When It Starts

Chapter 2

By the time I get to school the sun is hanging against the morning sky. I walk up the front steps of Hell. Where trapped souls of our posterity ring out with cries of algebraic expressions and proper English etiquette. I pause my music but leave my earbuds in. The morning bell rings out and the school commons area erupts with morning yawns, laughter, and threats. I put in my locker combination as a brutal force knocks into my backpack, sending me flying towards the locker opposite of mine. I sigh and glare at the villain. It's a high school jockey wrestling with his friends. He doesn't even look back to see who the victim was to his unruly idiocy. I roll my eyes and input my combination. Again. As soon as I take out my earbuds my ears are met by shrieks of the ninth grade hoes and the whispers of the tenth grade goths. Then I see Sarah coming through my peripheral vision. Sarah James Turner is exactly five foot. Weighs approximately one hundred and fifteen pounds. She is also one of the happiest people I know. "Becca!" She calls out. Her exuberance is well appreciated during certain events. Such as, sad movies, bad days, or when your goldfish dies. Not at seven thirty-three in the morning. She wins the fight against the callous teenagers. She begins conveying her current life problems. Which just so happens to include flat hair, muddy shoes, and lack of completed homework assignments. "You look great." I say. Which is true. Her dark maroon pants and white shirt goes well together. She tries her best to be prominent against our otherwise... Desultory peers. Her childish whims are quite exasperating sometimes, but I decide to be a rather genial friend and move on. "Thanks. You look..." She glances at my outfit. "Intriguing." I roll my eyes. "Yeah I know I look like shit." Sarah just shrugs. Wow. "Are you going to class today?" She asks. "Nah. Probably not. Cover for me." "Okay." She says and heads to class.  I go to class maybe twice a week. Sarah takes two copies of our assignments and I'm always there on Test Day. Nobody asks questions. Besides Sarah, no one knows I'm gone. The bell goes off and I snatch my phone from my locker. I wander aimlessly around the pearl white school. I turn down the Freshman Hallway until I get to locker 216 and 217. 09-01-02, and 10-06-09. The lockers open simultaneously. I climb inside onto a small wood plank and pull on a long rope that seems to go into a void of darkness. I use the rope and the pulley to slower myself down below the school.