Altered Helix by Stephanie Hansen

Author:Stephanie Hansen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Teen, Young Adult, Juvenile, Fiction, Science Fantasy, YA Fantasy, Teen Survival, Homelessness, Poverty, Social Themes
Publisher: Hypothesis Books
Published: 2020-05-19T00:00:00+00:00

PROCURE

Ceresa jumps out of a pile of props, a jack in the box. The group of the acrobatic four, Team Mummified, that I don’t really know, all pretend to be terrified. One puts the back of her hand against her forehead and pretends to faint. One guy puts his hand on his chest as though he’s so panicked, he’s having a heart attack. One girl runs a few steps away, swinging her arms over her head like an idiot. The last is holding his crotch looking embarrassed like he just soiled himself. I can’t help but laugh. It feels good to laugh. I forget about my crazy Altered Helix. I forget about Josh and me not being able to have a relationship. I forget about the crazy shadows. I feel like one of them, having a good time. I feel like writing techniques and ideas can still be learned here.

I walk over to the group. They’re possibly more people to interfere with my perceptions, but I joined the haunted house to broaden my horizons, so here we go.

“Ceresa, you crack me up. You’re so energetic.”

“Yeah, she’s got spunk,” says the girl who pretended to faint. She has kind eyes. Her face puckers when she smiles as if she just tasted a lemon.

“I’m Austria. You know Ceresa outside the haunted house?” I ask.

“Yeah. Hi, I’m Camille. Ceresa helped us get an apartment. All four of us live together. It’s crowded, but we’d be on the streets I imagine by now, if it weren’t for Ceresa.”

I can see now that Ceresa’s intimidating exterior is a cover. She found these four people a home when she doesn’t have one of her own.

“And I’m Emmitt.” The guy who faked the heart attack waves at me with a sly smile. He has dark skin. He has bright white teeth and when he smiles dimples show at the top of his cheeks near his eyes. I wave back at him.

“I’m Brittany,” says a shy girl with curly dirty blonde hair. Her blue eyes stand out from the eyeliner that surrounds them. I can’t believe this shy little thing was the one running with her arms swinging crazily over her head. I smile and nod my head.

“I’m Landon.” This comes from the last one, a skinny guy with a criminal smile. He’s the one who faked wetting his pants.

This group is feisty.

“You guys are lucky to have met Ceresa,” I say as I nudge her and give her a nod of approval. She smiles back cautiously and then clears her throat as if to remain a person of leadership who doesn’t joke around.

“I found them in the lobby of the Union Station after hours. They were lucky. Usually, just the first set of doors are left unlocked, but that night the guard forgot the final door that was closed after the last train,” Ceresa says.

“That was a crazy night,” Camille says. “We even camped out in the lobby of a hotel for a few hours before that. They kicked us out, so we had to move on.

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