Starstreak

The Start of a Ride

I waited for the bell to end the school day as I took out my brush in the classroom. I brushed out the knots in my hair from PE last period. The bell couldn't possibly come any later. I tucked my brush back into my backpack and pulled out my phone and started playing Subway Surfers. A few minutes later, the bell finally rang, and I rushed out of the classroom as soon as I could. 

I spotted my best friend, Zara Martinez, in the crowded hallway and joined her. 

Zara was a Hispanic girl from Venezuela with wavy, brown hair that reached her waist like mine and gentle, brown eyes. Her skin was a light caramel color, too. She was kind of tall but still a little shorter than me and had a fit body. Zara was wearing an electric blue t-shirt with a pair of glasses and a graded test on it that said "nerd" and black leggings. Zara had some of the best grades in the entire school and is a genius by my standards. 

"Hey, Zara," I said cheerfully as I caught up to her. 

"Hey, Raven," she replied with a smile. "I gotta go to the tech club meeting today, so I can't walk home with you." 

"That's fine. I can walk home by myself without losing my mind." 

Zara laughed and I laughed with her, but our fun stopped when I spotted Brittany McAlister, the school bully. She's the perfect, pretty, popular girl and the daughter of some rich guy in town. She had blonde hair and blue eyes (of course) and was wearing a white crop top and a jean skirt. Her makeup was perfectly done, and her golden earrings sparkled from her earlobes. The only thing not perfect about Brittany McAlister was her slightly crooked nose. 

She walked over to us with her gang right behind her. "Why, if it isn't Little Miss Border-Hopper and her best friend Raven Dracula." she snickered. She's so annoying. She made me want to punch right in her dumb face 24-7. 

She's always calling me Raven Dracula. Just because I have dark hair and light skin doesn't mean I'm a vampire! And Zara is not a border hopper! 

I wanted to scream at her, but that would probably get me into trouble and Mom has enough to deal with, being a single mother and all. 

Zara, who could spot my temper from a mile away, put her hand on my shoulder to calm me down. We walked away from Brittany as she turned her head to smirk, her minions howling in laughter even though nothing had actually been funny. 

"Man, sometimes I just want to punch her right in her stupid, smug face!" I said furiously. 

Zara grinned, "That's every girl's dream." 

I couldn't help but laugh at the comment. 

I said goodbye to Zara and started walking home. 

It was a beautiful Friday afternoon in downtown Jewel. It was almost the end of the school year and summer excited everyone in the neighborhood. Today was even cloudless. I mean it was perfect. 

I was enjoying the crisp air when I saw a woman run out of a small general goods store, screaming. She was a squat woman with graying hair and dark skin that was beginning to wrinkle. 

I ran over to her to ask her what was wrong. 

She was so scared she could only point to the shop. 

Confused, I entered the shop, not knowing what I'd gotten myself into. 

I had expected a pack of wolves or a bear since Jewel was so close to a forest that's miles wide. Plus, I kind of knew how to deal with them. It turned out robbers, or at least men dressed in black with guns, were the ones attacking the store. There were three of them. One of them was blonde and skinny. Another was dark skinned and had hair that was shaven into a buzz cut. The last one was black-haired like me and he was massive, like 6' 5 or something, with a strong build. Their guns were pointed threateningly at employees and customers ready to fire. They hadn't noticed me yet, but they would soon.