Furia:
Two-Way
Mirror [Sneak Peek]
by P. Kristen Enos
Standard Warning:
Mature Themes and Situations! All
rights reserved.
(Posted January 8, 2010.)
* * * * *
With the Southern Californian sun
high overhead, seven year old Kassandra Schmidt
traced lazy figure eights up and down the cul-de-sac
street. She was naturally attractive, with piercing
green eyes, dark-brown hair in a boyish cut and
deeply tanned skin. Skinny but tall for her age, she
wore a plain tan baseball cap, an oversize faded,
t-shirt, equally well-worn shorts and sneakers.
Despite her solitary past-time,
Kassandra knew that all she had to do was go to her
house and she’d be surrounded by people. Whenever
her parents held parties, it was an event that
everyone was welcomed to, whether you were a
relative, a neighbor or a soon to be friend.
She reached the cul-de-sac corner
and spotted her one-year older brother, Chad,
leading a handful of cousins and friends speeding
down a nearby street on their own bikes. With a mild
frown, the girl turned her bike around and continued
back up her own stretch of street.
She had been gliding along the
ending loop of the cul-de-sac when she screeched to
a halt at the sight of a minivan leading a large
moving truck down the street. She wasn’t surprised
to see it stop in front of the one empty house,
which next to her own home.
The minivan pulled into the drive
way, and a family of five came out, consisting of
the parents and three daughters. The new neighbors
were apparently observant and friendly since they
all smiled and waved at the watching kid.
Taking in as many details about
them as possible, Kassandra waved back, aiming her
bike towards her own home since she now had news to
deliver. Her wave faltering at the sight of the
middle daughter, who seemed to be the same age, but
with long strawberry blond curls and fair skin. When
the new neighbor girl smiled at her, the wide-eyed
Kassandra ran right into the cluster of mailboxes
before taking a spill over the curb, much to
everyone’s horror.
* * * * *
Trying not to be distracted by
the burn of her newly bandaged cuts, Kassandra stood off
to the side as the two families faced each other.
With her baseball cap pulled low over her eyes, she
snuck peeks at the Warren family, especially the
middle daughter Melissa, who shyly smiled back. The
attempt to make each other feel at ease made
Kassandra momentarily forget the normal dread she
had during introduction.
Meanwhile, Chad was barely
containing his boredom, aching to get back to
hanging out with the other boys. He let out an
impatient snort, only to get a cuff against the back
of his head by their father.
"-- I'm Yuko," her mother
introduced. "This is my husband Alfred. And these
are our two children, Chad and Kassandra."
Kassandra happened to be looking
right at the other girl at that moment of the
introduction. Melissa's face completely fell with
shock as she blurted out loud, "You're a GIRL?!"
Brother Chad blurted out in
laughter, only to be cuffed by his dad again, only
harder this time.
The familiar dread of social
awkwardness came flooding back, causing Kassandra to
turn bright red and look down at her shoes.
Smiling proudly, her mother
lifted up the visor of the girl's baseball cap a bit
so everyone can see her face more clearly. "She's
our little tomboy. But she's a good kid."
Encouraged to look up again,
Kassandra to meet the friendly eyes of the new
neighbors, the parents, ten year old oldest daughter
and four year old youngest daughter.
The seven year old daughter
Melissa, however, was staring down at her own shoes,
her cheeks flushed with red.
Kassandra felt her stomach drop
down to her feet but she tightened her jaw and
swallowed a sigh.
* * * * *
Kassandra was once again tracing
figure eights, but this time on the cul-de-sac on
the next block over. She wanted to avoid the
activities of her parent's party and the moving
activity of the new neighbors.
Seeing that the sun was starting
to set, she realized it was time to go home. At
least the day couldn't get any worse.
Now with a goal, Kassandra aimed
her bike and started peddling faster. As she passed
by the moving activity, she flashed a brief, weak
smile at everyone who acknowledged her.
As she came to her own driveway,
she slowed to a halt, her stomach knotting at the
sight of her brother and his crowd also coming home
at the curfew.
"Hey, Guys," Kassandra greeted
them with a polite smile.
Despite their equally pleasant
responses, she could tell by their smirks that they
were told about what had happened earlier.
Chad leaned against his own bike
and stated loudly, "It's your own fault, you know.
This wouldn't keep happening to you if you weren't
such a fake boy."
Ignoring the sound of laughter,
Kassandra got off her bike and then gave her brother
a full body tackle. Everyone in the front of the
houses were distracted to a halt by the sight and
sound of the siblings brutally slugging and kicking
each other on the pavement.
* * * * *
Sitting at the kitchen table,
Chad winced at the dab of a medicinal swab at the
bloody scrape on his temple. Despite the swell of at
the corner of his mouth, Chad declared loudly,
"She's freak!"
His angry father tossed the
bloody swab aside and cuffed him against the ear,
one of the few places he wasn't wounded. "That's not
for you to judge! And you don't hit women!"
"I'd remember she was one if she
actually looked like -"
Another sharp cuff ended his
rant. He sulked and glared at his equally bloodied
and bruised sister, who sat at the other end of the
table, being tended to by their frowning mother.
Kassandra had her attention
focused on her dirty and scraped knees as she
gritted herself against the contact of cleansing
alcohol.
Chad frowned and muttered, "Can I
go now? I can take care of the rest myself."
His father Alfred sighed and
said, "Sure. We'll be barbecuing dinner pretty
soon."
"'Kay," the boy said as he
stiffly stood. He paused and gritted his teeth
against the pain of the affectionate pat of the
large hand on his head. When the three of them were
left alone, Alfred exchanged a look with his wife
Yuko, who nodded for him to go. "Guess I'll go back
to our guests then."
He headed for the door to the
backyard, but being sure to give his remaining child
an affectionate pat on the head as well.
The mother and daughter sat in
silence as the cuts and bruises were tended to. Yuko
sighed and muttered, "I hope these cuts don't scar.
And I can tell you've got a black eye forming, but
that'll go away. You're a really pretty girl even if
you don't give much attention to your appearance."
Not knowing what else to say, her
daughter mumbled, "Thank you."
Yuko frowned and gently lifted up
the girl's chin so she can meet her gaze.
"Kassandra, I'm not going to lie. I do wish you
weren't such a tomboy if just for the reason that
things would be so much easier for you. I know
you'll become comfortable with your femininity
eventually... But people who resort to their fists to
make their point aren't very impressive to anyone
but themselves. Understand?"
The girl studied her mother's
firm gaze and then nodded.
* * * * *
Kassandra stared at the bathroom
mirror, looking at the teeth under her swollen lower
lip. Satisfied that her teeth really weren't loose,
she gently rinsed her mouth with warm water against
the taste of blood since she couldn't brush her
teeth.
A pounding at the bathroom door
distracted her attention.
"Hey! You almost done?!" Chad
bellowed through the wood. "Give it up! You
definitely ain't a beauty queen!"
The girl sighed and wiped her
hands on the towel before exiting.
Passing each other in the
doorway, the siblings glared and shoulder bumped
each other in silent contempt.
Kassandra went into her bedroom
and firmly closed the door behind her. She looked
out at window with its second story view at the
house next door. She suddenly realized she was
looking right into the bedroom of new neighbor,
Melissa, who was also preparing for bed.
The girls met gazes in surprise
and awkwardness. Kassandra's over-sized T-shirt
compared to the other girl's pink nightgown in the
same striking contrast of their physical attributes.
Melissa gave her a polite but
clearly uncomfortable smile as she reached over and
drew the curtains close.
After closing her own curtains,
Kassandra sat down on the edge of her bed. She
glanced over at her baseball cap on the nightstand.
She picked it up and stared at it, letting out a
deep, painful sigh.
~
Continue to the full version of the story... ~
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