12 Sides of a Dangerous Dice

Blair Schindler

Blair Schindler was a quiet girl. She was the kind of girl who buried herself into her music, and kept her eyes cast downward. When her headphones were plugged in, everybody’s trivial antics were blocked out, and she could be alone, even in the crowded hallways, where elbows found her at every turn. Her long, straight hair masked her hollow cheeks from the sunlight, and the prying eyes of the student body at West Poynter High.

Blair hated speaking. Public speaking, talking to her parents, talking to teachers, talking to her peers- just talking in general wasn’t her thing. It was if her voice box was a network of cogs, failing to conjure any kind of movement what so ever. The mechanisms were so rusty and covered in spider webs that it refused to ever be repaired. But there was one exception to the rule, and that was Piper.

Blair had joined the school band because she loved music. Music swept her away from the insanity surrounding her in the world. It took her to a place where she could be herself- and not get teased for it. And she loved it. Blair had learnt to play the saxophone when she was only eight years old because she thought it sounded funny. Since then, she had learnt the mechanics to the instrument and had become quite a prodigy.

Undoubtedly, she had made it into the band, without a moment’s hesitation. When she played, she wasn’t the quiet, nerdy girl that no-one knew, she was a superstar- she was special. But ten minutes in fame wasn’t all it cracked up to be. That’s all it was- ten measly minutes. Ten minutes and- boom- you’re forgotten. As Blair returned to school the day after the spectacular showcase, she had expected everything to change- to be marvelled at. But no-one even remembered her name.

That had really enraged Blair. She grew to open her mouth even less than usual. Now, she brushed her long, luscious mousey-coloured hair into its usual place: nestled around her face, draping carelessly over her steely grey eyes. Her favourite shapeless band tee fell down, sitting on her skinny shoulders and her tight, black jeans sat comfortably around her prominent hip bones.

As Blair pulled herself into the driver’s seat of her canero, she wondered who else would be going. Piper had said a few people. But she took that to mean the whole school. She was, after all, the biggest socialite their school had ever seen. As Blair pulled into Piper’s driveway, thousands of thoughts rushed through her overactive mind.

Because she bottled up all her emotions, her thoughts, her jokes, her laughter- everything, she had a lot of thoughts that didn’t go anywhere. No, they stayed right where they were, in her brain. Sometimes she wished she could just shout of everything she was thinking, just to get it off her chest. But that would take forever. After years of keeping to herself, there was sure to be a lot of potential conversation to be released.

Oh crap, she mentally punished herself- now she was thinking of that night. What is that night, you ask? It was the night that started it all.

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~3 years earlier~

“Crap,” Blair Schindler cursed, kicking the dust furiously as the bus drove past, oblivious. She really had to get home and the next bus didn’t come for 4 whole hours. She had to walk. Blair slung her bag over her right shoulder and set off on the journey home.

Ten minutes later, Blair stood, assessing her surroundings. This isn’t right… She thought, clueless. She could have sworn she had taken the right turn at the intersection. Slowly she turned her head, staring down the deserted road. No-one was in sight. Nothing was in sight. The realisation hit her like a tonne of bricks; she was lost- hopelessly lost.