Why Me?

Chapter 2

Sophia:

           School was way awesomer than I had thought it would be! I already had made a bunch of friends, and we were already planning to meet after school on Friday. I hadn’t seen Noor all day though. Not even at lunch. I had looked for her, but she was nowhere to be seen. I tried saving her a seat, but someone eventually sat down there and I didn't have the courage to argue. At the end of the day, I excitedly bounded into the front seat of Dad’s car and began telling him everything that had happened. Noor trudged to the car and slumped in the backseat silently. When I finally ran out of words, Dad looked in the rearview mirror at Noor. By now we were at the house, and Noor opened the door and quickly went outside without a word. I looked at Dad and shrugged. We followed her inside and found her slumped on the sofa, turning on the TV. There was only one TV at the orphanage and all the little kids always fought over it, so I had never actually watched TV before.

            “That bad?” Dad asked, standing in front of the TV so Noor had to look at him. She sighed heavily.

            “Yeah. It was horrible.”

            “What happened?” Dad asked, sitting down beside Noor and putting an arm around her. She squirmed, uncomfortable at being fussed over by someone.

            “Nothing. It was just boring. And no one likes me,” she mumbled.

            “I’m sure that everyone there liked you. They just didn't want to say anything to you because you’re new. Don't worry, I'm sure you’ll make some friends soon,” Dad said comfortingly.

            “Well I did make a friend today. Two, actually,” Noor said, smiling.

            “Really? Who?” I asked, sitting down on the reclining chair.

            “Drew. And Jazz,” she said.

            “Jazz? Thats a weird name,” I said.

            “She’s a weird person,” Noor answered. Dad grinned.

            “Well, I’m glad. I’ve got to go somewhere, talk to some clients.”  Dad made a face and I laughed. He got up and stretched, before heading for the door.

            “Call me if you need anything!” he called as he left. He had given both of us a brand new cellphone. Since we didn't have anyone to call, we hadn’t used it to call anyone before, but I had taken a lot of pictures. I immediately went upstairs, leaving Noor to watch TV.

Noor:

          I had the dream again. The one where the guy on the horse was chasing me through a forest and I was running, and running, and I couldn't stop, and there was no one else, just the trees around me. Then I tripped on a root and fell on my face. I turned around, knowing that the man on the horse was there, and that he was going to do something bad to me. I didn't know what he was going to do. I had always woken up right when the horse guy leaned down towards me. But today it was different. The man spoke to me from the horse.

            “It's time,” he said, then galloped away before I could say anything.  Then I woke up. I lay in the dark, gasping and sweating. I threw off the covers and opened the window, needing some fresh air. I contemplated jumping out the window to get outside, then I remembered that I was in my own house now and could do whatever I wanted. Back at the orphanage, we weren’t allowed to go out of the building at night. Often, I climbed out the window and just stood outside marveling at the beauty of the night sky. I walked down the stairs, reveling in my newfound freedom and opened the door. I sat down on the bench swing and drew my knees up to my chin. I sat there for a while staring at the stars. Then I heard the door softly opening and looked over to see Sophia. She sat down beside me and began rocking the chair with her feet.