Stardust

Chapter 3

SLIDING INTO HER LEATHER jacket brought Luna some comfort. Coming here, everything that was familiar to her had disappeared and even her stuff seemed unfamiliar on the hardwood floor in her new( or old?) room.

The emptiness of it had unsettled her when she had first walked in, only to find nothing she had left here when she was sent away still had remained. It didn't surprise her that much, but it still hurt somewhere.

Here too, the floor to ceiling windows spilled yellow in the almost empty room, lighting the huge bed that was in the middle of it. That, a desk and a single chair were the only other things in the room. The walls were all painted white, with the black door on the opposite side of her bed being in stark contrast with the rest of the room.

She walked towards it and opened her past walk in closet, only to find a single rack occupied. The uniform of Athena High hung on it, the whiteness of the uniform blending in with it's background. The floor however, was the opposite of empty.

Everywhere she looked it was littered with suitcases and bags, mostly filled with her own clothes, but she noticed new dresses and gowns too. The expensive clothing on the beige carpet made her shudder.

She knew all too well what this meant. Liam Greene wasn't one to spoil his daughter and for him to give her clothes meant no good. He would just do what he had done so many years ago, show her off until she had no use anymore.

Luna felt so intensely tired already and she hadn't even met the man himself yet. She hopefully wondered if he had changed, but she doubted it. As she ran her hands over the soft cotton of her uniform, she thought briefly of her mother.

Maybe this time, her mother would actually talk to her. Maybe this time, she would actually spare her a glance.

The thoughts broke her heart and she bit her lip. She wasn't one to become sentimental or be self-pitying and she damn well wasn't going to change that now.

A low voice interrupted her thoughts and she spun around to see a guy leaning against the doorframe.

'How are you doing, sis?'

'David!' she said excitedly as she ran over to hug her brother.

As she released him from her intense grip, she looked up to see her brother had become quite tall. She was 5'7 herself and he was towering above her. But as she met his kind eyes, she couldn't suppres a smile.

'I've missed you,' she said sincerely.

'I've missed you too, Luna,' he said, a wide grin on his face, before sighing,' you can't imagine what it's like living in this house. Sometimes I wish I could run away.'

'You're still a child,' she teased, playfully hitting his shoulder to lighten the mood,' what are you, just sixteen? You can always run away later.'

'You're seventeen,' he pointed out.

'Almost eighteen,' she said, waving for him to follow her into the room.

As she sat down on the bed and he made himself comfortable on the chair, Luna felt warmth fill her for the first time in a long while. Although Zara and David were twins and looked quite alike, the difference in attitude towards her couldn't be bigger.

David caught her gaze and smiled faintly, before a nervosity came over him.

'Dad has asked to see you at dinner,' he said, running a hand through his dark hair,' he wants to tell you something.'

'Well,' Luna began, c*****g one eyebrow,' didn't he expect to see me at dinner anyway? Or was I supposed not to come?'

'No, it's not like that,' David said hurriedly,' he just wants you to know he has an announcement to make at dinner.'

Luna scoffed, but she quickly hid any dissatisfaction from her face. Getting mad when she finally met David again for the first time in a long while was really not something she wanted to do. He was the only one in her family who was still kind to her and she wouldn't let him be the unwanted target of her fury towards the rest.

'So, school,' she began, changing the subject as quickly as her facial expression,' father's transferring me to Athena, right?'

'Yeah,' David nodded,' it's actually quite a nice school. The most prestigious in the country. At least, that's what mother likes to brag about.'

Luna almost flinched at the mention of her mother, but she let her gaze remain steady and calm.

'So,' she said, a small smirk playing on her lips,' they're putting me in a prestigious rich kids school and expect me to play nice? I'm really wondering what they're up to this time.'

'Luna,' David said, worry clearly audible in his voice,' please don't go against father too much. He just sent you away last time, but you know how he is, he'll cut you off for real if you don't listen.'

Listening to authority wasn't something she was good at, but Luna knew he was right. Although she disliked her family name and the weight it carried, she would never be able to leave David and Zara behind. No matter how much her sister claimed to hate her, they were still sisters and to leave her to the whims of her parents wasn't something she was about to do.

'I wonder if they've mapped my future out already,' Luna mused,' what was it last time? Didn't they almost marry me off before they saw I wouldn't listen?'

David shrugged, but she knew from the way he tensed up he knew what she was talking about.

'It's just how they are,' he said half-heartedly.

'I was twelve,' Luna said, her voice becoming sharper before she spoke on, gentler this time,' but anyway, which one of you is going to become the doctor now?'

'Zara,' David said,' I'm studying business on the weekends to take over dad's business and she's going to be the boss of mom's, if everything goes right.'

That could only mean the only use her father had for her was political. Ever since youth, she had attended the best schools with people who were bound to become either rich, influential or both in the future. Connections were everything, her father had told her multiple times.

Even though she had felt like a pawn, she had tried to be a good one in the beginning. She had made friends who were going to be at the top of the social and political hierarchy in the future and although she had gone off the radar, she had still kept contact with some of them.

Distracted for a second, she finally remembered she would see them soon. In all the chaos she hadn't even thought of her childhood friends, but the idea alone was enough to warm her heart.

As she and David chatted away, catching up on all the lost years, the hours passed by quickly. By the time they were called for dinner, it seemed like it had passed too quickly in Luna's eyes.

She breathed in and stood up.

Time to face her parents.