Chapter Three

I shall not spoil this chapter.

"It's been so long since I've seen you both", I say observing my little sisters. Exodia at the age of nine years old is unbelievably tall, five ft two inches to be exact. Wearing a pearl pink gown that puffs up at the waist, a pair a ballerina flats and hair draping in enormous bouncing curls. Then, I turn to Zechariah. Five ft six, and only two inches shorter than I am. Wearing a navy blue dress with white poka dots, a pair of ballerina flats and her straightened hair falling down her back. "You look wonderful! I'm loving the fashion statements you're both are making ".

"Us?", Zechariah says looking me up and down. "You look amazing ".

I look down at my outfit. Seven inch black platform shoes, black pencil skirt, chalk white button-up shirt, black blazer and bright red scarf. Switching my damp trench coat from my left arm to my right, I shrug. This outfit is something I threw on .

"I think she looks beautiful", I hear a voice announce in the back of me.

My body turns a full 360 degrees before I see the owner of that voice. Ronnette. You could call her my stepmom , being that she and my father were 'friends' for a long time. Ronnette is the mother to both of my sisters, and one of the only reasons I came to Kingston.

I pull away from the girls and wrap my arms around her. I haven't hugged this women in years. Just the feel of warmth in her arms, can soothe me to sleep. She has that one thing most women lack, the mommy touch. My mom had this gift, but I never really gave her a chance for her to use it on me.

It is she that pulls away. She observes me intently. "Wow you grown a lot since I've seen you last", she finally says. "Into this elegant young lady".

Elegant? Really? When I look in the mirror, I don't see a the smallest piece of elegance in my body. All I see is an graceless giant. I have as much elegance or grace as a drunken clown walking a tight rope.

"Thank you", I say with a plastic smile. "You look very classy in that outfit". She stands there in a navy blue cocktail dress with black five inch pumps and her hair in a tight bun. Besides the outfit, she has bags under her eyes and behind the makeup you can see how miserable she really is.

"You are too much!", she says with a little cheer her voice. "You should see Pearl. Looking at her outfit you might say otherwise".

I give her another plastic smile and nod very calmly. "I haven't seen her in a long time", I say smoothly. Just thinking of Pearl, sends a picture Bly's face in the back of my head. Bly is a boy I used to have the biggest crush on as a kid. He was everything I wasn't courageous, mysterious and idiotic. But I liked him. He liked me as well, but we could never be together. He was practically family and I wouldn't let him over step boundaries.

He was furious, when I said we shouldn't be together. I never saw a person get that mad. He swore and threw objects. Bly gave me a really scare. I slowly backed away from him, and ran to my father's house. Of course, he came over later that night. But I didn't want to talk to a maniac. So, I convinced Zechariah to make him go away. That was four years ago. I wonder What kind of monster did he turn into now.

"Well", I say with a smile. "Let me say 'hello' to Aunt Pearl". Then, I depart from the girls and search for Aunt Pearl.

I spot Pearl in the second row, cleaning a small child's face. The child is whining and wiggling, trying to make Pearl let him be. But Pearl has quick hands, and is done in the blink of an eye. The child hops off the pew and hurries away.

"Well, isn't he glad he got away? ", I say coolly holding my hands behind my back.

Pearl looks up from her purse and stares in disbelief. She is so baffled by my appearance, she nearly drops her purse on the ground. "Mavis, it's been awhile since I saw you last ", she finally says adjusting her thick lenses glasses. "How have you been?".

"Well, the last time I saw you, I was fifteen years old", I say thoughtfully. "So, roughly about four years".

"Wow, such a long time ", she says soberly. "I hope you hadn't grown up too much ".

I smile, for real this time. "You shouldn't worry about that", I say crossing my arms. "I still like being tucked in at night ".

Pearl gives a slight laugh. I smirk. "Wow, you haven't changed a bit", she says with a smile.

"Yeah", I say taking seat next to her. That's when I notice her outfit. A pale pink suit, with a milk white shirt and black ballerina flats. Her hair pulled back in a tight, neat bun in the back of her head. Her outfit is just about flawless, but she added a butterfly shaped brooch. It was studded with black and white diamonds. Her outfit was truly elegant and classical.

"So, what you have been up to these past four years? ", Pearl asks after an awkward silence.

"Well, I graduated high school ", I start off crossing my legs. "Then, I was enrolled in The Art Institute of New York. I am majoring in fashion design and fashion marketing. With the help of that university, my designs will be featured in New York City's Fashion Week. That's where I'm hoping it get my bid break. And if that doesn't work, I can always try next year".

"That's wonderful how you got most of your future planned out", Pearl say nodding softly. "I always knew you were destined for greatness".

"Thank you" I say sitting up straight. "But there's a lot going on right now".

"Like what? ",Pearl asks politely. "Brian's death? ".

"That and some other things", I say after a miniature sigh. "That I would not like to talk about ".

"Well, I'm not going to force you talk about something that makes you uncomfortable ", she replies before my name yelled from across the room.

I look around to see where the sound has time from and there he stands. On the other side of the church. A face I would never have thought I'd see again. I stare directly at him, as he makes his way toward us. He is inching his way inside the pew as I realize that this is not a dream. He takes a seat so close to me, that he's practically sitting on top me.

"Mavis! ", he says with an enormous smile. "Long time no see". Then, he hugs me so tightly, I can barely breath.

"Jesus, Bly, I'm going need to breath sooner or later ", I say patting his back awkwardly.

Author's Note

Please ignore my grammar mistakes.