Young Running

Chapter One

I groaned and pillowed my head with my arms on the dirty school desk, this action drawing the attention of my least favorite teacher Mrs. Damari.

The click of her cheap heels against the tile was like nails down a chalk board to my sensitive ears. The entire study hall seemed to quiet down as they watched the wicked bitch of the west approach me.

I didn't so much as lift my head to look at her as the pain lancing through my skull got worse by the second. I braced myself for her grating, saccharine voice to breach my ear drums.

"Is there a reason you aren't doing any work Miss Young?" Her voice was like cyanide laced cotton candy as it, coupled with the headache from hell, assaulted my senses.

"Migraine." I panted through the rising nausea. I suddenly felt my stomach revolt and before I could stop myself, I had vomited all over the once polished shoes that belonged to a disgusted Mrs. Damari.

She turned a startling shade of green and rushed to the nearest trash can to toss her own cookies. I wiped my mouth on the sleeve of my hoodie and tried to ignore the foul taste that clung to the inside of my mouth.

I stood shakily and grabbed my back pack. "I'll show myself to the nurses station." With that I left behind a packed study hall filled with students who had just found someone new to target with their ignorant remarks.

I could hear the gossip already. I leaned my head against a locker and tried to breathe through the pain gathered in my temples. I stopped at a drinking fountain to thoroughly rinse my mouth and to attempt to get some fluids in my system after I so gloriously lost my lunch. The florescent hallway lights were hell on my eyes as I continued my journey to Miss Jennifer, the school nurse.

I felt eyes on me and looked around only to find not only was no one around, but this entire wing of the school seemed deserted. I shrugged off the paranoia and sighed in relief as I reached the nurses office moments later.

"Miss Jennifer, it's Thalia." I called into the dimly lit office.

"Come on in, I'm in the closet." She replied cheerfully. I stepped inside and sat down in a chair near the trash can in case another bout of nausea caught me off guard.

The woman bustled out of the closet seconds later holding gauze and medical tape.

"One of the athletes rolled his ankle." She said by way of explanation. "What are you in for, Miss Thalia?"

I winced at the loudness of her voice before replying in a much quieter tone. "Migraine and vomiting." Instantly a look of sympathy overtook her features.

Matching my volume she said, "you poor dear, I'll phone your father right away."

Within fifteen minutes I was in the car with my father, face pressed against the window and knees pulled to my chest.

I heard him mumble something to himself before he glanced over at me and started speaking.

"I pay an ungodly amount of money to send you to that private school only for you to fake sick and call home?" His face was tight with an emotion I couldn't place as he glanced over at me. "You should be thankful you get to experience an education. When we get home I expect you to phone your teachers and talk to them about make up assignments, do you understand me Thalia? This is the third time this month you've come home due to a 'migraine'."

I could hear the disbelief in his voice, as if it were typical behavior for me to consistently come up with reasons skip school. It seemed my perfect attendance before this year meant nothing.

He sounded resigned once he finished. "It has to stop before your grades start slipping, do I make myself clear young lady?"

"Yes father." I said hoping desperately he would stop talking. The noise of the traffic around us was enough to make me want to cry.

After about ten minutes of swallowing back the urge to vomit down the side of the car out of pure spite, we finally pulled into the drive way of our small two bedroom house. With bright mint green shutters and white paneling, the house was reminiscent of a Christmas cookie I could remember decorating last year.

I rushed to get out of the car and scurried down the hall to my room. I nearly collapsed onto my bed as a black cat, ironically named Snowball, curled into my side purring like a machine. I scratched his head lightly and drifted off to sleep within minutes.

----

A figure seemed to be hovering beside her bed as she slept, The girl didn't seem to be fully awake as she spoke with a minute slur, "if you're here to kill me then get it over with, if you're gonna kidnap me then the cat comes with. Package deal." She cozied back down into her blankets as she grumbled the last words.

Standing just outside a patch of moonlight that added a little brightness to an otherwise dark room, stood a man. Confusion momentarily graced the features of the intruder as he looked at the girl who was once again sound asleep. The man shook himself from his stupor and easily hefted the medium sized girl from her bed. She let out a soft snore as she lay bridal style in his arms. Snowball, while obviously apprehensive of the stranger, climbed onto the girls stomach and cautiously sniffed around the face of the new comer. The cat settled after a few moments and curled himself into the space created between his owners arms. If Thalia had been awake, she might have noticed how Snowball seemed to be familiar with the man.

Thalia, of course didn't notice. She also didn't feel her body relax as if a switch had been flipped. Her headache lessened and a tenseness that had gone previously unnoticed faded from her limbs.

The man readjusted his grip and seemed to shimmer before quickly fading from sight and vanishing from the bedroom.

------------------------------------------------------

Here's the first chapter of my new book, Young Running.