Natasha was sitting in her room, being depressed. She had seen Lance not once in two whole months.
At first, she thought he was sick and would come back a few days later. But he did not. The last time they were together, he even saw her being slapped. And he was really mean to her. He did not console her or tell Paige off; instead, he confronted the class rep for Paige's sake in class.
She had cried, but he didn't even care.
"You dummy..." She said while touching the picture of him tenderly that she was holding. It was taken secretly and showed him leaning against a wall in the school corridor with crossed arms.
The girls in school shot a few pictures of him; he even had a thread for himself in the school forum. Natasha had printed these photos and stored them under her bed, taking them out daily.
She was infatuated. He was just so perfect—perfect for her. If she could not have him, she would not know how to live.
The worst part was that Paige didn't come back either. Why were the two of them not at school this long and simultaneously?
She asked the class rep, who told her that Lance had things to do and warned her not to engage with him again.
But his talking like this went through one ear and left through the other. Nobody could change her mind. Juno, her new best friend and the petite girl who changed her seat to let herself and Lance be deskmates, said, too, that they were a match made in heaven.
She was her biggest supporter, and she told her a bit about Lance. Juno said that she had a friend who helped out in the teacher's office and looked through the student files. Apparently, Lance was not from a rich family like the rest of the people in school. He was orphaned, and it could likely be that some dark past had caught up to him. Juno said he would probably come back before sorting it out.
She just hoped what her best friend said was right. Lance's problems made her want to save him. He could talk to her about it, and she could ask her adoptive father for help. She had a lot of pocket money to give to him. And maybe he could tutor her in return. It did not matter if he was not good in school. He did not have to 'really' tutor her. They could do some other things... Natascha blushed and giggled at the thought.
Juno said that she had also looked into Paige too. And that Paige was written sick for two months. Naturally, Natascha did not wish for her to stay sick, but maybe she could just change schools? This school did not seem right for her, with how she bullied people. Natasha had heard a few things, and according to these things, it would be better to get rid of her. Maybe getting rid was sounding too harsh. She should just go away and be happy on her own somewhere else.
"Sis, I'm coming in?" Her little brother interrupted her thoughts. She hastily put the photos back in the little casket, putting it back under the bed.
She opened the door, and a lovely child was grinning at her. He was small for being twelve years old. He had long white hair tied up in a ponytail, looking adorable. His eyes were light grey-brown with an indefinable red and violet hues. His skin was whiter than that of any other.
Meier looked just like her adoptive father, and both had the typical albinism characteristics. Both of them looked unusual, but beautiful nonetheless. It was no wonder Meier's mother fell in love with her husband at first sight.
Back when she saw him being attacked by that dog, the picture of the red blood against the overly white skin and hair had been incredibly piercing. Nobody else from their village wanted to help him as they had never seen someone looking like this.
Natasha's grandmother had told her stories of her travels since childhood, so she knew about many things and did not believe in the strange village superstitions.
"What are you doing now?" Meier asked.
"Not much; what is my lovely little brother doing? Do you want to play?"
She had called him by his name at the beginning, but he cried and screamed that she was 'Her lovely little brother. ' Since then, she has had to address him like this, or he will throw a tantrum.
"Let's play with dolls!" he excitedly said, showing the puppets he had hidden behind his back. His demand was apparent in his behavior.
Natasha hated this game the most because it revealed a lot about the child's psyche. At first, when playing with dolls, they had to play out the scene of their meeting.
Meier sat on the carpeted floor with her, holding an exquisite doll that looked just like him, while she had one that looked exactly like herself.
The other dolls were real dead taxidermied animals. Grey mice, hamsters, and a little chinchilla baby were there this time, too.
The 'monsters' surrounded the two main characters.
And Meier said in a shrill, creepy voice,
"The bad monsters surrounded the hero, but nobody rescued him." Then he paused dramatically
"Till! The hero's sister came. She rescued him and killed the monsters." He expectantly looked at her.
She took a shaky breath and told herself that these animals were already dead.
In the beginning she had refused, but was slapped by Meier's mother for not playing with him.
She put her doll on the floor. She then gripped the little sparrow.
Closing her eyes, she snapped the neck of the taxidermied little guy.
"Snap."
That was the sound that got Meier excited. He yelled, "Yes! She killed one bad monster! And then she killed the second one."
"Snap!" The little hamster's neck was the next.
"Snap"
"Snap"
"Snap"
She killed the 'monsters' he had brought this time; there would have to be new ones next time. Natasha was just thankful that this was not bloody.
After playing a second round without monsters, Meier left the room.
Going back to his room, the smile was wiped off his face, together with the childishness he displayed.
"Today, no crying while snapping. She is making progress."