On The Outside

Chapter 1

I have no memories of my parents or of my past life. All I know is that I was taken in by a woman named Beth when I was 11 years old and I've been living with her ever since. She worked at the hospital that I was admitted to after the accident and was my personal nurse for a month. At that time, I wanted so badly for somebody, anybody, to come for me, I wanted to get my memories back and go back to the life I imagined I had lived. But neither happened. I guess even now, a part of me still wants that - to be able to go back and stop the accident. But you can't change the past. After 4 months of being fully recovered and mooching of the hospital's food, they couldn't afford to keep me anymore and I couldn't be on my own. That's when Beth took me in. It's been almost 6 years since then and now, everything is about to change.

The cold air bit at my exposed arms and for the fifth time that day I regretted not picking up my jacket on the way to school. Next to me, an annoying buzz sounded constantly in my ear, slowly driving me to insanity. Harper Collins sat next to me on the bleachers, animatedly talking about last night's conquest.

"You wouldn't believe her, Sammy, she was amazing," his eyes closed as he swiftly drew out the shape of a woman's body in the air, sighing softly to himself.

"You're disgusting," I remarked, still cringing for the poor girl who had the pleasure of meeting Harper last night.

"Aw c'mon, don't pretend that even you don't want a bit of this," Harper wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, blowing a kiss in my direction. His words drifted through empty air. It was currently 4:00 p.m and school had ended forty-five minutes ago. The only reason we sat here now was because we were waiting for one of the cheerleaders to meet us and explain the 'dietary needs' of her squad so we could finally finish our project for P.E.

His rambling continued and I internally blocked every word out. Within a few minutes, the cheerleader had arrived, already complaining about how annoying her coach was. Harper pulled out his phone, typing her answers out hastily, secretly eyeing her exposed stomach. I gazed up at the sky. How was my family doing? Did they miss me? Were they thinking about me right now? Did I even have a family?

The hospital said that the driver of the car was never found, and there wasn't any blood. They said that the only indication that anybody had actually been driving the car was a security camera that showed a hooded figure in the driver's seat just moments before the accident. Sometimes I wonder if it was all a big lie. If maybe, just maybe, they were wrong and something else had happened that day, something that was too big for anyone to understand.

Suddenly, a blue light caught in my peripheral vision and dragged me out of my daydream. I snapped my head towards it and furrowed my brows. There he was again. On the edge of the bleachers stood a boy. His eyes were sapphire and his hair as dark as the midnight sky. There was an air about him, a presence that made him unapproachable. I had long since learnt that nobody else could see him, and that whoever, whatever, he was, he only ever existed in my mind. The most disturbing thing about him was that he looked so familiar. It was like I recognised every little detail about him but could never fully understand why. All I knew was that somehow I had known him before everything. Before Beth, before the hospital. Before, the accident.

I had seen him for as long as I could remember, he grew up with me. As I changed so did he. But over the last year he had started acting differently. He had started talking.

"Home."

The wind carried his voice to me in a ghostly whisper. His strong frame stood firmly in place, cold eyes staring up at me. I sat, captivated by his beauty as always. When he didn't disappear immediately I started to grow tense. After a minute I started to shake. He should have disappeared by now. Why was he still here? He never stayed for more than 30 seconds, he always slowly faded out into the background. Always.

Panic grew in my chest. Before it even happened I knew something was wrong. In a flash he was right in front of me. Nose inches from my own, eyes burning with an indescribable flame.

I gasped and launched myself backwards into Harper, my chest rising and falling rapidly.

"Sammy! What the hell?!"

Harper's voice barely registered as the boy cocked his head to one side, a smile creeping onto his face. For the first time, he was so close, so real. The boy took a step backwards and flicked his head to one side, motioning for me to follow him.

"I-I I have to go," I stuttered out to Harper, quickly shoving my stuff into my bag and hoisting it over my shoulder. "I'm sorry. I'll call you later."

Harper's face now registered shock and confusion, while the cheerleader looked at me as if I was a freak.

"Sammy!" Harper called as I sprinted off into the distance after the boy.

The wind rushed past me as I ran forward, desperate to catch another glimpse of the boy. I didn't understand. For six years he had constantly just been an image, a useless fragment of my imagination, and now he was moving, talking, acting like a real person. The beginning of a headache started to form and I groaned as I came to a stop in the middle of the sidewalk, gaping in air as if my life depended on it.

"You know, if you wanted to catch me you probably should have taken the shortcut." The boy's deep, almost melodic voice stopped me dead in my tracks. A small smile graced his face, morphing his features into an amused expression.

"What?" I breathed, my voice coming out raspy and child-like.

"Listen," he whispered, his attitude doing a complete flip to a stern and emotionless, "it's almost time. Be prepared."

His features returned to the neutral expression I had seen all these years, but his eyes remained cold and guarded, more so than I had ever seen. Something was different about him but I couldn't figure out what.

"I don't understand," I mumbled, barely recognising the lost, child-like voice that escaped my lips.

"Be prepared," he said one last time and just like that, he disappeared.

One minute he was here, then the next he was gone. For a moment he seemed so real... but he couldn't be. That was impossible.

"Sammy?" I heard a familiar voice say, "What are you doing out there in the cold? Come inside before you freeze."

I looked up into the familiar face of Beth, relief washing over me as I found comfort in the one person who cared for me more than anything.

It was only then that I realised the boy had led me right to my doorstep. Slightly frazzled, I stumbled inside, kicking off my shoes and dumping my bag in the middle of the hallway.

Beth came over to me and wrapped her arms around my small frame, "Are you okay, dear? What were you doing standing out there all on your own?"

"Nothing, Beth." I said softly, "I just thought I saw someone from school."

Beth's old face wrinkled into a soft smile as she turned to head into our small kitchen.

"How about I make you some hot chocolate to warm you up?"

I sent a small smile Beth's way and headed for my room. Today had taken its toll on me and my head pounded in pain. Nothing was making sense. I mean, why after all this time would he suddenly decide to lead me on this random chase and then declare that I had to prepare for something?

A wave a drowsiness washed over me and I collapsed into my bed, barely noticing Beth leave a cup of hot chocolate on my bedside table. Before I knew it, I had drifted off into a listless sleep.

--

A/N Hey guys! Thank you so much for reading this, it really means a lot to me. This is my first official story on wattpad and I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE IT!! If you enjoyed it please VOTE and COMMENT your thoughts (I would really appreciate it) XD ahaha I don't really know what to put in this A/N sorry! :( ANYWAYS THANKS FOR READING ILY!

And who's the mystery boy? Hmmmm I guess you'll have to keep on reading to find out ;)

-caramel396