I Can Feel Her Heart Beating

Chapter 1: Silas

   School had always been something that Laura was good at. Her dad had always told her that that was a feature that she'd inherited from her mom. She understood the formulas, the questions, the languages. They just made sense to her.

   That's what she was trying to remember as she woke up for her first day at Silas High. West Hallow was a small town. It rained three quarters of the year and snowed for the rest. The people were quiet, detached from one another. There wasn't much to the town. A church, a police department, a hospital, an elementary and secondary school, a bowling alley, movie theatre and few small diners spread around on Main Street. Some old houses helped build the town, built on gravel roads branching off the main one. The entire town was surrounded by the woods. It was quite the contrast to the hustle and bustle of Chicago. Chicago was home.

   Laura got out of bed and slowly slipped out of her pyjamas and into a striped pullover and jeans. That was one thing she could admire about the town, it was always sweater weather.

   She walked downstairs and was instantly greeted by the warm smell of French toast. Her dad must have know that she was nervous for today, he always made her breakfast when she wasn't feeling like herself. Mike was one of the few policemen of the small town that was Silas.

"Hey dad, smells good," She said walking into the kitchen.

"Oh hey kiddo! Didn't see you there. How are you feeling about the big day?" He offered, smiling sweetly. Her dad wasn't perfect, Laura knew that. But he was trying and that definitely counted for something.

Laura wasn't sure how to answer that," A little nervous to be honest. This place is just so..." She trailed off trying to think of a polite word to use to refer to her new hometown.

"Different?" Her dad finished with a positive tone and a smile on his face.

"Yeah. Different. Something like that," She concluded, "So do I get some of that wonderful smelling French toast? Or am I going to head off craving it all day," She teased.

"Yeah yeah, here you go, brat," He joked back, an amused, albeit sarcastic, tone to his voice. "You want a ride in for your first day?" He offered politely.

"I would love that," She answered around mouthfuls of her father's delicious French toast.

He nodded and they sat in silence to finish their breakfasts. "You ready?" He asked, cleaning off the rest of his plate. Seeing Laura nod in response. "You sure you don't want more? You haven't eaten much,"

"I can't eat, I'm too stressed," Laura replied, shrugging.

The car ride to the school was spent mostly in comfortable silence. Being driven around in a police cruiser had never made Laura feel particularly anxious, but she could imagine why it might make other people feel uncomfortable. She'd been in the town for a few days now, choosing to start on a Monday rather than the last day of the school week last week when they'd moved into town.

The cruiser came to a halt just outside the front door of the reception area of the school. Laura stared at the school hesitantly. It was difficult to see it past the rain, but it was very easy for her to tell how small the school was. It didn't need to be big, there weren't enough people in the town for a school bigger than this.  She got out of the car slowly and leaned down to say a quick thank you to her dad.

"Hey good luck today kiddo, I'll see you after school!" He smiled. "I'll pick you up at the end of the day?"

"Yeah sounds good! See you later," She happily responded.