Chapter 3
It must have been a week or two after her tenth birthday, when Lyra was called to the principal's office.
She thought the school had figured out she was the one who had triggered the fire alarm – only because she had not studied for her physics test that day and there was no way in hell she was getting a C. Lyra prepared her excuse, she had a whole speech planned out on why expelling her would reflect poorly on the school and how she would most definitely sue them if they did.
She was surprised upon entering the principal's office to find the blue-eyed boy she'd saved from Nolan and Lucas sitting by the desk.
The principal had assigned Lyra the task of taking care of Kaelen until he was used to life at the school.
Apparently she was the best person for the job, which Lyra thought was very poor judgment on his part.
She had reluctantly agreed but it wasn't as if she had a choice on the matter.
Lyra had forgotten the boy's name and so she'd referred to him as Aotearoa for a week.
He hadn't liked it and was very vocal about the fact.
This only encouraged Lyra to call him Aotearoa more often.
She liked the way his blue eyes narrowed and his mouth tightened each time.
It would be endearing if it wasn't so funny.
It had been a year since and Kaelen hadn't left her side.
Somehow and somewhere along the line, she couldn't even begin to fathom why, Lyra had grown quite attached to the blue-eyed boy from Aotearoa.
"What are you doing for your birthday?" he asked.
Lyra blinked.
That was it.
That was what had been nagging all day.
It was her birthday.
Her eleventh birthday.
She glared at Kaelen, mouth pressing into a frown.
Why did he have to remind her?
She was having a perfectly pleasant day until he brought it up.
"Nothing," she answered.
"Nothing?" he repeated.
He looked absolutely scandalised, "Why not?
It's your birthday!"
Lyra threw him a glare.
"I don't care, Aotearoa."
"But–"
"Just drop it." Lyra snapped.
4:29 P.M.
Lyra and Kaelen paused outside the door of the convenience store, the stared up at the flashing neon sign that readSilverdale Daily.Kaelen pushed the door and entered the store with Lyra trailing behind.
Inside, a waft of cool air washed over them, it carried the sweet scent of roses and fairy cakes.
Lyra glanced around the shop for a few seconds before marching towards to the counter.
Kaelen wandered off, probably because he'd spotted the comic book aisle.
It was all he talked about these days, Iron Man this, Captain America that.
It would be annoying if it wasn't so endearing.
The woman stood behind the counter was short and stout with unruly dark hair and a mole the size of Harbor City Concert Hall.
"Uhm...is..."Lyra began, trying to remember the name her mother had told her, "is...Gus here?"
The mole-woman swivelled round in her chair.
"Gus!" she bellowed, startling Lyra, "Gus!
There's some kid here for you!"
Lyra wanted to protest to that.
She wasn't a kid.
She was five foot two, the tallest girl in her year and she was eleven today.
She heard heavy footsteps and caught sight of a chubby balding man walked through the door behind the counter.
"What?" the man called Gus asked grouchily.
He looked like he had just been woken up from a rather enjoyable slumber.
The mole-woman nodded her head towards Lyra, "This ankle-biter wants to see ya."
Gus's dark beady eyes instantly flew to Lyra, "What is it?"
"Uhm...my mum wanted me to buy her some cigs and whiskey," she said.
Gus stared at her, his eyes narrowing.
He suddenly grinned, revealing a row of blackened teeth.
"You must be Elara's little sprog.
Bloody hell, you're the spitting image of her."
"Right," Lyra drawled, "she wanted me to get three bottles of Lombard Whiskey, four packets of cigs, two packets of painkillers, and a pack of apple ciders!"
She felt quite proud of herself for remembering such an extensive list.
God knows her mother would snap at her, if she missed just one item.
In a less than a minute Gus had located the items and the mole-woman was shoving them into a plastic bag as Lyra paid.
She was sad to find there was no spare change.
Lyra sullenly turned to leave.
She stopped, surprised to see Kaelen standing before her and holding a basket full of junk food and comic books.
Lyra's eyebrows furrowed.
"Kaelen," she said, "I'm not paying for that."
"Don't worry, you're not," he said, setting the basket on the counter.
He pulled out some cash from the front pockets of his jeans and handed it to the mole-woman.
Gus stuffed the items in a blue plastic bag and the mole-woman thanked Kaelen for coming to the shop.
"Why did you buy all that stuff?" Lyra asked as they left the store.
Kaelen was grinning like he knew a secret.
He tapped his nose and winked.
Lyra rolled her eyes.
This boy.
4:49 P.M.
Elara wasn't in the kitchen when Lyra and Kaelen returned to her house.
She pushed the door to the living room open.
Her mother sat on the sofa with a lit cigarette in hand, as she chatted to a strange man beside her.
They looked up when they heard the door creak.
"I've got what you wanted," Lyra said.
She scurried forward, pulling the items out from the plastic and setting them on the table.
"Thanks, love," her mother gave her a curt nod.
"This is your daughter?" the man with the scruffy beard and scruffier eyebrows asked.
He stared at Lyra, wearing an intense look of fascination that made her want to hide.
"Yeah," said Elara, blowing clouds of smoke past her scarlet lips.
"She's pretty," he commented, his eyes scanned her lanky frame, "You're going to be very beautiful when you're older.
Have you ever thought about modelling?"
Lyra didn't like the way he was staring at her.
He was practicallyleering, as if he was sizing her up.
Lyra shook her head, "Nah, not really my thing."
He cocked a bushy eyebrow, "Not really your thing?
Y'know your mother was a model before she had you.
The best in Northshire."
Elara smiled and waved a hand dismissively in the air.
"Oh, stop filling her head with stories," she smirked at him, "anyway, that wasyearsago."
"Stories?" the man grinned, "you were absolutely beautiful.
You still are."
Elara laughed in a way Lyra had never heard, the sound reminded her of wind chimes in the summer air.
Elara pulled the cigarette from her lips and stubbed it out on the coffee table.
She smiled tightly at her daughter, "Lyra, be a dear, get me and Ronan some glass cups."
Lyra more than eagerly left the room and walked into the kitchen, where Kaelen was perched on the counter, munching on some of the potato chips he'd bought from the shop.
"Don't get any crumbs on the floor," Lyra said as she reached up into the cupboard and grabbed two glass cups.
She hated messy places.
Her mother never bothered to clean and so the task was left to her.
Lyra went back into the living room, where Elara was cackling at something the bearded man had said.
"Pour us some whiskey will you love," Elara said and Lyra did as she was told.
She passed the drink to the man named Ronan, and then one to her mother.
"Thanks," Ronan said, still leering at her.
"Why don't you go play out for a bit?" Elara suggested with another tight smile.
"I can't...I have homework to do." Lyra said but as soon as she saw Elara's warning glare, she nodded feebly and left the room once more.
As she passed the kitchen, she called Kaelen, "Aotearoa, let's go!"
Kaelen picked up his bag of goods and quickly followed her out.
5:26 P.M.
"It's so hot." Kaelen whined.
"Yeah well," Lyra sighed, "what're you gonna do?"
Lyra and Kaelen were sat by the River Solara.
Lyra had her feet immersed in the cool water.
She had urged Kaelen to do the same but the idiot was convinced there were flesh-eating creatures lurking in the river.
Behind them, lay a dense forest, engraved with a long winding path that lead back to civilisation.
The stoic willow tree next Kaelen, rained hundreds of its green tendrils down, shading the two friends from the pounding sunshine.
Downstream, she noticed several sail boats and yachts drifting with the current.
She briefly wondered what it was like to be rich and own a yacht as impressive as the one she saw.
She wondered what it is was like, to live in a world where money was not a problem.
Lyra breathed in the pungent smell of wildflowers and the salty scent of the river and smiled.
She loved this place.
She had discovered it two years ago on a detour from school.
It had this serene essence that shrouded her with an odd yet welcoming sense of tranquillity.
If she could, she would stay here for the rest of her days.