Katheryn is turning four hundred and eighty-three. What are you meant to get someone when they turn that old? I had created a subgroup chat with my other friends to work out what to get for her. It's a school day, so we can't throw a big party that day as we did with Catalina and me, so we need to do something different.
LesbianHybrid invited SpanishQueen, BeheadedBoleyn, SilverSeymour and QueenfromCleves to the group Katheryn's Secret Birthday Party 2007
LesbianHybrid: Queens, I need help!
SilverSeymour: What do you need help with?
LesbianHybrid: I don't know what to get Katheryn. I'm seriously freaking out over here.
SilverSeymour: Wait, why the hell do I see you only just walking out of your house?
LesbianHybrid: I'm running a little late. But if you've seen me, then you're also running late.
SpanishQueen: I'm struggling too. I never know what to get for Katheryn.
QueenfromCleves: I'll help you all out.
Anne is screaming as she runs out of Kitty's house. 'Anne Boleyn, why are you screaming at half eight in the morning?' Anna yells. 'More to the point, where's Kitty?'
'I don't know!' Anne screams. 'I went round to pick her up, but she's not there.'
'Maybe she's already at school,' I say. 'If not, we'll wait for her.'
'But her parents didn't want me looking for her. They never acted like that before.'
'How were they acting?' I must have a journalist sense from Mummy.
'They seemed cold.' I look over at Kitty's house and spot the curtains twitching. A woman is glaring out from behind them.
'Anything else? Did they do anything that seemed abnormal?'
'When I asked questions about Kitty, they shut me out. Joyce said that they want nothing more to do with her.' Anne's eyes dart from me to our group of friends.
'How long was she gone for?' I turn to my other friends. 'Lina, your room is facing the street, and you live opposite Kitty. Did you see anything strange last night?'
'Not that I remember, no.' Catalina says before checking her watch. 'Guys, we're not going to make it even if we run.'
'What if Kitty's not at school?' Anne asks.
'We have history first,' Jane points out. 'If she's not there, one of us can bunk off school to look for her.' We turn to Jane. 'What?'
'The goody-two-shoes Jane Seymour suggests bunking off school?' Anna asks.
'I'm worried about my cousin. Listen, if we all go, the teachers will suspect that something's going on. If Anne and I leave if Kitty's not there, you can say something is going round in the family. Kitty's our cousin, so they'd believe us.'
'Other than the fact Anne played the 'I'm feeling ill' card to bunk off school before?' I ask. Anne opens her mouth to speak but then thinks better of it and closes it again. 'We will need two reliable people searching for Kitty. If she's not in history, I'll text Mum and Mummy so they know she's missing. If they search for her, they have more of a chance of finding her. We'll search for Kitty after school.'
'Or you could have texted me and found out where I was,' Kitty replies. We turn to face her. Several dark bruises are forming on her face, and she's holding her side in agony. Katheryn is wearing her school uniform and a warm coat. She is carrying her messenger bag on her shoulder and has a suitcase in her hand. Her school uniform looks like it was thrown into a muddy puddle and hasn't been washed.
'Katheryn, what happened?' I ask.
'I got kicked out.'
'What?' Anne asks.
'My parents were arguing about it for a long time. Isabel and my other siblings can't stand the sight of me.'
'But why? Isabel and the others love you.'
'They kicked me out because I'm a lesbian, Annie!'
'They can't do that!' I look back at the house where Kitty used to live. It's about time that I talked to the Howards. They cannot treat their daughter in this way.
I storm up the path leading to the house. 'Emma, no!' Kitty yells.
'The worst that's going to happen is they slam the door in my face,' I call back. 'I need to try.' I use the knocker and wait for a few moments. The woman from earlier opens the door. Her long, brown hair is tied back in a ponytail, and she glares at me with cold blue eyes.
'What do you want?'
'That's no way to talk to a friend of your daughter's.'
'That thing is not my daughter.' Joyce moves to shut the door, but I wedge my foot between the door and the frame.
'Not good enough, Howard!' I push the door open and enter the hallway.
YOU ARE READING
Emma's Six
Fanfiction*The updated version of Emma's Six including new chapters, more description and more time to build up relationships.* Emma Smith-White is not your average human. She is only half human. Throughout her life, she remembers reading about the six wives...
