On the Right Path

Chapter One - The Dream

Marlee sat in her bedroom, her knees curled to her chest, her eyes blank and thoughtful. She jumped when her alarm clock went off - she'd been up an hour.

        She'd had that weird dream again. About the man in the dark suit, comforting her, leading her. She knew it was just a dream, but for some reason these dreams tugged at her, as if trying to force her into a different life.

        Marlee had been mildy suspicious over the last twelve years, but it was nothing compared to the way she felt now. She felt like she was peering through a window into another life, meant to be hers, but she was trapped in another one.

        Marlee was jerked out of her thoughts when her mom called up the stairs. "Maleena? Are you up? It's almost time for school!"

        Sighing, Marlee picked herself up off the bed, threw on some clothes, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and headed out, grabbing a granola bar off the counter on the way.

        "Bye, sweetheart," her mom whispered as she left. Marlee smiled at the woman who didn't look a thing like her - Marlee was short, and puny, with short brown hair and brilliantly blue eyes. Her mother, however, had blond hair and gray eyes.

        "Bye, mom," she answered back, heading out the door, her annoying brother Ben following.

        Ben was like a dream son for Mr. and Mrs. Mick. They disliked Marlee's way of doing things, but ranted and raved about Ben's. He was certainly their son . . . but Marlee, she felt left out, like there was something missing.

        Marlee felt empty as she watched her mom hug and kiss Ben almost to the ground. He smiled at her, hauled himself off the ground, and followed Marlee down the sidewalk to meet the bus.

        Marlee, unlike some kids, felt more free at school then home. She had two great friends - Krissi and Cona. They were amazing, and they understood her completely. If she wanted to tell them something, they'd listen, then give their honest opinion on what they thought about it.

        When the bus pulled up, Marlee stepped up the rubber-coated steps, and spotted Krissi and Cona sitting together on a seat. She squeezed in with them.

        Cona gave her that full-braces smile, her metal-rimmed glasses drooping down her nose, reflecting the light of her neon-green eyes, and showing off her freckles, which gave her frizzy red hair a full view. 

        Shoving her glasses off her nose, she said, "Krissi says I shouldn't be talking about math problems on the bus. I mean, were basically at school, right?"

        "Not yet," Marlee replied, grinning, sliding in next to Krissi.

        Krissi was the complete opposite of Cona. She had perfect gold hair, smooth and shiny all the way down her back, with model-makeup lining her deep brown eyes. Her skin had not a single freckle on it, and she found braces humiliating.

        Krissi was always being hunted down by the Populars, a gang of girls at their school who considered themselves the model/queens of the universe. She'd left them before Marlee had come, having a certain wildness inside her that the others - Jessi, Lexie, and Maura - did not like.

        But now they regretted their decision, and now followed after her like a trio of hungry vultures with a makeup problem.       

       Krissi rolled her eyes to the heavens. "Cona-"

        Just then Marlee gave the two a look so deadly they shut up. For the next few minutes, they just stared out the window, lost in thought. But, of course, Cona couldn't keep quiet long.