Keelie glared at her hair in the ornate full length mirror, willing it to somehow turn the same gorgeous mahogany shade as her mother’s. She sighed. No such luck. Her chin-length mop was a lustrous white, as usual. The doctors could jabber about partial albinism all they liked, but they couldn’t explain why her skin never burned, and they couldn’t explain the nails, either. Keelie’s fingernails were the same colour as her hair and chewed way too short to be pretty. Self-consciously, she tugged her long sleeves over her hands for the fifth time that morning, wishing her gloves weren’t still in the wash.
“Cut it out, Keelie. It’s not the mirror’s fault you’re a freak.” Keelie turned her cold green gaze on the speaker, who was leaning on the door-frame to her room.
“Shut it, Gideon. It’s not my fault you couldn’t pass remedial calculus.” Sweeping past her older brother in what she hoped was a graceful fashion, she stalked down the hall to grab breakfast. Gideon followed, munching on a bagel.
Honestly, she thought.
the only reason he gets up this early is so that he can pester me.When Keelie reached the kitchen, she snagged a slice of leftover pizza from the fridge. “Who drank all the milk?” she accused. “You can’t possibly have had a whole bag in one night.” He shrugged complacently.
“Of course I didn’t. I had some with my breakfast cereal.”
“I thought the bagel was your breakfast.” Her mouth full of pizza, Keelie indicated the food in her brother’s hand.
“Am I not allowed to have multiple breakfasts? Who made you the health police?” He was annoyed now. She rolled her eyes. Some people are so touchy. Teenage boys shouldn’t be able to eat so much and gain nothing, especially not when there were seven other people who needed to eat. Six rather, since Keelie had never actually seen her Uncle Peadar eat real food.
“Whatever, I have to go to school.” She dashed out the front door, finishing her pizza as she went. She’d grab a drink at the cafeteria when she got there.
Gideon watched her leave, vaguely wondering why he had woken up before noon. Oh, yeah. He loped after her. “Keelie, Mom said you shouldn’t go out today! She mentioned something about the equinox, and a trip!” Too late, she was already out of hearing range, boarding the city bus. He blinked. That can’t be good, he thought. Shrugging, he wandered back into the house to get some real sleep. She could pack when she got home.
..........................................................................................................................................................................
I am currently resisting the urge to start blabbing about what's going to happen, because that would totally ruin it. suffice to say that her staying in the mortal world is not good.
