She was not going to text first, again.

Once the tank was full, she entered the little convenience store. She shook her long, dark hair from the ballet bun it was always pulled into and walked around, humming a concerto.

If she thought about it, which she didn’t, she could hear her mothers voice in her head, counting out the beats, ONE, two, three, ONE, two, three! Lux! Focus. This isn’t that hard. She pulled a root beer-delicious, forbidden root beer- from the decrypt fridge that hummed like it was from the seventies. She did a quick little turn at the end of one of the ailes, feeling the skirt of her sundress flare out and her hair spin out behind her.

“Nice moves.”

He was gorgeous in a way Lux wasn’t. In a loud, drugged up, rock-star way.

His skin was a perfect shade of gold, his eyes wide and a startling shade of green. They were fringed by long dark lashes and smudged with dark eyeliner. His hair flew every which way, or he worked to achieve that bedhead look, which would have been embarrassing. Over his black shirt, he wore a frayed denim vest with a large hot pink button attached. Lux could see the words from where she stood-ASK ME ABOUT SUNVILLE!

“What’s Sunville and does anyone ever ask about it?” Lux asked. The boy rolled his eyes, a smirk creeping onto his face. Lux felt plain in comparison to him, with her favourite sundress and 1950’s cat eye sunglasses. Her skin was black, just black, no thrilling shades of gold, and she never bothered with make up except for performances.

The handsome boy behind the counter stared at her as she walked up the dusty aisle, her ironic cowboy boots hitting the old wooden floor.

“Does anyone ever ask why you wear those boots?” The boy asked in return.

“Irony.” Lux said. He talked funny, she noticed, without an accent, but still quiet, measured and clipped. He raised one eyebrow as she pulled a pack of skittles from the shelf.

“Those are probably expired.” The boy said.

“I’ll take my chances.” Lux said. The boy watched her every move, as if she were a bug under inspection.

“Didn’t your mom teach you staring is rude?” Lux asked. She reached into the pocket of her dress. She had about forty dollars, not enough for gas and food. Not enough for just gas.

“My mother is dead. I think. My father could be too. Who knows, at any rate.” The boy said, “just take it. No one really cares.”

“I got gas too.” Lux said.

“Just take it.” He insisted. Lux stared at him, right into his shocking green eyes, “Sunville is the town you have entered. Don’t decide to stay.”

“What if I do?” She asked. Her heart beat loudly. She had gone to an all-girls school-uniform and everything. She hadn’t even really known that Boys were a thing. She exhaled quietly.

“Then you’ll have made a dire mistake.” He said, “I’m Alex.”

“Lux.” Lux said, putting the pack of skittles into her dress pocket.

“Well, Lux,” Alex said, a bemused grin on his face. It was one of his favourite expressions, pretending he knew everything, when, really, he probably did, “how would you like to go to a party tonight. I could show you around Sunville.”

“I thought you didn’t want me to stay.” Lux said. She wasn’t really eager to get back onto the road, another night of driving and listening to the same songs on repeat. But she couldn’t go places with random strangers, no matter how young and attractive they were.

Lux had a choice. She could either drive another night away from home, or stay and with this gorgeous human and party.

She shrugged, pulling her phone and looking at the interface, blank, save for three new texts from Anna.

“Lets do it.” She said simply.

Alex had five siblings. They were all adopted by a sweet, older couple. Alex himself, had one biological sister, a twin called Lydia. She sat, as Alex lead her to a small but spacious home sitting in front of clichéd red barns, smoking a cigarette and texting on her cell phone.

“What up, baby bro?” She asked, flicking her eyes upward as her thumbs continued to move.

“Lydia, Lux. Lux, Lydia.” Alex said, in passing.

“Light.” Lydia said, a small smile on her face. They looked almost exactly alike. Lydia had the same cat like features, and she talked in the same clipped way.

“What?” Lux asked.

“Light. Your name means light. Didn’t you know that? That’s Alexander and his name means Defender of The People. We have a little sister called Alice. Her name means noble.” Lydia flicked ashes of her cigarette onto the ground.

“Lydia is full of useless facts.” Alex said dryly, “are we set for tonight, Dee?”

“Why not?” Lydia asked.

“Lux is gonna help.” Alex explained. Lux wondered if they had they’re on secret language-one only they knew. A cow moo’d in the background. Lux thought she’d choke if she inhaled anymore dust. It was weird not to hear blaring sirens and the trains rushing past. Lux could hear the wind blow around her, whipping her skirt around her legs and the dust blow into her face. Alex and Lydia had already disappeared past the screen door. She could hear a child cry inside. Lux hated children, bold and italicize hate.

She gritted her teeth and stepped in.

Lux was immediately greeted by an aging white woman, with crows feet and short graying hair. She moved in a flurry of activity, always with a child on her hip. Alex stepped up to Lux’s side.

“That’s Angela. Our mom.” He whispered, “she never stays still, and if you move fast, she won’t spot you.

Alex slid his hand into hers, and led her up the stairs, to his bedroom.