Walking into class, I take a seat in the front row and fold my hands on the next. I see that Alice walks into class and takes the seat next to me on my right. Oh my god, why do you this to me? Alice has always been torchering me because of my intellectual abilities. We are enemies for life.

She puts on lip-gloss, acting all girly as usual. A woman with curly brown hair walks through the door. She steps up to her desk and sits in her chair.

“Hello. I’m Ms. Laurisa. As you know from your schedule, I am your algebra teacher. Today, you will all take a pretest which will determine how much you already know. It’s not going to count towards your grade, but do take it seriously,” she says in less than a quarter of a minute.

She hands each of us a test on the first day. Already, I know she’s going to be one of my favorite teachers. I finish the test in half the time given. As I check over my work, I realize that Alice is looking over my shoulder, with an intention of seeing my answers. I lean far away from her, with my test in my hands.

“What did you get for number 4?” She says to me.

“I’m not telling you,” I reply. What does she think I am? Certainly not as stupid as she is.

“I demand you to tell me,” Alice says.

“And I have the right to not give you the answer,” I say back.

“Fine. Don’t tell me. But you will be sorry you didn’t,” she says, in a threatening tone, narrowing her eyes. I don’t care. She always been threatening me anyway.

* * *

“I can’t believe it, but I honestly am in the mood to eat school lunch,” Lucy says, licking her lips.

“Same here,” I say, taking a tray of food. “Well, where do you wanted to sit?”

“The only spot open is that table,” she says, pointing at a table in the back of the cafeteria. I don’t think that’s a good idea. But what other choice do we have?

We don’t talk to the others at the table. They are the same kids who had tripped me on the bus. We are all in peace until-

“Whoops,” Alice says after pouring her lunch on Lucy. “Didn’t see you were sitting here.” She smirks back at her friends, or as I call them “The Idiots”.

“What the hell?” Lucy says, looking at her beautiful blue sweater which was now filled with meatballs and pasta.

Lucy and I exchange looks. While we’re doing that, Alice takes a handful of spaghetti.

“This one’s for you Stretch,” She says as she drops it on my hair. My anger is on the verge of bursting like a bubble. Half-eaten spaghetti is now covering up my white uniform, making it an orange color. I can’t take it anymore. I’ve never stuck up for myself, or anyone. But this is way too crazy. Ugh, germs everywhere!

“Alright,” I mutter under my breath. “Two can play at this game.” I take my milk and pour it on my plate that is not yet empty of food. Alice is just laughing at how ridiculous we look. Little does she know she is next. She then looks at me, extremely surprised by my unexpected action.

“Dude, what are you doing?,” Lucy says in a loud, urgent whisper. “It’s just going to get worse from here!” I don’t listen to her. She looks at me directly in the eye. “Stop,” she mouths.

But I can't stop. This is the same girl who was in my class in middle school and is always jealous of me. The person who almost copied off of my test. I had no idea why she’s constantly behind my back for everything. What did I ever do to her?, I thought to myself. I had to do more than just that for all the times she humiliated me.

“AAAH!” She is screaming at the top of her lungs as I dump my whole tray on her. I hated the fact on how people take advantage of how I was shy. Not anymore. For once in many years, I feel something different. Pride. But strangely, I feel like something is near me. Could it be a ghost? Or perhaps the feeling of pride is something unfamiliar to me.

But I’m not done. I take my water and spill it in Alice’s shoes as she so calls “glamorous”. I feel awesome, brave, and powerful until-

“You two,” the principal says. “In the main office. Now.”

“ME?” Lucy says. “But I- I didn’t, I wasn’t-”

“Now!” he says angrily. I feel bad for having Lucy get in trouble because of me. Then again, he did come at the wrong time. Alice wasn’t throwing food at us at that time, so that idiot didn’t end up getting into any trouble.

We come from the principal’s office, and Lucy is crying tears of pure anger. “I can’t believe you did that!” Lucy says furiously. “You acted like a complete jerk and got us into trouble. I thought we were friends, but clearly, you weren’t behaving like one.”

“Okay, I know it was partially my fault,” I say impatiently. “But if you were a real friend you would understand that I had to do that-”

“And what? End up in the principal’s office,” she says, cutting me off. I hated how she didn’t understand I didn’t know that would happen; I wasn’t thinking straight. It’s not like I wanted this to happen.

“I was just sticking up for us,” I say quietly.

“Yeah. You couldn’t have given me this one thing. I don’t always get good grades like you do. All I wanted was to get on the good side of school staff. You couldn’t give me that?” She takes a deep breath. “Well, here’s a word of advice. Why don’t you, do less sticking up, and more shutting up and sitting down?”

That hurt like a hundreds of bees swarming and stinging so suddenly, all at once. All my tears have seem to have dried up like stone and I feel stronger, not as emotional as I once was. But I can’t stand there for another second. I tuck my hands in the pockets of my green sweater, and give Lucy a look of pure disappointment as I turn around and walk speedily away from her.

* * *

On the way home, I allow my thoughts to briefly drift to Charlie. Not that I have feelings for him, but something about him was creepy. And the more I thought about it, I was convinced that something about him was...off. The way he disappears suddenly and how he just smiles is strange.

I open the door to my apartment and I just sit in my room doing nothing. I stare off into space. I sigh heavily. Why did I do that? I made a mistake, but why was Lucy so harsh on me? We’ve known each other for years. And it’s not like I’m the one that usually gets us into trouble; it’s her. Can’t a person make one mistake and be forgiven?

Mom comes bursting into my room, without my noticing. “Aren’t you going to do your homework?” I sigh once again.

“Adeline, is something wrong?” I shake my head no. She raises her eyebrows.

“Okay. I’ve been having a rough day. Can I go to the park for a little while?,” I asked. She nods, and shuts the door behind her as she departs from my room.

The wind is blowing in my face as I am sprinting. The park is not where I want to be; it’s the woods. I wanted to forget that Lucy and I ever had that fight. “It never happened,” I whisper to myself. “I never got us into trouble. It never happened.” I feel my pulse rate increasing with every step I take. When I reach my destination, I quickly sit on a log. I am having a sudden rush of adrenaline when I saw a tall figure moving towards me. “Oh no,” I say, as I try to hide. As I turn around, I feel a light tap on my shoulder. Ugh, I think as I look to see who it is.

“Hi Adeline,” Charlie says. “Remember me?” He scootches a few inches towards me on the log. I don’t respond. “Well…” he says.

“Yeah yeah, whatever.” I say, scootching back several inches away.

I realize that it is my fault and I must apologize to Lucy for what I’ve done. I’ve made the biggest mistake in my life; but losing her as a friend would be a crime I would never be able to forgive myself for. I decide I should break the silence.

“Uh, I’ve gotta go,” I say. Honestly, I am glad to get away from him. He gives me a look of disappointment, then nods slowly. I take a few steps to my left and I turn around to see if he is still there. But I can see are the trees and the misty fog covering up the scenery of the place I would call my second home. Within a split second, he is nowhere to be found.

Now that the scene is free of awkwardness, I sit back down on the hard, wet log as I reach into my pocket to take out my phone. But just as I am about to retrieve the phone into my hands, I get a notification.

“Ding,” goes my phone. I take it out slowly out of the pocket of my purple sweater. There is no way to redeem myself to my best friend without apologizing. All that happened is completely my fault. I unlock my phone and see that Lucy just sent me a text message.

Lucy: sorry 4 wat happened i guess i got a little carried away :(

I text her back. Our conversation is nothing like I expected.

Me: Dude, it’s okay. I’m the 1 who should B sorry :(

Lucy: Whatevs, let’s totes 4get that happened.

Writing informally used to kill me. But I guess Lucy rubbed off on me over the course of our friendship.

“Tick, tick, tick-tick,” I hear twigs breaking. I have an eerie feeling I am in trouble.

Me: Gtg

Just as I am putting my phone away, a dark figure covers me. When I look at the ground, I saw a huge shadow. The figure is breathing heavily, and growling at me. I feel hot air blow at my face. I shut my eyes. Please go away, I think to myself. God, help me! As the figure moves closer, I slowly look up, an inch at a time.

Its brown fur seems to be popping out at me. The bear is now so close, I see it’s sharp, yellow teeth at head level. The high-pitched sound from my cell phone must be bothering its sensitive ears. This has never happened; and never in my life did I experience being face-to-face with a wild animal that looks like it can gobble me up in seconds. Could this be a dream? I pinch myself. No, this is pure reality. I shut my eyes again. I heard that if one pretends to be dead in a situation like this, the bear will eventually leave. But it is already too late. My eyes were wide open a minute ago, so the bear can clearly tell I am a living organism.

I hear two arrows shoot from my right. The bear moans. I open my eyes and I see the bear lying in the moist dirt beside the tree a few feet in front of me. Blood spreads slowly, covering up the fur of the bear. I check to see if I’m still breathing properly. I’m alive, I think to myself. But who could have done this? I sigh so deeply, I wheeze.

I see a person standing a couple yards away from me. I have the same emotion I had at the beginning of lunch today. The eerie feeling that spreads all over me, giving me goosebumps. A gentle, tingly feeling is building up inside me. As the person moves towards me, I recognize who it is. I should have known I could I trust him.

“Thank you,” I say, tearing up at this point.

“You’re welcome. And you always will be from now on,” Charlie says back. He stretches his arms out towards me. I don’t protest. It feels nice to be comforted by someone after living this nightmare. I pull away after two seconds.

“What do you mean ‘you always will be’ ?” I ask.

He looks around the woods. “Uh, it’s complicated.” He finally says.

“But nothing changes between us,” I say. “We’re just friends.”

“Whatever you say,” he says with a creepy smile.

Suddenly, I feel the air becoming thinner. The ground is shaking violently.

“What’s going on?” I shriek.

“It’ll be over soon,” he answers. I can barely hear him from the sound of earth’s movement. How can he be so calm? As if it’s something he expected. The wind is strong, I see trees blowing away from left and right. Is this an earthquake? Or some kind of a hurricane? Could it be a mixture of both? I stare at this bizarre scene until I see this powerful beam of light brighter than the sun shining over us. The destruction ceases.

We look back at the scene that was being destroyed a couple seconds ago. They are now exactly where they were originally.

“What was THAT?” I ask, panicking.

“Um, yeah about that, there’s something I need to tell you.” He takes a deep round of breath. “I know you’ll probably think it’s insane,” he continues. “But I’m a werevamp.” I stare at him in shock. There is no such thing, and I have a hunch this is all a joke.

“Yeah, sure you are. And I’m actually a ghost living inside a dead body.”

“No, I’m not kidding,” he says. “I mean, do you really think that I am responsible for all the damage, and the sun, and y-you know, that?” He looks serious. Now I have goosebumps all over again. Then the thought hits me like lightning; I am living in a surreal world. But how is this possible? I daydream and think about if anything else was possible in this world.

“Hey, you didn’t let me finish,” he says. “And, uh, are you okay?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, go on,” I say.

“Well you see, I became a werevamp because I was bitten by a werewolf and a vampire on the same night,” he says making gestures with his hands. “So since I saved you, you know, all that happened. It happens when a werevamp saves someone that has not been affected by the supernatural world. I’ve broken a rule to werevamps. But don’t worry,” he says putting his hand on my shoulder. “It was all worth it.”

I feel my cheeks firing up with blood. I had no idea what he sees in me, underneath that huge scar that spreads across my face. However, I don’t want to have feelings for him, so I try to change the subject.

“So how did you find me? How did you know I was here after I said I was leaving?” I ask. “I mean, I saw you vanish in seconds.”

“I can track where your soul is. And I can read you mind.” He smirks. “The scene was free of awkwardness, huh?” I blush again. I don’t know what to say. His grin enlarges. “It’s okay. And before I forget, I need to tell you that my spirit was near you during lunch today. You probably didn’t notice, but that could have affected, uh, your reactions and the incident.” Now it was his turn to have that rush of blood in his cheeks. He looks down at his shoes. “Sorry about that.”

“Well that explains why I was acting so crazy,” I say, remembering how I did feel something unfamiliar and creepy near me during lunch. “And don’t be sorry. I mean, you saved my life.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

I didn’t see that coming. “What do you mean?” I ask raising my eyebrow. Wasn’t he technically already dead?

“Yeah, you know what I mean,” he says. But I honestly have no idea what he is implying.

I look up at the dark, night sky. Am I late for dinner? Mom’s gonna kill me. “Okay, I’ve got to go,” I say. “I need to, um,”

“Run home because you’re late for dinner?” He says smiling.

“How did you-,” I pause. “Oh yeah, never mind.”

“See you tomorrow,” he says.

I start running at maximum speed. Soon, I see the door to our apartment. Just a bit further. I say to myself until I finally reach my destination. Closer, closer. I reach into my pocket. My keys! Where the hell are they? I reach into my other pocket. “YES!” I say happily as I open the door and run up the stairs. I hear sobbing noises, and I’m pretty sure it’s not coming from my house.

I opened the door to my house and see that my mom is crying, as well as Jennette. “Where were you this whole time?” My mom says.

“I’m sorry I was in the wo-” I pause for a moment. She can’t know that; I’d be dead meat. “Park, I mean. But uh, what’s wrong?” I ask, panicking. I receive no answer. I figure that this is just another emotional moment for my mother and sister. “Okay, so uh, I’m gonna head upstairs and talk to Dad on Skype.”

They sob harder. “You-You can’t,” says Jennette, hiccuping between her words.

“Why? I talk to him every night anyway.” I say. But all the clues fit together like a puzzle. “Wait, did he-” I choke. I we will never see him again. Jennette takes a glass of water. Her hiccuping slows down. She nods vigorously. “He’s gone,” she says tears rolling down her cheeks like a waterfall.

I am heartbroken. I can’t bare the thought that my dad didn’t make it. Not a single word comes out of my mouth. Just tears, falling rapidly from my eyes.


To Be Continued...