The Amethyst Pack (Book 1)

I was so excited the day I got my exam results, I was on the phone with Carla as we both picked ours up at the same time.

“So! What did you get?” She urged.

“Nine A stars and a B” I squealed. Of course I did, I worked hard at school, I had nothing better to do…

“WOW Lucy! That’s amazing!” She grinned as I saw her open her letter on the video call.

“What about you?” I smiled.

“Eight B’s and two A’s” She grinned.

“That’s amazing Carla!” I smiled.

“Not as good as yours!” She laughed.

“I don’t have a social life” I laugh.

“True…I am a party girl” She smirked.

“I don’t know how you do it Carla. I couldn’t be around such fake people” I roll my eyes.

“They aren’t all fake” She says as I raise a brow.

“Ok, maybe ninety percent…” She laughs.

“Oh look, if it isn’t the orphan” I heard Lyndsey laugh up ahead.

“Oh great. Listen Carla, we’ll talk later babe, congrats! I miss you!” I smile.

“Don’t pay any attention to her! Stay calm Lucy. Miss you too! Love ya!” She says as we close the call.

“That your girlfriend? Of course it is, no guy would ever touch you…Gross” Lyndsey grimaces as her group all laugh behind her.

“Go away barbie, I don’t have time for your games” I roll my eyes as I walk away.

“Hey! I wasn’t done!” She grabs my arm. Everyone knew I hated to be touched… I turned and punched her straight in the nose as she screamed.

“Don’t touch me” I growled angrily.

“You bitch! You’ll pay for this! You’ll see!” She cries as she runs off with her group of lackies.

I rolled my eyes and decided to go for a walk to calm my mood before going back to the home.

What I didn’t realise was she was at the group home…And the trouble I was about to get into…

“Where the fuck have you been?” Mr Henson growled as I got back to the house as I stopped suddenly.

“I got my results and then went for a walk…” I murmured slowly.

“My office NOW!” He shouts as I walk slowly in and see the queen bitch herself Lyndsey, her nose taped up and an evil grin on her face.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I snarl.

“Don’t talk to her that way. Lucy I have been patient with you ever since you came here, after all the grief you have given past foster carers, I still took you in. Now look what you’ve done to poor Lindsey! I want you out. I’m done, you’re now old enough to leave anyway, get out of my house” Mr Henson shouts at me as I stare at him wide-eyed.

“You can’t be serious…I’ve never given you any trouble!” I snap back.

“And now you have, I can’t have a violent girl in my house with the rest of the kids. You have two days, pack your stuff, find somewhere else to live. Now get out” He points to the door and I growl with anger, kicking at Lyndsey’s chair as she topples over with a cry.

“ONE DAY now” He shouts at me as I bolt out the door, slamming it behind me as I run up to my room, screaming in anger as I grabbed all my stuff, that fit in one large suitcase…I didn’t have a lot.

“I’ll come get you Serena, be brave Serena, orphan, scum, no good. God damn it!” I slammed my fist into the wall in anger as I cried out.

I made a call to my only friend.

“Hey! Please tell me you didn’t lose your temper again?” She sighs, looking at the redness of my face.

“I did…I may have punched her…And now I have to leave the house in a day…” I sighed as she squeaked in shock.

“What! Can they do that?!”

“I’m apparently old enough that they can now. I have a day to pack my shit and get out. Where the fuck do I go Carla?” I sigh.

“I wish I could have you here, but you know that we’re moving again” She sighs, they were moving to another country all together, we’d never get to see each other now…Not without money.

“I’ll…I’ll work something out” I sigh.

“Have you looked for work? There was that café you were talking about the other day. You should go ask in there. It’s a start…I’ll ask Dad if we can send you some money so you can get somewhere to stay for a little while at least” Carla says.

“No, you guys need your money, this is my problem Carla, not yours”

“But…” She huffs.

“No Carla. I’ll go to the café and see if I can get a job and work my way from there” I sigh.

“Ok. But I’m talking to my Dad, see if we can find somewhere for you to stay for the time being. I’m not letting you sleep in the street Lucy”

“I have one more night in my bed, I won’t be in the street just yet” I try to smile, but I can feel it not reaching most of my face.

“Just trying to help you Lucy” She sighs.

“I know. I better go, speak soon” I smile.

“Speak soon, stay safe babe” She says as we hang up. I sigh and tilt my head back against the wall, trying to think of what I was going to do.

First step, go to the café, I think it was called The Pit…Classy name, not…

I put on a smarter tunic top with some clean black jeans as I made my way through town, the café was about a thirty-minute walk from the house and I enjoyed the walk.

“Hey! Watch it!” I growled as I was bumped into.

“Sorry” The guy said, he had to be around my age, maybe a little older, his eyes were bright green, black tousled hair swept over his eyes, chiselled jaw and he was tall, at least six and a half foot tall. His white t-shirt clung to his body this guy was ripped…

“Take a picture it will last longer” He says with a cocky smirk as I averted my gaze, blushing.

“Sorry”

“Woah, you have two different coloured eyes, that’s so cool” He smiles.

“No, it’s weird. Now excuse me but I’ve got to go” I sigh and turn, dashing off as I noticed it would nearly be closing time for the café.

“See you around gorgeous!” The guy booms out with a chuckle.

Gorgeous! HA! Yeah right! I was a freak of nature, my hair never went right, my eyes were weird, and I hated my body.

I walked briskly to the café as I looked at it from the outside, it was run-down and definitely needed a bit of paint, but there in the window was my saving grace, an advert for not only a job but a small flat upstairs to rent…

“Oh please, please, please” I begged to no one in particular before heading into the quiet café.

“Hi! Welcome to The Pit! How can I help you?” A short, blonde, chubby, middle aged woman came smiling out with a notepad and pen before I had even got near a seat.

“Oh, uh the sign on the shop said there was a job going and a flat?” I smile.

“OH! Vance! Vance! Excuse me a moment dear” She roll her eyes and began banging on an office door as I looked over the café. It definitely needed a spruce up it could do well if it had a decent clean and a bit of paint.

“Good afternoon, I hear you’re looking for a job? And the flat upstairs?” A large greying man, with slicked back hair that showed his receding hairline stood in front of me as I took his outstretched hand.

“I am, I’m Lucy Braven” I smile as he gestures to his office as I follow behind him.

“How old are you Miss Braven?” He asks.

“Seventeen, I’ve just finished school”

“And your grades? You got them today I suspect?” He raises a brow.

“Yes, nine A stars and a B” I smile as he nods in appreciation.

“Smart, good. Now what experience do you have? If any?” He asks.

“My mother used to own a bakery, I used to help her bake and clean up. I…I haven’t really had enough of a stable home to get much experience…” My eyes cast downwards.

“Well, I believe everyone deserves a second chance. Now. I don’t pay much and I cannot guarantee we will be open for much longer, it’s gotten very quiet as of late and the only reason I am looking for a new employee is because my last bailed on me and the only ones left are my chef Tony and Pauline outside. So, you would have to pull your weight around here, it’s all hands-on deck” He says.

“Of course!” I nod.

“Well then, as long as you show dedication to the job as you do your grades then welcome to the team. Now, the flat…It’s not in the best condition, it will need a good clean…” He sighs.

“How much is the rent?” I ask

“Because of the state of it, plus you’ll be working for me, I’ll do £75 a month, which will include utilities. I can take it straight from your pay at the end of the month if you like” He smiles.

“That’s amazing! Thank you” I grin, something was going right for once.

“Ok, so you can move in at the end of the week, I’ll move out some of the old tat up there first” He says.

“Oh, but that’s in like four days…” I mumble.

“Yes, is that a problem?” He raises a brow in question.

“I’m afraid the foster home I’m in, they, they want me out tomorrow…I have no where else to go…” I sigh. He seems to study me.

“You know, I was a foster kid too…Come over tomorrow, we’ll sort it together” He says, and I grin.

“Thank you”

“No problem. Now, I can show you around if you like before we close, give you a quick show of the ropes” He says gesturing out the door as I follow him.

He introduces me to Tony, an older, skinny, balding man who stood at his grill, cleaning.

“There’s so much space in here…This kitchen is huge” I gasp, most of it looked unused.

“You said you baked right?” Vance said.

“Yes, I do” I smile. I had never stopped baking, it was the only thing left of my parents, other than my locket I had left.

“Then you are more than welcome to use the kitchen for it. If you let me know the ingredients you need, it would make a welcome addition to the café. Maybe we could get more people in with it” He smiles.

“I would love to” I grin.

“Great. Now, Pauline will show you tomorrow how to use the coffee machines and such, but otherwise, serve customers with a smile, write down what they want, ring it up on the till, the basics. I’m sure you’ll pick it up in no time” He smiles.

“Thank you so much Vance, this means…The world to me” I smile.

“I’m sure it does. Now, we need to close up, so I will see you tomorrow, we are open between 8am and 7pm, come over anytime between then and I’ll get you set up.” Vance says as he leads me to the door.

“Thank you! See you tomorrow” I grin as I walk away as they wave as I leave, I sigh in relief, I didn’t care how run down that flat was, I had somewhere to live!

I would make this work. I had to.

“Hey! Girl with the multi-coloured eyes!” A voice booms to my side as I walk back to the house. I turn to find it’s the guy with the bright green eyes, with his god-like body, being followed by two other guys, twins by the looks of them.

“What?” I groaned as he walked up to me.

“I only wanted to say hi gorgeous, no need to snap” He smirks.

“I don’t know you…I’m sure like everyone else you will turn on me…Now come on, out with it…” I give him a come-on gesture with my hands.

“Turn on you…Why?...What?” He genuinely looks confused as I raise a brow.

“I have things to do, do you mind?” I sigh as I begin to walk off again.

“Hey! Wait!” One of the twins grabs my arm as I snatch it away and slap him.

“Don’t touch me” I growl as he rubs his face.

“Woah! We mean no harm! Who hurt you?” The other twin cocks his head as if trying to work me out.

“None of your business, stay the fuck away from me” I growl as I walk away again.

“Why do you always have to talk to girls with huge demons Craig?” I heard one of the twins say.

“She intrigues me” the green-eyed god, Craig answered as I began to run home as I looked at my watch and noticed the time. It was nearly time that they locked the doors…Shit!

As I got to the house I saw Mr Henson shutting the doors with a smirk as he locked them with me outside as I bashed against it.

“Come on Mr Henson! Seriously!” I growled.

“You should have got home in time! Good night Lucy!” He calls from the other side as I growl and kick the door in anger.

He was seriously leaving me outside for the night!

I guess I would be scaling up the wall to get in my room tonight again…This wasn’t the first time he’d done it.

I went around the back as I found the tree I use to get onto the second floor, climbing it carefully, I managed to get to the pipe near my window, it was wet from the rain we’d had recently as I tried to get a good grip, I slipped a little and squealed as I regained my grip, breathing deeply.

“Come on you can do this…Just like Dad taught you” I sighed mumbling to myself as I continued on, being careful not to fall to my doom.

I managed to get a foot onto my windowsill as I pushed it up and climbed in with a crash on the floor.

“What the hell!” Mr Henson boomed in as he glared at me.

“You shut the fucking door on me! Again!” I growled.

“You should have come back in time then! That will teach you! I can’t wait until you’re out tomorrow, have fun on the street Lucy” he grins evilly.

“Asshole” I mumble under my breath as he slams the door shut again behind him.