Morning Star

Chapter 17: Sofia and yum cha | Eva

A boy stood in the doorway to Cailyn's apartment. At first glance, I could see how Cailyn and the boy were related. The boy had windswept (but not a neat windswept, an extremely messy windswept) black hair, and eyes a drained colour of black. His skin was pale, and he had clearly defined cheekbones that protruded almost scarily out of his face. Looking at his face, he gave off an uneasy, dark aura - much like the grey and purple haired girl herself, although I was sure she meant no harm.

However, the clear difference between the boy and Cailyn was that he wore brighter clothes - casual jeans with a yellow shirt, and when he smiled at his sister, it was almost like he was a different person. He gently hugged the girl, ignoring her small squirms of protest as she fought against his hold. He finally released her just as her fingers wrapped around her scissors. "Miss me?"

Cailyn rolled her hazel brown eyes. "You wish." She gestured to the rest of us present in the apartment. "These are my friends. Guys, this is Zero. We're not actually related; he's my stepbrother."

Ethan, who had left the kitchen at Zero's arrival, let out an audible gasp. I wasn't that surprised. Zero and Cailyn barely looked alike.

"Gosh, can you not be so dramatic?" Sarah reprimanded the fifteen year old.

"Zero? Aren't you the figure skater?" Ethan practically gushed, running to the midnight haired boy and pulling out a pen and paper. "Can I have your autograph?"

Zero blinked, astonished. He slowly reached out and took the pen and paper from Ethan's hands. "You...know who I am?"

Ethan nodded vigorously. "The international figure skating competition is being held in London this year. Who hasn't heard about it? You're the youngest competitor, aren't you?"

"Yes?" Zero stared at the objects in his hands, before hesitantly writing his signature and passing it back to the fifteen year old, who whooped in glee and tucked the paper away into his jacket pocket.

"Oh, would you look at that?" a cheery voice called, and a short, burgundy haired girl appeared beside Zero. Her cheeks were flushed - perhaps from the cold - and she wore an enormous pink fluffy coat that she slipped off the minute she entered Cailyn's apartment, displaying the pink skirt and white top she had on underneath. I could not stop looking at her eyes, however - her eyes were a strange, milky white, almost like pearls. When she'd stood outside only moments ago, her eyes had shone the colours of the rainbow, almost like a kaleidoscope.

To my surprise, I recognised her. She was Jasmine, the girl who had been the maid of honour at the royal wedding. I knew she, like Cailyn, was a girl living on Earth with Jendilyan magic, but what were the odds that she would be here, with us?

"Hey, Jas!" Sarah rose from the couch and embraced the girl, who hugged her back. Sarah seemed to know everyone, didn't she?

"Jas," Cailyn acknowledged, dipping her head at the burgundy haired girl.

"Long time no see, Linny," Jas replied, grinning at her. "Studying overseas, huh? Brendan told me you were planning to publish a novel."

Cailyn's cheeks coloured. "He exposed me, that bastard," she spat, but her tone was warm. "It's nothing, really. Bren just happened to pass by when I was drafting it back home."

"Surely not!" Jas reassured her. "I bet it's amazing." She glanced away from Cailyn and stopped as she beheld the rest of us, as if she had just realised that there were others in Cailyn's apartment apart from Sarah. "Hey, I'm Jasmine, Zero's girlfriend."

"SHIP!" Peter hollered from the kitchen, and both Zero and Jas gaped. A few seconds later, a piercing sound cut through the air, and the emerald green eyed boy staggered into the living room, covering his ears. "Someone make it stop!"