Chapter One

Shimi was a sensible girl; she did well in school and she understood almost everything that was shown to her. But there was one thing she couldn’t fully understand: true love.

Yes, she did sort of love them, but they had never really been her real family. And sure, they were her family now, but she loved them like good friends, because that’s really what they were to her. She didn’t have to love them like a family; there wasn’t really a family setup anyway. And besides, she could take care of herself, although it helped that they all looked out for each other. But that didn’t really matter.

Not, at least, until she met him. He was different. She could tell right away that he wasn’t just some tall blonde haired guy who was in a few of her classes. No, he was a tall, blonde haired guy who radiated kindness, especially in his sparkling green eyes and his perfect smile. Yes, she could tell that he was definitely going to be different to what she was used to people being.

But Shimi was also different. And she couldn’t let him know that. No one else knew and they didn’t need to know anyway. The only thing that she knew would be safe to tell him was about her eyes, and how they changed color. They were naturally blazing forest green, but she couldn’t help that they changed to lavender when she was really scared or excited or how they changed royal blue when she was angry. And they only changed when she blinked, which most people, especially him, found interesting.

They were the only people who knew just how different she was, and in her opinion, should be the only ones because they were different too; they understood what came with it. And after all, they all lived together with her.

But even as her friendship with him grew, she found that he didn’t seem to notice. And even if he did, he didn’t seem to care.

So they continued their friendship. Shimi never thought that anyone else but them would like her as a friend so much. But there were times when she’d have her doubts and thought that it was just too good to actually be true. ‘He wouldn’t like me if he knew who I really was…’ she would think to herself when she took time to reflect on it. ‘Or would he…?’ But the voice in the back of her head always came to the same stupid conclusion: ‘No, he wouldn’t… He wouldn’t like me. He’d probably hate me and never speak to me again! This friendship is too good to be true!’

She hated that very thought, that she had finally found someone who liked her who wasn’t one of them, but yet, it wasn’t a truly honest friendship, like she had always wanted. And that hurt.

Then she started to spend more time with him. And she realized that she was starting to grow closer to him, like she couldn’t bear to spend long periods of time without him. This had never happened with any of them. She never found herself feeling excited and calm all at the same time when she was with them. She never smiled and giggled as much either.

Shimi didn’t actually realize that it wasn’t just a friendship to her anymore until Draco told her so. “You’re spending too much time with him you know…” he told her one evening when she’d come home a bit later than expected, and it wasn’t the first time either.

“What do you mean?” she asked, confused.

“I think you know exactly what I mean Shimi,” he replied, “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” he asked.

“I’m WHAT?!” she looked at Draco, with surprise in her eyes. “LOVE? You know perfectly well that we can’t love Draco. Besides, I don’t know what love is…” She looked away from his gaze.

“But you know you are Shimi, I see it in your eyes!” Draco tried his best to sound calm because he didn’t really want to accuse her. He just wanted to know the truth about his friend. “I don’t mean it like… Well, what I mean is that you’re in love with the idea of him. You’re taken with the prospect of being friends with someone not like us. You’re seeing that it’s not all that bad and… it’s caused you to see him in a completely different way. It’s an infatuation, that’s all it is…”

The room was silent, and Draco could tell that his words were sinking in and that Shimi was realizing that just maybe there was something more to her “too good to be true” friendship than she had thought.

“You know that you have to end it, right?” Draco asked as she looked back at him. “After all, if Sin found out, she would almost literally kill you both…”

Shakirami realized that she really hated the truth sometimes. “But… how? How do I tell him we can’t be friends anymore without telling him why?”

Draco hesitated. He didn’t want to say it, but it was the only good solution he could give her that would make everything fine again. “Simple… yes, it’s simple. Bite him,” Draco mumbled as though he feared his friend would do just that to him.

“What?” She looked at him, examining to see if he was joking. But he wasn’t. “I can’t do that Draco. You know how much I hate that. I would never… I can’t…” But she knew Draco was right. It was the only way.