Erin The Fire Goddess: The Beginning (3 page)

“Exactly what she said.”

Jessica gave a smug smile, and then turned back to Mrs Taylor.

“I can take her to the nurse’s office, if you like?” She smiled like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth.

Mrs Taylor sighed, and after looking back and forth between us, she finally spoke.

“Okay. Jessica, you take her there and come straight back.”

For a while Jessica and I walked in silence. Her hands gripped tightly to the top of my right arm, her nails digging through my shirt.

Just before we got to the nurse's office, she spun me around and threw me against the wall, placing one hand on my throat, and the other she traced down the front of my body, stopping once or twice to jab her finger into me.

“I won’t tell you again.” She spat, her face so close to mine I could feel her warm breath. “Next time, it won’t be the nurse’s office you end up in!”

I felt warm liquid trickle down my legs. Jessica must have smelt it, as she quickly released me after giving me a final shove against the wall. She looked from the puddle on the floor, then back to me.

“You disgust me.” She said with pure venom. I couldn’t understand the hatred she felt towards me. But I did know that I would stay as far away from Sean as I possibly could.

Luckily the cut on my head wasn’t as bad as it looked. Kasey-Ray was called out of her class to walk me home. Which she was extremely grateful for, because she hated geography and as her teacher spoke in a monotonous tone, she was close to falling asleep when the nurse came to rescue her.

I told Kasey-Ray the same story Jessica had told Mrs Taylor. I had fallen; she seemed to believe me and didn't question me further.

I still couldn’t understand why Jessica hated me so much. From the second I had entered the form-room, she had glared at me with pure hatred in her eyes and this was
before I’d even laid eyes on Sean. Why did she want me to stay away from him? Why would she feel threatened by someone like me? It wasn’t as if he would ever find me attractive. I was a freak and the huge birthmark on the side of my face showed this. He could have anyone he wanted. I didn’t know why he even took the time of day to talk to me.

Another thing, he looked too old to even be at school. Whenever I saw him and his friends, they never had school uniform on. So why would they be on the school grounds, let alone be inside the school?

Why on the first day I met him, did he and his friends come through the bushes?

My
emotions were all over the place. At first, I was scared and hurt, then I was confused, now I was starting to feel annoyed. It’s not like I had asked for this attention. Most people ran a mile when they saw me.

He didn’t even seem to notice the ugly birth-mark on my face. Or, if he had noticed it, he had never looked at it. Whenever he looked at me, he looked deep into my eyes. It was as if he was searching for the answer to some unspoken question.

We had only just turned into our street, when my mum came flying out of the front door.

“Erin!” She cried, running towards us. “I’m sorry, your dad and I were out shopping when the school rang, or we would have come to collect you." She told me as she started to examine me, right there in the street.

“Mum, I’m fine!” I tried to reassure her, as Kasey-Ray continued walking to the house. “I fell, it looks worse than it is.”

“You need to be more careful!” She exclaimed, horrified at the sight of the blood in my hair. She ushered me into the house, where my dad was waiting. He looked like he had been pacing the floors.

“Erin!” He rushed towards me, trying to hug me.

“Dad, I’m fine!” I sighed, holding my hands up. I felt like a stuck record having to repeat myself over and over again. I just hoped they bought the whole falling excuse.

My dad looked to my mum. I didn’t see the look she gave him, but he sighed and stepped back. “I just fell Dad, there was a bag on the floor and I didn’t see it.” He nodded and looked like he believed every word I said. “Do you think it’s ok if I have a wash?” I turned to ask my mum.

She hesitated for a moment.

“As long as you don’t get anything in the cut. Tell you what. I’ll help you wash your hair.” She offered, and then followed me as I nodded.

I took my coat off and carried my rucksack to my room. After taking off my shirt and throwing it into the washing basket, I slipped on an old t-shirt, and then headed to the bathroom, where my mum was waiting.

Without a word I leant over the bath, my mum gently poured warm water over my head. I watched as pools of red swirled around and finally escaped down the plug hole.

“I’m not going to shampoo your hair. Not today. I want to wait until that heals a bit more.” She said as she placed a towel on my head gently.

“Okay.” I told her, as I watched the final drops of blood disappear. “I’m just going to clean my face, then do my homework.”

My mum hesitated in the doorway for a while. It seemed something was on her mind. The telephone rang then, making her shake her head.

“Okay love, I’ll call you when dinner is ready.”

I walked into my bedroom, leaning against the door as I closed it. I closed my eyes and just stood there, tears started to roll down my face as I slid down the door to the floor and I sat there for at least 30 minutes, just crying.

I can’t believe she did that. I thought as I placed my head in my hands.

For years I’d grown up hardly talking to anyone besides my family, and now that someone, who I was interested in getting to know, had started talking to me, I was supposed to steer clear of him.

I felt my stomach tighten at this thought. But I had to; I couldn’t have any more run-ins with Jessica. I didn’t know Sean well enough to put my life in danger.

God I’m so stupid! Why was I even thinking through this? I had to stay away from Sean. End of.

I wiped away my tears, and with a deep breath stood up and walked over to my rucksack, I pulled out my reading material. I must have fallen asleep, as I woke when someone started to gently shake me. I yawned and stretched, then opened my eyes.

“Kes?” My dad was sitting flicking through the book I’d brought home from school. “Interesting read.” He smiled as he placed it back down.

“It’s for English,” I smiled back. “I’ve got to read it by next Tuesday.” I pulled myself up into a sitting position and placed the book on my bedside table.

“I nearly forgot what I came in here for,” My dad said, shaking his head with a laugh, “Dinner's ready.”

“Okay, I’ll be down in a second. I just need to use the toilet."

My dad nodded as he got up from the bed and headed downstairs.

After a quick trip to the bathroom, I made my way to the kitchen, where I heard Kasey-Ray talking excitedly about the new friends she’d made.

She’d gotten close to a girl called Claire, who was in her form and most of her classes.

“So can she come here after school tomorrow?” She gave my parents her big puppy dog eyes impression. My parents laughed as they nodded. “Yay!" She clapped and looked over at me as I walked in. “Hi sis, how’s your head?”

“It's good thanks.” I smiled as I sat opposite her at the kitchen table.

My mum had made Spaghetti Bolognese, my favourite and sitting in the middle of the table was a plate of garlic bread.

“So what’s Claire like?” I enjoyed finding out all about Kasey-Ray's friends. It was the closest I'd get to having friends myself, not that Kasey-Ray's friends really spoke to me, just a polite hello now and again.

“Oh she’s great.” Kasey-Ray beamed, “You'll love her.”

“I’m sure I will.” Laughing, knowing full well I wouldn’t. Most were nice to my face, but steered clear of me anytime Kasey-Ray wasn’t around.

I all but licked my plate clean as I finished my dinner.

“Thanks,” I smiled as I pushed my plate away and rubbed my belly. “That was lush.” I stood up and took my plate over to the sink. “I’m going to go read some more.”

My parents nodded and turned back to listen to Kasey-Ray chatter on about school. I slowly made my way to my bedroom; I was trying to decide whether to put my pyjamas on now or not. I finally decided to put them on. That way, if I did fall asleep, I would already be dressed for bed.

I pulled my favourite
pyjamas on, which I’d had for three years now. I had grown out of them 2 years ago, but I just loved them. Every morning I would take them off, fold them and then place them under my pillow, to keep them warm.

After I brushed my teeth, I climbed into bed and picked up my book but it wasn’t long before I fell asleep.

That night, I dreamt of my first day at school, when I'd sat eating my lunch on the school field.

Sean had just appeared in front of me.

“I wouldn't let her get to you!” He told me this time, making me jump. He hadn't said that the first time I'd met him.

When he looked down at my hand, I already knew that I would see the messy pulp of the orange. But when I looked down at my hand I saw blood. I looked back at Sean in alarm as four people appeared behind him, but these weren
't the same people I'd seen in the field, their heads were all Jessica's. I tried to move away from her enraged face. Her red hair furiously licked like flames around her.

“
I warned you!” She screamed. I looked back at Sean for help, but he was Sean no more, he was Jessica.

Seeing the confusion in my face, all the Jessica
's started laughing. Scrambling to my feet and leaving everything behind, I ran. All the time their laughter was ringing in my ears.

As I got near the school, the other students were laughing and pointing. My heart was beating fast. I still had blood on my hand, but from where? I saw the back of Kasey-
Ray, as she stood talking to her friends. I reached out to touch her and she spun around, making me fall to the floor. This wasn't my sister, it was Jessica, and she was leaning over me, trying to claw at me.

I lay there on the floor, curled up in a ball and screamed.

“Erin?” A voice broke my scream as they shook me “Erin?"” They called again.

Slowly I opened my eyes and cried out with relief when I saw my mum sitting on my bed.

“Oh mum.” I sobbed.

“Hey,
it’s okay, you're safe now.” She soothed. “But we need to sort your head out.”

I quickly jumped up to see blood on my bed. I looked down at the hand I
'd held the orange in and saw that was covered in blood too.

“Oh my god, what happened?” I screamed hysterically.

“I think you were having a nightmare and you must have scratched your cut!" She stood up and put her arm around me, as she placed a towel to my head. “Your dad is just getting dressed; he's going to take you to the hospital. You're going to need stitches!”

I nodded, still crying. My dream had felt so real.

My mum guided me down the stairs, where my dad was waiting. She helped me put my coat and trainers on, all the time I sat there in a daze. My mind was flashing back and forth between my nightmare and reality. My mum kissed my cheek and gave me a hug. She looked so worried and tired.

“Come on sweetie, let
's get you in the car.” My dad soothed. “I'll text when we are leaving." He leant over and gave my mum a kiss. She nodded as she kissed her fingers and placed them to my cheek. I thought she was going to cry.

For most of the journey, my dad and I sat in silence. I sat there with the towel pressed tightly to my head, scared that if I moved it, blood would come pouring out.

“What were you dreaming about?” He finally asked, breaking the silence. He was trying to pretend that he wasn't too bothered what it was about.

“Rats!” I'd been sitting in silence for so long that I was able to come up with the perfect nightmare.

“Rats
, eh?” My dad nodded, not taking his eyes off the road. I wasn't sure if he believed me or not, so I thought I would elaborate, as I knew my dad feared them as much as I did.

“Yeah, there were lots of them, and they were crawling all over me and trying to eat me
."” I saw my dad shiver and instantly I knew he believed me.

“I think I would have screamed too
!” He gave me a nervous laugh. He looked relieved when he saw the turning for the hospital car park.

We didn
't have to wait too long to be seen. Unfortunately I did need stitches, which meant that they had to shave off some hair around the cut. Luckily, I had the rest of my hair to cover it.

“
Three stitches!” My dad said. He had decided to phone my mum, instead of texting. "Yeah, she's fine, just tired. I think she will be asleep before we get home." He laughed. “Ok baby, I'll see you soon. I love you!” Then he blew a kiss and hung up the phone. “Ready?” He turned to look at me and I nodded. I was really tired, but I wasn't going to fall asleep, mainly because I felt I needed to keep my dad awake so we got home safely. Also, I was too scared to fall asleep, in case I dreamt of her again.

“You ever read Kes before dad?
"” he shook his head as he fastened his seat belt.

“No
, but I did see the film years ago.”

“Really? Mr Clarke wants us to finish our book by Tuesday
, so we can watch the movie.” My dad laughed. “What's funny?”

“When I was a kid, our English teacher said the same thing
."”

“And?” I didn
't see why that was funny.

“Well
, most of us thought, why bother with the book if we are going the see the movie!" he winked.

“Ah
, I see!” I could see his point.

“
But, on the downside, he gave us a test on the book!” He laughed again.

“How did you do? Or needn
't I ask?” I laughed too.

“
Let's say, I didn't get a C or above.” We both laughed as he turned into our street and pulled into the driveway.

“Damn
!” I said as I went to get out of the car

“What
's wrong sweetie?”

“I left the towel at the hospital
.” Dad was laughing again.

“I think you did your mum a favour
,” he winked.

It was dark inside the house, apart from the landing light. We slowly and quietly climbed the stairs, hoping not to wake anyone, but my mum was already awake
, we saw her coming out of my bedroom.

“Hi love
!” She smiled. She looked relieved to see me smiling. “"How are you feeling?”

“Tired
!” I yawned.

“Well
, I've changed your bed covers and switched your alarm off. No school for you tomorrow."” I wanted to tap dance when I heard the last bit. “Sleep as long as you want, and I'll try to keep Kasey-Ray quiet.”

Walking into my bedroom, I expected to see
a scene from a horror movie, but my room was back to normal, no blood anywhere.

I climbed into bed and looked at my clock, 3:57am
.
Ouch!
I thought,
no wonder mum said no school tomorrow
.

I was too tired to fight sleep and when I fell asleep
, I didn't dream, well I couldn't remember dreaming. I just knew that I felt rested as I slowly opened my eyes and looked at my clock, 11:33am.
Wow, I slept half the day away
. I lay there for another 30 minutes, not wanting to leave my warm cosy bed, but my bladder felt like it had its own alarm and was screaming at me to go to the bathroom.

No sooner ha
d I finished on the toilet, my stomach gave a loud rumble.
Give me a break
, I thought. I just wanted to go back to bed. It rumbled again in reply, making me laugh as I opened the bathroom door and saw my dad coming out of his bedroom, full dressed in his work clothes.

“What
's funny?” He smiled at me.

“My belly is talking to me
.” We both laughed as it rumbled again in reply, l then I raised my eyebrow. “You off to work?”

“Yeah
, Mr Thomas's boiler has broken and Alan is out on another job.”

Alan Urban was my dad
's boss. He owned Galladale's only plumbing business and he was a one man band until my dad came along, he had hired my dad on the spot.

“Okay dad, I
'm just going to go get something to eat.”

“Okay sweetie, I
'll see you later!” With that he gave me a quick kiss and rushed out of the house, grabbing his tools that were next to the front door, whilst I headed to the kitchen to raid the cupboards.

I finally settled on a bowl of cereal and sat at the table mindlessly flipping through today
's paper whilst eating. After I finished, I took my bowl to the sink and proceeded to look through the junk food cupboard, pulling out a large bag of bacon fries and a bar of chocolate, then turned to the fridge to pull out a bottle of Dr Pepper.

“These will do nicely
,” I said out loud, as I headed back to my room to watch a DVD.

After thumbing through my DVD collection, I decided to watch ‘The Goonies’, it had ended up becoming my favourite movie after I had sat and watched it with my mum when I was younger.

It was nearing the end when I heard Kasey-Ray come home from school. Two sets of feet climbed the stairs as I remembered that she was bringing her friend Claire over.

“My room
's through there. I won't be long. I just wanna speak to Erin.” Then I heard a knock on my door. “Can I come in?” She asked as she closed the door behind her and came to sit on my bed, stealing a bacon fry in the process.

“Hey!”

“What?” She replied, trying to look innocent which made me laugh.

“What
's up?” I paused my DVD player and turned to look at her. Obviously she had something on her mind.

“I heard something today
!”

“Uh
-huh!" not really understanding what this had to do with me.

“Did you really fall or did that bitch, Jessica, push you?
" She just came out with it, causing me to almost choke on a bacon fry.

“Don
't tell mum and dad, please?” I begged.

“I won
't, but I have a good mind to kick her head in.” She was really angry, probably at me too for lying to her. “Why didn't you tell me?” I shrugged, wanting to cry.

For most of the day I
'd blocked out what had happened.

“Don
't go crying on me,” She stroked the top of the covers where my legs were. “I heard it was because she wants you to stay away from some lad.” All I could do was nod. “Look, don't let her get to you, I've got your back!” She moved closer and gave me a hug. “I promise I won't tell mum and dad, just promise me you'll tell me if she does anything again, okay?"” I nodded as she stood up. I was supposed to be the big sister looking out for her, not the other way round. “Love you!” She called as she shut the door.

“Love you more
!” I shouted after her.

***

The next day I went back to school, scared sick was an understatement. I thought I was going to have a panic attack when we got near the school gates.

The usual people had stopped to
stare; some were even laughing and pointing. I flinched when I heard them mention Jessica's name.

“You got nothing better to do?” Kasey-
Ray snapped, making everyone turn away.

Lowering my head, I let Kasey-
Ray steer me through the school gates and to the main doors. “I'll meet you here right after school, okay?”

“Okay
,” I nodded as I began the long walk to my form-room.

Taking a deep breath
, I walked into the room and went straight to my desk, deliberately avoiding eye contact with anyone and everyone.

Only 30 minutes,
I thought. I wished all my lessons were this short, but form-room was just a formality, so the teacher could take the register, let us know of any upcoming events and changes to our time-tables.

I sat at my table, with my rucksack in-between my body and table, pretending to look for something. I just wanted to have something there
, in case she decided she hadn't finished with me yet and another shove of the table was in order. Also I wanted to look preoccupied, so I couldn't catch anyone's attention, especially Jessica's. I heard her enter the room and people surrounded her, those who wouldn't normally give her the time of day. Maybe they were scared of her, or just wanted to pat her on the back for hitting the school freak, either way I was just happy that the attention had shifted away from me. Even if it was probably, only momentarily.

After Ms Forrester had called
out our names, she closed the register and started writing on the black board.

SCHOOL SPORT
'S DAY

Most of the class groaned
, apart from a couple who lived for sport's day and all other types of sporting events.

“
I am going to need two people to represent our form in every event, with the exception of the relay, which I will need four.” She paced left and right, across the front of the class room making eye contact with every student. “I would like it if everyone could participate, but for those who don't, you will be expected to help out on the various stalls. Is that clear?” She stopped to look long and hard at us.

“
Yes Miss!” We all chorused.