Rejected, unloved, and lost.

Chapter 7

16 gave way to 17 for Sky and Jaimie. Their relationship was turbulent as ever, and a few people questioned whether they should be allowed to continue or if an actual adult needed to step in. Looking back on this time of her life, Sky wished they had stepped in with everything she had. She knew deep down that they would be doing it for him and not her if they did. Sky had really grown into herself; she was still only 5 feet tall and pretty sure she would be stuck being short for the rest of her life. But her pixie-cut hair suited her perfectly, even if he was forced to leave it her natural dirty blonde for now. She had a stunning size 12 body, a DD chest, an ass that was just the right mix of soft and pert, and a perfect size for her body. Her nose was straight, and her skin unblemished and smooth. Her green eyes, though, were her most prominent feature. They seemed to glow when she used her powers or was really angry. The humans, of course, just wrote it off as a trick of the light or their imagination. She was often described as the hot goth girl, at least by the human boys at school. But they also said she was too scary to approach and broken by Jaimie. Either way, no one intervened; no one else dared to approach Sky. She tried her best to make things work out.

Jaimie’s parents loved Sky. They weren’t so interested in coven politics and weren’t bothered by her powers. They liked that she was calm (well, she was when she was there anyway) and seemed like a good wife for their son. They had given her an open invitation to come whenever she wanted. Sky spent a lot of time around at the Johnson’s place, her and Jaimie’s younger sister, only by 11 months, as Charlie was so quick to point out, clicked very quickly.

Charlie was Jaimie’s complete opposite. Charlie was sweet and soft and funny. Sky couldn’t imagine Charlie even saying a harsh word to her, let alone trying to hurt her. Over the months, as Charlie grew up a little and she and Sky bonded, Sky found that she enjoyed Charlie’s company more than her brothers. Jaimie didn’t seem to care or notice that Sky spent more time with his sister and more nights sleeping on the floor in her room than in his bed; his parents wouldn’t care if she shared his bed. They didn’t believe that the teens should be kept apart, nor did they think that he was a danger to Sky, as others had suggested.

Over time, the more time she spent with Charlie, the more she wanted to spend with her; Sky slowly felt her feelings towards the other girl changing. She was feeling the first tingles of attraction towards her. Charlie was on her mind more than Jaimie most days by the time the exams were starting that year; she loved catching a glimpse of Charlie in the corridor and being able to have a little conversation or walk in the same direction together for a little while. Rylee liked Charlie better. She tried to talk to the girl; Rylee would bring her food and presents, granted they weren’t the usual type of presents, hot coals and pretty stones, charred mice, flames. In general, not really anything Charlie wanted, but Rylee liked to give them. Charlie took them because Rylee’s happy dance was adorable, a kind of tiny little wiggle with huffs of smoke and usually at least one transformation. Sky was getting increasingly confused as time went on. She felt more and more attracted to Charlie the more time they spent together.

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The exams had finally finished; Sky, Charlie, Jaimie and a few of his friends were alone at the Johnson’s. They had ordered food in, and someone had managed to get hold of some alcohol. Sky and Charlie sat in her room while the boys played Halo or whatever it was. They had curled up on her bed, watching a film in theory. Though they were a little too drunk, they were just giggling madly and chatting about nothing like drunken teenagers. Charlie leant against Sky, who laid them down a little. Rylee covered them with her wings as if she were trying to be a blanket.

They lay there, finally quiet, for a while before Charlie looked up at Sky, Sky wasn’t sure what Charlie wanted, but she, Sky, was struggling to resist her lips. Sky put her hands on Charlie’s shoulders, holding onto her gently. She didn’t know what she was doing or why, but some instinct, or maybe it was the alcohol, was propelling her forwards. Leaning in softly, she fitted her lips to Charlie’s. It felt like heaven to finally connect with her; Sky pulled her closer, and Charlie came willingly to Sky’s chest. Their lips brushed together in an awkward dance of a first kiss. There was plenty of passion, but it was clear that neither party really knew the other. Neither was quite sure what to do with the rest of their body. Sky, for her part, was unused to having to play the dominant role, that was Jaimie’s part, and he made that quite clear.

On the other hand, Charlie had only had one kiss before, a drunken kiss with a boy in her year at school and was very inexperienced all around. She didn’t know what she liked and how to play it. The alcohol made it hard for either girl to think straight, and they fell asleep, curled up together in Charlie’s bed.

Sky, embarrassed by her actions and hoping that Charlie wouldn’t say anything, left early the following day. Pretended to be busy all weekend, feigning a need to organise her wardrobe or sort out the garden shed, anything to give her an excuse to stay home. What she really did was sit in her room and question why did she kiss Charlie? Why did she even want to? What did this all mean? She was so confused, but the idea of trying to talk to her parents about it was laughable. They would drag her before the elders before she could even say lesbian, have her in some kind of conversion camp for the rest of her life or something. It wasn’t done to be gay in their world. It happened clearly, but you didn’t say anything in those cases. You denied it with everything you had. You settled down, and you made the most of it. You don’t rock the boat.

You have one partner option, and if you don’t like that gender, you are thrown away, you’re tainted, and they don’t want you anywhere near them. Sky had heard rumours about a young witch from down south who was trans, born a girl but was a boy. Everyone said that the coven had killed him in the ritual they performed to try and ‘sort her out’. Sky didn’t know how true it was, though. It could be a grossly exaggerated rumour or an all-out lie that the elders let spread to keep people in the neat little boxes they like. They wanted girls to be soft, feminine, and girly, stay at home and cook, clean, raise the children of which they will have at least 2 wherever possible, start book clubs, and organise coven events. Not take jobs or have masculine traits like offensive powers, a dominant streak, or even a desire to be different. That was for the men. Of course, the men were allowed to stand out in the right way.

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The following Monday, Sky decided to try and talk things through with her friend Brooklyn. B was a human and, therefore, didn’t know anything about the coven, but she knew Jaimie and Charlie. They sat under a tree on the grounds before classes started that morning. “B, I need to talk to you……about… something private”, Sky began.

“You can talk to me about anything, Sky babes, you know that”, Brooklyn replied, leaning into Sky’s side “oooohhh, is it sexy stuff with that hunk of yours?” Sky knew that a lot of girls had huge crushes on Jaimie. It used to bother her, other girls trying to get her boyfriend right under her nose. But recently, she couldn’t find it in her to care. “Does he have a thing for feet or something?”

“No!” Sky cried, shoving her slightly, giggling softly. “God, no. It’s someone else….”

“OH-M-G! Have you been with someone else? What are you going to do now, babes… he won’t like that. Are you pregnant? Is it his?” Brooklyn cut in before Sky could continue.

“B... no… just let me tell you, ok?” Sky looked over at the other girl, waiting for her nod of agreement before she continued. “Ok, so you know how I’ve been spending more and more time with Charlie? Well, I think I fancy her… B. I’m so confused; it’s like my stomach is all tingly when she’s around; she makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and safe. Her hair is always so… so soft, and she smells good.” Sky sighed softly, hugging her knees a little “I don’t know how to explain it, B, but I don’t know what to do now” Sky looked over at her friend, rubbing her face gently. “We kissed… on Friday night. Jaimie and his friends were playing on Halo or COD or whatever, and me and Charlie were in her room watching a movie. We’d had a lot to drink, kissed, and then fell asleep. I left early the next morning and haven’t seen either of them today. I mean, I’m so confused, B, like who am I?” Sky dropped her head to her knees “urghhh, half of me hopes that she doesn’t remember it, but that would hurt so bad too,” Sky paused for breath at last before turning back to Brooklyn in panic “you can’t tell anyone, ok? No one. Promise me?”

The bell rang before Brooklyn could give any assurances; the girls stood and brushed the grass off their clothes as they walked into the building. They couldn’t afford another late or unauthorised absence, no matter how much Sky didn’t want to go to school.

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Over the next few hours, Sky noticed that people seemed to be staring at her more than usual. She always drew some attention, even just walking down the hall. It’s like the human’s sensed on some level that she was different or dangerous somehow. More than how she presented herself on the outside, which wasn’t a plea for attention like some people claimed, she was just trying to show herself, be independent and show off her personality. She also noticed that there was a lot of whispering after she passed people. Sky began to glare back at the stares and whispers after half a corridor, unable to take much more.

It was lunchtime before someone dared to approach Sky. She sat at her usual table in the corner of the lunchroom when a human boy, Sky thought his name was Sean, but she didn’t know. He played in the school rugby team and was built appropriately. He took a seat right next to her and slung an arm around the back of her chair. “Ew… no, leave now,” Sky told him, though he just laughed. “Aww baby, don’t be so mean. If you let me love you, you know, you wouldn’t want girls anymore,” Sky glared at the boy. Growling lowly, “what the hell are you talking about, Neanderthal?” Sky didn’t know if it was the growl, the tone of her voice, or the slightly psychotic look on her face that made him back off. Whatever it was, Sky was glad he moved away. She finally knew what was going on. Brooke was a total b***h, she had clearly told someone about Sky’s crush, and now half the school thought Sky was a lesbian. Sky’s stomach sank. She had thought she could trust Brooke. The betrayal hit her viscerally, pushing her lunch away from her. Her jaw clenched with the effort of holding Rylee back.