Blaire Crey Cendres defines the life of an outcast. A bizarre, secluded life and maybe more than that. She used to be like any normal kid, with a twin sister and loving parents in the country side, until she lost it all. All of it. All because of her strange gray hair. Because of her condition---Spatiotemporal Pleiades Portent.
*tingting, the bell of the store door rang, sign of a costumer, who came in. She quickly tightened her fist, galloping a rather big amount of air to breathe in. She suddenly felt small once again, afraid of any encounter with anyone. After all, who would want to talk to her or anyone courageous enough to touch her? She was that girl who people saw as nothing but a deadly virus, a dirt, trash that no one wanted anything to do with. She forced herself to drop the pretty white lily from her hand to the bucket of water, and finally took a step to face the costumer.
She found the two teenagers looking over a vase of Juliet Roses and tulips, which to their dismay, when they turned to see Blaire, fear and disgust crawled to their faces.
"A-ash h-air" stutter the one. Blaire looked away. "Are you the rumored cursed child?!" desperately asked the other one, with more power than her friend. The moment Blaire nodded, they started sprinting to who knows where, afraid of her.
"Again. Again. Again." Blaire started sobbing. Needles started pricking her heart. "I am just a plague. A cursed. Again and again and again. " She was crying unable to contain her emotion. Over the two months she moved to Pleiades City, people started noticing her. Of course, at first everyone welcomed her, warmly and full of respect. Until people started to get curious all about her ash colored hair. When she explained that it was a condition she had since she was born, people started to gossip. Apparently, coloring her hair, did no remedy. When she tried to do so, her hair didn't so much as change the slightest, like a powerful enchantment, it repulsed anything, not wanting to change color, having it's own will. This news spread like wild fire, until she was known as a curse child. Children afraid to mingle with her, and adults forbid their children to go near her.
Only people who understand her scientific condition understood her. And all her life, people in the field of science were the only one who treated her like normal. Something that doesn't happen often, unfortunately.
"Oh Blaire, dear!" exclaimed her Mother when she saw her crying once more. Blaire quickly wiped her tears away and printed a ready small smile on her face. "Hey your back, welcome home", she greeted.
Mrs. Cendres was her foster parent. She owned the flower shop and loved Blaire like her own child. "Did it happen again? People getting scared over something trivial?" Mrs. Cendres rolled her eyes, thinking of how small minded these people are. Mrs. Cendres was petite woman over her forties with shoulder length hair, who expressed herself a lot. But then again, it's nothing like any modern age. They were living in this period of people delusional, believers of make believe and science viewed evil.
Blaire chuckled, "Yeah, but it's not like I'm surprised. I'm already eighteen. I've been through this my whole life. Nothing new." She smiled then quickly turned away repressing her tears.
"Then why are you still crying?" Mrs. Cendres asked with kindness although worry was evident in her voice.
Blaire turned to her, and a tear drop, her heart feeling slightly squashed. "I may be used to this, but that doesn't mean it still doesn't hurt." She took a deep sigh, "Madam, it sucks", feeling slightly off her emotion check. Sometimes she wished she was a different person. Sometimes she feel stupid, and pathetic to be the cursed girl. Scientist has called her Spatiotemporal Pleiades Portent a miracle, but she thought otherwise. The more reason why she didn't like it. People betrayed her all her life. Pitted her, insulted her, avoided her and pretended she did not exist, so she wished she was different. She wished she was someone else--normal.
Or if not, at the very least she wished to go back in time, when she was still young and naive, way back into the country side, when far far away, her world was only her kind father and mother, and her twin sister. When everything was okay, and she feel nothing like indifference.
She looked at Mrs. Cendres and notice the worry written all over her face. So much for not making anyone worry, she says in the back of her head. Mrs. Cendres couldn't find a word to say to console her daughter. Truth is, she can't do anything about it, and she's scared she might step on a landmine if she speak, so she was so lost trying to find words to make Blaire feel better. Words lost, and not found.
"Maam, you should rest. I'll look over the shop for you, so don't worry. " She knew that Mrs. Cendres is tired from travelling to see her husband from the Center, so she took the initiative to ask, although reluctant, Mrs. Cendres ended up nodding her head to agree. Maybe Blaire needs time for herself, she thought.
When Mrs. Cendres took flight to her room, Blaire collected herself. Stretch here and there, moving around.
No one was coming for flowers. Their shop wasn't exactly famous, but she know too well from the three months since she moved at this City that their flower shop was one of a kind, although people get scared of her, people still buys when Mrs. Cendres was watching over the store. They sell pretty and quality flowers after all.
*Ting, ting
The bell rang, but Blaire was too occupied to her Irises. A while ago, she decided to arrange the the Irises for a while. It was her favorite flower. For Blaire it looked sad and bright. In the Victorian Era language of flowers, Irises represent faith, admiration, courage, wisdom and hope. Hope. She stared at the only Iris in her hand before putting it in the vase. "Hope...hmm" she was talking to the flowers, "Isn't it funny? How hope keeps us alive, giving us reason to believe, making us try to live? Only to kill us in the end?" she uttered bitterly.
"Not really" a whisper answered Blaire from her conversation with flowers. When she looked for the voice, the stranger smiled, "Hope makes life bearable. It doesn't necessarily have to kill us in the end. Sometimes it pushed you to make a difference."
Blaire hastily, detached herself from the pots and vases, to confront the stranger. "What d-do you need sir?" She asked rather nervously. Afraid of any sort of contact. Afraid that this person might run away from her, like the usual. And anxious of another disappointment. There was a long silence, before Blaire wondered if the stranger already left in disgust, or was she stood up? She felt a tinge of sadness. Until she looked up and found two stormy gray eyes boring to hers, the stranger never left, and he was starring at her all this time, awestruck and weirdly enough, excited.
"You're strange", he uttered without thinking, this made Blaire look away, hurt, until the mysterious man, realizes what he just said, before briskly trying to redeem himself, "N-no! I mean you're odd!" He turned red, "N-no I mean you're weird! Not really, I mean you not weird, but strange-" he realized he was back at where he came from. He facepalmed himself, thinking what the hell was he doing.
Out of surprised, Blaire exploded into a fit of chuckled, "No. You are strange" she said. "Why are you even talking to me? Isn't it supposed to be that you by now, should be running away?" She asked a bit relaxed.
And by some crazy guy, he actually asked her back, confused, "Why would I?", Blaire stared at him dumbfounded. She gulped before saying, "Because I'm c-cursed? I mean look at my hair." She said motionless. The stranger shrugged, "Who's cursed?" He asked again, not understanding a word Blaire said.
"Me?" Blaire answered, unsure now too. She gaped at the guy in front of her smiling, "You're not cursed. You're blessed, what are you talking about?" The stranger answered like she just spouted a big nonsense while he looked her in the eyes, "That hair is gorgeous. I'm not a liar, take my word for it." He said without hesitation, but honestly his heart was beating so fast that he was wondering if it was possible that it would rip off its ribcage, and he'd die? He shook away all his thoughts and turned around the store, not looking for anything in particular.
"Hey, I'm looking for a flower. Something my mom would like. Any recommendation Miss...?" he asked, "Oh, for your mom?" Blaire hurried over, "What about carnations? These are pretty, and popular among adults." She reached for pink carnations and handed them, "Yeah I think, I'll get these. Can you wrap it up for me? Give me 45 of those." The young man, was easy to talk to, he didn't ask more and agreed easily over carnations. In the eyes of Blaire, he was rather a weird guy.
She wrapped the flowers and accepted the money, but before the stranger left, he turned his head back at her. She thought, that interaction was over. She enjoyed it so much that she was disappointed to let him go. He was actually nice.
"Uhm, hey. My name's Jeaha Sinne Isreal" He came back. He came back that Blaire couldn't help but smile. And when Jeaha extended his hand for a handshake, all the blood came rushing to Blaire's face. She shyly took it, eyes a bit watering. Someone for the first time in her life, someone else apart from her family and doctor, willingly had an interaction with her, so much as to even offer a hand. Something normal that she wasn't used to. Not at all.
"I'm Blaire Crey Cendres." Blaired smiled genuinely.