The Rise of Night

Chapter 2:SAVVY

SAVVY

Chapter 2

And to think I thought I was safe.

It was the first time in forever that I felt scared. I’m not talking about a nervous kind of scared, like stage fright or the stomach plunges you get on a roller coaster, which is actually quite fun to me. I’m talking a deep, icy terror that washes over you and drags you under, a bottomless sea of metal delirium. Sounds weird, but it sure wouldn’t if you were me.

I backed up. The school was burning down, literally. All my friends were safe outside, all but one, of course.

The creature fixed her beady eyes on me. She grimaced like she was smiling gruesomely. Smiling at my cowardice.

I reached for Thorn. Holding it out with shaky hands, the monster got ready to lunge, again, for my throat.

…

My name is Savannah Hughes, or just Savvy like everybody calls me, and I am a “juvenile delinquent”.

My life is a mess. I ran away 5 times over. I’ve been all over North America. I never could fit in, so when it gets to be too much I leave. I would change my last name and find a new life.

I messed up big time when I snuck on a plane to Vancouver from California. They were waiting for me at the airport. I don’t know how they found me, but I think it was totally my fault anyway. They put me in an orphanage, and miraculously I was adopted after only a week. People don’t usually adopt 14 year old troublemakers like me; they go for the adorable little tots. You can imagine my surprise when my social worker told me I had new parents.

The Harrisons are ok, I guess. Gordon Harrison, the 50 year old hippie who has long hair and is in a rock band, is a little on the weird side. But Beth is very grandmotherly, and she’s the only lady I’ve ever met that respects me. She tries the hardest out of the three of us. Sometimes I feel really guilty when I get into trouble, because I really like her. It was her idea to adopt me. I don’t think Gordon really wanted me at all.

I have dark gold hair and brown eyes. My mood varies like the ocean— calm on some days, rowdy on others. I am of average height, and yippee for me! I have dyslexia and ADHD. My friend Rachael can relate. She has ADHD as well, but she used to have dyslexia. If you knew her, you would never for a second think she has dyslexia. She is a human bookworm.

We both go to a school in Port Coquitlam. Like I said, I’m a juvenile delinquent, but juvie just doesn’t work for me so they put me in a public school. I’m in this gifted program, which is weird considering I’m not gifted. Apparently test results show I am, but they’re just saying because they think I’ll fit right in. MACC class is a class full of unordinary kids who seem to get along with each other well enough, but I still can’t seem to fit in. Why?

I. Am. Socially. Awkward. Proof of that: Of all my life, I have one friend, if you’re not counting inanimate objects — Rachael Nicholas.

At least I’ve made a friend. Although Rachael and I don’t have a lot in common, we understand each other really well. Rachael is so different. She keeps to herself yet she’s a genius. There’s something about the way she is, but we tell each other a lot of our secrets. I know she still hides from me some stuff. I hide from her loads of secrets too. The hidden parts of my life, the ones I never ever share with anybody.