Influenced

Her Situation

As Ashliee rode her bike to school with her sisters, Sam and Kitty, she realized that this is the last year she was going to be in Middle School. She was in 8th grade and Sam was in college. Kitty dropped out of High school during freshmen year. 

"Sammy!" Ashliee called out.

"What?" asked Sam. Sam was the more up tight, controlled sister. She encouraged Ashliee to do new things, she raised Ashliee after her mother died, and she shaped Ashliee into who she is now. 

"Can we go to McDonald's before school? I didn't have breakfast..." Ashliee whined.  

"No, it's too far away. We would have to drive. And Kitty probably doesn't want to go anyways. Is that right, Kat?"

Kitty was walking alongside them on the road. She had her headphones on and was probably listening to some intense music that was on full blast. Ashliee could hear the vulgar words the song yelled out through the headphones. Kitty was younger (17) than Sam (18) and didn't give any fucks at all. She was her own person and have secret jobs all the time that nobody really understood. Sam understood, but not well. She only cared that Kitty was safe and was making an easy flow of money. She didn't dare to let Ashliee get involved with her work missions which could get her killed. Sam didn't want Ashliee to worry. 

"Kitty? Do you want to go to McDonald's?" Ashliee asked. 

Kitty couldn't hear Ashliee. She didn't care either. 

"Hey, Kat, listen to your little sister," Demanded Sam.

Kitty still didn't care. Sam sighed. 

"Sorry, Ash, she doesn't care." 

"It's fine, McDonald's is for little kids anyways," Ashliee shrugged.

Sam was clearly pissed off and Kitty showed no reaction. She seemed so immensed into the music she was listening to. It almost seemed as if she was being mind controlled by it, slapping her hands violently together with the beat. 

"Hey, Sam, I have work tonight. I gotta go," Kitty finally said after taking off her headset.

"Yeah sure, bye," sighed Sam. 

They were at the front office and Sam was ready to let Ashliee go to class. 

"First day of school, tell me how it is when I pick you up after school, okay?" 

"Yeah, Sammy, I will. It can't be terrible, right? I'm not a little kid anymore."

"Yeah... right... I guess..." Said Sammy. 

Ashliee hugged Sam goodbye and went into the school to her classroom. The front office ladies welcomed Ashliee back and Ashliee waved at Sam. Samantha was already gone.  ~

As Ashliee walked down every hallway looking for her homeroom class, she saw many different students in their designated homerooms. She saw silent girls, sporty guys, silly lesbians, a typical Middle School situation. This isn't even a new school, so why was Ashliee so nervous? She kept looking down at the map of the school of her hands. She was lost. Was this school this big before? You can't blame her, the staff and teachers never let any grades lower than 8th to roam these halls. She stopped in her tracks and looked around, she was where she never had been before. It wasn't even the school anymore. She saw space. She could see planets and galaxies. She was scared. She felt as if she were seeing things again, but it felt so real. She wanted to go back. 

"Hello?" she echoed. 

"Hello?" her voice echoed back. A tear trickled down her cheek. She realized that no one for a thousand light years couldn't help her. She was lost in her own thought. This has never happened to her before. She has never seen this place, even in her dreams. How was she even breathing? She was lost in a daydream, but she didn't realize it. She was isolated in darkness and fear. 

"See the stars?" someone echoed back finally. It seemed to be a guy's voice. 

"Huh?" Ashliee turned around and sat up. She wasn't even sitting down in the first place. 

"Get up," he asked. 

Ashliee opened her eyes even though she thought her eyes were already open. She was at school again. She was laying in a cross section in the hallway. Everything still seems trippy from where ever she just was. 

"Let me help," he said, holding out his hand. 

"What happened?? Everything just went black and I saw space and no one was there and-and-" 

"Go to class," he demanded. He held out his hand and Ashliee grabbed it. He yanked her to her feet. The boy walked away in the direction Ashliee should have been going. 

"Wait!" Ashliee yelled at him. She ran up to him to catch up with him, "What's your name?" 

"Gabe." 

"Oh, hi, Gabe! I'm Ashliee nice to meet 'cha!" She said as she held out her hand. Gabe did nothing. He didn't even stop to shake her hand. 

"So... do you know where the 8th grade hall is?" Ashliee asked. 

"Yeah, I'm going there now," he answered. 

"Oh, you're in 8th grade, too?" Ashliee asked. 

"Yeah." 

"Hey, I've never seen you before, are you new here?" 

"Sure." 

From there on, they were walking together to their classrooms, more like Gabe walking ahead of Ashliee. Ashliee felt awkward and vulnerable around him, but Gabe seemed fine. Ashliee felt nervous around him. Gabe walked into one of the classrooms which seemed like an 8th grade classroom. Surrounding that classroom had other classrooms with labels on them. They seemed to be other subjects. Ashliee didn't follow Gabe into his classroom. Ashliee looked down at her paper and read her homeroom teacher's subject.

"Art? Alright then."

She walked past every classroom except the one Gabe walked into. Math, English, Social Studies, Computer Science, Chemistry, but no Art. Where was the art class? Ashliee looked back down at the paper and then at the clock. 8:10? Class starts at 8:15! Ashliee's heart dropped a little and started scanning the paper. She turned over the paper to scan the map, but she still couldn't find it. She walked quickly in the hallway looking left and right. She looked down at her watch on her wrist. 8:14?! She ran to the classroom Gabe entered and frantically looked around the room for him. He was in a corner sitting at a desk. He looked like he was on his phone. The bell rang and Ashliee tried holding back her tears. She ran up to Gabe.

"I'm still lost! I don't know where the Art room is!" Ashliee cried. 

Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at Ashliee. Ashliee felt embarresed and her cheeks turned a bright pink. She felt sweat dripping from her forehead and chin.

"You're here," Gabe sighed. 

"Huh?" Ashliee said, still confused.

"Look around."

Ashliee looked around the classroom and saw rolls of cardboard paper and construction paper. Tables lined the walls filled with various art tools like brushes and crayons. Bags of clay were stacked up in a corner. In neatly lined square desks were the students that sat looking at Ashliee with curiosity and dismay. 

A chill of relief tingled down her spine and she sighed. She was still red from all of the eyes that stared her down. Why didn't she know anyone here?

"Thanks. Do you mind if I sit here?" She asked. Gabe didn't say anything, so Ashliee sat down next to him. 

"Class, notebooks out, now," the teacher demanded as she walked into the classroom. She walked to her desk with her high heels clicking against the tile flooring. When she got to her desk, she slammed a pile of papers onto her desk which made Ashliee jump.  "Write your name on the inside then draw what comes into your mind on the next page." She turned around and wrote her name on the board. Each line she wrote in cursive squeaked with an eerie screech that yelled out trouble. 

Mrs. Jefferson 

~