1 CHAPTER 1

The room was dusty and dark, little pieces of makeshift furniture and a bedpost gave added life to it. On one corner were bowls few utensils, one could easily judge that to be the kitchen. There were no toys or gadgets, nothing to show comfort. A crippled boy lay on the bed, a worn-out blanket wrapped around his body. His sister stood by the door, fixing her shoelaces.

'You will be back early, won't you?'

His brown eyes were begging. He knew that she always had a soft spot for his eyes, whether she showed it or not. Today, she was not upset or teary-eyed like two days ago.

In her usual manner, she paused at the door and turned to look at her younger brother. Elizabeth Noah stood in her glory at the oak-pine door that looked like it had seen better days. Her hair was a mess of unevenly length golden brown left to crawl over her face. They roughly framed her pale face, which looked like a tangled and old mop. The lack of glasses made her look just one bit less nerdy.

Her face read a blank expression; maybe she was finally tired of showing it. Folding her arms under her adolescent-sized breasts, she heaved a nervous sigh which ended with a loud and unexpected sneeze that left her brother laughing.

'That's so gross, but I'll forgive you just once.' He kept on cackling a childish laugh. She did not seem to find humor as he did, instead became upset that he made a joke out of her pain. Last night, she had been out in the rain trying to get food and medication for him.

'I will be back when I'm ready to see your face.' Her nervousness was hidden by the smirk on her face which made his face go sour with regrets. She bent down to wipe dust from her dress to hide her teary look, raising her head when she was ready to leave.

Her dress trailed after her, clinging to her body like it was her second skin. It was a short mass of cotton fiber that fitted from her torso to her neck but was flared down to her skinny knees. The nnot-so-low-neckfitting tried to hide her collar bones which were jutting out in a loud protest. Her body could easily pass as a model's, with a slim waist, slender hips, and straight legs, all of which she hid in her ever-flowing gowns. Her hazel-colored eyes were a mirror to herself; one could easily see her emotions from them. She was an open book, uneasy full lips on a slightly oblong face. Her face was one to stand out in a crowd but she barely even stood in a crowd.

Her bag pack was on a low stool by the door. It was the only one she had had in years, the last had come from her mom.

Sunlight flooded her eyes immediately her weak arms opened the door which creaked in a loud protest. The one beautifully carved mahogany had lost its glory and was just holding on to serve the purpose of shielding the occupant from the outer world. Nevertheless, it could be taken down in one push.

She was long on her way out into the streets before he could apologize to her made him sadder. Knowing that she only did things for his good made him feel worse, he prayed in his heart that she should find her way back home with a better job.

Their home was a contrast to the street. Out there in that seemingly cold air filled with too many people who were less concerned about one another's welfare, there was sunshine, laughter, tears, rai,n, and bustling happy people. On the other hand, her home reeked of glom all day long; that is if the storeroom for a grocery store fit in for the description of a home.

Eliz was used to sighing as she raced down to town. Her eyes darted around as usual, taking in the scenery, strange smells, and people. Her blue eyes went wide whenever she saw a beautiful lady.

Her mind raced off to her plans for the day. Each step taken spoke volumes, not the squeak of her worn-out and patched pair of white sneakers begging to be replaced, but the quick-paced strides of her legs. Judging by her legs, one would think that she was almost crippled, but there she was transferring her body from one street to another, only stopping to adjust the heavy bag pack she carried.

As usual, the neighbors seemed not to notice her existence, what could one do with a frail-looking and unkempt human?

'Eliza!' she knew who the voice belonged to. It was the only human that could scream out her name from anywhere, not out of enthusiasm to meet the unwanted character but because they two belonged to the same class of Blackwood's unwanted.

She made a round turn towards the direction of the voice, behold, there stood Emile Cabell in her 5'3 glory. Emile was one to never back down as opposed to her height. Somehow, she always stood out in the crowd. She was always high on something, most times it was happiness, and sometimes it was an overwhelming sense of positivity for the future which was never forthcoming.

She was sauntering towards her from a tree shade. Emile was drama and comfort, an ever-running mouth with the least of problems, according to her, 'the world would always throw its daggers at you, be sure to laugh through it'. Emile was seldom sad, and never talked about her negligent parent. She felt child care services were a fraud. She was home-schooled, mostly from the public library and the neighborhood gossip. New words were her thing; the way she rolled them off her tongue had a certain feel to it. In a few minutes, she was standing in front of her.

'What's on your mind, slim girl'

'You do not need to yell, shorty.'

'Our height difference makes it so; you need to come down to my level.'

'I do not have time for your baby drama, try that people your size.'

'Wow, calm down with the attitude, girl. What's up with you?'

'When does your shift end?'

'Right through the middle of the night, then I'm off to see the art exhibition at the end of the street.'

'Have you ever had nowhere to go?'

'Yes, like right now. I'm standing before you because I am bored. So I guess this is nowhere.'

Her face carried a smirk and she folded her arms under her beautiful bosom with an attitude to it. Rolling her eyes was her specialty. They were brown and big, as though she could see the future by merely looking at your face. Eliz hissed and allowed her to feel triumph for a little while.

'Can I tag along? I need to apply for the vacancy you told me about. One grouchy-sounding old lady said I should apply in person.'

Emile just shrugged and said nothing. Maybe she was tired of listening to her or mouthing off anything. They were opposites, one tall and slender, the other short and almost rotund. Emile strutted off first leaving her indecisive, she followed later and they both went off.

They made it to the road just as the traffic shone green. Eliz almost froze when she realized that she was in front of a speeding vehicle, her legs numb and stuck to the ground. The headlights were blinding, she thought it was over, so she closed her eyes and accepted her fate.