Controlled

Chapter 1

A loud beeping woke me up, piercing through the morning silence of my bedroom.

Shit! I'm late.. I roll out of bed and look in the mirror and my wadded mess of flaming red hair.

"Eh...good enough," I say to myself as I throw on a random band T-shirt and dirty jeans. My feet carry me down the stairs, through the kitchen, grabbing my mom's mug of coffee, and out the door.

BEEP BEEP. I raced down the sidewalk tripping over my own feet and leaping up the steps of the bus into an empty seat.

"What did I just say?" I heard someone shouting from the back of the bus. I turned to see a tall brunette girl (maybe a senior) yelling at a freshman.

"I'm sorry...I'll move." Said the freshman.

"Damn right you'll move," The senior girl growled behind her. The freshman sat in the seat behind me.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked. Her face went red and she looked at the floor.

"Yeah," She whispered, smiling slightly. I nodded my head and turned around.

"Have a good day," The bus driver growled as the doors squeaked open.

The day started off pretty normal. Crowded, awkward, and uncomfortable. Just like every high school. But there was one difference. I kept seeing the freshman girl from the bus all around school. She was smiling and writing in a small black notebook. I didn't think much of it the first time, but I kept seeing her. Everywhere. All day.

On the bus back home she sat in the seat across the aisle from me. Just watching and writing. I ran back to my house faster than I ran this morning. I jerked the door open and slammed it behind me, locking it.

I took a deep breath and walked up to my room, dropping my backpack at the bottom of the stairs. Closing my door behind me, I flopped down onto my bed and turn my head to the clock. 3:06.

The next morning was just like any other. I woke up late, rushed downstairs in dirty clothes and a rat's nest on my head, grabbed something from the kitchen and left. Only this time, there was a Dunkin Donuts cup of coffee one the kitchen counter.

"Is this mine?" I asked, a little confused.

"Yeah some gi-"

"Cool thanks mom," I cut her off. I didn't have time to listen to her speech about why she got me coffee. I chugged the coffee, dropped the cup in the trash can, and left.

I opened the door and saw the bus driver watching me through the bus door. Suddenly I felt very dizzy. I blinked a few times and walked through the door. I blinked once more and I was still in the kitchen doorway. Except now I was walking in. Did I turn around? I didn't turn around. Mom wasn't at the table anymore. I looked behind me and my bus was halfway down the street.

"No come back!" I shouted. I started to chase after it but I tripped over my shoelaces and face-planted into the grass. Why are my shoes untied? I moved into a kneeling position to tie my shoes and my hair fell into my face. I brush it away and notice that it's wet. I pulled the strand of hair back to my face and smelled it. That's not my shampoo...

I stand up and go back into the house and shut the door.

"Mom," I called into the house. No answer. "Mom are you here?"

I looked over at the clock on the microwave.

"3:04? But I just left," I called aloud. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. "Okay Urelia. Calm down. You just forgot the day. I'm sure it happens to the best of us." I took another deep breath and headed up the stairs to my room. I closed the door and slowly laid down on my bed. I turned my head toward the clock. 3:07.

"But how?" I whispered to myself. "The untied shoelaces, the wet hair, and the weird shampoo. What could any of that be?" I felt like I was going crazy. What could it have been?

I spent hours trying to figure out what happened. Maybe I fell in a puddle, hit my head and got amnesia. And I escaped from the hospital and don't remember anything. Although I would have a hospital bracelet. Or maybe it rained and I just forgot. No, the ground was dry. Or maybe it's so humid outside that my hair never dried from my shower that morning. Only I didn't take morning showers. There was simply no explanation.

I drove myself crazy trying to think of ways this this would have happened. I cupped my hands around my nose and mouth and noticed what was quite possibly the weirdest thing about that day. Aside from forgetting it, that is. My fingers smelled metallic. Not the kind of metallic you smell from a kitchen knife or a chain necklace, but the kind of metallic you smell when you get a paper cut and you're licking the blood. Except it was much stronger. My eyes grew wide as I curled my knees into my chest and began rocking back and forth.

"What the hell happened today?"