Ethereal Beings

Chapter One

The graveyard was her safe space. Free from the bullying and spiteful attacks of her peers. Free from the criticisms of her parents. Free from the stress of her every day, teenage life. She came here most days before class to read and unlike others, she felt comforted by the smell of moss and the chalky scent of the gravestones. Only rarely did it make her feel anxious.

Today, Nancy Howes, was wearing her favourite hoodie - a long, black asymmetrical jumper, which draped down at the back - and her usual jeans and Converse combo. The teen's auburn hair, boldly cut into sharp layers, framed her face and neck, coming to an end just below her shoulders. Nancy's eyes were a piercing blue, usually full of a natural solemnness, but today, they were brighter than usual. Full of inspiration.

She is engaged in a gothic, tatty-looking poetry book, titled 'Lessons from the Afterlife'. Nancy sighs and scribbles something in the leather-bound notebook, which she has rested on her knee. This is her usual set up, with the notebook on her lap, her favourite fountain pen in her right hand and her book of choice held in her left. She mutters something to herself and looks up from her book, staring into the sky. It was as if Nancy was looking for answers.

It was nearly noon, and the sun was in its highest point in the sky. The light pierced through the trees surrounding the graveyard, hitting Nancy's face, causing her to squint. "Fuck." She mumbles, placing the book down and using her hand to block out the sun's rays. Sighing again, she drops her gaze down to her mobile phone, unlocking it to check the time. 11:51.

"FUCK! " Nancy stands up sharply, picking up her things as she does and stuffing them into her backpack. "I cannot afford to be late to history again." This was a frequent occurrence for her and Mr Girton, her teacher, was getting fed up. He had already threatened to put her in detention twice this week. As for her other subjects, showing up was a rarity for her and Nancy often took it upon herself to teach herself the units.

Nancy scurries out of the graveyard, heading down the street. She was lucky that Derby County College was only a ten-minute walk away from her safe space, eight at a push. After an intense walk down the road, she reaches the gates and rushes to her class. Climbing up the two flights of stairs, turning the corner and virtually sprinting down the hallway, Nancy was trying her hardest not to be late. She bursts through the door to her classroom at 10:59.

"Sorry I'm late, Mr. Girton," she pants, catching her breath, "it won't happen again, I promise!" The chatter in the class comes to a stop as she enters, and everyone seems to be staring directly at her.

Rolling his eyes, Mr. Girton runs his fingers through his short black hair, slicking it back. "I'll let you off this time, Nancy, but if you step out of line at all next week, you'll get an invitation to my after-school tutorial... which I like to call, detention." Mr. Girton was an attractive man, who had not long graduated from Derby University. Nancy sighs as she takes her seat and gets out her textbook. The rest of the class chuckle, making snide comments under their breath. Realising the comments were most probably about her, Nancy shakes her head as she pulls out a notepad and pen.

"Now that you're all here," Mr. Girton turns to the whiteboard, "we can crack on with our new topic." There's an audible groan from the class as he writes 'Greek Mythology/History' across the board. Nancy scrawls down the title and date on a fresh page, before doodling an image of a Greek god in the corner.

Mr. Girton attempts to give an overview of the new topic without boring everyone to death... And he is somewhat successful. The white board had turned into a mind-map of sorts, with 'Greek Mythology' printed in the middle. Being a charismatic man, Mr. Girton was able to involve the whole class, getting them to shout out anything they could think of to do with the topic. Being one of the quiet ones, Nancy takes a backseat and lets her peers do the talking.
"Have you got anything to add, Nancy?" One of the popular girls, Leigh Frost, in the room pipes up and Nancy freezes, unsure of what to say.
"Uhm...uh," she studies the spider diagram which had grown with the ideas of others. Racking her brain for something which hadn't already said, she sighs. "Gods and Goddesses?"
"Very good! That's the exact answer I was looking for, Nancy!" Mr. Girton gives her a small, yet sympathetic smile. He is understanding towards Nancy and knows what it's like being put on the spot. "That's our first sub-topic and we will be looking at many more over the next month or so."

Anyone could see that Mr. Girton had a passion for history and he taught the subject well. He engaged the whole class and the way he spoke about history was almost hypnotic. The rest of the hour flies by and Nancy is sucked into the work of Greek mythology, attentively taking notes from both her teacher and the textbook in front of her.

The bell rings, and the class is dismissed. "Guys, remember that there's gonna be a quick quiz at the start of Monday's class! Bring your textbooks and don't forget to email me about your project ideas for assessment in the coming weeks." Mr. Girton is practically talking to himself, as most of the people who were previously in the room have already left.

Nancy packs away slowly, taking care not to crease her notes.
"Are you okay, Nancy?" She's startled as she looks up to see Mr. Girton stood next to her desk.
"Yeah, everything's fine."
"Are you sure? This is the third time you've been late in the last week. Is there something going on at home? Here?" He crosses his arms over his chest and his eyebrows furrow.
"Nope, I'm okay." Nancy's tone is quite defensive, even though she doesn't mean it to be. "Thanks, though."
Mr Girton sighs, "Okay, then! I'll see you Monday." He turns and heads back to his desk, organising some papers and packing away his laptop. "Hopefully you'll be on time!"

Nancy hurries out of the class and down the stairs, to the cafeteria. She goes to her favourite stand and orders her usual – a dark chocolate mocha, with whipped cream. It takes a few minutes for her drink to be ready, but she collects it and scopes out the dining hall for a free seat. She spies one and starts heading over.

As she steps forward, the college football team's captain bumps into her, spilling her drink slightly. "Uh, watch out... freak," he scoffs, looking back over his shoulder as he continues walking. Used to the hateful comments, Nancy shrugs it off and carries on making her way to the table.

For the next few hours she sits there, watching others come and go whilst continuing to read her poetry book. The hours pass by and before she knows it, it's 3:00pm. She packs up her belongings, throws her paper coffee cup away and heads home. 

Dinner time is as awkward as usual for the Howes family, with emotionless questions about work and the day in general being thrown around. Nancy's parents had been fighting to keep their marriage alive for a while now and often pretend that everything is fine at the dinner table. It is obvious that they're only doing it for Nancy's sake. 
With the day that she's had, Nancy decides to speak out about it for once. "This is so fucking awkward. You should both stop pretending that you wouldn't be at each other's throats if it wasn't for me sitting in between you two." She sighs and grabs her plate, kicking her chair underneath the dining room table and leaving. 

"Get back here, young lady!" Her father calls after her as she makes her way up the stairs, "how dare you make a statement like that and then just take off!" 

Nancy can hear the anger in her dad's voice and decides to carry on climbing the stairs, sticking a middle finger up behind her as she does. When she reaches her room, she slams her door and sits on the bed, staring at the walls around her.

She seems to be sat there for hours on end, her mind blank, yet so busy - humming with so many trapped, unspoken thoughts. Eventually, she tires and lays down, moving the plate of untouched food out of her way. 

She drifts off into a deep sleep and anyone would think she's dead to the world.