Storm

Part One - Signs Chapter One

Past Tense
(Both written wise and italics wise)
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Humans. Humans are what began everything. They gave you war, peace, freedom, and injustice. They provided you with life and death, gods and goddesses. They wrote on the ancient scrolls that gave you history and conducted the experiments that gave you the answers. Solving equations thought to be impossible. At least, that is what we have lead you to believe. For millennia you have pondered over the idea of other life forms in the vast universe, other souls besides your own. I'm here to tell you that there were others, others like me, who are not of your world. We came from a planet light years away, a planet know as Storm.
Storm is a decent planet, although to you, it may seem much more. Everyone's lives were practically the same. Everyone had well paying jobs to help raise their families of green alien babies (joking, we're all normal).  We all lived in a small town in a small neighborhood with our families. In my case, I lived with my mother, father, brother, and sister.  My mother was an writer for Storms biggest magazine/newspaper Ingenious and my father worked as an architect and helped to design and build many of the essential industries that were on Storm.  The children on Storm, however, attended something know as school (seeing as we could not gain proper jobs until we were sixteen).  Our schools were much different than those on Earth.  Our schools had metal walls to protect us from the storm.  No, not the planet Storm.  The actual storm.  Outside of the metal walls and floors, there was a massive storm taking place.  I had only ever seen the storm once when I was five and I had looked out of my classroom window unknowingly.  I could never forget the lighting that seemed to strike everywhere at once, the darkness of the clouds and the vivid purples and whites.  Even a few tornadoes seemed to be forming in the midst of it all.  I had quickly shut the metal back over the window just as lightning struck near me.  But, not everything is metal.  Since you would be risking your life if you dared venture out into the open, we have, over time, created an underground civilization.  It was very advanced because our planet was the home to the universe's geniuses.  Our people have been trained to advance the galaxy and to make an even better home for our people. 
Which, is why I was sitting there in a classroom. Alone, in a corner in the back of the classroom. I knew everything the teacher was talking about. Well, at least most of it. But I had a lot on my mind at the time, so I wasn't exactly in the mood for paying attention. The events of yesterday night reoccurring over and over in my mind.
I was washing my face in my bathroom, watching the water cascade out of the faucet. I put my hand under the cool liquid, feeling its presence on my palms, cupping the water, then splashing it onto my face. I turned off the water. Hearing the soft dripping of the last few drops hit the sink. Plunk. Plunk. Plunk. I reached for a towel blindly, grasping onto the soft material, and putting it onto my face. Plunk. Plunk. Plunk.  As the drops of water were absorbed into the towel, and my face became dry, I looked up and saw my face in the mirror.  I doubled back in horror, almost screaming at what I saw.  My eyes were pure white.   I leaned forward and the figure in the mirror did the same.  What is happening to me?  Am I hallucinating?  Am I crazy?  White eyes?  No way.  But this did not stop me from staring at the figure.  I quickly lifted my hands up to my face, rubbed my eyes, and put my hands back down by my sides.  Plunk. When I opened them again, they were their normal greenish-blue.  Plunk. Plunk.  I sighed in Relief and put a hand to my head, pondering over what had just happened.  I'm just tired.  I was just imagining things.  I had thought to myself as I pulled my short, choppy black hair back into a ponytail.  Plunk.  I exited the bathroom just as the last drop of water fell from the faucet.
"Janey." My teacher, Mr. Arnold, said to me. I snapped out of my gaze and turned my attention to the teacher. "Yes, sir?" "Pay attention." He said in a kind tone. "I'm sorry sir. I'll be sure to listen more closely, I just got whisked away in my thoughts. But that's no excuse." Mr. Arnold smiled as he continued writing notes up on the board. I looked down at my notebook and began to write on the empty pages that were supposed to be filled with words. I took the notes written on the board and solved the sample questions on the bottom of the sheet of paper. Everyone was done in a matter of minutes and just as the last person finished up, the bell rang.
Thank God it was Friday. I gathered my belongings and began to walk out of the classroom when my teacher called me back. "Janey?" I sighed as I stood in the doorway, turning swiftly on my heel to face Mr. Arnold. Yes sir?" "Were you feeling alright today? You seemed to be in some sort of daze." "I'm just fine, sir. There's no need to worry." I smiled at him as he walked over to me and sighed. "If you say so. Just, be careful. Be mindful of the things around you... Especially the storm." "What was that last part?" I asked him because he had most likely purposefully mumbled it. "Nothing you should be worrying about. No go on and enjoy your weekend." "You as well, Mr. Arnold." He shooed me playfully out of his classroom and I just smiled politely at him as he closed the door and I began to walk away. The halls were crowded with students of all ages and I was thankful that my locker was on this hall. I turned a few corners and approached the place were I kept all of my supplies. "Hello locker." I mumbled to myself. Our lockers were basically these holes in the walls that, when we pressed a button on the right side of our hole (or locker), it was a immediately filled with a circular container that could carry loads of things. I pulled out my black backpack and shoved all of my things inside of it. Slinging it over my shoulder, I then pushed the button again so that the container went back to where it came from. I turned to walk out and ran into someone in front of me, falling to the floor. "Ow! Nice going. Just stand in front of someone's locker so that when they turn around, they bump into you!" I said sarcastically to the figure. "Geez! I didn't mean it!" said a male voice from in front of me. I smiled when I recognized the voice. "Help me up, will you Wes?" "Sure." Wes was one of my best friends. We'd known each other since middle school and have always been in eachothers company. Wes was a mildly skinny, tall boy with brown hair and eyes like mine. Wes reached out a hand and pulled me to my feet. "Thanks." I said as I brushed myself off. "Be mindful of your surroundings next time, will you?" Oh shut up!" I said as I laughed and playfully punched his arm. "Ow!" He shouted. "What's going on over here?" Asked a female voice behind me. "Hey Meg." I said as I turned around to see a short girl with brown hair and hazel eyes smiling at me. "Don't forget me!" said someone from behind Meg. "Bradley!" I shouted as I ran up to him and gave him a hug. "How was your trip?" Bradley was a tall, muscular boy with black hair like mine and stunning silver eyes. He had recently gone on a trip with his parents to the center of the city, to study the storm. His parents worked at a facility were they would work with others to gather information about our planet, and how to advance our way of life further. Possibly even widen our area of living. So his parents took him with them and gave him his lessons outside of school. He practically got a weeks vacation though. I know plenty of people who would absolutely love going to the center of the city and being able to wander the facilities corridors. "It was great! I'll tell you all about it later. We have to get home before lights out." "Right you are my man!" Said Wes as he linked his arm through mine and Meg's. "Let us be off!" Wes began skipping through the halls and Bradley had to run to catch up. Meg linked her arm through Bradleys and off we all went skipping like the bunch of fools we were down the halls and out of the school.