Chapter 1: The First Weeks

Throwing her hair up into a quick ponytail, Spyncer scrawled her mom a quick note. “Be back soon, went for a run. ~Spynce” it read.
It was a Friday afternoon, a time Spyncer usually would have spent hanging out with friends, watching a movie or playing a pickup game of basketball. Since the divorce, though, she hadn’t done much of that, especially now that her, her mom and little sister lived in a small new apartment in Chicago.
It wasn’t that she hated Chicago. She didn’t even mind sharing a room with 10-year-old Julianne, though she had been afraid she would. Running down the apartment steps, she realized that it was simply because she was lonely. She didn’t know anyone her age anymore. Sure, her friends from home kept in touch, but it was hard even just making it through the first few days of her new school. She was a junior this year, but she felt like a freshman the way she wandered through the school with her schedule out, looking for classes in a school three times as big as the one she went to back home. Beginning to put names and faces together was a relief, but there were few she knew—only those in more than one of her classes. She simply didn’t fit in, the small town girl from Vermont.
Crossing the street, she found the path she had discovered days earlier while running. She needed time to think and this was the best way, besides taking a shower, that she knew how to get it. Of course, that didn’t mean she wouldn’t also run if she was angry at the world and needed to blow off some steam or if she just felt too cooped up inside.
It was raining lightly, so the path was empty today. She liked it best that way; not only was there no one else to get in her way, the path smelled delightfully like a mixture of wet soil and cleanliness. Spyncer put her headphones in her ears and pressed play. She started to jog slowly to the music, clearing her head. It was gloomy on the path, the large trees looming over the path like wooden beggars, pleading for money. The fog crept along the ground, and she shivered slightly. Making a mental note never to run here at night, Spyncer thought back to the past week of school.
Even though she had found all her classes on time the first day of school, and though that most of her teachers were likeable, no one had looked at her more than just a passing glance. It wasn’t really until today that anyone had talked to her.
Of course, now she was wondering why she had even wanted anyone to notice her.
Aria had seemed cool at first. Then again, anyone who had talked to her probably would have seemed cool. They were in Physics, the last period of the day. Spyncer had been packing her books up, having finished her homework. She was planning on doodling the last few minutes of class, when a small whirlwind of a girl with bright green eyes and fiery red hair had seemingly appeared from nowhere.
“Hello! So you’re the new girl everyone’s been talking about. How do you like Fenn High?” she asked breathlessly. Her voice reminded Spyncer of the wind chimes that had hung outside her window in Vermont. “Ooh. I’m Aria, by the way. Aria Bennu.”
Spyncer stared at her blankly. “Everyone’s been talking about me? I have a hard time believing that. Anyways, it’s nice to meet you. My name is Spyncer Avalerion.” She shifted the books on her arm so she could reach out to shake Aria’s hand.
She waited expectantly for the typical “Spyncer? That’s an interesting name,” that really meant “it’s really weird that you have a boy’s name,” a halfhearted smile, and finally the awkward subject change. But it didn’t happen. Aria didn’t look fazed at all, in fact. Shaking Spyncer’s hand, she smiled. After that was when it got really weird. “Well everyone might not be talking about you,” she laughed softly, and Spyncer was again struck by the sound of wind chimes. “But you’ve turned some heads. You moved here because your parents got a divorce, right? You run when you are stressed, hate lasagna and love backpacking and other sorts of outdoors-y trips,” Aria said quietly, a big smile across her face.
It freaked Spyncer out so much she missed when the bell rang until everyone else got up. When she looked around, the small girl was gone.
How did she know? Spyncer wondered as she ran. It’s not like she had told anyone any of that stuff. She had shaken it off and gone to her locker at the time, but now it was all she could think about. Who was this girl?
She was so immersed in her thoughts that she didn’t realize she had made it back to the main road until a car honked at her and screeched to a stop, swerving on the wet road. As it stopped, she heard voice coming from the driver’s side.
“You alright?” it asked. “You should really watch where you run. I mean, unless you were trying to become road kill,” it continued as a boy climbed out. Spyncer thought she recognized him from school; light hair, kind blue eyes, glasses, tan and tall. He was definitely the theatre or stage crew type, and a little on the nerdy side. Spyncer immediately liked him.
“I’m so sorry! Yes, I’m fine, and no, I’m not suicidal. Just had a lot on my mind,” she said, blushing deep red. Making a fool out of herself after going to school only a few days wasn’t a great step on the road to making friends.
He smiled at her. “I could tell. I’m Nick, and very sorry for almost running you over. You sure you aren’t hurt?”
“A little embarrassed, but fine besides that,” Spyncer replied, and introduced herself. As she spoke, she noticed for the first time that it had stopped raining, and had turned into a really bright, sunny day. Her clothes were soaked through, and she wondered what Nick thought about her disheveled appearance. She shivered and decided that the first thing she would do when she got home would be to take a long, hot shower.
“Well, as long as you are ok, I gotta split. You look freezing and I’m on my way to my friend Erik’s house. See you around.” He winked at her as he climbed back into his car.
Spyncer watched him pull away, and then went into her apartment building, pulling her key out of her pocket as she walked up the stairs. Opening her apartment door, she smelled the zucchini bread and pasta her mom was making for dinner.
“Hey mom! I’m home,” she smiled at her mom as she walked through the small kitchen, popping a mostaccioli noodle into her mouth as she passed the stove. “I’m going to jump into the shower quickly to warm up before dinner, okay?”
“Alright, but don’t be too long. Dinner will be ready in 10 minutes. How was your run?” Her mom opened the oven to check on the zucchini bread as she spoke, sending steam curling up into the air.
“It was great, but really cold.”
Smiling at her daughter, Mrs. Avalerion shut off the oven and took the bread out. “I’m sure you didn’t even notice the cold until you were inside. Well, go shower and be quick.”
Spyncer grabbed her favorite pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt from her room before jumping into the shower. As she stepped into the warm water, she relaxed. Sure, today had been kind of weird, but her new life here would get better. It had to. Didn’t it?
With some doubts still swirling in her head, she dried off and put on the fresh clothes from her room. Brushing her hair, she walked back into the kitchen. Julianne was laying out forks for dinner. Spyncer smiled as she watched her little sister set the table, then grabbed the plates and helped her out. Both Spyncer and Julianne had been adopted. Julianne knew her parents, but no one knew who Spyncer’s parents were. She was found outside a police station one morning wrapped in a blanket with a note. She still had both. The blanket was blood red with orange flowers on it. All that the note said was “Her name is Spyncer Elisabeth. Take good care of her and love her as your own” in a loopy scrawl. And her adoptive parents had. She hardly remembered that she was adopted, except those rare times she wondered who her birth parents were, if they were still alive and why they gave her up. Spyncer was broken out of her thoughts as her mom set down the dish of pasta on the table.
Spyncer sat down next to Julianne and scooped pasta onto her plate. Stabbing it with a fork, she inhaled her dinner as she realized how hungry she really was. Buttering her third piece of bread, she slowed down.
Julianne, picking at her pasta, was the first to talk. “Mom, when are you going to sign me up for soccer?” she asked quietly. Even though she was only ten, she knew that money was tight, and Julianne hoped that they would still be able to afford club soccer.
Their mother looked up. “I’ll sign you up tomorrow,” she said. “Just remind me later tonight please.”
Spyncer heard her little sister sigh quietly in relief. Wondering why anyone so young should have to worry about money, she got up to wash her dishes. Grabbing her sister and mom’s plates, she filled up the sink with warm, soapy water.
After she finished she dried her hands and went into her room. Julianne was sitting on the floor immersed in a new book. Collapsing onto her bed, Spyncer pulled some homework. She had managed to finish most of it during school. She had plenty of free time to do it, especially since she still sat alone at lunch. When she was done, she headed for her bookshelf. If there was one thing she was always short on, it was books. During the summer, when she wasn’t working or practicing her guitar, she was reading. Often getting through a book every day or two, she was always looking for more—no matter how many she had on her bookshelf. The library here seemed a lot better than the ones back home were, but she hadn’t gotten a chance to really look it over yet. She looked over at Julianne, who had picked up Spyncer’s love for reading just as early on as Spyncer had. Grabbing a book of mythology from the top shelf, she curled up on the floor by her little sister, and began flipping through the pages. Julianne put down her book and put her head on Spyncer’s shoulder, looking up at her with big brown eyes. Raising her eyebrows, Spyncer made a face at the head on her shoulder. Responding in kind, Julianne stuck out her tongue. After a series of progressively more grotesque faces, both girls dissolved into quiet giggles.
Sitting up again, a big grin on her face, Julianne again looked up at Spyncer with her big eyes. “Would you read me one of the stories from your myth book?”
“Hmmm, I don’t know” Spyncer contemplated jokingly. “What do you say?”
“Please? Pretty pretty please? With a strawberry on top?”
Spyncer laughed at her little sister’s dislike of cherries, and cracked open the large green book on her lap. “Which story do you want to hear?”
Settling down next to her, Julianne replied, “I like the one about the Sphinx.”
Smiling, Spyncer flipped to the right page, and began reading out loud. The girls’ mom appeared in the doorway after a minute, but Julianne didn’t notice; she was too engrossed in the story. As Spyncer finished, Mrs. Alaverion tapped on her watch. “Time for bed, sweet Jules. Have you brushed your teeth?”
Julianne smiled largely, showing her mom her teeth. “Yep!” she exclaimed, mouth wide. As she clambered into bed, she remembered something. “Oh! Mom, don’t forget to sign me up for soccer tonight please.”
Walking over to her daughter’s bed, Mrs. Avalerion smoothed hair out of Julianne’s face. “Yes, sweetheart, I will go do that right now. Say goodnight to Spyncer now.”
As Spyncer picked up her book and joined her mom in the living room, she turned off the light to her bedroom. “Night little girl” she said into the darkness.
“I’m not little!” came the sleepy reply. It was true. She was growing up quickly, more quickly than Spyncer liked to think.
She settled down in a kitchen chair, putting her book on the table. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to be comfortable for long. She soon jumped up to help her mom unpack the boxes that were still haphazardly piled around the room. This was Spyncer’s least favorite part of the move—the endless boxes. Slicing open a box, she unloaded pictures in frames and placed them around the room. Setting up ones of the family on the mantle, she noticed there were none of her dad. Although it didn’t surprise her, it saddened her. She had one picture of him in her room on her nightstand. It was a picture from last year at her cross country meet. He had his arm around her shoulders and they both had huge grins on their faces. She had just gotten a personal record, assuring her place on Varsity for the upcoming year and it was the only meet of the year he had been able to make. Business kept him away most of the time. It was one of the reasons for the divorce. Of course, just because she had been assured Varsity didn’t mean that she would be running it. Moving to Chicago had pretty much spoiled all of those plans.
Humming quietly under her breath, Spyncer emptied the box then collapsed it down flat. Frisbee-throwing it onto the pile of other boxes, Spyncer ripped the tape off of the next box. It opened to reveal mixing bowls and some pans. Twirling around the kitchen, she made up places for each to go, organizing them as she did. As she put away the last bowl and was drumming on the pans, Frank Sinatra started singing behind her. She spun in surprise and caught her mom moving away from the just-installed CD player. Mrs. Avalerion caught up her eldest daughter and whirled her around the room. They both laughed as they slid around in their socks on the tiles of the kitchen. When the song came to an end, they curtsied to each other and then continued to unpack boxes.
An hour or so later, Spyncer kissed her mom on the cheek and headed off to bed. That night, she dreamt of Frank Sinatra, wind chimes, and a girl with fiery hair.