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**Now don't expect recent updates after this. I have a lot of editing to do with the first one, but I decided to do the prologue at least for this one. I don't think I'll update the edited versions, because I'm sending it for publication after that.**
**Anyway, enjoy this prologue of "Somewhere Out There".**
**Kree**
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The Terrearth classroom atmosphere did not please the small raven-haired girl. Instead of a class of fifteen kids, tops, there seemed to be at least twenty-five. Their desks were crowded together and nobody could have their own personal space. There was large green board that was attached to the wall and took most of the space. She had been studying Terrearth lifestyle the entire time she had been here. Immediately, she found out at once that "Terrearth" was not called "Terrearth", but rather, "Earth". In addition to that, she found out that kids from the ages of 5-17 were required schooling, and most normally, in a public facility. She studied the school life of Terrearth the rest of the summer, so she concluded that the large board in front of her was a chalkboard. She also noticed computers; machines that were made to excel the Human mind and intelligence. There were also posters of maps and other so-called educational images hanging on the wall. Of course, there were shelves with a selection of books, and she didn't need to study to figure out that.
As she scanned across her new setting with her bright violet eyes, she slouched in the pine-green plastic chair. She'd sat in chairs that were smaller and even more comfortable than these, but she still could not get used to the miniscule deaths they had to lean on. On top of that, the materials were primitive and they were in countless numbers. She hardly had any space in the desk to put them all in. How she wished she could use the tiniest bit of magic to make a few it was too risky. There were too many people around her, and these Humans' idea of magic was in pulling a rabbit out of hat or slicing a person in half.
She hadn't gotten used to her new garments either. Though she did discover that male garments seemed to be much comfortable than female (and they didn't have pink flowers and butterflies embroidered in them), they were much more different than her old clothes. They were called "jeans", and were most often, blue. She wore a simple blue T-shirt and some shoes that were called "sneakers". The sneakers pleased her the most, because they were much more easier to run around in than boots, but they required the use of socks, or else her feet would be covered in blisters. She had arranged her hair with the use of a device called, a "rubber band" to hold her hair up into the air. So maybe not all of Terrearth's appearance enhancers were inferior.
A light brown haired girl took the desk beside hers that had a nametag taped onto the surface, saying, "My Name Is Linaya Mayer". She watched as Linaya began depositing her school supplies into the desk until the teacher, who was called Mrs. Holle, stood in front of the classroom, motioning everyone to sit down in their desks so she could take attendance on the computer.
"Emily Anderson?" the teacher called out and a girl from across the room replied, "here!" "Rika Canton?" Mrs. Holle continued onto the next listed name.
"Here," the violet-eyed girl replied quietly without looking up.
Mrs. Holle read off many other names, and after a boy named Henry Lawson timidly responded to the teacher's call, Mrs. Holle said, "Linaya Mayer?"
"Nay," the light brown haired girl snapped. "My name is Nay."
"But Linaya is such a pretty name!"
"My name is Nay! Only my grandparents call me "Linaya". I don't think we're in any way related."
Mrs. Holle was quite taken aback, but she nodded, and then continued the rest of the roll call. After she finished, she closed the program and then walked to the center of the classroom. "All right, class. My name is Mrs. Holle and I've been teaching second grade for about twenty-two years now. I enjoy teaching and baking. Now let's go around the room beginning with Iris, and tell me two things that you enjoy doing."
The two girls didn't bother to pay attention to their classmates while they talked about their interests, until Mrs. Holle began speaking to Rika. "Rika, what two activities do you like to do?"
She blinked once; she didn't have an answer. The entire time she had been basically zoning out, even when she didn't have the slightest hint in how to reply. This answer would be the first impression she would give the people around her in this new life, she took a few more moments before she spoke. "I like to run," she started and then smirked. "And I like to argue."
The class began to giggle and laugh while Mrs. Holle turned red. "Well that', Rika. What do you like to do, Lin-" but stopped in mid- sentence when she saw the glare on the face of light brown haired girl. "I mean, Nay."
"I would say that I like to run, but Canton, here stole my answer," she glared at the girl beside her. Rika's eyes also flared with blazing fury. "Other than that, I like to read, but more importantly, I like to win."
Mrs. Holle was overwhelmed by the strange answers so she tried to quickly rush the rest of the answers so she could start explaining the yearly math curriculum. "For the next two weeks, we'll be reviewing most of last year's math including addition and subtraction in single and double digits."
"I did that when I was three," Rika heard Nay mutter to herself.
"Then we'll go onto some more complicated addition and subtraction that will also be applied in word problems."
"Booooooring." Nay moaned.
"By January, we should be working on math problems applying to money and the clock."
"Can it get any worse than this?" Nay's comments were beginning to bug Rika.
"Then we'll be moving on to simple multiplication."
"I did that when I was five."
"WELL GUESS WHAT?" Rika blew up. "I did all of that when I was four!"
"Betcha don't know how to add and subtract fractions!" Nay yelled back defiantly.
"I can do all that, but tell me, Mayer, can you multiply and divide them? What about poly-digit multiplication and long division? What about the Pythagorean theorem and algebra? DID YOU DO THESE WHEN YOU WERE FIVE?" Rika shouted cockily, flailing her arms up into the air. "DID YA? DID YA? DID YA?"
"Rika! Nay! Please be quiet! That kind of behavior is not tolerable in this classroom!" the teacher rebuked, though not in a very convincing way.
"Canton, you think you're so smart? Well let's see how smart you are in every other subject!" Nay ignored the teacher.
"I think you'll see the same results, Mayer!" Rika crossed her arms with a sneer.
"If the two of you want to go to the principal, then I suggest that you keep on disrupting my class!" Mrs. Holle scolded. "Now both of you stop fighting this instant!"
Rika would have loved more than anything to keep on arguing, but she couldn't this time. She couldn't go to the principal on her first day here. some other day she might chance to visit the principal when it was worth it.
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She detested being here. She found the technology and setting to be incompetent, the schools to be inferior, and she had yet to find an intelligent Human being. Her new parents seemed nice enough, but they weren't her /real/ parents. There no feeling she harbored towards them, positive or negative. In turn, there was an emptiness in her heart and she felt like she had nothing to hold onto. Nothing but solitude, confusion, and hatred. Everything she had was left behind in Venidi, the world in which she had come from. Her friends were there, the surviving members of her family was there, and the place she loved and been there for her entire life. There were just memories, and they would stay memories. It was a depressing thought, and it made her heart ache for home.
Though she was relieved to get off the smelly and crowded bus, she felt no better than she did before when she was on it. Sighing, and looking up at the brick house in front of her; her new "home"; she felt no desire to go in yet. Perhaps it was time to go down to the Cliffside she thought to herself, looking down her hill-like street. So she dropped her backpack by her driveway, turning right, and walking straight for the rest of the way.
An autumn breeze crept lightly against her cheek and entangled her hair. The sun was not beating down against her back like it had in the summer time, when she first arrived, but was almost pleasant to the shade preferring girl. The weather and climate of Terrearth was quite pleasant, she admitted, but the reported "global warming" of this world was a threat to the beauty of the elements. "It's such a shame," she thought, "that these Humans could destroy and pollute such a beautiful place."
She had discovered the Cliffside in another utter moment of melancholy and despair. She found the place to be quite enchanting and breathtaking, and different view at the horrible place she was in. Often times since she had been in Terrearth, when she was feeling dispirited and lonely, she'd walk there and stay for hours. This was such a time, but it was a relief to pass through the sylvan path and looked out into the open sea on top of the cliff.
Now she had seen plenty of beautiful places before, and in especially in Bestiary, where nearly the entire place was like a picturesque fairytale scene. However, she appreciated this rare loveliness in Terrearth a bit more intensely, and she claimed it as her own. The cliff connected to other bluffs, and eventually, the bluffs were just mountain-like hills of sand that could be climbed. The water wasn't crystal clear or majestically colored with bright turquoise and aquamarine, but pearls of white decorated the dark waters, and its waves had beautiful voices. The sun glistened on the water and lit up the entire seas with her illumination. There was no other sight she could think of that pleased her more.
Except for seeing her friends and family again, she corrected herself. She sighed, knowing that these kinds of thoughts just made her feel worse and worse.
She slipped off her socks and shoes and hid them under a tree. She began to climb down the large rocks until she felt the cold sand wiggling between her toes. After running to a part of the sand hill that wasn't too steep to come down from, she began climbing down to the right, where there was a private beach, rather than a popular area for boats. Rika had been to beaches much more elegant with actual silky sand, unlike the rocky area of the shore. Her feet gave no complaint as she began walking through the water on top of the variety of sharp and smooth rocks. In fact, she continued to walk on top of them for three more hours, until she climbed a huge pile of glacial erratic, finding a seat like rock, and placing herself in it. She closed her eyes and leaned back, hoping that she would forget where she was.
"Hi!" a voice piped up from behind her. As she abruptly opened her eyes and turned her eyes, she was startled to see a light brown haired boy with the most brilliant cerulean eyes she had ever seen. However, she couldn't help but find his features somewhat familiar in a strange way. "Do you live around here?" He asked with a big smile.
"Yeah," she replied uneasily. "We just moved in." She hoped that the Cantons weren't well known.
"Really? What grade are you in?"
"I'm in second grade."
"Me too," he grinned. "What teacher do you have?"
"Mrs. Holle," she grumbled. "She's way too giddy for my taste."
He laughed; for some reason, she really liked his blissful visage. His happiness was appealing, and almost contagious. "My sister has Mrs. Holle too. She told me the same exact thing."
"So I'm not the only one then. Well that's a relief. I guess I am normal."
The boy couldn't stop grinning. "Do you like the Port Jefferson beach?" he asked. "Well technically, it's the Belle Terre beach, but still, what do you think?"
"It's very pretty," she replied truthfully. "It's very serene and I love coming down here when I'm not feeling that great."
"I love it here too," he nodded as he gazed towards the sea. "I don't think there's a place anywhere in the world that's better than here."
"Me neither," she shook her head, and she found herself smiling with him.
"My name is Venn," he looked towards her with his dazzling eyes.
"HEY VENN! COME ON, MOM SAYS IT'S TIME TO GO HOME!" a familiar voice yelled out. Rika gasped in horror as a familiar girl came sprinting up to Venn. The girl had a similar reaction when she recognized Rika. Her face's complexion was one of sour milk as she began to tug at Venn's arm.
"Venn," she hissed, "this is the girl I told you about before. You know, the snob who sat next to me in Mrs. Holle's class."
"Oh, /her/?" Venn's facial expression immediately dropped. Rika swallowed hard, as she looked down, embarrassed.
"Come on, Venn, we've gotta go home," Nay motioned with one hand as she glared at Rika.
"Okay," Venn replied glumly as he didn't take a second glance towards Rika. Rika watched as two siblings walked away; watched them become smaller and smaller as they walked farther and farther, holding back rage and tears at the same time.
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He dug his shoe into the dirt with an angry look crossing his face. As he sat atop the edge of the grassy cliff side, he straightened his legs out so that they dangled over the edge. It was at least a hundred feet up from the water up to where he sat now. There used to be a fence there, to protect citizens from falling the enormous altitude, but the manmade metal ugliness was to everyone's displeasure, so they tore it down. Nobody minded, after all, because it was much more beautiful to watch the loveliness in the sky without it. The risk of falling off the cliff and down to the sand and rocks was of little notice or worry. Besides, where he sat, no fence had ever been built to overshadow the beauty. A path created from the road to another cliff side provided a much more breathtaking view, and though a sign stood at its post with an order of "No Trespassing", he didn't listen. Nobody ever did.
He watched the waves roll encrusted with its pearly white foam as he leaned back against his own two hands pushing against the cold dirt and grass. The bay lit up with the last traces of sunlight while he sat high above the trees, and he felt as if he were flying right above them. While the ghostly laughs and voices rang melodiously through his head, the cantata of nature seemed to overcome his hearing. The wind brushed through his dark brown hair as his aquamarine eyes followed the sun setting in the horizon. The ground hardly trashed his blue jeans, but even if it did, he wouldn't care. He could always fix it, and it wasn't the worst of his worries. Wrapping his arms around himself, he tried to protect himself from the chilly breeze, though his navy blue sweatshirt did most of the work.
"Damn that girl." he whispered to himself, sighing. "Damn that girl." He repeated glaring into the tainted tie-dye sky, rocking back and forth with the wind. He swore again, and again, and again, bringing his legs back up and wrapping his arms around them. He was alone, so his usual behavior check was unnecessary. He remembered a time when popularity used to mean everything to him, and every day he'd watch over his shoulder, making sure he was acting "the right way". He thought less of it nowadays, but he was still aware, and not completely indifferent to these things. But in this solitude, he thought nothing of it. There was no one there, except the own voices and questions in his head. "Why was she so impossible?"
But even still couldn't get her out of his head either. She'd always been his friend, but never before had he felt any affinity towards her in that kind of way. But in fact, he found out from a few of his friends that she used to have identical affections for him, as he did for her now. Of course, he never noticed it, being that he yearned for someone else then, and she usually repressed all her emotions anyway. Now, the only feelings; the only emotions; the only thoughts; were for her. He felt like he hated her, yet, at the same needed her. "Tug of war," he thought, smiling to himself in remembrance of their past discussion once, but then he quickly chased the memory away. He couldn't dwell on these feelings didn't want to, at least, that's what his mind kept on telling him to do.
But as corny as it sounded to him, was that what he wanted to do in his heart? Besides, these memories were the only thing that kept him alive and kept him craving for a little more taste of life. His affections for her were the only thing that kept him going, that gave him incentive to continue his life. He never received anything from her in amorous terms; she'd been a good friend to him for a long time, and always being there for him, even at a time where he had been cruel to her, but she showed no passion towards him. . .until last night. She pushed away from him almost at once, because he knew that she was true to someone else. But he still loved her.
He turned his head and spotted a small, black speckled rock partially buried in the sand right beside him. Focusing on it carefully, he lowered his eyes and then looked upwards, raising the rock into the air. It glided and floated and then suddenly, it skimmed across the surface of the water. "Simple magic," he thought to himself, thinking, no doubt, that Julius would have yelled at him had he found out about his useless magic.
"Useless magic", he smiled to himself again, remembering the time he rearranged the stars and brought down the moon for her. Finally, after so many years, she had returned to Terrearth from Venidi, and when he found himself falling for her, there was that one night. That one night when both of them were alone together at this same cliff side, discussing everything that befallen upon them during those years apart. He remembered her bright smile that made his heart melt inside, of course, after it stopped then he remembered how her lips felt when he pressed his own lips against hers.
"Shoot, I did it again." He shook his head repetitively. Why did he have to have so many memories between the two of them.. and why did he have to remember them all, every single one? He couldn't let himself fall , she and him couldn't ever be the two same friends again...after what he had told her last night... He couldn't blame her for not feeling the same as he did. She had her own life, with somebody else she loved, and that somebody else loved her back. He couldn't take that away from her, or make her give it up for him.
It was the truth; the truth that had been screaming to release itself from inside his imprisoned heart. He had to tell her how he felt about her, it was the only way he could free himself, but even now, he felt like he was still chained to the same emotions. He didn't fear her reaction beforehand, even though he was perfectly aware of the entire situation, but after the words came pouring from his mouth like a sprinkler, after he kissed her, and saw the expression that crept from the corner of her mouth and spread across her entire face, he knew he should have thought otherwise. But his heart sat on top of his mind, controlling everything he did that night, and the disease that infected his soul would have killed him if he didn't listen. He did listen, but he still felt like she killed him anyway.
Why did she have to be so stubbornly intimidating? Sarcastic? Nasty and downright insensitive? And why did he love her for that.
She was different than any other girl he'd met in all the worlds we had been in. In the beginning, he could have never of seen why there was any reason to love her, even though they were friends for years and years. He had different tastes in girls, but she hardly fit any of them. She wasn't extraordinarily pretty, but her appearance captivated him into deep trances anyway. Cold and unfeeling sometimes, she was hardly friendly, but then an uncovered softness has been discovered underneath her barrier. And he loved her for her.
Lost deeply in thought, he never heard the figure come through the woods stealthily, with his own evil intentions to benefit himself. He never heard the figure take out his gun, a human gun for the matter, and aim straight at his head. But he did hear the frightening sound of the trigger..
And he certainly did feel the shot.
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**Like I said before, I won't be editing this in awhile.**
**Hope you enjoyed the prologue anyway.**
**Plz review!**
**Kree**
