Islands of Violence

Teardrops Made from Moonlight

Tyler shook me awake. I rolled over until I heard his sobbing. "He's not real! Josh isn't real!" I jolted up and ran over to Josh's bed to find nothing. I frantically searched the bed for any trace of him. "No!" I screamed.

I woke up in cold sweats as I looked around. It was about 2:30 in the morning. I sat up and looked around my small rectangular room. Josh and Tyler were sleeping soundly in their beds. I got out of my bed and tiptoed to Josh's bed. I slipped in next to him and put his arm around me. He squeezed me in closer and I tried to fall asleep again, trying to swallow the knot in my throat and hold back my tears.
"Sierra. Sierra." Josh gently whispered my name.
I groaned. "I'll be late. It's the first day anyways. It doesn't matter." Josh sighed and got up. He dragged me out the bed and forced me to stand up.
"Sierra, no. You're going to be on time. You promised me you would." He pouted. I laughed and pushed his face away. He looked like a puppy dog when he pouted, and I liked it. He smiled and went to go wake up Tyler.
I put my brown wavy hair in a bun at the crown of my head and looked for something to wear. I decided on a pink collared felt top and a black skirt. "Sierra Waters, you are 16 years old and still dress like you're five." I sighed and laughed a bit as Josh put a necklace on for me.
"Tyler told me to give it to you as a present." I smiled, admiring the little moon pendant. I ran to Tyler and squeezed him tightly.
"Thank you so much." I muffled into his shirt.
He patted me on the head and hugged me back. "No problem."

Josh, Tyler, and I were all walking to school. I stayed close to Josh, like always while Tyler gazed at all the things in nature. "How'd you sleep?" Josh asked me with his hands in the pockets of his sweatshirt. I was reluctant to answer. "Sierra?" He stopped and turned around in front of me, blocking my path.
"I had the dream again." I shrugged it off and continued walking. I had this dream almost three times a month so I had gotten used to it.
"You didn't cry this time?" He pulled me in next to him. I released myself from his grasp.
"No. I don't need to rely on you to make me feel better after a nightmare, Josh."
"That's why you climbed in my bed." He smirked.
I nudged him as I laid my eyes upon the building towering over us. Our new high school. I stopped in my tracks and continued to stare at the building as if it were staring back at me.
"Hey," Josh whispered and took my arm, "Everything's going to be okay." He pecked my cheek as he began to walk me in.
There was a sea of teenagers shuffling through the halls. Hundreds of them. No, thousands. I reached for my neck as I tried to breathe. "Can we come back? Like when the halls are empty?" I pleaded as I tried to exit again. "Please?" Tyler came and hugged me, keeping me away from the people.
"Come on. We'll walk you to your locker and help you put your stuff away. We won't leave your side." Tyler reassured me as Josh guided us down the hallway.
I looked around and felt like everyone was staring at me. My palms became sweaty and I hid behind Tyler.
I saw a group of boys suddenly stop talking to look at me. My heart pounded faster and faster. One of the boys waved at me. I smiled a tiny bit and waved back. All the other boys cheered him on.
"Alright. Here's our stop." Tyler said as he opened up an empty locker. "Well, your stop, at least."
"You're not gonna leave me here." I chuckled, thinking he was joking.
"Our lockers are up the hallway. Don't worry, just give me a ring if you need me." Josh hugged me and kissed my forehead. He waved at me until he was out of view.
I sighed and started to put my things away.
"Is that your boyfriend?" A girl next to me said. She had a light blue lipstick on and a big bow in her hair. She dressed similar to me, pastel colors, dresses and skirts. She had a big grin on her face. Her teeth weren't perfect and she had a gap in the middle you couldn't miss.
"What? Oh, um, no he's just... Just a friend." I laughed and put some hair behind my ear.
"I'm Melanie, by the way. Sorry for the rude introduction." She held her hand out for me to shake, which I did. Her hand was soft. Smooth like a baby's skin.
"Sierra." I smiled back. Wow, I made a friend in the first twenty minutes. New record.
"I know how to survive this place, just stick with me." She locked elbows with me and proceeded to guide me down the hall.
"So, basically. You got the popular, the nobodies, the weirdos." She pointed after saying each group.
"Where do you fit in?" I asked.
"I'm not popular, but I'm not a nobody. I'm just, a school kid, you know?" She laughed it off.
"Oh... What about... Him?" I pointed to the boy who waved at me earlier. He was still looking at me, sort of.
"He's not the most popular, but he's up there. That's Brendon Urie." She explained to me. "Every girl's dream. Why is he staring at you?"
I shrugged. "I have no clue. He waved to me earlier."
He started walking towards me. Oh crap, I thought. What was I supposed to do?
"Hey there, toots. I haven't seen you around anywhere." He started off. "What's your name?"
"S-Sierra. Sierra Waters." I fumbled on my own name. I was such a dork.
"Sierra. Rolls off the tongue. Well then, Sierra." He put his arm around my shoulder. "Why don't you come to my party tonight? It's a back to school party my mom put together. You can be my 'special guest'. Trust me, you'll want to be there." He grinned.
I looked back at Melanie, who was nodding her head with a big grin.
"Can I bring Melanie?"
"Sure, bring whomever you want." He ran his fingers through his hair.
"I guess I'll see you there then." I shrugged and half-smiled. He let me go and Melanie pulled me aside.
"He totally digs you! Let's just hope that Ashley didn't see that."
"Hope that Ashley didn't see what?" We heard a voice behind us. A girl with aquamarine hair, shaved on one side, had her hands on her hips. She did not look happy.
"Hope that she didn't see you flirting with Brendon again? I warned you, Mel. If I caught you again..."
"She wasn't even flirting with him! And he was coming on to me, actually." I stood in front of Melanie. "So why don't you run off and do something else rather than attempt to scare people." I scrunched my nose.
Ashley laughed. "You really think he likes you? You look like the Wal-Mart version of Amy Winehouse. He'd NEVER like a little immature brat like you. We all know he's going to ask me out at his party tonight anyways. So fuck. Off."
I backed up and my face went soft again.
"Oh and if I catch speaking to Brendon again," she pushed Melanie. "I'll tell everyone about what happened last summer." Melanie started to tear up. "Stop being such a crybaby." Ashley walked away.
The bell rang.
"Let's go to class." I put an arm around Melanie. She nodded and kept her head down.