MoonNight (3 page)

         
Chapter 2

A vivid flash of eyes, as bright as two bright lights on a Dodge.  It felt as if I were the one
speeding down the highway.  It was like a movie as the camera swiped up and showed me the moon.  Then flew through the clouds making it feel as if it were me.  Lightning and thunder were racing towards each other.  But before they collided it showed me a beautiful clearing with trees on all sides.  And a park with children playing on it.  A dream so miraculous I wanted to remember it….

 
 
 
I woke up to horrible, horrible screeching which turned out to be Emis’ fail attempts at Bob Marley.
 

“Finally awake sleepy-head now get some clothes on so we can go eat.” She stopped her screech singing.

 
 
 
“Down at the lodge?” I asked.

 
 
 
“Yep.” She replied.

 
 
 
I slipped some jeans on and a light t-shirt, coating myself in mosquito spray then slinging my bag on to my shoulder.
 
I looked back at Emi.
 
She was wearing sweats and a soccer jersey.
 
Something they would have never of let us wear back at my old school.
 
 
 
 
“Of course,” Emi said it like it was no
big deal.
 
“The place is only as bad as your grades.
 
Get good grades and you can basically do whatever the heck you want.
 
Get bad grades and you’re screwed.
  Weekends can be spent wherever you want.  Outdoors or wherever.  The only place you’re not allowed to go is north to the forest line.
” She made a cutting gesture against her neck.

 
 
 
This school turned out bland and boring.
 
There weren’t even words to describe it.
  A few girls talked to me.  Asked where I was from, what I liked to do.  Soon they stopped talking to me after they realized there wasn’t much to talk about.
 
The next two days I spent with Emi u
ntil she got annoyed of me and
started spending time with some of her other friends.
 
Carson was still trying to get me to talk to him.
 
Sometimes our eyes would meet.
 
I would just stare at him as though he was the greatest most beautiful piece of artwork ever created.
 
Which on the outside to me he was.
 
Then I would walk off.
 
Soon those days turned in to a week.
 
Monday morning I was by Emis side in the cafeteria line.
 

 
 
 
They served us waffles.
 
Due to homework the night before I had missed dinner so by now I was
legitimately
starving.
 
All the tables were jam packed with kids except for one table.
 
Like always the tattooed neck people had an empty table to
themselves
.  No one even acknowledged them.
I looked back to see Emi squished in with another group of kids.
 
Normal kids.
  Maybe the others were just siblings.  That I did not know.
 
Looking back towards
Carson’s
table I saw Loren with her bright red hair waving me over to
their
near empty table.
 
I kept mumbling ‘excuse me, excuse me’ to get
through
the sea of
students finally sitting down with my food.
 
I tried to hear what they were talking about but I couldn’t tell
over all the noise and multiple things I had no clue about
.  It was only clear that they knew each other very well. 
 
They just kept right o
n laughing.
 
I took this chance
and scarfed down all my food.

 
 
 
Maybe I should just go home right now like my mom had offered.
 
I was kind of a loner here.
 
Back at my school in California there were four thousand students not three hundred.
 
Not fitting in with one
person there, what was I
going to do here?
 
Plus you can’t even swim in the water here, I miss competing.
 
 
I swam and did what I liked for immediate release.  Here I was outside my southern comfort zone.

 
“Hey Leslie do you want to come with us?” Carson asked.

 
 
 
“Huh what?” I hadn’t even realized they were talking.

 
 
 
“Late night party down on the beach down-“

 
 
 
“
Never mind
,” Loren interjected before jabbing Carson and whispering, “We
cannot
bring the girl
.  You know why.  We will at a different time.”

What was going on?
 
I’m pretty sure they were just messing with me.
 
And I hated it.
 
There was no way I was going to make friends here.
 
The little hope I had vanished.

 
 
 
“It’ll be fine Loren, I’ll take good care of her and bring her home on time plu
s you know about me when I
tu
-“Carson
cut himself off.
 
All heads turned to me realizing what they had just let slip.
 
But of course I had no idea.

 
 
 
“Can someone just please tell me what exactly is going on here?” I asked looking at each one of them in turn.

 
 
 
Loren broke my gaze studying her feet, “Yeah late night party on the beach you can come
I
f
Carson swears he’ll protect you and watch you at all times.
  There are a lot of bears and dangerous stuff where it’s at you know.
” She looked back at me.

 
 
 
“Why?” I asked.
 
 

 
 
“Reasons,”
she
replied.

 
 
 
“Fine if no one wants to tell me then thanks but no thanks!” I yelled frustrated.
 
Then stormed off to my first period class; god forbid, math.
 
The walls were made out of logs.  Historical representations hung along in frames.  It was like an old museum turned into a school.

 
 
 
When I got to room B9 I dropped all my stuff with a loud
thud.
 
The teacher, male, was already jotting stuff down on the whiteboard.
 
I took out my notebook and a pencil, starting to write notes.
Everything I had already learned.  Of course one of the very few teenagers who ever even paid attention during class.
 
But when I got bored of that I started doodling.
 
Stick figures.
 
First the cute, curly haired red head Loren.
 
Then the angry face more bulky stature of Tarun. (
Who
hated despised,
emitted
me for who knows what.)
 
Then Rosa.
 
Talkative, polite, but yet secretive.
 
I moved to Regan with his spiked
hair and
serious face, then Jeremy and D
imitri with
their
very normal
(at least c
o
mpared to the rest) expressions.
 
Then I drew Carson.
 
Carson Lund.
 
Very mature looking with those bright green eyes.
 
Well they all had the same
eye color
.
 
But just because it was him for good measure I drew a huge nose.
This was totally off as perfect as his face was.
 
Then right next to him I drew a heart. Not because I like him but that’s what it kind of seemed like if you know what I mean.
 
I held the picture in front of me and a laugh escaped my mouth.

 
 
 
And that’s when I realized it.
 
The only ones in this room were the people
I just drew and the hairy teach
er.
 
How did Carson and his friends get in here before me?
 
They were all still in the cafeteria when I left and came straight here.
 
That I was absolutely sure of.

 
 
 
“Something funny?”
 
Mr.
Hairball
asked snatching the paper and folding it up.
 
 
 
“No sir,” I said taking a big gulp.

“Then what’s this?” he held up the paper.

“Just a drawing.”

“Is it
inappropriate
?”

“No!” I shouted almost on instinct.

“Then why would it hurt to show the class?”
 
he
unfolded it and to my horror
taped it up on the board.
 
I expected some jeering laughter like the first day here when I squeaked and dropped all my stuff.

Everyone just turned
their
heads.
 
I could literally feel my skin burning up into a deep crimson red.
 
The teacher raised his eyebrows.
 
Then kept on teaching.

A paper
airplane hit my foot.
 
I was just about to pick it up then thought better of it.
 
No sooner curiosity gave in and I unfolded the plane and saw a stick figure drawing of
me
.
 
At the bottom it said:

 
 
 
 
NICE ART SKILLS.
 
SO HUMAN.
 
GOT BORED.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
DIMITRI.
 
 
 
JEREMY.

So human? Really? I was really doubting they were human themselves.
 
I had never been the paranormal type so I scolded myself for even thinking
that. The
bell ran
g
as I shoved the picture into my book bag.
 
This was all so pathetic.

Science passed quickly.
 
Good.
 
Lunch now.
 
The cafeteria was crowded again and I couldn’t see Emi anywhere.
 
Hoping
she was over at Carsons table.
 
I squeezed through the sea of students.
 
My cheeks got brighter and brighter the closer I got.
 
When I finally sat down with my food I got out my phone and just started randomly flippi
ng through
pictures not wanting to meet any of
their
eyes.

 
 
 
“So Leslie,” the cold voice of Tarun drawled.
 
“What gives?”

I pretended to ignore her.
 

“Seriously don’t even pretend.” I could feel her eyes boring in to me.

 
 
 
“You know what?” I looked up shoving my phone deep into my pockets.
 
“I don’t know what your problem is but I’ve done nothing to you.
 
And all you’ve given me is a trip to the
nurse’s
office.
 
So unless you want to do something about it you stay the
hell
away from me.”