Chapter one: life of an eighteen years old

18 years was known as the climax of life. It was the time every girl always waited for. The time when you get to choose something that could last forever. Where you would have to breathe life into a work of art that would be with you till eternity. I looked forward to that year, just like most of the other girls did. Who knew turning 18 would be the beginning of my problem.

My name is Bella, a regular girl in a not so regular world, who's just so different. I am the perfect description of the word "weird". You might think, I don't sound so bad. Well... Let me tell you a few things about myself.

Imagine a scenario where you don't know who you are, what to feel, what to hope for, or can't even remember anything you hoped for once. Well, that's me. I wouldn't say life is a mess. I wouldn't say I am happy either. Let's just keep this in the middle phase.

I have no memory of my childhood. My parents did say something about amnesia, but I don't buy it. I mean how long can amnesia last. I will not believe that until a doctor confirms. Not that I don't trust them, I just feel something is missing.

Sometimes I feel this big hole in my chest that comes once in while. That feeling of emptiness could be the worse, and the painful aspect is, it wouldn't stop no matter how hard I tried.

Let's go back to "turning 18". Yes, I did turn 18, months ago. I was happy at first, but when my hand made contact with the clay, I realized, I would never be happy for the rest of my life. I tried almost every day, but It was useless, it never worked out.

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"Mum I'm off to school" I mumbled with my mouth stuffed with bacon. I was already late and there was no way I could sit still while having breakfast. I grabbed my bag from the couch and off I went.

"Bella wait...." My mother tried saying, but I was already gone and I didn't bother returning because I knew exactly what she wanted to do; Give me extra lunch, even though it was way past that level, my mum would never let me hear the end it about how she considered her food the best for her children, even though none of us loved the idea.

Speaking of Children I have 2 siblings. Andrew and Clare.

Andrew was what I considered, the exact definition of "a pain in the ass" Clare was more of the gentle one. She was the perfect sister anyone would want to have and she had everything I had always wanted.

The perfect life, the perfect lover. Everything about her was perfect. Sometimes I wondered why I wasn't just like her. She was my sister after all, yet I was bestowed with the curse of never finding love.

I couldn't make it. The law clearly stated, "for one love, one has mold" it was a gift given to every human. The ability to mold a person who they would love forever. I wasn't given that ability and that is one of the numerous reasons my life sucks.

I held my bag with tight hands as I exhaled sharply. School wasn't the best place to be, especially for someone like me. I always tried to hide my inability, even though I knew I wouldn't be able to hide it forever. It sucks, seeing girls my age with their dream lover. The perfect artwork.

Speaking of artworks, let me tell you a little bit about them. Artworks or scaptnas, as we tend to refer to them as. They are just like humans. Well, it depends on how well they are sculpted by their sculptors. Some look shaggy, while some are the perfect definition of the term "work of art"

Two things distinguished them from humans; the Afetiría ( starting point) and Telikó simeío (endpoint).

Afetiría was where the sculpture starts and Telikó simeío was where the sculpture ends. It all kind of depends on how skillful the sculptor is. Some scaptnas sculpted by skillful sculptors can't be identified as scaptnas except they tell you, because they tend to have no starting point.

When I was little I always fantasized about being a very skillful sculptor. I had thousands of drawing of my ideal man even though I was a terrible artist. My only dream was to make my lover as perfect as possible. Probably he could get the perfect life that I never had. Well, that didn't work out, technically.

You might probably be asking, "why don't you just learn how to sculpt" well... It's not so simple. Learning how to sculpt wasn't the best way to go about it. It was called "retarding nature". Not that I cared so much about nature, I just wanted it to come naturally and I most definitely wanted it to last forever. Beating nature to it always had consequences.

Kesha one of the popular girls at school was just like me, but she did a pretty good job of hiding that aspect just like I did. Well, she couldn't leave with it anymore, especially after much pressure from her friends about why she didn't want to sculpt a lover. Kesha decided to go against nature and learn how to sculpt.

Well... It went well for a while. She sculptor a hot figure. Someone every girl could kill for. Rumors had it that she wasn't the one who sculpted her lover, but who cares.

After some months of her and her perfect boyfriend, hr started acting up. He became violent and aggressive. That was a result of her sin against nature. She was meant to kill him since it didn't work out, but she just couldn't. Taking her breath from him was the highest she could do. When that painful aspect was done, she left his lifeless body in her basement.

I know you all might frown and call it cruel. That isn't cruel at all. It is quite normal in this world. Plus, he wasn't going to decay in her basement. He was just a sculpture after all.

"Hey Bella" I heard my name being slurred from behind. Immediately recognized the voice as Chloe's. My best friend. I turned around and flashed her a quick smile. She grinned at me with her big blue eyes at the same time tucking her beige blonde hair behind her ears. I didn't need to be told, she was happy about something.

"Chloe"

"Guess what?" she said just as I expected. That was how basic teenagers tend to pour out their excitement. It always stars with the "guess what"

"Chloe, just tell me about it" I rolled my eyes at her, playfully.

"You are such a killer joy" Chloe squinted. "Anyway, I started my sculpting. I just did the base and it is going so perfectly" she said at the same time throwing me into a hug, giggling, and shaking me vigorously.

Chloe, my best friend since grade 5. We are practically alike in everything. We did almost everything together. She knew everything about me and I did also to her. She turned 18 a week ago. How happy she had been. The thought of having a boy all to herself was overwhelming.

Remember I told you I considered I and Chloe alike. Well, that wasn't the case. When she delivered the news to me this morning, I discovered we weren't so alike after all. And just like everyone else, she could create love. That didn't just distinguish the both of us. It also made me realize, that my life was so fucked up

"Wow I'm so happy for you," I said. I truly was happy for her. I'd always wanted the best for her.

"I know right" she withdrew herself from the hug and stared at me, wiping the little sweat that was present on the side of her head.

"So when do you think it would be done?"

"3 months from now" she beamed.

"Isn't that too far?"

"I know, I just want it to be as perfect as possible"

*Yeah me too*