Shadow's Mark (Currently Being Edited)

Chapter 2: The Substitute

"What?" asked my two best friends simultaneously.

First period hadn't even begun yet and I had just finished telling my girlfriends, Autumn Tate and Drew Delco, the details of last night's events.

And by events, I meant my horror-filled nightmare with the creepy shadow cloud, and not to mention how I couldn't breathe in my sleep.

I grabbed my books before closing my locker door shut and spun around to face my friends. The expressions etched across their faces hinted that they were just as worried about me as my parents were the night before.

Before they could say anything further though, I held up a hand reassuringly. "Guys, it's okay. I'm fine now."

Autumn, my incredibly sassy friend, shot me a look of concern,"Girl, you don't look fine." She quickly gave me a once-over as she studied my lousy appearance today.

I scoffed nervously at her remark. "Seriously, I said I was fine, guys. Now, can we just focus on getting to class? We don't wanna be late," I said, hoping they would drop the subject.

"So, you're absolutely fine?" Drew eyes me suspiciously, obviously unwilling to drop the matter. "If so, then why are there bags under your  eyes?" she pointed out as she folded her arms while Autumn placed her hands on her hips.

"Okay, maybe I didn't sleep well last night after that nightmare," I admitted. "But what do you want me to do? Spend all day fretting about it? It was just a dream. Dreams don't mean anything."

"Well, what did your parents say?" voiced Autumn as we began hiking through a swarm of students down the hallway. "I mean, sure, dreams are dreams, but having an asthma attack triggered by said dream isn't something to overlook."

"My parents are gonna take care of it," I explained in a convincingly confident tone. "They're taking me back to see Dr. Fraier about the asthma."

It had been a while since I last saw Dr. Miles Fraier. When I was first diagnosed with asthma as an infant, he had been there for me and my parents every step of the way and my family was indebted to him, especially since my condition only worsened over the course of my childhood.

My asthma attacks were not at all like ordinary ones. Sure, I still suffered from the same shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, and suffocating tightness in my chest. But my attacks were almost violent at times. My lungs would falter without warning, fighting desperately for air until my body could no longer keep up. Even my inhaler didn't seem to fully ease my suffering.

It was my parents' greatest fear that one day my body would give in and fail me altogether. And so, when the good doctor happily gave the news one day after a month of no symptoms, my parents had cried joyously. It was as if my condition had ceased altogether. Dr. Fraier claimed it might've been my lungs had grown stronger and bigger since I was growing or perhaps my respiratory system had developed enough to combat the asthma. I don't quite know the details myself. All I know is I was an ecstatic child excited that I could play all day and not worry about over exertion.  my parents had decided to keep the inhaler anyway just to be safe. And after what happened last night, it was a mighty good thing we did.

"Well, we're here for you if anything, Nat," piped Drew as we continued our slow march to class.

I squeezed both Drew's and Autumn's hands while a grateful smile tugged the corners of my mouth. I was lucky to have friends like these two. Drew with her compassionate kindness, and Autumn with her honesty and fierce loyalty.

My friends and I then busily discussed the matters of unfinished homework and school gossip when the school bell rang, indicating the beginning of first period. Suddenly the hallway was full of students darting and dashing to their respective classrooms.