Chapter 12

I spoke to the industrial building people that Suzette had suggested. I looked at a few places and one stood out as likely. It was at Purley, about halfway between the house and London and very close to the film studio near Croydon. It was set in its own fenced grounds and was a mixture of workshop, warehouse and offices.

Jamie's grandmother pulled into the Fabric Barn parking lot. Jamie looked down at his outfit: a short-sleeved white blouse, black and white tweed shorts, black pantyhose, and black Mary Janes. The pantyhose were control top and high-waisted. The waistband stopped a couple inches above his belly button, giving most of his abdomen a gentle hug, which he thought was a wonderful feeling.

From that point on, it seemed like all anyone could talk about at school was the fact that Conner Hawkins was now dating that girl Lanie Evans, who'd just came in out of nowhere and surprised everyone with her charm and her good looks. Heads in the hallways turned whenever they saw Conner and Lanie walking together. Both Conner and Lanie loved the attention and soaked it in. Neither of them had been particularly famous at school before, so it felt great to be treated like celebrities.

“Lyra you’re scrubbin’ it, not resurfacing it! Goddess be good, move on!” Sophia said from overhead. We were in the servant kitchen, just outside the large dining room; our preceptor felt that it had been neglected in the past few days thanks to the summit preparation, so I, and several other girls, had spent the first part of the morning scrubbing the tops, bottoms, and sides of every single table. After that, we’d moved the tables, mopped and waxed the floors, wiped down the walls, and even dusted the rafters using a set of long ladders that I didn’t even know we had.

“Jonny gots bitsy feet,” Linda told Turkle. “But not littler than mine!”

I felt like Mom had suddenly developed X-ray vision and was going to see through my pants at any moment.

The unseasonably cold wind from the north offered little protection for people like me, who lived on the streets despite it being well into spring. Two blocks away from me, there was a hostel that at least offered a warm shower and some hot food but it didn't open until 6 pm. That was hours away and I’d already been warned off from two places where I’d tried to shelter from the wind.

I discovered my true self in the Mississippi Delta, a region known for its coffee colored soil, known to grow any crop known to man, known mostly for the growing of cotton and a style of music called 'The Blues'. Yes here in this flat region, I found my true self and I've never been the same. Now the chief source of income for many in the delta is farming, the crop of choice is cotton.

A week after the opening social was when school started. Mr. Ryan signed both Lanie and Rachel up for Eastside High School, much to Lanie's delight. Conner had said he'd be going there, so she was looking forward to potentially seeing him again.

The night before the first day of school, Mr. Ryan came up to Lanie's and Rachel's room with a surprise. "Hello, ladies," he said. "Guess what I've got for you?"

"What?" Lanie asked.

Mr. Ryan reached into his bag and pulled out two brand-new, unopened Samsung Galaxy phones. "We got new phones for you," he said.

There was nothing in the whole of Faidyre that could have prepared me for the following morning. In my life I had undertaken difficult tasks, from military training, to the art of swordsmanship, but it was, perhaps, that I had never labored as the common man, or woman.

My problem didn't seem to have a medical solution that I knew of.

Mirror Changed – Chapter 01
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Through most of the world many people have commented that fast food places are really all the same. The same basic concept and layout. Whether it is burgers or tacos or pizza they all share the same formulaic approach. The same waiting in lines. The same grease. Whether inside or out in the car. The same basic eating areas, and if you are lucky the same indoor children’s play places. Sitting down to eat in one of them contained so much of the sameness that to eat in one you could feel like you had eaten in them all.

ANOTHER QUICK NOTE: Thanks to Heather Rose Brown for responding to my dilemma with organizing this story's chapters, and helping point me in the right direction. Thanks to erin as well, for helping me with the technical stuff that allowed me to access the "Outline" tool for my stories and organizers. Your help is greatly appreciated.

***

Lanie, Rachel, and Jenny rode the train for the rest of the day until it started to get dark out. The train kept going for a little while until it came to a train yard at the edge of a city.

It was cold in the High Lady Jenwise’s office, perhaps colder than it should have been. I stood there a good distance away from her desk while she chatted with some dignitary that I didn’t recognize. To the left and right, two guards, each in a pressed blue uniform, each with a rifle slung over their shoulders. Their faces were expressionless but I knew that they were watching me, even as I stood there in my tattered prison uniform and barely passable footwraps.

Lanie woke up really early the next morning. After leaving the office feeling dissatisfied and unhappy with what Angelina had said, Lanie had decided to just go to bed early. But she ended up waking up at 6:00 the following morning. She couldn't get back to sleep, so she decided to just get up and shower for the day.

After getting out a fresh change of clothes, Lanie went back into the shower area. She stripped down, left her dirty clothes on the bench, and turned on a shower nozzle. While she was soaping down, Rachel came in wearing only her bra and panties.

I found the room, but it turns out I took too long to find it. And the game was already starting when I stumbled into the room. I'm not going to lie, I was a little disappointed at first, after all I'd been promised the leading role of the “Queen” piece. But a few minutes later a sense of relief washed over me. I quickly learned that when a piece was “Captured” it was given a cream pie to the face as a penalty, normally by the piece that captured it.

“Cool. So do you want me to turn you into something today?”

 

“Yeah, Sophia and I talked it over and we thought: dragon sisters!”

Despite her fear, Dela was finding it hard to stay upright. Even kneeling was getting difficult and she desperately wanted to lay down, only willpower kept her from shaking like a leaf from exhaustion. Worse yet, she felt her grip loosening on her body. She didn't know what would happen if she switched before she could explain her condition to Grenadier, but it probably wouldn't be good.

Lanie woke up bright and early the following morning. When she awoke, she saw that Rachel and Melody were already up and getting some of their clothes out of their dressers. "Good morning, guys," said Lanie.

"Hi Lanie!" said Rachel. "We're just getting ready to shower for the day."

"Nice," said Lanie. "I guess I should do that too."

"The showers are in the bathroom area," said Melody. "Just beyond the bathroom stalls."

After the were done shopping, Lanie and Ruth went to the foster home Ruth had been talking about. It was a large, four-story building that looked more like a school dorm building than an orphanage. The front of it had the name "Pretty And Pink Foster Care" written in dark pink paint.

"Pretty And Pink," Lanie said when she saw the foster home's name.

"Yes, that's right," said Ruth. "Now, before I take you to your new room, there are a few things I need to tell you. First, you're gonna be in a room with three bunk beds and four other roommates."