A girl named Bella

                             

That afternoon was the worst night of her life. The smell of Dollar Tree perfume wafts through the halls, the giggles of cheerleaders bouncing around the school. Bella and her friends sit quietly on the cold boiler floor. Cigarette smoke fills the basement of Grayson Academy. She and her friends are what you would call, conservative. They love music, art and the unknown. Bella swiftly moves her attention to the pounding of a prep rally.
         "Why aren't we up there?" Bella wondered. She was sitting with her friend Kylee.  They had been friends since the third grade.    
          "Haha, because  someone was nervous that she would see Luke," she howled, shoving Bella into the wall as the rest of the friends started laughing. She pulls herself closer to the rest of her friends and sighs.
         "Oh shit! I forgot I had to babysit tonight," Bella runs out of the basement and goes to the main hall bursting through the doors, leaving them behind. As she makes it through the doors, heat radiates her back making her turn around. Her heart stops as she sees the room of friends replaced by a cloud of flames. Then time seemed to slow down as she faded into the darkness.

A year later...

It's been a year since the accident and Bella hasn't been back to school. She would be just starting her sophomore year of high school, but her mom has insisted on home schooling her and keeping her sheltered from the outside world. Life is okay for Bella, but not everything is the same as it was. She struggled to realize what had happened that night to her friends. She kept replaying the moment over in her head eventually leading her to believe they still exist.
  "Hey Bella do you want any lunch?"

     Her mom softly knocked on her door trying not to disturb her. She opens the door a peak and hears her whispering and giggling. Bella's face glows with joy as she laughs. "Who are you talking to today Bella?" She quickly stops and throws a teddy at her mom.
"Go away! We don't want you here... Right Kylee?" Her mom slumps her head and sets the sandwich on the floor, sneaking out not saying another word. She walks down the old stairs as the giggling continues to grow louder and louder.

Luke

      I sit scratching at my desk. The classroom filled with people. I watch the hours tick by as the teacher talks on and on, until he says something about a school project. Snapping out of my daydream, I seem to stand up. "Wait what did you say?" The class laughs as they realize I'm standing.

      "Well Luke... You obviously seem to have an interest in our school project on medical disorders?" I sink farther into my seat.
" Oh.... Um what's mine on?" I looked around seeing everyone with a piece of paper on their desk.
"Yours will be on schizophrenia" as he slams the paper on my desk.
"What the hell is that" I know what Mr. Smith is going to say without him even talking. The bell rings and I rush out of my seat heading to the parking lot. My head rumbling on ways to write a paper on something I don't  know anything about.  As I walk home my head is blank. I don't even know what schizophrenia is. I start to walk up the old steps of my house.
"Hey luke?" my little sister giggled as she pushes me through the door. "Mom is not home so you make me dinner" her tiny nagging voice lingers in the air. She sees how I'm annoyed and she finds amusement out of it.
     "Just sit down!" As I start making dinner I find myself lost in my thoughts. "Hey Lulu... um do you know anything about schizophrenia?" she seems interested and sits up straight.
"Oh yeah... I know this girl that has it. I used to play with her at the park but then her mom got worried or something so she is stuck at home."
      "Wait... what? How old is she?" I turn around interrupting her meal. "Um she is like 15... she lives a couple blocks away!" I continue to stir the pot of boiling water. "Thanks" she looks at me confused. "Why did you want to know?"  "Oh ... just a school project."