A Sea of Red

Chapter One

A shot rang out, and a sea of red overwhelmed my vision. It felt like I was drowning, and my chest contracted. My chest was on fire, the wall of flames building, until it crashed down, my vision blurred. The wave pulled back, and smashed down, this time, the pain was less like a wave and more like a current, a constant vice around my heart and lungs. I was falling and burning. I was drowning and dying.

The fire consumed my whole being, and everything went black. I hit the ground, and the waves pulled me under.

I sat up suddenly, the pessimistic beeping sound pulling me out of my nightmare. I pulled in a sudden breath, the memory of the horrible dream haunting me, and I slumped back down onto my pillows.

"Ugh," I groaned. I could tell today was going to be a great day.

"Alexandra! Breakfast!" I heard my mom call.

After I was dressed, in my basic pop culture reference t-shirt, and a pair of skinny jeans, I ran downstairs for a bowl of cereal, but I fell down the stairs.

I stood up slowly and winced as I rubbed my butt. "Well, who ever said we needed breakfast. It's not like it's the most important meal of the day or anything."

I grabbed my bookbag, and got ready to leave, when I was stopped by my parents.

Now, most people have normal parents, ones who pick them up when they fall down, ones who choose nurture over nature. Parents who let their children make friends, go to birthday parties.

My parents were weird and paranoid all the time. They said crazy things like, "You can't trust anyone," and "The government will kidnap you, so you can't be anywhere without our permission." I think they mean well, but when they say things like that, they sound psychotic.

"Where are you going, dear?" My mom asked.

"To school," I said.

"Maybe you shouldn't go today," said Dad.

"Why not?" I asked.

"It just doesn't feel right." Mom said.

"Oh my..." I face-palmed. "Okay, you know what? I don't have time for your guys' craziness right now. I have to go to school." I gripped my backpack tighter and walked out the door.

"No!" They yelled. Mom grabbed my arm. Her grip was painfully tight. "You can't go!"

"Would you guys knock it off. I'm going to school." I was going to be in trouble when I got home later.

I yanked my arm out of her grip, and got in my car.

As I pulled out of the driveway, I could see Mom's eyes. They were wide, and filling with tears. Dad had frozen, an expression of fear plastered on his face. It was like I was driving to my certain death.

"Okay then..." I muttered under my breath, and clicked on the radio and the heater, trying to block the haunting looks of my parents faces. I took a deep breath and drove off to school.

School was a battle all on it's own. It was a building full of people genetically designed to hate you, all because of the way you look. I thought a school being split into cliques was impossible, that it was only a cliche in movies. Apparently not in our school.

We had our jocks, and our cheerleaders, headed by the most fake and mean of them all, our school's cheerleading captain, Juliet Briars. We had our nerds and geeks, all of them twice as nice as Juliet, and three times as intelligent. They all worshipped their leader, Wesley Park. The difference between Wesley and all of the other nerds was the fact that he also happened to be incredibly hot. All of the girls described him as "Adorkable", or whatever that word was. To me, he was just another person who I avoided like the plague.