***untitled***

~chapter Two~

Chapter Two




I had slept fitfully on my first night here, at ABBS. I had nightmares, but not the usual nightmares that haunted my dreams. That night I dreamt of wild, ruthless flames with the stench of the nauseating smoke thick in the air, it was all I could do stop my stinging eyes from tearing over. I was in a house that was up in flames, in a hallway that led to an open door. I could not see what was beyond that doorframe except for that it was dark, very dark – my surroundings seemed vaguely familiar to me. I was like a ghost, I could not feel the heat and when I looked down at my hands they had a translucent shimmer to them. So I stood there until the fire illuminated a faint outline of a person behind the door way. I raced towards the person, adrenaline pumping through my veins. Although the flames didn’t burn me, I was still frightened for some unknown reason. Something was going to happen – I didn’t know what – but I could feel an odd premonition creeping over me. The figure stepped closer and closer out into the flames and then collapsed. It was then that everything clicked into place, I understood why this place had looked so familiar and I understood what was to come and why I was so anxious.


This was my house! I stopped running as I realized this and my vision became a blur as a sudden wave of emotion ploughed through me, I was back! My past was catching up to me, the fire, this house… that girl! I looked up to the figure just as her ashen face was lit up by the flames – Sarah! I saw the fear in her green eyes and I screamed! I ran up to her and tried to pull her head onto my lap but my fingers slipped right through her own skin. Tears flowed down my cheeks as it came to me that I could not help her. She looked at me with panic and clutched at me with her grimy fingers to no avail, she kept opening her mouth like a gaping fish as if to breath, no… to talk – I realized. I leaned my face down closer to hers and she spoke in a harsh, cracked voice.

“Please… save me.” She gave a ragged cough and blood trickled down her lip, I tried to wipe it away but I couldn’t, my transparency wouldn’t allow it. “Help… me Claire…” She rasped. I was bawling, I hadn’t done anything before and I couldn’t do anything now.

“Don’t worry; j-just… hang in there.” Then suddenly, her eyes went wide and she jerked her head towards me.

“She’s coming…” She had said.

I froze, horrified. I’d heard those words too many times before – night after night - and knew exactly what was coming. I realized that I’d fallen over backwards because I was shaking so violently and I began to back away when I saw Sarah start to convulse.

“Don’t leave me!” Sarah had shrieked. I turned my head around from side to side, and stood up slowly creeping down the hallway step by step, watching… I heard tapping behind me and whirled around, but saw nothing but more fire and smoke.

“Come to me, now my darling…”

I stiffened and fear took over, the hairs on my neck standing on end. I slowly craned my head, afraid to see… It lounged at me then! Sarah had gone and in her place was the being from all my other nightmares; it’s golden eyes showing hunger and white pointed teeth gleaming in the fire light.


I’d woken up then, gasping, my face streaked with sweat. I glanced around me, almost afraid to find the being still here in my very dorm room. It was gone, along with the dream… and Sarah.

* * * * * * * * * * *


“Class dismissed.” Mr. Geraldo, my new Math teacher declared just as the bell rang. “Remember, we will have a quiz tomorrow to review your units from elementary school! Study!” He called after us as all the students rushed out to join the bustling halls of ABBS where some teens were hurrying to get to their next class and other just standing there talking with friends.


The morning had gone relatively well for me so far, with the minor set back of math (the most boringest [is that even a word??] subject in the world!) being my first subject of the day (and the nightmare, but I really don’t want to think of that right now). I checked my new schedule and found that I actually had a pretty ok subject next, English.


When I arrived (under the guidance of my map of course, I have an awful sense of direction), the class was almost full and there were only a few seats left. I walked into the classroom nervous. I peered around and spotted at least one familiar face, there was a girl with shoulder length wavy brown hair. She was in my Math class with Mr. Geraldo; as my gaze moved away from her I saw another person who was also familiar to me. The blond haired girl from the Assembly! But before I could observe any more, Mrs. Wearly stood up from her desk and started making everyone stand back up.

“I’ll have none of this nonsense, I have a seating plan made for all of you and if provoked I will change it accordingly.” She gazed at us with stern beady eyes - she was like a cranky old lady to me - I could see the graying of the roots of her dark hair and the old style of her fashion attire just made her age even more apparent. “ Now when I call your name and appoint you to your new desk I want you to move there with your belongings silently, is that clear?” When no one said anything she glared daggers at everyone, and suddenly everyone mumbled out a droning ‘Yes’. She started down the list and it looked like we were getting seated alphabetically.


When she came to my name I looked up and saw I was being seated around the middle of the class, the seats were arranged in neat little columns of two and my little twosome was empty except for me. So I waited once I was seated and stared around the room in curiosity to see who my neighbor would be.

“Miss. Caville, Miss. Victoria Caville?” Mrs. Wearly called out to the class. I then locked eyes with the blond girl as she stared back at me, her face expressionless as she strutted towards my desk and without so much as acknowledging that I was here - other than that pointed stare - she sat beside me. Now that she was closer, I noticed that she was exceptionally pretty, with her straight, long silver-blonde hair, pale clean&clear commercial perfect skin and piercing crystal blue eyes; she wore no makeup, at least not that I could tell.

“Uh, my name’s Claire.” I said with a smile, hopefully this would start a conversation – if I was going to start over, I was going to have to make friends. She looked at me through the corners of her eyes, as if appraising whether I was worth talking to.

“The name’s Victoria,” she said quietly without turning to face me completely. Then she stared straight ahead with her expressionless eyes.

“So, um, are you from around here?” I asked. She eyed me and had been about to say something when all of a sudden Mrs. Wearly interrupted by announcing the starting of class while asking for complete silence. As soon as the bell signaling for the end of school had gone off, before I could say more, Victoria made a beeline for the door; quickly blending in with the crowd of students. I pushed my way through the mob of teens and slowly made my way outside. I leaned against one of the pillars supporting the little overhang sheltering the doorway and yawned. I sighed, today at least the school was on for only half the day because it was only our second day. We had the rest of the day free to get used to the school if we were new and get signed up for a club, the curriculum at ABBS demanded that all students be involved in at least one extra curricular activity. I still hadn’t decided. I walked up the stone path that led back to the separate building that was the girl’s dormitory for grades 9-10. There were 4 other dormitory buildings all with their own names; Courage and Integrity were the boy’s, Tranquility and Faith were the girl’s and Wisdom was the teacher’s dorm. Mine was called, Faith (where did they come up with these lame names?).


The common room on the main floor was huge with large sofas scattered around with antique coffee tables and a big 50” flat screen that hung on the wall. The place was decorated with a vast collection of very expensive looking works of art (elaborate vases and sculptures, Monets… etc.) – overall, very classy. The room was already full of girls chatting and lounging on the sofas, some making their way out to lunch. I made my way to the stairwell and walked up to the second floor, room 97. I was sharing this room with two other girls, neither of which I had seen much of or talked to, all I knew of them was that their names were Heather and Melissa.



As I neared the door to dorm room #97, I could hear the sounds of a girl giggling obnoxiously. Probably Heather and Melissa, I perked up, maybe this was my chance to make some friends and restart my pretty sad social life. I carefully looked myself over to make sure I looked presentable and not like my old immature self. I new from past experience that girls could be vicious and how you looked was really important (unfortunately this was something I found out a bit too late in elementary school). I took a deep breath and opened the door.


What I saw in my room was definitely not something I was expecting. There were two people in there; one of them was definitely not Melissa. All I saw was Heather locking lips with some guy I didn’t recognize, before I realized that they were making out in the middle of the room; Heather caught my eyes and screamed. I caught a glimpse of Heather and her beet red face quickly shoving the guy away before I slammed the door shut. I leaned my back against the door and started to assess what I’d just witnessed. O-k-a-y… Umm, so uh… Omigod! Someone was making out in my dorm! When in doubt, talk – that was my motto. No, don’t be like that, that is the immature old you! Act normal, so what if she was making out with a guy, that’s normal… right? I tried to calm myself with deep breaths, but that was hard to do when the old me kept bouncing back out and telling me that this was NOT ok. I was just standing up when I was roughly pushed aside by the opening door and a boy ran out closing it behind him. Ohmigod, what was I supposed to do now?


Before I could do anymore he turned to face me when he noticed me with my slightly red face. He looked apologetic.

“Uhh listen, about what you saw… umm you weren’t supposed to see that,” he stated. Duh! He looked nervous and kept jerking his head around to see if the hallway was empty. “I mean… look, sorry ‘bout that, we’re still cool right?” He lifted his hands, palms facing out in a gesture that really meant – Come on. You won’t rat me out will you? I tried my best to look nonchalant as if the fact that I’d just seen him making out in my room didn’t bother me at all.

“Uh ya, we’re cool.” I nodded my head and crossed my arms awkwardly. Now that I looked, the guy was extremely cute with shaggy dark brown hair and an athletic body, he had that rough, boyish look about him. He put on a shy smile and I blushed again.

“Thanks. I’ll pay you back sometime, I promise.” He turned around to leave but hesitated. “My name’s Michael by the way.” He said over his shoulder.

“My name’s Claire.” He turned back around completely, and smiled a genuine smile.

“So I guess I’ll see you around?” He asked quirking an eyebrow.

“Uh, sure.” I smiled back, he looked happy at my answer and the blush started all over again. He smirked playfully seeing my flustered face, he took a step toward me. I looked at the ground and could feel him watching me, as if he were checking me out.

“Hey, do you have MSN?”

“Yah-“ I was cut off when the door opened and Heather burst out and stared from Michael to me, before running up to Michael and pecking him on the cheek.

“Michael? What are you still doing here, you’ll get caught again!” She slapped him playfully before turning back to me. “Oh Claire, sorry about that, you won’t tell on us will you?” She didn’t sound sorry at all, but I nodded all the same. “Michael, come on I’ll help you sneak back out.” Michael glanced at me before turning back to Heather.

“Nah, it’s alright you don’t have to come.” Heather looked disappointed at his answer.

“You sure?”

“Yah I’m sure.” He backed away to leave. “I’ll see you around Claire.” Heather looked from me to Michael again, a confused look on her face.


Heather walked back into our room and I followed her. There was one bunk and one regular bed. Heather and Melissa had both claimed the bunk for themselves the night before, they both seemed pretty close; which left me feeling a bit awkward. As if I was intruding on some kind of inside joke that I didn’t get. Heather and Melissa were both very pretty and certainly looked older than I did. Heather was tall and slight with pale skin and long glossy black hair; she looked feline and had a wild edge about her. Melissa was a sultry looking brunette; she looked fit and slender with tanned skin – as if she were a full out surfer or something, and spent her days out under the sun.


I went to my half unpacked suitcase and looked through until I found a pair of jeans and my favorite top, a white Hooded Tunic with an intricate design going down the side. I’d bought it on sale for only $15. All the while I was searching for my clothes; I could feel Heather’s eyes on me as if she were appraising me. I walked into the bathroom to change and locked the door behind me; this outfit was sure to impress. When I came out she eyed me again. Just then the door opened and Melissa walked in.

“Hey Heather, sup?” She said in a cheerful tone. But then she saw me and looked me up and down. “Nice shirt Claire.” It didn’t sound like she meant it, but I beamed all the while. “So Heather, you naughty girl,” She playfully slapped Heather on the arm. “So I heard Michael was in here… with you… all… alone.” She paused to put in a dramatic affect and stressed the alone part. If Heather was embarrassed she sure didn’t show it, instead she looked almost… pleased. “So did anything happen?” Heather put on a sly grin then tried her best to look innocent.

“Maybe…” Both girls burst into fits of giggles, while I just stood there.

“Ohmigod, you have to tell!” Melissa squealed. Heather abruptly stopped and stared plainly at me, then quickly stooped down to pick up her purse and pulled out a cell phone, a hot pink Motorola Razor, she then started quickly typing something. She looked up and gave a meaningful look to Melissa and sure enough the room filled with Akon’s latest song, Smack That, I realized that Heather was text messaging Melissa and I felt even more embarrassed. The two of them didn’t even so much as glance up at me, they just continued to text each other and giggle at what ever they were writing. I could feel myself turn red as an uncomfortable warmth started to flush across my face.

“Uh- um, I’ll just, uh,” I started to stammer, “I’m going to, uh lunch you guys.” My voice squeaked at the last bit, and I bit down on my lip as I rushed out of the dorm.


Heather : KK, so M sneaked in here while i was unpacking and surprised moi
Melissa : ?? R u texting me
Heather : Claire ;) duh, ew h8 that tunic
Melissa : lol, it is sooo knock off!


Ugh! Stupid, stupid, stupid! This was all I could think as I quickly came down the stairs. How was I ever going to be, well, ‘popular’ (God, I feel so very disgusted with myself saying that, I used to never even care about my ‘social standings’ before now!) if I kept acting like how I was acting! That stammering friendless looser was supposed to be behind me now. . . But then again I hadn’t been completely friendless, I had at least one. I smiled as I recalled all the good times we had shared, Sarah and I, but then last night’s dream came rushing back to me and I involuntarily grimaced. No. That was behind me and I had to concentrate on my future. I was so busy with my thoughts that I hadn’t realized that I was about to bump into a person right in front of me until it was too late.


A set of piercing blue eyes met mine in a cold stare. I immediately turned my gaze toward the ground.

“Um, sorry,” I muttered. I looked up avoiding her gaze, she didn’t reply to my apology but brushed passed me instead.


I was in the Cafeteria trying to find a table to at sit. The place was bursting to life with teens milling about, yelling and laughing; all greeting each other for the first time since summer break. Most of the kids here - even if they were new to this particular school - still knew each other because they mostly all came from the same elementary school. I was walking between the tables aimlessly while people pushed by me without so much as a glance, I felt like an alien.


Then I saw Melissa and Heather sitting with a couple of other girls off the side of the Cafeteria with a large table all to themselves. I quickly walked over to them and smiled warmly at Heather.

“Hey, mind if I sit here?” At least I knew Melissa and Heather, and if we were going to be room-mates for the rest of the year I wanted us to be friends. Heather gave a meaningful look to Melissa and the two of them nodded without a word. I sighed inwardly relieved that I was being accepted for once. My hopes were up and soaring as I sat down beside Melissa. There were three other girls sitting with us. They were all, I noticed, very pretty and all were wearing very expensive looking outfits, including Heather and Melissa. Melissa gave a little dainty ahem while I was busy staring at the shoes one of the girls had been wearing. I swear the heels must’ve been at least 4” tall! Melissa turned towards the other girls.

“This is Claire, our room-mate. Claire this is Jones, Katy and Marie.” She spoke as if this was history class and she was dragging out an answer for the teacher, she sounded completely bored. All the other girls turned to stare at me with a renewed interest, one of then leaned over to Heather and whispered something into her ear and they both giggled. I felt nervous and so out of place.


“Nice shirt Claire,” said one of the girls with red hair, I assumed this was Jones. “Where’d you get it?” I beamed at the question; I knew this was the perfect shirt to show off!

“Well, I got it at Garage.” For some reason they all started to giggle, I took this as encouragement and continued. “Yah, don’t you like it? And can you believe it was only 10 bucks. I got it on sale.” This drew out a whole new burst of laughs among the girls. I looked down at my shirt to see if there was something wrong with it, I could feel the familiar blush creeping back up my cheeks.


“You got that at Garage?!” One of them finally asked.

“Uh, yah.”

“Uh Claire! Do you realize what kind of store Garage is?” Heather asked. I was confused by this question. She emphasized the Kuh sound in the Kuh-laire. She waited for me to say something but I just sat there not knowing what to say. “Garage is only the biggest designer knock off store in like, the whole world.” I was confused, what the hell does knock off mean anyways? All the kids at my old school were crazy over Garage, at least . . . the ‘cool’ kids were.


My face was burning; all the girls were snickering now and staring down at me.

“Yah Claire, god, Garage is for like the poorest of poor people,” Katy said. At this I think I turned even redder… was that even possible? I decided that I was going to have to go along with everything that they were saying.

“Uh, I know. This- um was like… a, uh. A gift from my grandma!” I stammered out an excuse. “Yah, my grandma so totally doesn’t know what she’s doing.” I wanted to turn and run, clearly my plan to start over as the new me was not working. They all just stared at me again in that speculative way that they stared. Melissa looked at me as if I were stupid.

“Yah Claire, I mean seriously. A sock at a charity auction costs more then that!” This brought on another wave of laughter.

“Kuh-laire, your grandma is way weird.” She stated, in a-matter-of-factly way.

“My grandma - just bought me this new skirt,” she waved a hand to indicate the baby pink mini she had on. All the girls turned to admire it and soon there was a full round of pointless comments.

“Ohmigod! Where’d you get that?”

“Eeee, I absolutely heart it!”

“My grandma got it on her trip to France during the summer as a souvenir for moi,” Melissa continued once everyone had stopped gushing over the stupid skirt.
“It’s Prada, and hot off the cat walk and she said it cost her like only about almost a eight hundred, cuz she has her ‘sources’,” she continued to brag. My eyes were goggling. Only a eight hundred dollars! I don’t think my parents have ever even come close to spending that much on me . . . well except for my laptop which I got as a graduation present when I left elementary school. But still, I don’t think even that was eight hundred dollars.


“Whoa, does your grandma slip out that much cash on you all the time?” I asked. Hoping to sound smart and salvage whatever ‘coolness’ I had left in me. Everyone turned to stare at me with an annoyed/disgusted/ohmigod, what is up with her? kind of a look; if you knew what I meant – really bad mistake on my part!

“What? And your grandma doesn’t?” She replied, her voice sounded annoyed. “God, it’s only almost a thousand bucks.” All the girls giggled at this and I felt as if I wanted to cry but instead I bit down on my lip and sucked it all in.

I mean what the hell was I thinking? Here I am hundreds of kilometers from home, completely alone surrounded by a crowd of snotty rich brats. Out of my mind! That must be the case with me - must’ve been out of my freaking mind to have thought of this stupid idea! And it’s not like those stupid dreams have improved at all; in fact I’d say they’ve gotten worse!


For the rest of the lunch period I was practically ignored, except for when they wanted to point out how cheap my clothes were - while pushed to sit at the very end of the table. Towards the end, I basically just got up and walked away.


“Hey!” I heard someone call as I walked down the hall, right outside the cafeteria I turned only to blush at the sight of Michael jogging up towards me. “What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing much… and you?” I’d stopped to fully face him and felt a pang of jealousy – why is it that it’s always the evil, conniving girls who get to have the hottest guys?

“Uh, listen.” He looked apprehensive about something – me, perhaps? Maybe I looked like such a loser that it was embarrassing just being seen with me. God! All I wanted was for him to save himself the trouble and leave me alone. Then I could crawl up into a ball and hopefully die from some heart attack before I was made an even bigger loser of myself. “So, I just wanted to say…” I bit the inside of my lip, ‘I must not cry, I must not cry.’ “About what happened earlier – don’t let Heather get to you. That is – if, you know – she’s uh, giving you a hard time or something. She can get a little. Let’s just say catty, sometimes.”

“Oh,” I said, that was all I could say, I was so dumbfounded, that was all he wanted to say to me. “Thanks for the warning, but it’s a bit late now.” His face seemed to flush at those words – wait… was he blushing? I could feel my heart rate slowly accelerating.

“Well, like I said, don’t let her get to you.” He seemed to be waiting for me to say something more but I didn’t have anything to say – how I hated awkward moments. I tried to find a place to rest my eyes and found myself staring at his lips.

“Kay, um – I’ve got to go, so see ya,” I mumbled as I turned to leave.

“Sure, so I’ll see you around,” he called after me, and I turned to wave back at him, but something stopped me. There standing against a wall, boring her cold eyes into mine, was Victoria. A sudden chill came over me and I briskly walked away

.::twilight*starlight::.