{There is an auxiliary chapter above this one, it contains vital information and I think you should see it though}
"Is it just me, or is it kind of glowing in here? Yeah, it might be just me. I know you'll be wondering, is this girl the same girl that was in the void? Yeah, it was me. And that had happened two years ago, while I was still fifteen years old. Funny, right, how time has passed?
And now it is about to be three years ago, since I'll be turning eighteen this year.
"YAAAAAY"
Please don't get me wrong, people, it's not like I talk too much, it's just that I'm exciteeeeed!
"Yo, Chloe! Keep the phone straight, I don't want that video ruined," I suddenly said to those that were videoing me, as they quickly adjusted and focused.
"Alright, as I was saying, well, my name is Sarah Smirnoff, and I have a lot going on. Well, before I tell you that, let me just catch you guys up on things that happened and how my life turned out to be this way.
Well, I was born in Los Angeles, and at that time my elder brother, Gray Smirnoff, was three.
I was enrolled in school when I turned five, and then, that was when life started.
I made many friends but my favourite was this guy; his name was Adam, and he had an elder brother as well named Noah.
Well, I lost my dad when I was seven, it devastated me, because the way I loved him was something no one could fathom. But he was gone he left me... oh ... he left me.
I had my first very bad embarrassment when I was ten. My mom… she was the worst, I gotta say. That day I went red, the embarrassment was too much, I'll spare the details for now, but just know this: that day painted my cheeks scarlet enough to shame the very people that had witnessed it as well.
Well, Time rolled forward. Slowly but undeniably, I realized that I had inherited somewhat my mother's body structure, and that it was… well, not what people normally ignore.
Since when I turned twelve, I wore my first bra, I know, that was crazy. It marvelled me too. And also, I realized something else, it was kinda weird. I had a crush on Noah, my friend's brother. Silly, right? how something so small could feel like a seismic shift?
Well, and before I could say 'hey,' the thing I was dreading the most had shown up... it hit like a storm.
Puberty.
That was when I was thirteen, going to fourteen, quite early, I'd say. And by the time I was fully fourteen, I had to start changing my wardrobe. And before I did that, Skirts became my reluctant allies, since my pants could hardly fit around my waist and would tear whenever I tried to bend.
Well, not like my waist was too big, it was just moderate, just that the way I had outgrown my clothes was quite alarming, I have to say that. Yeah, because my shirts as well could hardly button up, and if I mistakenly wore it that way, I had myself to blame whenever it attracted boys' attention.
Well, while still fourteen, I had my first kiss, ew, the worst.
I wish I could scrub the memory off the walls of my mind.
I didn't know why my first kiss was so bad that I don't like to imagine it. And no, it wasn't with Noah.... aww, he's too hot to give that kind of kisses, it was with someone else called Kelvin. A douchebag, really.
But through the swirl of awkward kisses and ill-fitting clothes, I made a discovery about myself. A truth that has weighed on me like a secret stone pressed into my palm, even now.
And as if that weren't enough, fate tossed me something out of my father's bedtime stories... something I thought existed only in the soft blur of his voice..
I was selected to join the Nexaras. {At those words her mood dropped, and her bright statement lingered with something, something like regret.}
The Nexaras was a kind of cult, mostly filled with women and with a few boys. Its main function was to ensure that the souls and talents of everyone in our world were safe.
Across every city, every country, and everywhere, every forgotten alley, every trembling horizon, there were Nexaras, and it was their job, their sacred charge to watch the rifts, the fragile seams between our world and whatever lurked beyond to make sure that the rift was always kept in check, and that demons did not prey on humans.
But the hard part in our job was that all these actions are meant to be kept away from the knowledge of those we are protecting, and that makes life just as normal as anything to them.
Well, not much has happened after that.... yeah, I had now completely fallen in love with Noah, and we became lovers.
I made my first love with him when I was sixteen, I gave him my first real piece of myself. God, he was so good at it that every second I remembered it, I would suddenly miss him.
Yeah… now we have broken up. A while ago, we broke up this year, and I was sure that the tears from my eyes when we broke up were enough to give a baby a good bath. I really… I cried a lot, that it had devastated me even as a Nexara.
He cheated on me, and it was not something that I deemed worthy to forgive him for. I was good to him, I loved him, that even other boys that rushed over me, I overlooked them for him… only for him to just sleep with a silly bitch named Lola.
Don't mind my outburst... well, I'm now okay. It doesn't pain anymore."
(She swiped at the corner of her eye, brushing away a stubborn tear before it could make her a liar.)
There at the stronghold of the Nexaras was where I met my three best silly friends here, the ones shooting and snapping me. Well, they are bad at these things.
"Sarah!" Lucy called at those words. "We are doing our best here, you ass," Lucy added as she raised the middle finger.{Sarah enjoyed annoying them, but she never exceeded their anger point… well, not every time.}
"Yeah, yeah, don't be surprised. Lucy is a black-toned girl and she's kinda used to those F-words, and it seems I'm learning it as well. But Chloe, well, she loves men."
"I thought this was about you," Chloe interjected suddenly, causing Sarah to chuckle, and as if those words weren't enough, she decided to add, "…the fuck… men… oh come on!"
Well, we all are learning from Lucy here, so don't blame us for the F-words.
Now, my eighteenth birthday is going to take place tomorrow, and my lovely girls here have come to take me back home to Los Angeles.
Yeah, I haven't been at home for the summer, I went to my aunt's house here in London. And now that we are here, whiling away our time, we have a flight to catch but…"
"No way."