Run or Die

Chapter 1: The Introduction

Hi! :)

So, here is the first chapter. Whoo!

Vote and comment if you enjoyed this chapter!

Toodles,

Jolanda

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Chapter 1: The Introduction

"Ready for tomorrow?" Sarah asked, tugging on my dark brown ponytail and weaving her hand through it.

"Hey," I say, pulling my curly hair out of her grasp. "You'll make my hair frizz when you run through it like you just did."

"I can't help it," she said, "It's just, like, once I see your hair, I just gotta touch it."

Sarah's baby blues twinkled with merriment. As a cheerleader captain, she was thin and short. Her skin was bronzed due to the suntanning; her toned muscles made small curves appear on her biceps and legs. Wearing a tight-fitting pink sequin tank top and jean shorts (very, very short, I was surprised that no teacher had called her out for violating our dress code), and a pair of tan Toms, she looked just like an typical leader of a clique, with snotty remarks ready.

Except...she wasn't. Although she was the cheerleading captain, she was a social butterfly—she was friends with everyone. Unlike me, an overachiever who cannot stand anyone who doesn't know the difference between "your" and "you're", who was the president of the chess, debate, and Latin club, she hung out with the Goths, the pot heads, the drama club, the jocks, the average teens, obsessed fandom fans (who never read the books), and...everyone, really.

Strange how we ended up being best friends—we were polar opposites.

Smiling, I weaved an arm around her waist, juggling my textbooks on another arm. "This time, I actually feel ready. I'll rock it tomorrow."

"That's my girl!" she crowed, then kissed my cheek. "Bye for now, I'll see you in fifty minutes!"

I laughed, and kissed her cheek too. "See you."

I entered my classroom, and greeted Mr. Hurwitz, possibly the most boring AP Biology teacher on earth, and sat on my assigned seat.

"Now, we will focus on..." Mr. Hurwitz began.

*~*~*~*~*

"God, Sari, that was probably the most boring lesson of the year," I complained fifty minutes later.

"You could've gotten Ms. Bartlett," Sarah said, "but you chose to take AP classes. Come on, admit that you regret that decision."

"No. Nope, not when I've finished more than half of college requirements at freshman."

She rolled her eyes. "Really, come on. You'll be missing out on the freshman year! You know, the freshman 15, the drunken weekends and sometimes even weekdays, the frat and sorority parties, and more!"

"And I can do without all of these." I responded, smiling, and entered my next class.

*~*~*~*~*

When it was lunch time, I sometimes would eat with Sarah or let her mingle with people and I'd eat alone in the library. Today was a Sarah's day. I found her at a crowded table, with a small spot she'd saved for me. I sat next to her, and watched her interact with people. It was always fascinating to see her connect with people.

Suddenly, a jock named Jason Wells, dropped to the floor, unconscious. He was deathly pale and from my lunch table I could see sweat beading his forehead.

It was deathly silent—and then screams and shouting erupted. Jason's girlfriend, a cheerleader named Emily threw herself over Jason and tried to shake him awake. Teachers began shouting for everyone to clear the way for them, but the students crowded over Jason and blocked the teachers' way. Some of the students even began to cry.

"Everyone, please calm down." I tried to make myself heard over the noise. Nobody listened.

"Everyone, SHUT UP!" I screamed. Everybody quieted down, except for Emily, who was crying, and turned to look at me. "Now, let's all move away from Jason."

I moved towards Jason. I had to gently pry Emily off Jason. Emily then collapsed in the arms of Sarah, who soothed her with her calm, melodic voice. It helped me to calm down, too, and give me a clear checklist to do.

I checked for his pulse, and felt around his chest and neck to see if anything was out of place. Then I checked his head for any bumps and took out my iPhone for the flashlight widget and shined the light in his eyes. It was unresponsive; nearly completely rolled up into his head.

But...everything was fine. I found nothing that I could do except to keep an eye on him until ambulance arrived.

"Sari, call the ambulance," I told Sarah.

"Done. It's coming; they should be here in five minutes or so. I knew you'd be too busy checking for anything fatal."

I smiled grimly. The ambulance arrived, and I quickly told the paramedics of what I had noticed and they thanked me.

"Where's all the teachers when this happened?" one paramedic, a pretty blonde, asked.

"The kids crowded around Jason, so the teachers hasn't been able to get to Jason." Sarah responded.

"And she was able to help?"

"Yeah, she shouted for everyone to shut up and that immediately cleared up a path for her." Sarah said, and I think I heard pride in it.

"Wow," the paramedic said, looking at me. I could see what she was seeing: a very short brunette with wild curls and prim clothes; nothing seemed so heroic about me.

After the hectic lunch, and after everything was set in order, I had a study period. Students called it a free period, because basically all they did was to go to library and hang out with others who had the same period...or sneak out for some illicit frolic in the corn fields.

But not for me. For me, it was either planning or studying period. You gotta make sacrifices if you want to succeed.

Heading over to the library, I walked with purpose. I found an empty computer and sat down, placing my backpack and the book I was currently reading on the floor next to me. I started the computer up and looked over my speech.

I think I was going to do great with my speech for the fundraiser tomorrow. It was a fundraiser for our senior class, with the theme of richness—leading the people to bid higher. Trust me, it worked.

When my study period was over, I met up with Sarah and we walked arm in arm towards her fancy Prius. I had convinced her to buy a Prius when I found out that her (insufferably rich but awesome) parents had offered to buy Sarah a brand new car for her birthday.

"Hey," Sarah asked, "What's up with Jason today? He's acting weird."

"I don't know," I said, thinking back to the lunch debacle. "But I'm sure that everything will be fine."