The Light's Calling

Chapter 5

I missed the alarm and quickly jumped up to my feet. I'm pretty sure I forgot to brush my teeth, and that the shirt I was wearing was my brother's, but I didn't care because I wasn't going to be late.

As I walked on to the bus, I noticed there was a bright glow coming from the back, so I walked towards it. As I walked towards it, I saw the lights in everyone else, but they weren't as bright as that one in the back. Even the bus driver had a light, but his wasn't very bright at all. It was barely visible, but I could still see it, and it gave me hope that these lights were the key to something more, in not just me, but in every single person.

"Ha!" he quickly stated as he turned to look at me. I could see that the ball cap looked familiar.

I could feel my anger taking over, as I quickly realized that this was the jerk who pushed me into the snow. The light that I saw as I was standing, waiting for the bus to come, was no longer visible to me. He reached out to introduce himself to which I quickly responded with a slap on his hand.

"Isn't the weather beautiful?" he asked, without even flinching from the slap I gave him.

As I looked out, I saw the light flicker from the corner of my eye, so I quickly turned to catch it before it faded, but it didn't fade and in front of me was the light that I had followed. Inside the jerk, there was a light, but it was anything but comforting. I moved to the front of the bus, but I could feel him staring at me, so I chucked my apple at him to make him stop.

The first day of 9th grade could have been easier, but it wasn't. I felt so trapped in the city that had so much to offer but little hope for anything, at least in this moment that's how I felt. How is it possible that in my 14 years of life, I only realized the existence of these mythical lights now?

I couldn't focus in class, and it didn't help that I started off the day by getting onto a bus with the jerk that pushed me into the snow. I felt so hopeful that I saw the lights, at my school, in real life, but I was very upset to find out that they were in him. As I walked through the hallways that looked like so many others I had seen before, I found a familiar face. It was Destiny. I didn't even know she was in my school, and she was walking towards me. She stood out among the rest of the kids in my school. Most people in my school were white, but something about Destiny made me feel like I fit right in, even though my skin would beg to differ.

Her presence was like no other. She had blond locks that brightened any room, and the sweetest southern accent you could just describe as sweet tea or biscuits and gravy. She rushed towards me, the familiar one in the unfamiliar crowd.

"Hey, sugar! I am so happy that we are in the same school" she said, but unfortunately, I didn't share the feeling. I felt like everyone stared at me, my hair, my darker skin, everything. The school I got assigned to was considered barely passing, so my mom called her friend to get me into this one. She knew that the ranking for this school was on the opposite end of the spectrum, and she would settle for nothing less than the best when it came to our education. I'd come on bus every morning and every night, but most of the kids on the bus and in my school looked nothing like me. I felt like an outsider, but I couldn't quite understand why. Maybe it was the fact that I could see the lights? Or maybe there was something more?

"What a place to meet!" I said to Destiny. "In this dump of a school where I felt that I learned nothing more than filling in circles and sharpening pencils; reading and math were just some make believe world thing because it's all about standardized tests and number two pencils here.Oh and don't even get me started on the ball cap wearing weasel. Who would even take that one home after giving birth to him? I'd leave that one for the brothers and sisters who haven't been very nice, kinda like Santa leaves coal."