The Mark: Chapter 1: No, he's not my boyfriend.

The Mark

“It’s so…beautiful out here…” Aaron says.
“I know. I wanted to show it to you before you left.” I said, staring into Aaron’s olive colored eyes.
“I really don’t want you to leave.”
“Neither do I, but, you know how my mom is.”
“Yea. I really don’t see what the big deal is, sending you off to some stupid boarding school. You’d learn much better hear.”
“She doesn’t seem to get that.”
I lean back, and look at the sunset over the mountain, and on the water. This was always my favorite spot. Whenever my father and I were having an argument, I would always come out here. Then, my dad would come up here, and we’d make up by pointed out the different constellations in the sky, and make up our own.
“Sam…Sam…Samantha! Are you in there?” Aaron says, looking at me intently.
“Huh? Oh, yea. Sorry. I was just…thinking.”
“About your mom?” I turn my head away. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring it up.”
“No,” I begin, looking back at the sunset. “I wasn’t thinking about my mom. No, I was thinking about coming here when I was little.”
“Oh, okay.” Aaron says, turning his face away from me and looking back at the sunset.
“Aaron!” A distant voice calls. Aaron looks down the hill, and to his house. I can tell by his face, it’s Aaron’s mother.
“Looks like dinner.”
“And then they’ll ship you off tomorrow morning.” Aaron stands up, and brushes the dirt and underbrush off of his pants.
“See you, Sam. We’ll be by your place tomorrow before I leave to say good-bye.” I nod, and watch as Aaron walks slowly down the hill.
My best friend. Leaving. It was hard to imagine. Some people at school suspected that we liked each other, but we didn’t. Why did they always think that if best friends are a boy and a girl, then they automatically like each other? The people at our school read to many romantic novels.
I lean my head back, and let my long, red, curly hair dangle on the ground. When Aaron asked if I thought about my mother, I started thinking about my mother. See, my mother died when I was three. She was sick, really sick. And there was no cure. She died in her sleep, peacefully. Then it was just me and my dad. And dad was really sad afterwards.
I sit back up, after being lost in thought. The sky was dark, so dad would start to get worried if I wasn’t home soon. I stand up, and look at the moon in the sky. The moon reminded me of my mom. She loved outer space. Even wore a moon on her necklace. I touched my own neck because I was wearing the same necklace. My eyes began to water, but I blink the tears out of my eyes.


“Da-ad, I’m home!”
“Hello, Miss. Mill, your dinner is in your room.”
“Sorry I’m home late, Sarah, I was hanging out with Aaron. You know, sense he’s leaving tomorrow.”
“Quite alright. Your father understands.”
“Where is he, anyway?”
“Well, he realized that you were probably coming in late, so he ate without you. Then, went up to the study to finish work. After all, he’s got to have those case papers turned in by tomorrow.” I nodded as I took of my shoes, and began walking up the stairs.
“Thanks for the dinner, Sarah. I bet it tastes great.” Sarah smiles as I walk up the flight of stairs.
My dad hired Sarah about a month after my mother passed away. Dad had a hard time working his job, making sure I was okay, and keeping the house clean all at the same time. So what does a rich man do when he can’t do anything? He hires a butler. Sarah was like my sit-in mother. She had never met my mother, but had figured out what happened because of the other people in town. I loved Sarah like a mother, she gave me advice and acted like a mother…but…no one could take the place of a real mother.

Upstairs in my room, was a warm plate of chicken, rice, and broccoli. The chicken and the rice was mixed together, and the broccoli was on a little bowl on the tray.
“Thanks, Sarah.” I say, even though she’s not here. She made me my favorite dinner because she knew that I was hurting. It’s not every day that your best friend…your only friend…moves away. Aaron wasn’t moving, not really. His mother and father were staying, but Aaron would now be going to a boarding school. It felt worse than moving.
I sit down, and begin eating, grabbing a book off of my shelf in the process. A lot of people at my school hate reading, but I don’t see the issue. Reading is like a script to a movie that is yet to be filmed. It was like you listening to someone tell their tale, except with your eyes instead of your ears. Reading was essential. Without it, how could you know what was going on in the word.
“Knock knock”
I turn my head to the open door, and see my dad. It wasn’t hard to mistake him, with his golden hair and stunning grey eyes. He had a little scar on his left eyebrow from a fight he got in when he was little.
“Hey, dad.”
“Hey, kiddo. How are you doin?”
“Good, just eatin dinner and reading a book.”
“That’s good, that’s good…” Dad leans up against the door. “Watcha reading?”
“Oh, it’s about this girl trying to prove that she’s innocent, and that it was actually her identical twin sister who committed the murder”
“Sounds very interesting.”
“It is.”
“Well, I guess I’d better get back to work.”
“Okay, Dad. Love you.”
“Love you, too.” And with that, Dad left. He never was able to talk much these past few weeks. He’s been working a lot lately, so we haven’t been able to talk as much as I’d like. It seems that we’ve…drifted.
I looked at the clock, and saw that it was almost 12. I had lost track of time.
“Oops, I guess I’d better hurry up and get ready for bed.” I grab my plate and hurry downstairs to place it in the kitchen.
In the dining room, I heard Dad and Sarah talking. I knew it wasn’t right to ease drop, but it sounded like they were talking about me.
“…should be sent to boarding school, too.” It was Dad’s voice. What, did he want to send me to boarding school, too?
“If you send her to boarding school, then things would just be worse for her when the time comes.”
“Yes, I know. That’s why we’d send the secret officers along with her as well.”
“But…don’t you want to explain things to her? She will be so scared when she begins changing. You should be there for her.”
“I know I should be there for her. But, I just…just can’t! I didn’t carry the gene, it was her mother. I only know what she told me.”
“That’s why it would be more important to her if you told her.”
I hear a sigh in the kitchen coming from my father. He is obviously thinking things through. I want to come out from behind the stairs, and tell them to not send me to boarding school. To tell me straight to my face what was going on.
“I’ll let her stay…but, if she has a question that I don’t know the answer to, I’m going to send her there.”
“Thank you, Mr. Mill. I’m sure your daughter will benefit.”
Quickly, I take by plate and hurry back up the stairs, hoping that my father, or Sarah didn’t hear me.