Mira and Kayla come out of the building just as Lyra turns her head to look at me. I recognize her face: the angular lines of her nose, the swirling galaxies in her eyes. But now they're worn with age, as if she's grown twenty years since I last saw her. The sparkles has disappeared, and eyebags replace the porcelain-white skin under her eyes. What happened to her between the last year of high school and now? She brushes a few strands of hair away from her face, and I know the answer immediately. Lyra has become a Marked like me.
Her mark is the shape of a calla lily, and it looks like it's been tattooed onto her hand. I gasp. As far as I know, no one has ever gotten a late Mark. They always appear on your tenth birthday, or not. And on the day Lyra turned ten, she didn't get a mark. So why is there a clear mark on her hand? Tattoo ink is red nowadays, so they don't get confused with the black lines of the marks. So Lyra... What did you go through when this mark appeared? Were your parents unforgiving, like mine were?
A moment passes between us, until Mira interrupts us. "Hey Min! What's up? Are we going to the phone store or what?" she demands. I shake my head, momentarily disoriented. "Ye-yeah, we are. Can you give me a second quickly?" I stutter, still staring at Lyra. I think she notices, because she shifts uncomfortably. I quickly lower my gaze so she doesn't get frightened because of me. And on a spur of the moment decision, I ask Mira and Kayla. "Hey guys, do we have room for two more people?". They seem confused, but their eyes flick to the girl next to me and they immediately understand. "Yeah, sure!" Kayla agrees. Mira looks unsure, but nods. "Do we pass by the middle school?".
Lyra's face brightens for some reason. I'm not sure why, but it seems like she's been really lonely for a while now. "I hope I won't be a bother..." she timidly murmurs. This isn't like her. What happened to the brazen girl who made it just in time to class and was so happy? I shake off the thought. People change, like me. It's not anything new. It may seem unnatural, but it's just me. It's fine, everything's fine. "Let's go! We don't have all day, and the shop will close soon!" I cheer, startling Lyra. She cracks a smile.
After a quick stop by Kiri Middle School, we have the set of sisters in the backseat of the car. Mira breaks the silence, which was getting more and more awkward by the second. "So Lyra, I've heard a lot about you from Min" she slyly says, winking at me. I know my face must be flaming hot, but I shrug it off like it's nothing. "I noticed you a lot at school." I nonchalantly tell Lyra. She nods. Not speaking. "From what I heard though, you were a lot more lively. I mean, you're acting like a limp spaghetti noodle right now. What the heck happened?" Lyra's face flushes purple, and instinctively I defend her.
"Let it go, Mira. You don't know what she's been through." I snap. "And do you?" Mira asks me. "No I don't, but if Lyra wants to tell us she will. Leave her alone." My voice grows, and Mira's eyes widen. "Okay, okay!" she quickly agrees, sounding scared. Lyra interjects. "I don't mind telling you... You've all been so nice to me. I might as well explain myself to you all."
"As you all know, I have a mark. I'm a Marked, and to me there's nothing wrong with that. But the thing is, it appeared late. Only Min knows out of everyone here that before I left high school, I didn't have a mark. But when it appeared, my parents were furious. They blamed each other, they blamed the people around them, but mostly, they blamed me and my little sister Katie, because we're the only ones in the history of our family to have a mark." Katie bares her ankle to show us a feather-like Mark. "They decided for the better good, to protect this Mark from spreading into the family, to cast us out of the house."
"We've been living alone, practically in the streets for a while now. I've had to work extra hard, to pay for my school fees and Katie's." Lyra ends her story there, and I can see that Mira's feeling very bad right now, because she quickly apologizes and changes the topic. I see Lyra's shoulders relax, and she sits back in the seat with a sigh. I squeeze her hand softly, to remind her that I'm here if she needs it, but she jerks back quickly with a shocked expression. Oh no, I've startled her! I apologize, and she tries to reassure me, but I'm just so disgusted with myself. I must have woken up some bad memories.
We pull into the shop's parking lot in silence, much more tense than how it was before. Even with Katie and Kayla's attempts to start a conversation, they were always met with silence and a cough or two. So when the car stops, it's all I can do to stop myself from wrenching the car door open and bolting to the store. I can tell Lyra does too. She's fidgeting and her leg is bouncing up and down like a metronome. But the both of us wait until Mira yells "Everybody off!". Then we run like desert travellers to an oasis.
The sales clerk, obviously not expecting such rude people to burst in, jumps when we crash through the doors. She has one hand on her phone, probably deciding whether to call the police or not. Lyra steps forward and tells her "I am Lyra Rihiko of the Rihiko family. If you call the police on us when we are innocent, you will be held accountable." The saleswoman pales. "Of course ma'am! But... what about your friend? The... Marked? What are you doing associating with her?" She says it like it's a bad taste on her tongue.
Excuse me? My vision flares white hot. I will not be talked about as "The Marked". I have an identity. "Do you know who I am?" I pronounce, one word at a time. She scoffs. "Of course not! Why would I want to know your name? You're a low-life Marked!". Okay, that's it. "My name is Minuet Cho, sole daughter of the Cho family." Her eyes widen. "You? A Marked? You must be joking." she stammers, no longer looking superior.
"I'll call him right now." I tell her, and before she can protest, I press the call button. "Hello daughter!" my father booms. "How are you today? Doing well I hope?" I sigh. Some people will never change. "Dad, someone is calling me a Marked as an insult, and denying that I am part of the family." I start fake crying, the girl starting to look horrified.
"WHO DARES TO SAY THIS?" he yells into the phone, startling the poor clerk to tears. I read her name. "Her name is Sara Heale it seems." I tell him. He starts laughing. "She deposited a request for a loan five day ago. It's right in front of me. Would you like me to deny it?" I sneak a look towards Sara. She's starting to cry. Feeling a little guilty, I reply "That won't be necessary. I just needed to confirm my status. See you later dad!" I chirp into the phone, ending the call with a click. I turn to the girl. "Have I proved myself? Seriously, just because you're Unmarked doesn't mean Marked people can't be elites."
She nods frantically, mascara trailing down her cheeks.
"Good." I turn to look at the phone racks. I wonder which one would be the best for me.