Sheila made her eyes gaze towards the items behind the spotless glass pane within the antiques store. All the things that were propped up on stands were admittedly priceless and of good quality, but the one item that always grabbed her attention the most lay right in the middle of the glass pane.
A single wooden cube-like toy with each face sporting a different color. Deeply carved symbols were also in the background of the blocky cube; just looking at it with awe made Sheila appreciate it like it was plain old memories from the past.
The antique store remained on the ground, while heard that the building was first established when the city was first founded by Jeremy Halmer and his group, and when Standart City was affected by the Green Catastrophe, the previous owner left it in charge to a friend, who has been working on it to this day.
It was even stated somewhere in the history pamphlets, when she first arrived to check the place out, that the market district of Standart was originally designated as the camp for the foundation of it all.
People always wondered about her incredible knowledge of the history of Standart and the places around the city. She simply stated to those curious that she had to learn the ways of the street and locations that she needed to go ever since she first moved to the city.
Having to learn about all the nooks and crannies of every corner of the city contained within a nearly outdated book, despite almost everyone that she knew calling it a slog to read over and over again, it didn't really make her sleepy at all. On the contrary, it somehow made her feel more energized than if she were to run a mile in the track and fields.
Maybe her extensive reading from her youth prepared her for navigating through the city?
From the corner of her eye, a person glided through the sunshine-drenched sidewalks. She fixed her head to the incoming individual.
"Hey, Sheila, long time no see!"
She could finally tell who it was, and it was Aliana Augero. Her short black hair and her red jacket, where the straps that connected her jacket front were only held up by the collar around her neck. Her tanned skin contrasted beautifully with Sheila's own skin.
When she looked Aliana in the eyes directly, the irises surrounding her pupils were black as used coal.
"Aliana, it's a rare sight for you to be in this part of the market district."
"Eh? I thought it was called the shopping district? I guess I misheard."
"I guess so..." Sheila cleared her throat. "So then, what are you doing here in this place, though?"
It really was a surprise for Sheila. Aliana was always hanging out with Layla and Brandin, since her hangouts were either at Honoway Mall or at the clubs after school. Instead, she must have gone here after being so bored in her own house.
Whatever it was, she may be inclined to let her stand right next to her to watch the antique items in the store.
"You know, about Jed Sampson, right? Almost everyone at school was talking about him."
"That he got arrested in Honoway Mall? I've heard..." Sheila replied to her. "He even called the police officers 'monsters', and that he had a knife that he swung around.
"I don't know what to say... I mean, I've always believed in everyone in our classes, but for Jed to kidnap all those people just to kill them later. I don't believe it; he has to be innocent, that's what my gut is telling me! I hang out with almost everyone in Mr. Mouch's first period class, so they can't be bad people; they just can't!"
"Aliana..." Sheila tried to say something to comfort her, but the chance to do so was too late, as Aliana hugged her. Her hug was really tight, and an emotional one at that.
"Hey... Enough with the negative stuff already," Aliana said as she fixed her jacket. "Let's talk about how you stare at this building behind the window. You were so into it when I first saw you standing by the sidewalk. What's the deal here?"
"I just stare at the things behind them, you know."
"Is that really it?" Aliana asked, puzzled by her answer.
"It's more than that, really. The feeling that something so beautiful is just a few feet away, and that only a barrier prevents you from properly examining it. That's the best I could explain why I sometimes stare as most people would view it," she answered back, using her fingers to properly position her blonde hair from impairing her vision.
"Heh. Reminds me of how you would always stare at the rest of the family, especially towards Austin. Ever since we found you hurt by the stony shores of the Great Median Lake when we were trying to reach Ilmuthe Capital to visit grandpa, all three of us were always hanging out because we didn't want you to feel alone when we first started in our old middle school."
"It only feels like almost four years, but I feel like I learned everything in this place. The names for each street, the districts that segment parts of the city, and so on."
"Yup! I guess this means you and me are officially one of the locals now. Not that we weren't locals before. Some of the friendly neighbors said that we would fit right in."
"Aliana... Do you really think that I'm a part of your family? Do I belong there at all?"
Aliana instantly turned towards her, her face staring at her with surprise and worry at the same time.
"What are you talking about? Of course you are! What kind of question is that? You know me, Mom, Dad, Austin—you're like family to us, one of us no doubt."
"... I'm just saying unnecessary things, but it feels reassuring to hear you say that."
Because Sheila was basically adopted into the family when they found her at Stony Shores.
These feelings didn't come out of nowhere; they stemmed from the fact that she used to have a family, a large one at that. Sheila's mom and dad were living on the Ilmuthe side of the Middle Groundlands. Because the Green Catastrophe had hit her small local town called Lummett, which had no advanced countermeasures to protect the people against it, it quickly devolved into chaos.
Based on her earliest memories as a child, there were falling green stars twinkling in the fiery skies of the night as the background. It was like an army from the sky dedicated to slaughtering the people from below like they didn't mean anything to the grand scheme of things.
Although terrifying for a child, for right now Sheila must have hit her head during the event because her recollection of all the other memories from her life in Ilmuthe seemed "broken", like they were missing in her head. It was probably to shoo away the trauma that could have impeded her life from being in Standart City. But right now, Sheila would be able to maintain a peaceful life dwelling in the ordinary city, with the library she often goes to as a certain advantage to success.
Aliana squinted her eyes towards the store's glass panes, like she was trying to see an apparition that only appeared to those worthy enough. What was just casual peering turned into her physically putting her head against the glass pane, her eyes basically touching the glass, not mattering to Aliana whether it was clean or not. She remained in this position of staring at the antique objects until Sheila went up to her.
"Aliana? Are you trying to do the thing that I did with peering through? You look kinda silly with your personal method."
She continued to stick her face on the glass window. Aliana really must've wanted to see what perspective Sheila was intensely staring at, because she violently jerked her head away with a yelp from the window as she clutched her cheek. Her face looked red and sticky; the sun accidentally cooked her face by using the window as the pan to fry her skin.
"Augh! Ouch! It really stings, really hurts so bad!" Aliana exclaimed while putting her hand over the affected area of the cheek.
"You okay? Need a bandaid? Or do you need two of them?"
"No way! This is nothing!" she said as she firmly stood her ground, facing the pain head-on. "Only a loser like Brandin would cry from the pain. I'm definitely not afraid of the sun, even though it's all big and bright!"
"Hey..." shouted a voice from somewhere else, "you two are from my school!"
Both of the girls looked up to see someone new in front of the store. A hint of familiarity struck Sheila as she carefully observed the boy coming in closer. With a tall physique and a large frame that dwarfed most adults in the city, it was clear to her that it was none other than the troublemaker, Dawson Bright, whom Aliana almost disliked as Brandin Fiborr. She immediately stopped her view of the antique store and went to confront him.
"What are you doing here, Dawson? I heard you were threatening Kana, Kylee, Paula, Randall, Charter, Nate, Cloey, Sheila, Sam, Manson, Cristo, Jed, Marlo, Tyraun, Layla, Varedeth, Katie, Bobby, Tom, Marlene, Mosan, Lucia, and even my rival, Brandin-sore-loser-Fiborr."
"You didn't have to say all their names at once," Sheila whispered in her ear, "Like try saying 'you were threatening those people', or 'our classmates from school'. That would've saved you a breath or two, but that's just me stating my opinion."
Although even with the extensive knowledge of Aliana's classmates from homeroom, Sheila couldn't help but ponder whether there was one more person she should know, the thought diminished as Dawson placed his closed fist on the antique store's window.
"So you losers are hanging out here?"
"Sheila loved this store, and she definitely doesn't want you to be here with her."
"It's okay, Aliana, let's just leave..."
"No, it isn't. I'll show him who's boss."
"Then what if I throw this rock at the window? You'll be in trouble when they find out that you're the one who threw it!" Dawson sneered as he pointed his finger towards Sheila. That motion made Sheila sick and afraid, like the fingers were holding a gun that pointed towards her forehead.
Aliana somehow sensed the timid feelings flourishing within Sheila, because she immediately offered herself as a divide between her and Dawson. "Leave her alone, Dawson. She's got nothing to do with you."
"Move outta the way, Aliana! I'm not afraid to hit girls!"
"No, I won't let you destroy this store just because you feel like it!" Aliana loudly retorted.
"Then are ya fast enough to catch this?!"
Dawson curled up his arms and made the motion to throw the rock towards the window with all his might.
Halfway to having the rock leave the palm of his hand, a loud shot rang through the air, with Sheila's ears ringing as she attempted to cover them.
Aliana jumped back with her defensive pose still in place as a potential new threat emerged in the fray. Dawson immediately dropped the rock, cowering himself before the sudden noise that traveled through the air. All three of them looked towards the front door of the antique store to see a gruff-looking guy holding a weary shotgun. The noise must have come from that weapon, Sheila had thought to herself. While looking at the man, the grayish clothes and the familiar face led her to remember the name of the current owner of the store, and that was Manny Hansel.
Mr. Hansel stepped in from outside, his gun pointing upward and resting on his stern-looking neck. If "serious business when pushed" was a person, he would be the guy.
"Now what the ruff do we have here? A commotion? I don't like it with chaotic things happening near the delicate treasures of the store, yeah?"
"Wh-who are you?!" Dawson replied with noticeable stuttering.
"Me. I'm in a bad mood, and I don't want to clean up the place when someone breaks the windows. Someone who possessed this store long ago had permitted me to run it for them while they were away. I'm Manny Hansel, whose gun store was closed down from a couple of streets away for the vibe of the 'ordinary' to run across the city and beyond. That's who I am, plain and simple."
He reloaded the gun, even when the barrel of it was still resting on his neck, like it was a sleeping baby. The sight of it made Dawson think twice before backing away slowly.
"Whatever, this place is boring and stupid anyway! I'm going!"
He ran the opposite direction, without looking back at the potential consequences. Aliana jumped in the air with a fist bump in the air also.
"Yeah, that's right, go back to whatever you came from. Don't you dare bully the weak, because the strong are there to protect them!"
With no threat nearby, Sheila went up to Mr. Hansel and greeted him.
"Hello, Mr. Hansel. I'm sorry that my classmate disrupted your store management. Is there any way for me to help?"
"Hey, Sheila. Glad to see you safe. Also, for the record, I'm just glad that things didn't escalate so much. I mean, shooting a kid with a gun? That's a bit much..."
Aliana glazed her eyes over the gun; stars of interest and awe were swirling in the pearly whites of her eyes.
"Mr. Hansel, was it? That was so freakin' cool! The way you did the thing with your gun and how that made Dawson run away! Talk about full-on epicness!"
"Thanks, miss. Being behind the counter in the antique store made me realize ways to pass time, and this was one of them," Mr. Hansel replied.
The owner of the antique store was probably one of the only antique stores in the city that Sheila knew. He used to be the owner of a gun store, so it was believable to say that he was knowledgeable about the gun world.
Sheila and he talked to each other for the first time when she arrived with the Augero family when they moved into Standart. When she first came across the store, she stared until Mr. Hansel noticed her. He would then explain the history behind each item.
But their relationship was more of an acquaintance and remained that way since then.
Mr. Hansel checked the time on his wristwatch. "Oh'p, looks like I have to move some packages in the back. I like to work things alone, if you wanted to know."
"Same here, with me having other stuff to do; when I watched you be so cool with your gun, it made me realize that I wanted to show my talents to my friends, so I gotta go back to school," Aliana stated.
She went towards Sheila and firmly placed her hand on the top of her head. "I always worry about you, cuz you are like my little sis, so try to keep being safe like always."
"I will..." Sheila replied with softness in her voice.
Aliana waved goodbye to Mr. Hansel and Sheila before running full speed away from the store.
"I didn't know you had a sister," Mr. Hansel said to the girl.
"Well, it's kind of me being adopted by her family..."
"You're lucky to have someone in your family to support you so much. Especially during these dangerous times, gotta watch out for trouble, you know. With things going kooky after the thing with green gases above the clouds."
"There are certainly unusual things happening to this ordinary city. Maybe things will be normal again in a short while," Sheila stated.
Mr. Hansel turned his mouth into a grimace. "Hope that's the case..."