I walk into school, seeing Damara all confused and whatnot about everything. I see her wearing a detective suit, almost like she's onto something. I walk over to see what's going on with her, and she's just texting someone on her phone.
"Baby, are you okay?" I ask her quietly so no one can hear us, and she nods.
"Yeah. I'm perfectly fine. Honestly, nothing to worry about." Damara said, and she walked away.
"Welp, that's one way to talk to my girlfriend." I replied, and walked back to my locker.
I open the locker and grab my English textbook and my copy of To Kill A Mockingbird as I hear someone coughing behind me. I turn around and see that it's Luna and Lana.
"What do you two want?" I ask them, folding my arms and leaning on my locker.
"We know about you and Damara." Lana replied, and I widened my eyes.
I already knew they found out, I just didn't want them to talk to me and confront me about it. What do I say? How do I respond? Anyway, I just go the rude approach.
"What are you talking about?" I asked them, and Luna raised her eyebrow.
"You and Damara are a thing. Don't lie to us." Luna said, and I held a nude picture of Lana that she sent to Wilbur when they were together.
"Want me to expose this?" I asked them, and Luna widened her eyes while Lana gulped.
"You are listening to me now." I said, and they nodded.
-Damara-
I walk to Mads, concerned, and I aggressively poke her. She is not listening, so I try again. I keep trying until they stop making out.
"Yes?" Mads asked me, turning around.
"I need to talk to you about Ashlyn. I'm concerned." I said, and Mads nodded.
"What is this about, Damara?" Mads asked in an annoying tone, and I showed her the picture I got yesterday of the mark.
"Mads, Ashlyn has the legendary orange mark." I said, and Mads shook her head.
"No, she doesn't!" Mads replied, and Damara raised her eyebrow, giving her the picture.
"Yes she does." I said, and Mads started crying.
"No way. I can't believe that she actually has it. It's just a legend, isn't it?" Mads asked me, and I shook my head.
"Turns out, it was a true story, and Alia Pierce and Dysio Asker are her parents that left her." Damara said, and Mads gasped.
"But.. that's not possible!" Mads said, and looked at me.
"Everything ties up together. We have to tell Ashlyn!" I said, and Mads gulped, and nodded.
I ran out to the hallway, hoping that Ashlyn is here, but she's with the triplets, walking with them like she's one of the popular girls. I don't exactly understand what's going on. Anyway, I pull onto Ashlyn's arm, and make her come with us.
"What the hell do you want?" She asks us, and I show her the picture of the mark that I got.
"Ashlyn, you can't lie to us. We know about your parents." I told Ashlyn, and she looked at me confused.
"Wait. I don't understand." Ashlyn replied, and Mads nodded.
"Your parents are Alia and Dysio from the orange mark legend." Mads told me, and I looked confused.
"Okay, here's the thing. I know the actual truth about the legend, and it's just a legend. You got it all wrong." Ashlyn said, and Mads and I looked at each other.
"YOU DON'T BELIEVE US?! FINE THEN! You have the same last name as Alia. How's that for evidence?!" I asked her, and Ashlyn widened her eyes.
"So, her name is Alia Pierce?" She asked them, and we both nodded.
"I call bull. I want to meet her. Get me a scheduled meeting with my mother, and we'll talk. Until then, Alia is not my mother and you guys are bullshitting me just so I can get distracted from reality." Ashlyn said, and she left to walk with the triplets.
"We know this is the truth. It's just, how do we get a scheduled meeting with Alia? We can't get her to meet Dysio because Dysio is clearly DEAD." I asked Mads, and she shrugged.
"My mother always told me these stories about the orange mark as a kid, and how it was more than a legend. I just wouldn't listen. But now, I have to ask her questions about the legends she used to tell me when I was a kid. I am so nervous about everything right now." I said.
---
I am at home with my mother and she looks at the armor that she used to be royalty for the queen in.
"Hey, mother, I have some questions for you." I said, and she sat down next to me on her green couch.
"Yeah. What's your question? I am about to head to work." My mother said.
In case you're wondering, my mother had a night working job, so she could take me and my twin sister Dixie to school everyday.
"Well, I wanted to ask more about the legend of Alia and Dysio." I said, and she widened her eyes.
"Sweetheart, I told you that it was a true story." She said, and I nodded.
"I know that now. My friend has the orange mark, and she's possibly Alia's daughter." I said, and my mother gasped.
"No way! You met the baby that she had with Dysio! Oh my god. This is unreal!" My mom said, and I nodded.
"Yes. Her name is Ashlyn Pierce. She's a nice girl and she's sweet, but she pretended to be a pink society member, and when her and I were swimming in the pool, her fake pink mark came off, and so I figured out that she's a orange, and I don't exactly know how to react, so I am doing more research on her." I said, and my mom looked at me.
"Okay. Damara, I have this." My mother said, holding up a slip of paper. I think it's a clue.
"It's a phone number that Alia gave me before she killed Dysio, that I got from the guard when I gave him the pictures of Dysio with his lady friend, Katherine." My mother told me, and she gave me the paper.
I nodded, putting the paper in my pocket, and my mother stood up, kissing me on my forehead. I am one step closer to getting Ashlyn to meet her mother. I am one step closer to getting Ashlyn to meet her real family, but her father is dead. Forgot to tell her that part. My mother walks out the door, and I look at the number. It's a ten digit code and I dial it in my phone.
"Alia Pierce at your service. How may I help you?" The person on my phone said, and I widened my eyes.
"Hello. I think I may have found your long lost daughter." I said, and there was a pause.
"What's her name?" She asked me, and I told her.
"Ashlyn Pierce. She has the orange mark, and I believe it is important that you know." I said, and I heard a gasp from the phone.
"Where is she? I have to meet her." The woman on my phone said, and I smiled.
"She is a Robotics cheerleader at Sea Shore High. She doesn't believe you're her mother until she will meet you." I said to her, and she nodded.
"Yes. That's my child! That's my baby." She said, and I heard her sniffle.
"I will go down there and get you. We'll keep talking?" I asked her, and she sniffled again.
"Yes. Text me tomorrow. This is very important." She said, and I nodded, hanging up the phone.
I lay down on the couch, looking at the ceiling, realizing what I am about to do. I go on the airport site closest to home, and I decide to pay for a flight to where Alia lives, which is in Wonderblown. I then buy two plane tickets back to Sea Shore. God, this is not how a relationship works. I am the one supposed to be meeting Ashlyn's mother through her. This is going to be so stressful and scary.
I decide to go to bed, and just think about how I am going to meet Ashlyn's mom without Ashlyn herself. This feels weird, but she won't believe me until I do it.
-Alia-
I put the phone down and I am honestly so overwhelmed. I look to see Klaus next to me, and I smile.
"Baby, I am going to meet my daughter." I said, and Klaus smirked.
"The one you had with Dysio?" Klaus asked me, and I nodded.
"Yup." I said, and I kissed Klaus.
"Either way, we have to go to sleep. We have a baby on the way." I said, and Klaus smiled at me, putting his hands on my stomach, so he could feel the baby.
I decided to lay down next to Klaus, and I smiled at him, as I turned the other way, and I fell asleep as the baby kicked all night long.
-Damara-
I grab the plane ticket, knowing that my mother is asleep, and I take her car keys, driving myself to the airport. I text Ashlyn saying that I can't go to school and that I have a family reunion to go to. I park the car in the airport parking lot, and I unbuckle my seatbelt. I text Ashlyn a little bit more. I decide to ring up Mads to see if she can help me.
"Hey, Mads, I need your help! It's urgent!" I said, and I heard her inhale and exhale.
"What is it now?" Mads asked me, and I told her everything about the conversation with my mother, and how my mother had the number to Alia's current home number and how I have her address to go to Wondertown, and I can tell she's shocked.
"So, you actually got the ticket?" Mads asked me, and I nodded.
"I will stay with Alia for a week, to see if Ashlyn even deserves to know her mother, or to see if her mother even deserves to know her, and if I agree and say that she does, I will bring you and Ashlyn down in a week. Just, don't tell her until I am ready." I said, and I opened the car door, and walked out of the car, shutting the door behind me. I locked it.
"Yes of course. See you when you bring me there." Mads said, and she hung up on me.
"God, this is going to be so scary for me and Ashlyn." I said, and I walked to the airport.
---
I got through the people at the front, and now I am getting on the plane and on my way out to Wondertown, to meet Ashlyn's mother. Might I just say that this plane smells horrible like all hell? It literally makes me want to vomit. I get a phone call. It's from Ashlyn.
"Hello, Ashy. How are you?" I asked her, and she paused.
-Ashlyn-
"I'm good. How about you, baby?" I asked her, and she paused.
-Damara-
"I'm great. Just on a plane." I said, widening my eyes.
Shit I probably blew my cover.
-Ashlyn-
"On a plane, huh? Where exactly?" I asked her, and she sounded nervous.
-Damara-
"To see my grandmother. She's really sick right now, and she lives in Wondertown." I said, and Ashlyn went with a little 'mmhmm' noise.
-Ashlyn-
"Okay. I'll talk to you later, baby." I said, and I hung up the phone, putting it in my backpack.
"So, class, today in English, we are actually not going to be reading TKAM, so you can put that away in your backpacks. Today, we are going to do a Kahoot on TKAM. No one is allowed to use their books." The teacher said, and I placed my book back in my backpack.
---
Thank goodness class is over now. I wonder what Damara is up too because I 1000% know that her grandmother lives in Waitdale. I shrug, and I walk to my locker, seeing Mads with Thomas. They aren't even dating, and they're already making out. My god, it's so annoying. Mads actually left Thomas alone, and she walked over to me, smiling about something. What the hell is there to even smile about?
"Hello Mads." I said, and she smiled.
"Hi, bestie. How are you doing today?" She asked me, and I shrugged.
"Same as normal. Do you notice that Damara has been a little off lately? You know, there's something up with her. Apparently, her grandmother is sick." I said, and Mads nodded.
"Yeah. She told me too. Her grandmother is struggling, and she needs the help of her daughter and granddaughter." Mads told me, and I looked down.
"Awwww, that must be hard on her." I said, and Mads nodded with me. I don't know what's up with the nodding.
---
I decide to skip my math class and go to the baseball field, where I see Thomas walking in. He looks at me, and then squints to see if it's actually me or not he is seeing. He walks closer, and then he walks next to me.
"Hey, Thomas. How are you?" I asked him, and he smiled.
"I feel great. I just need to know how to actually ask Mads out. I have made out with her several times, but I want her to know that I am serious about wanting to be in a relationship with her." Thomas said to me, and I looked in his eyes.
"Just, tell her. Tell her how you feel. Trust me, it works." I said, nudging him, and he chuckles.
"Yeah, but how do I tell her?" Thomas asked me, and I knew exactly what to do.
"So, buddy, she likes those big romantic gestures like those in the movies. She's a hopeless romantic. At first, she liked Wilbur, and I can't even picture her with him. I picture Mads with you. She probably thinks the same that I do. Give her a big grand gesture and make it a gesture she will remember forever, none of that dumb shit with just getting on your knee and going 'will you go out with me'. She's too bubbly and unique for that. I really believe in you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to deal with stuff on my own." I said, and I walked away from Thomas to focus on myself.
-Damara-
I have officially arrived in Wondertown, which is FINALLY for me. Now, I have to pick up a taxi. Thank god I brought money. I hold my hand like New Yorkers do in those movies, and I smile at the beautiful town of Wondertown. It's filled with these little cottages made completely of wood and resources. I find number 670 in the village, and I knock on the door.
"Hello?" The woman asked me, and this woman looked exactly like Ashlyn, so I knew I picked the right address.
"Hi. I'm Damara. Friends with your daughter, I am the girl you talked to." I said, and she invited me on in.
I walked around in the cottage, and it was huge, made out of wood. I see that it is filled with the whole rainbow of colors. It looks nice. I see the crib with the little girl in it. She looks like she's a month old. I see a man sitting on the couch, and he turns around.
His hair is red, in a weird looking little cut. It's short hair, and he has no beard. He wears glasses and he has nice blue eyes.
"Klaus, honey, this is the girl I was talking to on the phone last night. Damara." Alia said, and I went to shake Klaus's hand. He shook it back very firmly. He must get a lot of good jobs. He shakes firmly with his webby.
I sit down next to him, seeing that he is playing a video game. I look around at all the paintings in the room. There's one of a fish on the left of the TV and a painting of Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh. The couch is actually very comfy. It's a lime colored couch and there's a dark green rug on the floor.
"So, Alia, why did you leave Sea Shore?" I asked her, and she looked down at her son in the crib.
"I wanted a normal life. A life without all the magic and all the colors together, and I realized that there is a better life for me and my kids." Alia said, and I felt confused, as she pointed at her belly, showing that she has one more baby on the way.
"If you chose to live a better life for your kids, then why did you leave Ashlyn? Your oldest?" I asked Alia, and she started to tear up.
"I want her to be with better parents, and for her to have somewhat of a father in her life." Alia said, and I looked at her.
"She's raised by a man who she thinks is her brother." I said, and Alia looks down.
"I am so sorry. Once I come back in her life, I promise to be there for her and to not leave her again. I have known where she is, I just have been scared, and worried that she is going to hate me when she meets me." Alia said, and I felt actual remorse.
Alia had long brown hair down to her knees and no tips like Ashlyn. Alia had green eyes, the same shade as Ashlyn. She looks exactly like her.
"It's okay. I think she'll love you now." I said, and I hugged Alia, comforting her during her episode.