The Calling

Chapter 3

As I left through the side door exit that leads to the parking lot, I noticed there is a girl leaning against the brick wall. She jumped up and came towards me. She is a foot shorter than I am with brown hair, black rimmed glasses and brown eyes. She was dressed in dark jeans and a grey hoodie. She has a smile on her face and does not look anything like Ashley or her minions, so I assume she is friendly.

"Hey! My name is Bree. We're in the same art class with Mrs. Lea."

She is? I feel bad, but honestly, I did not notice that she was there. She must have noticed the blank look on my face because she added,

"I was sitting in the furthest row, near the front of the class. Anyways, do you want to hang out?"

"I'm sorry I didn't notice you in class but to be honest it was probably because I was too preoccupied with trying not to drink the tealeaves and swirling the leaves around in my cup."

"That's cool. Do not worry about it. Mrs. Lea has done tealeaf readings for a couple of years now. She says it is a good way to break the ice and make introductions. Anyways, what are you into? There is a gaming hall not too far from here. On the other hand, there is the mall? Or...Umm. Are you hungry? I have lived here my whole life so I can take you pretty much anywhere you wanna go. Do you like going to the movies? Or how about bowling, that's fun sometimes..."

Gosh, she talks a lot but I am good with that cause that means I will not have to talk much about myself.

"Sure, it all sounds great... I just have to swing by my house, drop off my stuff and fill in my parents. You can come if you want."

Off we went. She kept talking about what was around town, things to do... Honestly, I tried to pay attention but I kept think about what I saw in the cup before it was gone. Am I going crazy? One thing that I know for sure is that I will not be drinking that tea anymore. Thankfully, the bitter taste is gone, but my throat still feels like its burning and I cannot taste my gum.

"We're here. This is me."

"Oh! You moved into the Anderson's old house. That is cool. I think he moved into a nursing home after his wife died. Not that she died in the house or anything like that, I heard she died of some kind of cancer in the hospital."

"Death doesn't bother me; it's a natural part of life. But don't get me wrong, I don't want to test that theory out for a long time."

She laughs and says, "Well I don't know about that, you seemed to be making a death wish with Ashley in the bathroom earlier today... Whatever she did, I'm sure she deserved it."

OMG. I forgot how fast word travels in a small town, ha ha.

"She most definitely deserved it. Let's check out the bowling alley, I haven't been to one of those since I was a kid".

"You're going to love it. It is right beside a pool hall and a bar. Sometimes I go in there to play pool, but mostly I go there because they have good cheese sticks".

I unlock the front door and as I walk in I yell, "Mom? Dad? Are you guy's home?" Weird, I get no response. Then I notice a note on the counter, it says, that they went to do some errands and will be back after they go grocery shopping.

"Looks like your parents are not here. Hey is this a picture of your parents?"

I look over to see what she is looking at, one of the boxes in the family room is open and she is holding a family picture.

"Yeah, that's them. Nancy and Jim Taylor."

"Strange, but umm... don't take this the wrong way, you don't look anything like them".

"Well yeah... that's because I'm adopted. To me, they are the only parents I know. I have been with them since I was a baby. According to the adoption agency, my biological parents died in a house fire, and by some kind of miracle, I was the only one who survived, but not completely unscathed; I have a burn that goes from the top part of my neck, straight down to my lower spine. It's so faint now; no one really notices it anymore."

"That's awful. I am sorry to hear that, but hey, you are alive! You must have some kind of crazy destiny or something."

We both look at each other all serious, and then break out laughing as we head out the front door.

As we get closer to the bowling alley, I suddenly start to feel a little faint.

"I think I need to get something to eat. I didn't get to finish my lunch today after Camden fell on me".

"What? Is that jerk still trying to use that as a way to pick-up the girls?" She rolls her eyes.

"That's Camden's signature move, instead of a pick-up line, he pretends to fall on some girl while catching ball with his boys."

"That makes a lot of sense now. I guess I'll have to do something special for our date on Friday". We laugh together.

"OMG. You are awesome! The closest place to get something quick to eat is next to the bowling alley at the pool hall. Does that work? As I said they make the best cheese sticks, but they have lots of other options."

"Yeah, that will do".

As we entered the pool hall, I started to feel flushed, weak and clammy. The lower level of the building appears to be the bar and restaurant area and the upper area in the back looks like the pool hall. As I'm trying to stay focused and stop the room from spinning, then I see him... and as I am beginning to feel myself falling, everything goes black...