I must have been about five when my grandma fist told me about her twin sister (my great aunt), who had mysteriously disappeared when they were ten. I was also told that I was named after her. I'm Fern Parker, my great aunt was Fern Johnson. My great aunt is the biggest mystery in my town. Her body has never been found and the only clue we have of where she is a scrap of material, it's covered in red roses and recovered at the place she vanished from, the woods behind my house. The police have given up, but my grandma still believes she is out there.
I live with my grandma and grandpa (my dad's parents) when my parents go away on a research trip. My parents are medical researchers so go away a lot on trips. They are currently in the amazon rainforest trying to find a cure for Progeria (a genetic disease which ages you prematurely. The average life expectancy of someone with Progeria is13 years old), they have always been fascinated by this condition ever since we met a little girl in Kenya who was suffering from this condition. It was a long time ago, but I have been told that she and I became the best of friends. I used to go on trips with them but since I am not home schooled anymore, they don't want me to miss out on school. I would do anything to be with them right now, but instead I'm here living with my grandparents and having to wake up early to go to school.
The only person I know from my new school is Ben. He has been my best friend and has been since we were forever. He is in all my class, which must be intentional as he is the only person I know, and his mum is the headmistress. Ben has always been there for me. We got even closer when his dad passed away two years ago, his mum was a mess, and my parents always went round to check on them, so I went too. It got to the point that we were over there every day. We became more like siblings than best friends, we told each other every secret, every embarrassing moment and that hasn't changed, we still tell each other everything and we know everything about each other. I know that he tries to cover up his emotions and that he never shows fear, he knows that I am a bit of a detective with a dream of becoming a secret agent going on secret spy missions (embarrassing but true). His mum got a job and started providing for Ben and we weren't needed so much anymore, but we remained close. He is like an older brother, and he acts like one too always trying to protect me from everything, even myself.
One time when I was about nine, we went to the woods behind my house, and I was climbing a tree. I was quite high up when I slipped and fell. He stupidly tried to catch me, I don't know why, I ended up breaking his arm and breaking my leg. He tried to tell me never to climb trees again, but I didn't listen to him. That was the first time he tried to protect me, and I will always remember it. He has tried since to be hero but for that he would need a damsel in distress, and I am certainly no damsel let alone one in distress.
Our mums always joke about Ben's heroic fail (the tree incident). We don't listen to them when they rant on about how we would make a perfect couple. Dad even started playing along telling Ben that he has his blessing. We never have seen each other like that and never will, but I guess they can dream, (even if it is never going to happen, like ever). It got to a point that now Ben and I don't even see it as unusual, so when Ben had his 12th birthday party, I was invited as well as his school friends our parents were talking about planning our wedding. We didn't even bat an eyelid and Ben even made some suggestions about the type of wedding cake we would have (jokingly obviously) but his friends didn't see the joke and actually believed that me and Ben were going to get married. We tried to explain it was a joke but they didn't believe us and even now 3 years later they still believe we are engaged.