Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Abnormal ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

I guess my story starts about ten years ago. I was maybe six or seven at the time. I'm not quite sure. My mom and I were in the car, listening to some music. It was an Oldies station, because I remember that we were singing along to "Build Me Up Buttercup." Anyway, we were on the highway and I remember a blue convertible passing by us going the other direction. I stared at that car as it went by. I had this horrible feeling. It began in my stomach and it moved, until it completely took over my body. I felt like I couldn't breathe and I started shaking. And as soon as I looked away from the car, the feeling stopped.

That night, my mom and dad were watching the news. The reporter was talking about a terrible accident that had happened earlier. Two people were killed. They were both riding in a blue convertible. As the camera panned to the wreckage of the car, I got that feeling again. I turned away quickly and told my mom that I didn't feel well. She took my temperature. I didn't have a fever. So she sent me to bed.

All night I lay awake, thinking about that car and the people inside. I felt so bad for those people. And then I wondered if it was my fault. I didn't sleep very well that night.

Since then, I've tried to forget about that incident. But it keeps coming back to haunt me. I'm afraid that next time--

"Laurel." I looked up quickly, covering up my notebook with my hand.

"Yeah?" I said. My best friend, Leslie, was looking at me like I was crazy.

"What, are you seriously doing that journal thing? You know Miss Prince isn't going to read it. She wouldn't know if you just didn't do it."

I shrugged. "I kind of want to do it. It's therapeutic to write down your feelings and stuff. That's what they say, anyway."

Leslie frowned. "I guess. So, anyway, what I was going to say is..." She trailed off, her eyes wandering. I followed the trail of her eyes to a pack of boys who were walking by. One of them looked our way and smiled. Leslie waved back.

"You like him?" I said, teasing her. She looked back at me.

"Who? Justin? He's cool."

"Uh huh. Yeah, he's 'cool.' You know he's also the one guy that Sarah has a thing for."

Leslie made a face. "Ugh, are you serious?"

"Totally serious. Are you ready for that kind of competition? I mean, yeah, you're pretty, and you're pretty popular, but...you're no Sarah. And if you get in her way, she'll knock you down. Way down."

Leslie sighed. "I guess I can give up on that one, then." She stared wistfully after him.

"So...you were saying..."

"Oh, right." Leslie smiled. "So I was going to see if you wanted to go to the mall after school. Jen's parents just bought her a Mustang and she wants to drive us. You in?"

"I don't know about that. My parents kind of have this thing about me riding with new drivers. And technically, she's not even supposed to have non-family members in her car."

"Oh, come on. Nobody pays attention to that rule." Leslie rolled her eyes. "And how are your parents going to find out? Tell them my mom's taking us."

"Yeah, what happens when they call your mom to verify?"

"They'd do that?"

"They always do that. My parents are crazy overprotective. Like, I can't do anything without their consent." I sighed. "They've called your mom the last few times I went over to your house."

"Really? Wow. I never noticed. I'm glad my mom doesn't really care about things like that. She's been super relaxed lately. I think it's the yoga."

"Your mom does yoga?" Leslie nodded. "That's cool, I guess. Well...maybe we can get Jen's mom to cover for us. She seems cool about stuff like that."

"Maybe," Leslie said. "You think it over, okay?" She pointed to my notebook. "And don't work too hard on that thing."

"I'm not going to," I said as the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. "Great, Leslie. I didn't even get to eat because of you."

Leslie laughed. "It's not my fault. You're the one who was too busy being a nerd." She laughed again as I glared at her. "Relax. It's cute, really. My little Laurel's becoming a bookworm. Aww."

"Yeah, whatever." I gathered up my books and followed Leslie to our next class. We sat down at our desks and I pulled out my math book. "Hey, Leslie, did you do your homework last night?"

She shook her head. A panicked look came to her face. "I completely forgot, with my sister being home from college. Oh my God, I'm already failing..."

I smiled. "I thought you didn't." I slipped her a piece of paper that had been folded up in my math notebook. "I've got you covered."

"And this is why I love you," Leslie said, grinning. "Aww...look, you even put my name on it. And you went to the effort of making it match my handwriting. Laurel, you're the greatest."

"I know," I said. "Next time, do your own homework, though."

Leslie nodded as our teacher came into the room. He wrote some problems on the board and went over our homework. I spent the entirety of the class taking notes and pinching Leslie to keep her awake. We both made it through the class and, as the bell rang, we gathered up our books and left.

"So," I said, looking at Leslie. "Mrs. Louis is showing movies today."

"Really? Again? Didn't we do that last Monday?"

"Yeah," I said. "I mean, is there really a point to going to class, if we're not really doing anything and it's the last class of the day?"

She shook her head. "Not really. She doesn't even take attendance."

"Exactly. So..."

"We're skipping?"

"Uh huh."

There was an exit that no one ever monitored in one of the back hallways. Kids always snuck in and out of school through it and none of the teachers ever noticed, or if they did notice, they didn't care. It was where a lot of kids went out to smoke. The door would lock if you closed it all the way, leaving you trapped outside unless you propped it open. Usually we pushed the rug under it a bit, leaving the door open just a crack. It was everyone's responsibility to make sure the rug was pushed under the door at all times. If it was ever pulled out, and we noticed, we had to push it back under. The only exception was if a teacher was watching. Because, even though the teachers didn't care to much that we came and went as they pleased, if they actually saw us doing something like that, they were obligated to punish us.

So we snuck out the door, pushing the rug under it. Some kids were sitting under a tree, smoking. There were four of them and they looked at us as we walked by. Then, because we weren't part of their clique, they ignored us.

Leslie and I walked down the street away from the school, toward the park. We sat down at a table; our table. It had been our table for years. Everyone knew to stay away from it. Being popular had its perks. Sometimes Leslie and I had trouble taking it away from kids. Some kids didn't know that we were in the most powerful clique in school. But when Sarah or Kristin or even Jen was with us, people jumped away from the table, apologizing profusely. It always amazed me how a person can have so much power without really doing anything. But then...that's high school.

I pulled out my new journal as soon as we sat down. Leslie rolled her eyes. She had pulled out her compact and was re-applying her eye liner. "Seriously, why are you doing that?"

"I just want to finish the entry I was making, okay?" I said. "So if you don't mind, I'd like to do that now."

"Whatever."

So I wrote.

I'm afraid that next time it happens, it will be to someone I love. And I won't be able to help them.