Emmy's also a chatterbox, one of the many reasons she's so popular. She had never met a thought that she hadn't shared and it drove me insane, but I loved her to pieces regardless. We're complete opposites, but somehow we filled each others' gaps and it worked.
I reluctantly walked through the classroom doorway, unsure if I was actually ready to begin this school day. I took my regular seat in the next to last row beside Emmy. Her violet eyes had been fixed on me since I first walked into the room, and they danced with obvious anticipation and anxiousness. I giggled to myself at her excitement. I wished sometimes that I could've been more like that.
Emmy sat in her chair with her legs tucked underneath her, bouncing with excitement. She looked as if she couldn't contain herself another moment and may perhaps burst if the information she had held inside didn’t come out within the next two seconds.
Emmy wiggled herself into an actual sitting position the same moment I took my seat next to her, then she began her spiel immediately.
“You’ll never guess!”
My lips curled up at the edges when I'd thought of a funny retort --- well, funny to me anyway. “You saw a new pair of boots at the mall, and just can’t wait to show them to me,” I replied jokingly in a sarcastic tone. Emmy’s news almost always involved some new article of clothing that she had recently spotted in the mall or in a magazine she’d been perusing. I didn’t care for fashion as much as the average girl, but I played along for Emmy’s sake. If it was important to her, then it was important to me. After all, what were friends for?
“No, totally good guess though,” she laughed in her peppy high-pitched cheerleader voice. “We…” Emmy was cut off by the bell, and Mr. Stanley proceeded from his desk to the front of the classroom. “Enough!” Mr. Stanley shouted, just the same as every other morning.
Emmy and I both adjusted ourselves in our seats and faced forward to listen to the morning announcements.
I could see that Emmy was still jittery with the excitement of her news. She sat in her seat anticipating the very second when Mr. Stanley would turn away, giving her an opportunity to share with me whatever it was that had her on the edge of her seat.
We listened to the latest news on the previous night’s football game against Madison Central: who scored points, the highlighted plays, and names of the outstanding players. Leo’s name had always been mentioned multiple times, of course. He’s the starting quarterback for the varsity football team, after all.
We listened to the information about the upcoming Homecoming game and dance the coming weekend and lunch specials for that afternoon.
Then an announcement that had taken me a little by surprise. The latter welcomed our school’s newest students, Zoey and Luke Fitzgerald.
Emmy leaned in toward me and whispered in my ear, “That’s what I was trying to tell you…new kids!” She continued, “Zoey is a junior like us, and Luke is a senior.”
I wasn’t as shocked, excited, or full of gossip and wonder about the new students as the rest of our student body appeared to be, but I had to admit I was a little intrigued. Our small town didn’t see new residents on a regular basis --- or ever --- so the fact that a new family had moved to town was bound to spark a little curiosity.
The regular questions popped into my mind: ‘What did they look like?’, ‘How well would they fit in to such a small town?’, ‘Would I have any classes with Zoey?’, ‘Would I possibly be friends with Zoey one of these days?’, and of course the question that filled every teenage girl’s mind, ‘How cute was the new boy?’. That one would never fail. All of the questions floated around in my head, but definitely were not pressing issues as they seemed to be for everyone else.
The bell rang, letting us out into the halls for passing period, and we all sprung from our seats, heading toward rows of lockers as Mr. Stanley wished all of us a “good day”.
Emmy walked with me back to the junior hallway, and she was full of gossip and information that she had already accumulated about the Fitzgeralds. She filled me in on the stories and rumors she had extracted from friends and family so far as we loaded our arms with books and folders for our first period classes.
“Apparently, like, their family moved here from, like, a suburb just outside of Chicago.” Not only did Emmy look like she belonged in California’s surf community, but she sounded like it too.
She continued, “Their dad is, like, a fireman or something and took a job here with our fire department. Something about wanting to, like, make a change.”
Lots of eye rolling and sarcasm accompanied that last sentence. People around our town were never too confident in “big city folks” making much of a life in our little town.
“Like, good luck,” she giggled.
“Oh yeah.” My mom had mentioned last week that there was a woman moving to town and opening the empty store space just across the street from where she worked. I continued, “My mom mentioned to me that Mrs. Fitzgerald was opening some kind of store on Main Street, but I don’t think that anyone has heard what kind of shop it’s going to be yet.”
My mom owned the antique shop on Main Street right in the middle of the town square, and I wondered why she hadn’t mentioned any more about the Fitzgeralds. Surely she'd found out more by now. On the other hand, we’d all been pretty consumed with our own lives lately, and perhaps it had just slipped her mind. I made a mental note to ask her when I helped out at the shop after school today, just like I did almost every day.
Emmy was still talking about the Fitzgeralds, but now she had moved on to the single topic of Luke. She went on and on about how much the other girls in school had been talking him up, and how incredibly cute and gorgeous he looked seemed to be a consensus. Emmy even added that the rumors claimed he resembled somebody from the movie we had gone to see a couple weekends prior. Fat chance, I thought. Rumors tended to be overly flattering or just the opposite.
I had only been catching bits and pieces of Emmy’s ramblings at this point, because I had become more focused on the girl that had just come from around the corner at the opposite end of the hallway, heading straight toward us. She was like no girl that I’d ever expected to see in our town, let alone in our school. She had fire-red hair cut into wispy strips that fell perfectly on her shoulders, the brightest, most piercing green eyes I’d ever seen which glowed all the way from the other end of the hall, and she looked to be almost as tall as I was.
She was drop dead gorgeous; that fact was undeniable and obvious to anyone that was in her presence. It appeared, by the way she looked and walked, she was well aware of that fact herself. She had to have been none other than the new girl, Zoey. She stopped just short of where we stood, turned abruptly, then disappeared into the classroom just a few feet in front of my locker.
Emmy had her back turned toward Zoey, and never even saw so much as one fiery-red wisp of hair. Emmy didn’t even notice that I had switched my focus off of her and onto someone else, but I didn’t think she would have stopped her chattering even if she had.
“Well,” I interrupted Emmy, who had continued her incessant talking throughout all of this. “I think I may have some more to tell you about the new girl by next passing period.”
Emmy paused for a brief moment, lowered her eyebrows toward me, then asked, “Why’s that?”
“Cause she just walked into my next class,” I answered, still staring in the direction of the doorway Zoey just passed through.
I quickly closed my locker door and picked up my stack of Trig supplies resting on the floor between by feet, never once breaking my gaze.
Emmy continued her chattering again, this time with a line of questioning. She was spitting out all sorts of things to prod Zoey about. Apparently, she'd thought I should take advantage of sharing a class with Zoey in order to find out as much about her and her family as possible while I had the chance.
My mind was still wrapped around Zoey. I didn’t understand it, but I just couldn’t pull myself away. I walked away fro
m Emmy and my locker, my mind’s connection with Zoey leading me toward her. She was like the flame, and I was the helpless little moth.
Emmy was still firing a multitude of questions in my direction for me to pass on to Zoey. Even as I turned the corner to enter my next class with Zoey just feet away, I couldn’t wait. I had to find out what the feelings were that had taken over my body and mind.
The feelings were intense and uncontrollable; I felt as if I’d found a long-lost, kindred spirit. Without a shadow of doubt, I'd somehow known that this sudden, unexpected pull I'd felt toward Zoey would make my humdrum life a little --- or maybe a lot --- more exciting.
I was mere feet away from the doorway when I'd caught a glimpse of something green, shining from across the hallway. I broke my stride, momentarily, as the color of jade distracted me, searching for it’s origin. I found two piercing eyes, locked on me and only me. Even as other students walked down the hall and interrupted our sight line, he never once broke his stare. Luke, I assumed, was glaring at me from the opposite side of the hall, following me with those undeniably intense eyes. We shared a look for longer than I thought to be comfortable, then when the idea of Zoey popped back into my mind, I broke our connection and entered through the doorway of my Trigonometry class.
I stepped into the classroom’s threshold, and I'd instantaneously become overwhelmed with the loudest static noise which barreled through my eardrums, sounding as if someone was holding a horn to my head. The incredible noise was such a blow and so debilitating, I'd felt as if I'd had just been shot down. It all hit me so fast and shocked me to the deepest corners of my mind. The intensity literally knocked me to my knees. A flash swept over my face and blinded my eyes like lightening. I felt as if I was pinned to the ground. Flashes of people and places that I had never seen filled my mind.
While I laid there helpless on the hard and cold linoleum floor, surrounded by frantic friends and teachers, I'd attempted to make sense of all the images flashing by in my mind’s eye.
Nothing was familiar. Unknown buildings with strangers walking along never before seen streets, then the country at night in a clearing by a forest. Next, I'd seen people walking down a small road surrounded by stores and boutiques with even more people bustling around them. I couldn’t make sense of anything.
Then, as if everything moved in to slow motion, I saw her --- I saw Zoey. She was standing in the crowd. She turned her head my direction and winked as if we were best friends. She winked like there was some secret that only the two of us knew, and her wink was the confirmation that we were together, or on the same page, or partners. The grin on Zoey’s face in my vision, along with her fiery hair, had begun to go fuzzy and fade out. The images felt more and more distant as the voices that surrounded my head became more clear. I was able to distinguish the voices I heard, but I didn’t want to wake up. I wanted to see more and find out more about her.
I tried desperately to hold on to the images when I felt someone attempting to lift me by my arms. I was eventually able to make out the blurred forms around my body as I accepted the inevitability of waking up. I focused my cloudy eyes once more to find Leo and Mr. Stanley, lifting my arms and legs to clear my body from the cold, hard floor below. They quickly swept me off to seek help and relief in the nurse’s station.
I could hear Leo’s slightly distant voice ask, “Becca? Are you all right?”
It may have taken me a moment to respond while I caught my bearings, but I finally mumbled a few words, “Yeah, um, I think I’m fine.”
“Did you hit your head?” I heard Mr. Stanley ask, and I thought I caught sight of him flashing a suspicious glance toward Leo as the words escaped his lips.
“I don’t think so. I just got a little dizzy and passed out,” I lied. “I’ll be fine.”
“We’re going to take you to the nurse to lie down, and I’ll personally call your mom at the shop to come pick you up,” Mr. Stanley assured me.
I simply nodded in agreement, for there was no use in arguing. I laid there, cold and vulnerable on the cot in the nurse’s station. I couldn’t get all the images I had just seen out of my head. Was it just nonsense that I should chalk up to a dream and believe that I really did just pass out for a few moments? Or was it all a vision of some kind? Was it possible to have premonitions? Was this scene, or all of the scenes that had just played out in my mind, actually going to happen one day? --- or maybe I’m way off base and those things had already happened? Should I be scared or intrigued? I sure didn’t feel even one ounce of fear --- even though I thought that I probably should've if I knew what was good for me --- but I was often a little too curious for my own good and well-being.
I needed to be logical and to put everything out of my mind. I mean really, what kind of person took something like that seriously? It all had to be the result of my mind playing tricks on me. Maybe I really had just gotten dizzy and hit my head which conjured up crazy erratic visions in my mind. I'd known that that would've been the logical, level-headed choice to believe, but I also knew myself well enough to know that if that had happened to me once, then there would probably be more to come.
Whatever caused those visions today most likely would instigate them again, and I would bet my life that the cause had something to do with my proximity to Zoey.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that the visions were only the beginning, and I needed to see Zoey again to figure out where it was all going to lead. I thought back to this morning and how my day had first begun. The phrase, ‘Be careful what you wish for’, echoed against the walls of my mind.
Chapter 2.
The Sighting
sighting
present participle of sight (verb)
Verb
1. Manage to see or observe; catch an
initial glimpse of.
2. Take aim by looking through the sights
of a gun.
My mom had been called at work by Mr. Stanley, and then again on her cell phone by the nurse while she was already on her way to the school. The nurse, along side Mr. Stanley, explained to my mom the sequence of events: how I had become dizzy and passed out just before first period, the length of time that I had appeared to be unconscious, and also the fact that I'd taken a pretty good blow to the back of my head. They seemed to still be concerned of side effects from the latter, even though I had reassured each adult numerous times that I was perfectly clear-minded --- or so I'd thought.
My mom and I were on our way home, driving down the same crumbling and cracked country road that led me to school just hours earlier. The very same road that, just this morning, engulfed me with nothing but serene rural scenery and a few favorite tunes playing through my vintage speakers from my newly installed CD player.
That very same peaceful drive that I paid no attention to now, whatsoever. I was too occupied attempting to sort out the chaotic mess in my head. I'd known that my thoughts and recollections were accurate, but the strange and unlikely images I had envisioned caused me to feel cloudy, second guessing myself with every thought. And what was with Luke’s creepy stare just before class? That definitely was not a pressing issue under the current circumstances, but I couldn’t fully wipe the intensity of his gaze from my mind, not to mention the strangeness between Leo and me lately.
What was with everyone today?
I was barely able to focus long enough on anything other than my so-called fainting spell and visions. I wasn't even capable of fitting together an appropriate amount of words to thank my mom for leaving the store to pick me up at school.
As a result, the drive home had remained fairly quiet; partly quiet because my mind was still racing with scenarios of this morning’s events, but also because my mom thought it was best to keep things silent for my sake so that I could lie back and rest as we drove.
Every cloudy thought was filled with ‘could haves’ and 'possibilities of what the future may hold', resulting in my speechless condition. I was completely obsessed and intent on recollectin
g any tidbit of memory or detail from my visions that could've possibly given any clue as to what it all meant; so much so, that I did not notice as our van pulled onto our driveway and came to a stop outside our back door.
A minute must have passed before my mom finally asked, “Bec, are you going to get out of the car? You need some help?”
My ears heard her words, but my brain didn't process them.
She must have realized that something was wrong, and that I just wasn’t going to get out on my own. “Are you still feeling dizzy?” “No, I’m fine. I can do it on my own,” I answered, as her questions finally computed in my brain. I felt silly that I was so distracted it had gotten to that point.
I'd reached for my stack of books and school bag lying in the back seat, opened the passenger side door, stepped out onto the gravel with my arms full, and slammed the door shut with my foot. My mom and I both headed across the small patch of yard toward our back door when we heard and turned at the sound of a vehicle pulling up the drive behind us.
It was no surprise to me when I spied the big green pick-up truck, riding on giant tires with mud splashed down the sides, bouncing across the gravel driveway. I'd known that truck well. Leo pulled to a stop and parked behind my mom’s van, then he hopped out of the truck in one swift movement. He was at my side in a matter of seconds.
“How ya feeling, Becca?”
“I’m fine, Leo, really. You didn’t have to leave school to come check on me. Seriously, I’m just going to head up to my room and sort some things…um, rest for a little while. I’ll be back at school tomorrow,” I assured him.
Beautiful Souls Page 2
