The Circus by Kestral Volta (desktop ebook reader txt) 📕

was soft and melodic, the type you couldn’t forget easily. It got louder as it got closer. “What the hell! Is this just because his dog barked at you? You’re such a pussy! Always over-reacting! There was no need to beat the guy up about it!”
Keith had stopped pummelling Alex’s face and the hands had let him go. He saw, through blood, a cloud of blond hair atop a tall, slender body. Alex pulled his hood back over his face and didn’t stick around to hear Keith’s reasoning. Alex made for the wall, for escape.
Alex used a mountain of old kitchen appliances that was piled up against the wall. Bowser landed the other side of the wall with no problem, Alex stumbled down after him. He found himself surrounded by forest. He walked briskly through the undergrowth, not caring where he ended up; only that it was away from the gang.
Eventually, Alex found himself at a stream. He sat down on the ground next to it and stared at the tiny eddies, entranced by the shapes. Bowser lay next to him, resting his head on Alex’s lap. Alex strained to push all thought of his appearance from his mind.
A voice behind him made him jump. “Hello?” Alex was, once again, suddenly conscious of his appearance. Yet he recognised the voice; the smooth, melodic voice that flowed like water. Alex reached up for his hood, his grip tightened on Bowser’s lead as he stood.
“Hey, look, I’m sorry about those guys. They take everything like an insult! What they did to you...let me help! You can come back to mine and I’ll...hey, wait! Don’t go!” Alex stopped. All he wanted was to get back to camp.
The girl came around him, in an attempt to talk to his face, but Alex turned away. “Hey, whatever they were talking about- I’m sure it’s not as bad as they made out.”
Alex felt a hand on his arm and turned away, stubbornly from the flash of blond hair. “OK, hey, look, I understand! At least tell me your name?”
“Alex.” He murmured.
“Well, hello Alex, my name is Amber. Are you really from the circus?” she asked with what sounded like interest. Alex had never heard that in someone’s voice when they asked before. Usually, it was clouded by fear.
“Yeah. I have to go! Bye!” replied Alex firmly, walking away. He heard amber’s voice in the distance.
“Well, I know for certain we’ll see each other again, Alex. Good bye!”

It was ten minutes before the show started and Alex was backstage with Dane.
“I honestly don’t know why you don’t want to. There’s nothing wrong with you, Alex!” Dane was saying. He’d wanted Alex to take tickets and show people to their seats, Alex had refused, a little shaken by the day’s activities.
“I don’t want to talk about this.” muttered Alex.
“Well, you may have to, someday.” Dane coughed. “My health isn’t what it used to be, you know!” Alex passed it off as the ramblings of an old man. Nevertheless, Dane took Alex’s hand in his own, shrivelled claw and took off his top hat and replaced it on top of Alex’s head. “Perfect. Look, you know you can’t go on like this. Someday, you’re going to have to come out of this shell. You’re just the same as anyone else. I know about those boys today. What they did was unfair and mean. Even if you had no birth mark, there’d be people out there who’d probably do the same. To me, you’re perfect.” Dane looked at Alex with pure affection. He took back his top hat. “I’m on in two. I’ll see you afterwards.” He smiled, standing.
He took up his cane and went out, onto the stage. Alex watched for a bit before going outside. He had seen the shows all too many times. It was a warm night, so Alex took off his hoodie. He went to the cluster of chairs and tables in the middle of camp and sat, breathing in the night air. He listened to the applauds every now and then, along with the usual shocked gasp from the unsuspecting audience. It was amazing how gullible people could be these days
Half an hour later, it was the interval; some of the audience came outside to smoke, others to stretch their legs.
Alex was startled when he heard a delighted “Hi!” from behind him. It was Amber. Alex was careful not to turn around. He stood.
“Hi.” He murmured.
“Still shy, huh? Well, I can live with that. So, the first half was good! I s’pose you’ve already seen it God knows how many times!” she chattered, happily. Alex stepped out from the table and stepped into the shadow of a caravan. He turned to see her stepping towards him, but not joining him in the shadows. Now that Alex was getting a proper look at her, he saw just how pretty she was. Her hair was ash blond, thick and full. Her skin was pink and full of colour, unmarked and fragile. Her eyes sparkled like water in sunlight, yet behind this there was a hardness- like diamonds. Her body was perfectly shaped; she wore skinny jeans and a pale top that hung, loosely from her curves. Yet this image of perfectness about her was not complete without the cautiousness of her movements, the uncertainty in her footsteps and the long, hard stares that took in every detail, analysing everything, never missing something out.
“Look, after today, I appreciate you doing this but...” he couldn’t say anything to harm her. In fact, he didn’t want her to go at all. Alex found himself wondering what her reaction would be when she saw what was on his face.
“Hey, those guys...they’re not nice guys. You...seem like a nice guy.” She explained.
“I don’t need pity.” Alex whispered.
“This isn’t pity; I wanna know what it is about you, Alex. There’s something about you I just can’t get out of my head.”
Alex laughed a little. “Something about me? You think it’s that fact I won’t let you see my face?”
“No, I don’t think it’s that... it’s something about your voice.” She had missed the humour, but Alex didn’t mind. He liked hearing her talk.
Should he show her? Would she fear him if he did? Or would her reaction be entirely unexpected?
The decision was made for him, when Garry came up behind Amber and shone a torch into Alex’s face. “What’s going on-oh, Alex, it’s you!” his eyes fell upon Amber. “Oh, well, sorry Alex!”
Alex watched Amber turn around, as if in slow motion. He face had lost it’s smile, but she stared at Alex’s face in wonder.
Garry lowered the torch and went away.
Alex looked away from Amber’s eyes. He felt her hands upon his, as she pulled him towards her, into the light. He let her; there was no point fighting it now.
He felt her hand upon his cheek, her fingers tracing the splodges of red down his face and neck. She cupped his face in her hands, forcing Alex to look at her. She was smiling. Their faces were close. He lost himself in her eyes, revelling in the calm waters of her reaction. The space between them tingled with electricity.
“Alex. Is this what you didn’t want me to see?” she whispered.
“People are usually afraid or disgusted. I didn’t want to scare you off.” Alex whispered back.
“Trust me, you’re beautiful.” Her face was closer; he could feel her breath caressing his cheeks. Alex heart was in his throat. Were they about to...?
And then her lips were caressing his. Alex felt fireworks burst through the walls of his stomach. Amber pulled away, smiling.
“I should probably...my Aunt...”
Alex nodded.
“Maybe... we could meet up, tomorrow, maybe?” she asked.
Alex smiled. “The stream?”
“Perfect!”

That night, Alex couldn’t sleep. His stomach was still buzzing. He’d never kissed a girl before, let alone talk to one! He had told Dane after the show about what had happened, but he had seemed somewhat disheartened and preoccupied. Alex reminded himself that it was an old man he was talking to and left him to his thoughts.
The morning came all too slowly. Alex bolted down a bowl of Cheerio’s and left the camp early.
The day was warm and Alex had gotten halfway down the road when he realized that he had left without his hoodie! It didn’t surprise him that he felt kind of naked without it, but nevertheless, he kept going.
He found the stream with no trouble at all. He sat there for twenty minutes before he heard a rustling behind him. Alex turned to see Amber stepping over an old log. She hugged him and whispered the words “Hi, stranger.” in his ear, before taking his hand in hers.
They walked together through the forest, yet Alex hadn’t time for seeing the wonders of wildlife. He was too preoccupied with the beautiful view that was holding hands with him. The soon stopped and sat on a log, talking.
“So, how did you come to be part of the circus? Is The Great Dane your dad?” asked Amber with genuine interest.
“He’s not my dad, but he took me in. He found me, apparently I was abandoned as a baby, so Dane decided to take me in and look after me. And please don’t call him The Great Dane- it’s embarrassing.”
Amber laughed and it reminded Alex of water spilling down a waterfall.
“Even I could come up with a better stage name than that.” murmured Alex.
“Alex The Immortal!”
“Where did that come from?” asked Alex, laughing.
“I don’t know, it just had a ring to it!” replied Amber. “So, what’s it like to be in a travelling circus?”
“Um...well...I don’t know. I mean, I’ve lived in it all my live I guess I don’t really know the difference from your perspective of normal and my normal.”
“What’s normal for you?”
Alex smirked. “Chores, chores and more chores.”
“You don’t perform?”
“No, not really special at anything. But tell me about you. Do you have family?” Alex asked.
Her eyes glazed over suddenly. “I have a brother, our parents died when we were young. My brother’s in university and I live with my Aunt.” She explained.
“I’m sorry.” whispered Alex.
“Me too.” She whispered back, gazing into his eyes. “When my brother was my age, he had acid thrown in his face. He had skin grafts and operations, but he has this huge scar down one side of his face. When I saw you wearing that hoodie, you reminded me of him.”
“He’s lucky to have you. You’re probably the only person I’ve met who hasn’t yelled, turned and ran.”
Amber smiled. Perfection.
Amber rested her head on his shoulder, her eyes gazing past his into the distance. He savoured the moment.
Amber’s eyes suddenly turned fearful and her smile faded. Alex followed her gaze. Through the trees, he could just make out a group of dark figures. The sunlight was patchy through the canopy of branches, but there was enough light to see that they were coming towards Alex and Amber. Alex strained his eyes to see who they were and to his shock, he recognised one of them! It was the guy who had beat him up yesterday! Alex looked at Amber, who was gripping his hand.
“Let me talk.” she whispered.
They stood and waited until the posse was a few yards away. Keith stopped a few feet away from Alex, looking at Amber, disgust written