Shadow Girl

Chapter Two

Second period started and I followed a few students absent-mindedly to the gym for P.E. We sat down on the first row of the bleachers and Mr. Rodgers gave instructions for dodge ball.

I just sat there starting off into space. This day could have started off better. Can't I do anything right? It's only the first day of school and I'm already failing!

"Alex? Alex. Alex!" a voice shook me from my thoughts.

I looked up, startled, Mr. Rogers stood in front of me. "Sorry." I got up and went to the far end of the gym where my team was.

The whistle was blown and the game started. I ran up to get a ball and ran back, my back to the wall.

"Haha, that's my strategy, too," a blonde-haired girl said. "My name is Katy."

"I'm Alex," I replied, a little surprised.

Katy stood next to me and we talked for a while. A dodge ball was shot at us like a bullet. I ducked and dodged it, but it hit Katy in the eye. "Head shot!" I shouted at a tall boy from the other team. "Katy, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm alright."

She looked like she needed an ice pack, but she was tough. She said she didn't need one. "That kid threw the ball way too hard." I said.

"It's okay," was all she managed to say to me. 

I threw the ball, but I failed miserably. I sighed and just stood there for most of the rest of class. P.E. definitely wasn't my thing. Then again...is anything? I asked myself.

The rest of the day really didn't go as planned. Through, literature, language arts, lunch, social studies, math, and study hall, I was lucky I was still standing! 

Maybe I'll learn to like having friends. Maybe having people who follow me around and ask me questions wouldn't be so bad...I shook the thoughts out of my head and decided I'd just see what happens.

I found myself getting off the bus later that day. My parents hadn't returned home from work yet. I gratefully took a caramel-filled Ghirardelli square and ran outside the back door to the woods where the big rock was. I put my stuff down and opened my math book to work on my homework while I was waiting for Shadow. 

I heard the snap of a twig and Shadow appeared. "Hey, girl."

Shadow pricked her pointed ears forward and climbed onto the rock. 

"Well, today was...not perfect. But I know it's not even over yet, maybe it will get better," I rolled my eyes and laughed a little.

A song echoed through the woods and I realized my phone was ringing. I looked at my phone's screen. "Mom".

"Hello," I said into the phone.

"Hey, sweetie, I need you to come to the house. There's something we need to talk about," Mom said on the other end.

"Okay, see you soon." I grabbed my backpack and books. "Bye, Shadow, I have to go back to talk to Mom."

Shadow moved her head as if she were nodding.

What could it be about? Hopefully it's something good...

I opened the old back door, "I'm here."

"Come and sit," Mom gestured to a couch.

I did so and waited for her to say what she needed to say.

"So...Alex..." Mom started, fighting for words. Her face was red and she had obviously been crying. "There's been...a death in the family...Your father was killed in a car crash. There was a drunk driver a-and...your father couldn't stop his car in time..." she stopped talking and looked up at me, but I was lost in thought. 

I felt paralyzed in disbelief. "What?"  

"So," Mom continued, "we are going to hold a funeral on Wednesday." 

I tried to speak, but there were no words. I tried to nod, but I was frozen. Could I just close my eyes and open them, just like I could do in dreams? To wake up from this nightmare? No, I knew that there was nothing I could do about it. "K," I managed to choke out. 

Mom hugged me and I could only sit there, still frozen. I wished I could bring him back. Disappear. Or maybe both. Fond memories of my father ran through my head. I felt inhuman because I couldn't shed a single tear. 

This isn't real...It can't be...what the Hell is happening?