The Inconspicious Twist of Fate

C2 - P2

Entering Flashback:

Tiny fingers clenched onto Isolde's wrist with such force, the area in question turned white.

Young children filled the morning air around her with shrill screeches, toddlers racing ahead of their parents into the school. Everyone was dressed neatly, hair slicked and pulled to perfection, uniforms primped and white socks crisp and ready to be dirtied. Huge backpacks painted in reds, blues and pinks hung securely on the infants' backs, bigger than the little humans themselves.

"Inès I promise I'll be right here to come pick you up when you finish." Isolde said, trying to uwrap the fingers from around her aching wrist. "It'll be just the two of us until dad gets home from work, I'll even get you pizza on the way back, but you have to let me go before we both are late for school."

"You wont leave like mommy did will you?" The little girl refused to let go, looking up at her older sister with pleading eyes.

"Mommy didn't leave, she's travelling so she can make more money and buy you gifts." Isolde reasoned.

"Why doesn't she love daddy anymore? Did I do something wrong?"

The divorce Isolde's parents went through this summer had the largest impact on little Ines. Isolde understood the reason behind it, enabling her to take a rational position and form her own opinions, but her younger sister found it hard not to blame herself.

She was unable to understand that the two, despite still being on good terms, were no longer together and they no longer were a whole family for reasons beyond love. The most logical reasoning in her 6 year old mind was that she had done something wrong which made both parents lose their love for her and each other. This was also the reason she developed separation anxiety.

Isolde's 16 year old brain on the other hand, fully processed the events that had occured. Her mother had gotten tired of being a stay at home mom and began elaborating a business for herself. It later expanded and she was in a constant frenzy, tending to her calls, emails and work. Her father on the other hand proceeded with his stable career of 19 years, and was stressed out to having to come back to no dinner and a busy household. He respected her choice of establishing her own career and making her own money, and she respected his will for peace and stability, so Isolde and Ines had been placed under their father's custody. They saw their mother on special occasions or weekends when she wasn't away doing conferences in some other country.

"No Ines, you did nothing wrong you hear me?" Isolde crouched down to meet her sister's face. "This was a decision mommy and daddy made together for the better. They still love you very much, and care for each other aswell. We are still a family and none of us will leave you okay?"

The little girl nodded and with a hug, she finally hesitantly let Isolde go.

Isolde made her way to her first day of school, hands burried in her oversized khaki pants.

Though she didn't take the divorce as badly as her sister, she still found it hard to adapt. She had bigger responsibilities now. She had her sister, chores, occasional cooking and homework.

Over the course of summer break she'd completely broken off contact with her old group of friends, the toxic hormonal girls too much for her to handle. She had no support system, no way to drown her overbearing thoughts with, and no one to entertain her and steer her away from home life even for a bit.

Her new hightop black converse finally hit the gravel of the highschool's entrance.

Outside was already cleared out, while inside the lockers slammed shut, the yelling settled, and the classes filled with glowed up pubescent teenagers.

Arriving right on time, Isolde took the first empty seat she came across in AP literature. Mr. Castleton had already taken his place before the chalk board which had "Welcome Back" scribbled on it with intricate caricature. The stout man smoothed out his brown suit before clearing his throat and speaking in his somewhat exaggerated british accent.

"To my old students, I welcome you chums back to AP literature. Glad to see you've grown over the course of summer. To the new students in my class, welcome. My name is Benedict Castleton but you may only call me sir or Mr. Castleton. Do we have any new comers this year?" He paused, smiling as he swayed from the heel of his feet to his toes. "Mr. Johnson please put your hand down. I have been unfortunate enough to teach you for the past 2 years... Ah! You there, please stand up and introduce yourself."

From the second row rose a lanky blond, silencing the laughter previously induced by Travis Johnson. He laced his fingers together behind his back, nervously fidling with them as the whole room's eyes fell upon him.

"Uh, hi, my name is Atlas Manis." He spoke clearly, but with obvious apathy in his voice.

"Would you mind telling us what some of your hobbies are? And would you turn so your friends behind you see your face and not your back?"

The boy did a 180 after a second of delay and fleetingly said "I like cooking" before sitting back down.

The class errupted in murmurs with quickly made assumptions and Atlas glanced at each person individually with an intensity that piqued Isolde's interest. He didn't seem to mind the attention, in fact he seemed to enjoy it, smirking whenever his ears fell upon an accusatory supposition.

Finally his eyes landed on her, blue and sparlking as a summer sea. His feminine features analyzed her calculatingly before the corners of his lips curled into a smiled which Isolde found contagious.

The act out of her hand, she found herself smiling back at him, a weird connection traveling between them.

Atlas...

End of Flashback.