An early extract from the very beginning of Soulless… This is the rough version. I have yet to finish my edited version. =]
Shrieks echoed throughout the halls, as over dramatic as the teary-eyed girls now jumping up and down, hair flying, and embracing as they squealed their farewells. Deep booming laughter rumbled from deep within the tall broad lad already in their rugby kit, along with the excited cheers and cries that fans were shouting in anticipation of the final match of term. Everyone barely noticed the few meek pupils that pressed themselves against the walls before scurrying on like mice.
It wasn’t normally this chaotic… Things were slightly different today, however. Today was the last day of term; today, everyone was going home for Christmas. Everyone would go back to their families to have a ‘merry Christmas’.
But no one knew… Today was the beginning of something else too. Something far more sinister. Something no one could have guessed.
A hush seemed to fall over the mob of students as the door to classroom H202 swung open. Millie Hales swept from the classroom, her midnight black hair flowing out behind her like silk as she went, as light as a breath on the breeze. She noticed the way eyes turned towards her, sparkling in awe, but she brushed any joy away, fed up and almost bitter, before it could begin to take hold. She knew well that they weren’t looking at her; they were looking at…
Following Millie was Heather. Heather, perfect Heather, floated out from the room, her crystal blue eyes glittering. She tossed the ribbons of gold that framed her perfectly structured face, with its features like those of a porcelain doll, and flashed a bright white, delicate smile at the onlookers. Heather knew how to get the attention on her, and loved to bask in the glory of the spotlight.
But then Heather hurried up to Millie, beaming, and linker her arm through Millie’s, no longer paying any heed to the crowd, and pranced off to meet the others. The pupils seemed to part as the pair came, boys gazing dreamily and girls trudging off, spitting insults under their breath. Heather was both the most popular girl and the most unpopular.
Millie ignored everyone else; Heather was her best friend. She didn’t care that the girls didn’t like her. It didn’t bother her how the boys admired Heather, although sometimes Millie did feel a tiny bit jealous, but in the end, friends were friends and she wouldn’t let silly things come between their friendship.
Millie heard Leo before she saw him. He was shouting about how he was going to win the match with Matt, and how none could compare to the ‘best’. Leo thought a lot about himself… But that was just Leo for you. Matt and Leo were typical, well, what those American films called ‘jocks’. Their talk involved sports, usually. Millie guessed they must talk about girls with each other, but they didn’t tell Millie, Heather and Lucy.
Lucy squealed when she saw the two girls coming over. She rushed over, her dainty figure dodging gracefully around other students before she wrapped her arms around them both, her words barely audible they were in such a high pitch. Millie laughed, slowly peeling Lucy off while Heather managed to sneak away over to Leo. She peered over Leo’s shoulder before suddenly swiping something from his hands; a tiny rugby ball. The usual ruckus ensued, as Leo grabbed Heather round the waist, Lucy snatched the ball and dodged the boys effortlessly.
Millie laughed, standing on the edge of things. She rolled her eyes and glanced about the corridor. To be honest, Millie wasn’t really into the same things as her friends. She sighed, realizing how much of an outsider she was in her own friendship group. She loved them, but they were just… She struggled to think of exactly what it was that bothered her. Millie knew that there were loads of girls who wanted to be in the ‘popular’ crowd, but it just didn’t feel that special.
Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted off the ground. Her emerald eyes exploded in shock as she kicked and writhed, confused. Then, a booming voice called over to Lucy and Heather, “I’m taking Millie hostage until you return my ball!” Matt chuckled and turned around, Millie draped over his shoulders. She punched him in the back, hard as she could, to the amusement of both Mark and Leo.
“Put me down, Matt!” cried Millie indignantly, but she couldn’t help the little smile that tugged at her delicate lips.
“Not till we get our ball!”
Eventually, Heather and Lucy gave in. They hugged Millie sympathetically and the three of them stuck out their tongues at Mark and Leo, before linking arms and sauntering away proudly. The boys chuckled as they went, shaking their heads.
“Girls…” they said, rolling their eyes.
*
Millie watched quietly as blurred images streamed past. Her head bounced involuntarily as the train rattled over the tracks, shaking her about. Flashes of green darted by. Her eyes flickered across the farmland that rushed past. Sheep grazed in the fields, along with cows and horses. Occasionally she would catch sight of a mass of dark blue, decorated by fragile, graceful swans.
She could still hear the regular hustle and bustle of the train; people chatting, newspapers turning, footsteps, luggage being moved, rattling, doors banging open…She sighed and let her finger slide across her iPod until the only sound she could was the incessant drumming of her music.
It had been a hassle sorting Heather out. She was never organised, that girl. Lucy had been ready ages before hand, and Millie only had to pack a few things, like her uniform, since she really didn’t want to travel home wearing it, but Heather hadn’t even started her packing. She’d sat, surrounded by piles of her expensive clothes, whining about how much packing there was to do. Millie rolled her eyes and told her how silly it’d been not to do some packing earlier. Millie could never understand why Heather brought so much. “It’s boarding school, not a fashion parade, Hetti,” she’d said, watching Heather pulling out her hair with sceptical eyes. Lucy was sitting on the bed, swinging her legs and looking rather pleased with herself. They’d teased her a bit, but eventually they gave in and helped her. She was just so pathetic with those sorts of things; Heather just didn’t know how to look after herself.
And then Lucy and Millie had been forced to help Heather carry her ridiculously fancy bags all the way to the boat. The boatman and his son, Daniel, had laughed when they saw Heather with her bags. It wasn’t surprising really. All the way Danny teased Hetti, and Hetti had tried to explain the importance of fashion in her life, only to the amusement of the others. In the end, Hetti had resorted to sulking, through Danny dark, menacing looks every now and then. Danny had been rather disconcerted actually!
Millie found herself grinning as she remembered the scenario. Heather always made such a drama.
Just then, Millie heard a loud beat kick up as something in her pockets started vibrating. She wrenched her earphones out and fumbled to get to her mobile, all the while uncomfortably aware of the dark look the middle aged man to her left was giving her. She apologised to him briefly, before answering her phone.
“Hello?”
“Hey Mils!”
She couldn’t help raising an eyebrow; it was Danny. In fact, Millie had known Danny a long time now. He’d gone to the junior section of the academy, but not as a boarder, with her and Hetti when they were younger, but now he went to a normal secondary school, since his dad couldn’t afford Osea Academy anymore. However, he usually – virtually always – came to help his dad with the ferrying across the estuary – Osea Academy was located on Osea Island, a small island that lay in the estuary of the River Blackwater.
“Oh, hey Danny!”
“So you finally escaped the beast?” he asked with a chuckle.
“Beast?” replied Millie, puzzled.
“Hetti, you idiot.”
Millie frowned, rolling her eyes, but a small smile did tug at her lips.
“Yeah, she had to go pretty quickly. Her uncle’s coming down, I think.”
“You mean that rich, businessman uncle?”
“Yeah…”
“Nice… Oh, what I called to ask, fancy meeting up some time in the holidays? I’ll be coming to London this year.”
Danny’s parents were divorced. His mum had moved to London, but his dad had stayed in Essex to do the ferrying. Danny didn’t talk much about the divorce. He’d said he wasn’t bothered, it was something that happened, but Millie knew he was just pretending. She felt sad just thinking about it. Back in Year 5, when it had happened, there were days when he didn’t even turn up to school. She’d hated the way he always acted so strong. He was her best friend after all, and she’d wanted to be there for him! She’d wished he would tell her how he felt…
But things had changed now. They didn’t exactly see each other much; only when Danny came to help with ferrying or the odd occasion when they met up in London – which wasn’t that common since Sue, his mum, had a new husband and daughter and often was too busy to have Danny down. But even when they did meet up, it was really just for old times’ sake. Neither of them would forget how close they’d been, but that didn’t mean they were going to become close again.
“Oh sure, why not?”
The two of them began to discuss details, and then moved on to chat amiably about Christmas and whether or not it would snow. It wasn’t exactly thrilling conversation, but it was friendly. That was all they were to each other now; friendly. They were like faded photographs, a once-upon-a-time, somewhere where they would never go again…
After she hung up, she couldn’t help but notice that the man to her left was still giving her a dark look. She narrowed her eyes and jerked her head away to stare blindly out the window. “Stupid fat old man…” she thought in irritation, “I was only on the phone!” She pouted sulkily and folded her arms in a slightly rebellious way.
Her stop would be next, she realized as the train slowed and buildings began to sprout from the ground outside. A sign went by, and then a voice chimed in the intercom: “We are now approaching Reading.” in that intermittent voice with all the different pitches. She found herself wondering how they chose those women to record.
The train slowly grinded to a halt and she noticed with some satisfaction that the grumpy old man was getting off. Just before he went, he threw her a scowl and climbed off the train. She blinked, slightly taken aback. What a weird man.
