Lindsey Agnes
Knightley

I sit on the chair attached to my study table and review my chemistry homework. Mr Henley gives us way too much homework.

We are studying covalent bonding these days and I can't help but think if humans could bond so easily.

If only we were like electrons that are able to bond with eachother easily to complete their octet or duplet.

Or in humans' case, fill up the holes in their hearts.

I try to make curls at the ends of my hair with my left index finger but my hair is that type of straight that can't be curled.

I look once again at my mahogany table and remember when my parents first bought it for me. I had whinned so much to get this table.

Great, even the freaking table reminds me of my parents!

It has been almost four days since our detour to the world of the journal.

Everything has been strangely normal after that visit.

I do meet Ethan and Allison at school but nothing special has happened except for the usual giggling of Allison and Ethan scolding her.

Hah. Those two...

Though, both of them are total opposites of me but I never find myself bored with them. I guess that's why they say:

Opposites attract.

My relationship with Dylan has somewhat bettered but I can't bring myself to conversation with him. And the silence with him during supper is no serene silence. It's an uncomfortable one.

I feel like it's the silence before a storm. I have been feeling anxious for the past few days. It is like the silence and storm are going hand-in-hand. But, storms and silence have never been able to make peace with eachother, infact, they destroy everything that comes across their path. It is almost like fire combining with petrol.

I look down at my black t-shirt and wonder why I even bought this. I mostly wear black and blue jackets and slacks, but never seldom shirts of this colour. Summers here are not even that warm, so jackets don't bother much. Usually, the highest temperature is at twenty degrees celcius, at maximum.

I don't really wear any skirts, though... and the fact that my school uniform includes trousers for girls too, helps that habit.

The weather is a bit better now in March, warmer even. But not warm enough to wear a t-shirt outside your centrally heated house.

I get up from my chair to spare myself from my worthless thoughts. Orelse my mind will start comparing everything with Chemistry.

I open my bedroom door and go down the stairs for a change in my environment. It's only 4.00 P.M.

I find my feet moving towards the grand hall which used to be a parlour room. I move to and fro about the hall till I come to a halt and sit on the couch.

I fidget in my seat when suddenly someone unexpected barges in.

"Oh, there you are! I was looking all over the house for you, Lindsey." Ms Bragge smiles at me and sits on a chair near me.

I shift a bit and remain silent.

Ms Bragge seems to be a little off today. Usually, she would have started talking by now or have fallen asleep.

She fiddles with her fingers and doesn't say anything.

I find this as my chance to make my escape and get up.

"Lindsey, wait! I have something to tell you. About your grandparents."

I immediately stop in my tracks.

"My grandparents? Didn't they die even before Dad married Mum?"

"Yes, they did. But I am not talking about your grandparents from your father's side. I want to talk to you about your mum's parents."

My mum's? Mum and Dad never said anything about them. I had assumed that they had died, too.

"What about them?" I ask her. My curiosity getting the better side of me.

"I will tell you but please sit. What I am going to tell you may be a bit disturbing for you."

I follow her advice and sit.

"Your mum's parents are not dead."

I ask her I haven't seen them then. Why haven't they contacted us.

She tells me that they thought a rich guy like Dad wouldn't be able to care for Mum. She said that they weren't fond of him. They thought that he was an arrogant brat.

I can't believe someone would say that about my dad. I have met a few of Dad's friends in the past few years and they all said that he was a very jolly kind of guy and Mum balanced that by being a quiet type of kind person. He was a bit blunt but he never meant any harm.

I ask her again why my grandparents did that.

"I don't know about that. Your mum, you see, was from a... humble family. Her father was a lawyer. Though, they had a lot of money themselves but it was nothing as compared to the Knightleys'. I am not degrading them but that's a fact."

"That doesn't make any sense. We're not living in prehistoric times. We're in the twenty-first century."

"That is true. But.... sometimes... even time can not demolish the prejudices of human nature."

Her words don't make any sense to me. I have never thought about that before.

She tells me that they only gave my parents their blessings on one condition that Mum would never meet them again.

"And then when they came after a few days of the funeral.... and what happened with Dylan....."

Huh?

"Never mind the last part," Ms Bragge says. By her sudden change of manner, I think that she is not telling me something. Something important.

"Tell me, Ms Bragge. Or else, I'll never speak to you again." My anger starts to take over me as the words come out of my mouth.

She sighs heavily and requests me to calm down-- gearing both of us for the up-coming debacle.

On one night, Dylan tucks little Lindsey to sleep and walks around the grand hall. It has been a few days since the funeral.

"This old house has really changed, hasn't it?"

"Yes, it has. I wonder if we can even find Dylan and Lindsey here. It's so big."

Hearing his own name and his sister's, Dylan searches from where the voices are coming from.

He finds an old man and woman in the main corridor. He has never seen them before.

"Who are you two and what are you doing in my home?" Dylan demands the old man and woman and turns on the lights.

They look at him and realisation suddenly strikes them. Dylan looks a lot like his father but at the same time not the exact copy.

"Are you Dylan?" The woman approaches him and Dylan takes a step back. She seems a bit disappointed.

"Yes, I am. But seeing that you two are in my home, I suggest you to tell me who you are." Dylan is already getting irritated by them.

The old man rolls his eyes and says, "The boy's just like his father. Arrogant and no respect for guests."

"Don't talk about my dad that way. He was the most respectful man I've ever met," Dylan says and is himself surprised at his choice of words.

The old woman ushers the old man and says, "Don't mind him, love. We're your grandparents from your mum's side. We're Jennifer's parents."

Dylan narrows his eyes and looks closely at the woman, noticing how much she looks like his mum. He suddenly remembers all of the things that he knows about these two.

"Why are you here, then? I thought that you disowned your daughter after she married my dad."

"I told you, Mary. This is a lost cause. The boy's like his father. I'm sure that his father filled all of his children's minds with negativity towards us. I wouldn't be surprised if he did. He's as arrogant as him."

"Don't say anything against my father! He's dead now, for God's sake! He never said anything against you two." Dylan's chest is rising up and down rapidly as he tries to contain his anger.

But he can still feel his anger growing by the second, which is a rare sight.

"Who told you, then? Maybe, now you'd say that you were watching us from above." The old man points his finger upwards.

Before Dylan can anything else,

"I told him," Ms Bragge says while coming out of nowhere.

"Giselle...." The old woman makes a straight line of her lips.

"Mary, Richard," Ms Bragge says while looking at both of them, "Why are you here? The boy has been asking you that question ever since you came. At least, tell us."

"We've come here to get Lindsey," Richard says.

"Lindsey, but why?" Dylan says sternly.

"I don't think that an eighteen year old and an old spinster can take care of a child."

"So, what if I'm eighteen? I can take care of her. And according to the law, 'I' am her guardian. Not you two."

Richard tries to say something but Mary silences him. All four persons in the room are glaring at eachother.

"Considering that her grand parents are alive, I don't think the court will hand over a child to a teenager."

"What's all the noise? I asked Mr Teddy what the noise was and he said he didn't know." Little Lindsey comes out of her room, rubbing her eyes.

Seeing all the adults straring at eachother, Lindsey hides behind Ms Bragge. Mary brings her hand out for her but she stays behind Ms Bragge holding her teddy bear.

"See? You can go now. She doesn't want you."

"Nonsense, boy. She's a child. She can't make her own choices." Richard raises his voice at his grand son. Mary slaps her hand on her forehead.

Lindsey further hides and frowns, looking down at the floor. She is not used to people yelling.

"You're making her upset. I don't think you can be a better guardian than an eighteen year old and an old spinster." Ms Bragge taunts him.

"Fine, then! Let's see what the court has to say about this!" Richards shouts at Ms Bragge and Dylan.

"Disrespectful lad," Richard mutters to himself.

Dylan wonders if Richard has anyother word in his vocabulary except for 'disrespectful'.

At the same time, Dylan and Ms Bragge both think about the situation.

Ms Bragge takes the half-asleep Lindsey to her room.

"The court can't decide in favour of them. I'm her brother. I'm the closest relative she has." Dylan thinks to himself.

He never thought that something like this could happen.

He is now more determined than ever to do anything to make his sister stay at Edenfield.

"What happened, then? Did they actually go to Court?" I ask Ms Bragge with disbelief clear im my voice.

"They actually did go to Court. Richard and Mary were very persistent on the idea that Dylan had pulled some strings to get your custody."

"Did he really? I mean did he actually pull some strings?"

"I don't know about that. A teenaged boy cannot possibly have the contacts to do so but even if he did not have any connections of his own, I'm sure that Charlie had many. He may have asked one of them. But it is not right to accuse him of such things. He may have won the case fairly." She makes eye contact with me but my head is lowered, trying to digest what Ms Bragge has told me in the past hour.

"Did they contact after they lost my custody?" I ask her again wanting to know more about the people who disowned my mother.

"No, they didn't....." She frowns.

"I have to go...." I say to my governess. I need to straighten my mind somewhere else.

This place has too many secrets. I have been living with these secrets for the past fifteen years. I feel the walls closing in on me.

As I stand to leave, I see Dylan in the doorframe.

Looks like he heard our conversation.

"Why didn't you tell me? I thought we were mending things." I feel my anger resurfacing again. I had calmed down before but the anger comes back again.

"Lindsey........"

I hold my hand up to him, silencing him,
"Don't. I'm going out." The words come out of my mouth a bit too harshly than I had intended but they have done their required effect on my brother.

I walk past him and reach out for the door knob.

But then my hand retracts.

Let him have to stand up and close it himself.

"Why did you tell her!" Dylan's voice booms, as I march out.

I run out of my house. Again.

I keep running and running. I again do not know where I am going.

Maybe, he didn't want to worry you.

Like heck! He just enjoys keeping you in the dark.

Shut up, you two! Let me think in peace!

I shout at my angel and devil sides to shut them up.

I am really starting to hate those two.

"Ah, ah, ah. Can't. Run. Any. Longer," I heave heavily and put my hand on my knees to catch my breath.

I look up and see that I am on top of a hill. This hill has an old willow tree in the centre which looks like the head of all the trees around it. On the right side, though, there's a small lake here.

I wonder why my feet carried me here. I haven't come here in years.

I used to come to this hill when I was younger. Dad first brought me here and Mum would always blush when she came here.

Dad said that this place was really special to him. I asked him a lot of times why he liked this place, but he would just smile at me.

I feel something in my jeans' pocket. A sudden breeze of cold air blows, sending a chill down my spine. I should have put something on before storming off.

I find the journal in my pocket.

What the heck!

I don't remember bringing it with me.

I open up the journal.
Maybe, Henry is trying to say something.

There are words written in one of the blank pages,

"We must converse. Soon."

"Now's not a good time."
I write.

My written words disappear and new ones come out.

"Quarrel with your brother, I suppose so."

"How do you even know that?" I write, unable to stop myself from asking.

"I have been watching over our family for almost two centuries now. I know all about your time and even of your father's. This journal is my mirror to the modern world."

Wow, he must have been really bored then, to just watch us.

"Okay, if you know so much. Then tell me why this hill was so important to Dad. I'm sure you'd know."

"Hm, you want to know about your father? That, I can assist you with."

"Just tell me already!"

"All right. This hill is where your father first told your mother that he loves her. That is why this place was important to him."

I close the journal in shock and bewilderment.

The answer Henry gave me must be true if I think about how my parents reacted to this place.

I wonder why Mum's parents disowned her. I mean, she was their daughter. Ms Bragge told me that Dad's parents loved my mum. It's weird how people remain the same after so many years. Dad's parents were rich and they had no problem with Mum.

My grand parents never contacted me after they lost my custody. That must really had hurt their pride.

The feeling that I'm having now is not because of what Mary and Richard did the case, it's that their silence is a synonym for their unchanged stance about my parents' marriage. It's been more than twenty-five years for the Lord's sake...

After shutting the journal, I do something that I least expected myself to do.

I scream at the top of my lungs.

Phew, what a chapter?*swipes sweat from forehead.*

Our girl Lindsey has a lot to know about her past, no. No matter how much she thinks she knows, there is always a secret.

Oh, and the girl above is Lindsey^-^. Yeah, I casted Emma Watson as her. I just imagine her as Lindsey. I actually searched for a 15 year old Emma Watson pic but mostly those pics were from the Harry Potter movies.

I have also decided who will play Dylan, Allison, Ethan and Meredith. Go check them out:)

Also, I'll add pictures of the cast members in the media section in the future chapters. Just like I did with this one.

One more thing, my finals are starting next week and they usually last for 15 days(I have eight subs to give exams of).

So, I won't be updating during that period:-(

Don't worry, this is why I'm double updating this time:D

Avoid weird typos.

Last thing,

Please pray for me!

Love,
MS Zame:3;)