Red

Chapter 1

I walked down the hallway with my head down avoiding the stares and snickering. I let my long black hair cover my face as I walked to my last class of the day. The door of the classroom was open, so I walked in the back next to the window. Pulling my hood over my head I popped in my earbuds and played some music while I gazed out the window. A bird landed on the ledge of the window and looked around for a bit. It then jumped off and flew into the sky. I watched the bird until it completely disappeared into the clouds.

I won't lie. I was completely jealous of the bird. It had complete freedom. It could leave and fly far away. That's what I had always wanted. Freedom. I snuck a look around the classroom and felt a wave of disappointment. People were talking and laughing with each other as the teacher stood in the front of the class and tried to teach "Music Theory". I felt like a bird that was trapped in an iron cage with no way to escape. Trapped. Helpless. I sighed and closed my eyes. My music took over my senses as I blocked out my surroundings. Got a split second I felt as if a giant weight had lifted off of me and for the first time in a while I felt at peace.

That is, until a giant textbook slammed into my desk and made me fall out of my seat. Once it hit the floor, I looked up to see my teacher standing there with a stern look on his face. Embarrassed I stood up quickly and pulled out my headphones. Everyone started to laugh, and I looked down at my feet as if they were the most interesting things in the world. "Ms. Brielle, I expect every student in this class to pay attention to my lesson. You have a big project coming up and if you fail that is on you. Do you understand?" I nodded my head and felt my cheeks flush as some of my classmates snickered and whispered about me.

"Now take off the hood, take out your notebook and take notes. If I have to stop my lesson again that is a detention." He walked back to the board and I sat down pulling the hood off of my head. I pulled out a notebook and tried to pay attention or at least act like I was. Towards the end of class I was doodling on my paper as the teacher finished explaining the time capsule project. Something hit my head making me jump a little. The teacher stopped and looked at me. I pretended to be writing what was on the board glancing at my paper occasionally. He went back to explaining and I blew out a sigh of relief. I looked around to find what hit me and found a rolled-up piece of paper on the floor next to my desk.

I looked around wondering who threw it and opened it to find a crude drawing of me and my family. My dad had an axe through his head and my mom seemed to be the one who hit him with it the next pictures were of me and her killing my brother and father. Written in the corner of the paper was: "Looks like you finally caught the crazy, Red. But don't worry. After school we'll beat it out of you." I stared at the note anger boiling up. I jumped when the bell rang earning more laughs from my classmates. I crumpled the note and put it in my bag, hoping it was just a simple threat. Walking to my locker, I felt uneasy. I still had to walk alone to school to pick Mason up and go home. I didn't want to get him caught up in any pointless bullying.

He was the most normal one in our family. He played football, had friends. Unlike me and my mother with our pale skin and dark hair, he was blonde and just perfect. He used to have more friends until my mom had an episode at one of his football games and forced us all to leave early. I wanted to protect him at all costs I couldn't let a stupid bully ruin his social life as well. Closing my locker, I popped in my headphones again and walked out of the school. Fiddling with my phone I didn't notice two Neanderthals and a couple of other people surround me. I looked up and let out an aggravated sigh.

"Hey, can we hurry this up I gotta go home." I crossed my arms and waited for a response. I knew self-defense and could easily take out a couple of them, but I knew I shouldn't bring anymore unnecessary attention to myself. "Who do you think you are to be telling us what to do freak?" Amanda Jensing stepped forward and slapped me in the face. "We let you go when we're ready you hear me?!" I stayed quiet and took out my headphones. I wrapped it gently around my phone and stuffed it in my bag. I looked up and cocked an eyebrow at her. "So, are you going to hit me now or can I go?" She let an angry cry and lunges at me knocking me down.

The air left my body as we hit the ground. Catching my breath, I stayed still and braced myself for another attack. She got up and started to hit and kick me while the others filmed it. I stayed still and waited for her to finish. Once she felt satisfied, she walked away from me and joined her friends. They watched the video and laughed. I stayed on the ground until I knew they were gone, then I gently sat up. I grabbed my bag and pulled out my phone. Opening the camera app, I surveyed the damage and then pulled out some wipes. I cleaned myself up and then ran to get my brother. By time I got there he was the only one waiting to be picked up. He had a deep scowl in his face, and I felt bad for him.

"Mase! I'm here. Sorry I'm late please forgive me." He turned to look at me as I walked up to him and a smile lit up his face. "Yay. You're here. I was worried that dad was going to come get me in the death mobile." I laughed and struggled his hair. He called dads car the death mobile because it was covered in spikes and was completely black. The windows were even tinted. It also had metal bars on the outside of the windows to keep stuff out or in. I sighed. "Yeah that would not have been good." We quietly walked for a while. When we saw that the house was getting closer Mason stopped. I turned around and gave him a questioning look.

He looked up and I could see tears in his eyes. I rushed over to him. "Mason what is it? What's wrong." I had a bad feeling in my gut and immediately thought he was being bullied. "Mase is someone being mean to you at school?" He looked at me and almost laughed making me feel relieved and like an idiot all at once. "Ha-ha sis you're totally off with that guess." He laughed again and I groaned. "Okay Mr. Smarty Pants then tell me what is really wrong, so I don't have to guess again." His smile faded and he looked down. "So, you know how we have a game tonight?" I nodded my head slightly and knew what he was about to do. "Let me guess. You want, no need, to be at the game and you want me to try to convince our parents to let you go?"

He brightened up and nodded violently. I was about to ask why when he cut me off. "My coach says that if I miss one more game then he'll won't let me play. He'll bench me if I don't play at this game. Please help me sis. I-I don't want to stop playing." He was about to start crying and I felt my resolve start to crumble. I could never say no to him. I patted his head and sighed. "Okay. Okay I'll try to convince them to take you to the game. Why don't you get ready when we go inside, and I'll negotiate." A huge smile broke out on his face and he hugged me. "Bestest sister ever!" I shook my head a smile playing on my face as we finished the walk to the house. One final thought rang through my head as I pulled open the door. You have to make them say yes. No matter what.