What Slumbers Inside

Chapter 1

January 1975

The smaller details regarding the day she met Bobby would eventually be forgotten about over the years, leaving only the stain of a green-tinted memory latter in her adult life, but she would always remember how she felt if anything, cold, alone, and angry. Nothing earth-shattering had happened, despite what she may had thought at the time. It was the first day in a new school, in a new town, and in a new country. Though her day had been very rough, it would be the small act of kindness that would stand out to her and make her feel a bit more welcomed even though the rest of the school seemed to see through her, like a ghost.

It was winter. Everything was wrapped with wet and cold. The red brick building seemed to drink in the dampness making it unkinder and soggier than it might have really been. Snow boots lined the halls, sitting in puddles of grey melted snow. Sunshine's mother had attended the same elementary school as a child. One or two of the teachers were still the same, and they all seemed to be delighted to have Mary Shelton's daughter in attendance. As she followed around the principal and her mother, she pointed out places to Sunshine like where a trophy case used to be, her favorite place to read, where she sat in the library to do homework, or, with a bit of a wicked whisper, where she had her first kiss. It made Mary happy to share, but Sunshine was just trying to remember the locations of the restrooms and exits. Not that she was expecting the worse, but she wanted a back-up escape plan.

They went through the long arm of the school with a set of double doors at the end that led out straight to the playground. The nearest bathrooms were behind them, between the special education lab and janitor's closet. The glass window of the classroom door was covered in static cling snowflakes and student illustrated book covers featuring "Call of the Wild" and "The Witch of Blackbird Pond." The principal knocked firmly before he was waved in by a woman about the same age as her mother.

Long icicles dangled outside of the windows, also decorated in those same flake window clings. Sunshine tried to avoid the stares of the 22 pairs of eyes watching and gaging her every move by staring at the naked black tree coated in ice and snow in a small fenced-in yard outside.

The teacher was a former classmate of Mary's, Mabel, and she was quite the contrast. Mabel wore a long pink skirt, white sweater, gold-rimmed glasses, a pink scarf tied smartly around her neck, and shiny brown leather boots compared to Mary in her heavily embroidered bell-bottoms, lambskin coat, round rose-tinted eyeglasses, handknit scarf, and braids tied off with feathers. Mabel smelled like roses and Mary like patchouli. Sunshine wasn't sure how two people so different managed to stay friends without contact. Maybe there had been, she didn't know.

All she knew that was up until the end of November they had been living in Germany outside of Frankfurt as a family with their father, a major in the U.S. Army. Back in October her uncle had been killed in a construction accident, prompting a hasty visit from her mother to the United States. Later, according to her mother, it had been divine providence that it happened when it did because her marriage to the major was strained and they needed some time apart. Her father was supposed to come out to Ohio to see them over the holiday, but that didn't happen, and her mother took that as a sign that it really might be the end after all. Sunshine could only think about how she never got to say a real goodbye and how she should have been going back to school with her friends instead of starting a new one.

Sunshine came back to reality as her mother hugged her goodbye and left her in the room with her new classmates and Miss Mabel. The students sounded like wasps swarming around, buzzing excitedly about the new kid. Sunshine only caught little bits here and there, but it was enough to make her want to shut down.

Miss Mabel cleared her throat loudly. Most of the students began to quiet down. A few continued and she cleared her throat once more while staring at them intently. Quickly the hush spread, and she was satisfied, she smiled standing next to Sunshine.

"Okay, class. This is Sunshine Stevenson. She's the newest addition to the class." Sunshine knew this is where the differences between military kids and civilian kids would come into play. Most kids like her were used to bouncing from school to school and quickly bonded over that fact and had few hang-ups in getting know one and other. Civilian kids had the luxury of growing up side by side, same preschool, kindergarten, church, even doctors. Working your way into their world was hard. Either they accepted you or they didn't. Sunshine was leaning hard that they wouldn't as she watched the wheels of thought churn on their faces. Not a friendly smile to be seen. The most hope she was from a small group of disengaged children near the windows. "Sunshine comes to us from Germany. Isn't that exciting!" Some of the disengaged perked slightly and focused on her a bit more."

"My father is in the military, he's not German," she offered.

"Why don't you tell us all a little more about yourself. If you want." The bile rose up in her already nervous stomach.

"I- I was born in California. My baby sister- was born in Germany. My mother is from here and- we came back when- my uncle died." Miss Mabel firmly grasped her shoulder.

"I was so sorry to hear about your uncle Ed," her voice was soft. Sunshine nodded and coughed nervously. It was then she realized everyone was really watching her either with some sort of grim pity or disgust. "Perhaps you could say something in German?" she quickly tried to redirect the emotions that she felt pushing into her stomach and increasing the tension. "I'm sure everyone here would love to hear you say something." There were some fervent head nods and expressions of interest. Sunshine didn't much like being put on the spot, but over the last month the number of times she was asked to say something in German was nearly countless. It was as if it were a test to the legitimacy of her claim to have lived in Germany.

"Ich bin sehr sehr mude." There was some giggling, some confused looks, mostly blinking in attempts to understand the foreign dialect.

"Which means?" Miss Mabel prompted for a translation.

"I'm thrilled to meet everyone." She lied. No one would ever need know that she did. There was nothing about this situation that pleased her, and there was nothing about this situation that she enjoyed, aside from spending time with her grandmother.

Miss Mabel escorted Sunny to her desk to assign a seat and locker. Thumbing through a notebook, she quickly turned pages. She muttered to herself a little before writing something in pencil.

"We're a little short on locker space, so everyone shares. Do you understand?" She looked up at Sunshine who nodded slowly. "Normally I put boys with boys and girls with girls, but only free space is with Bobby," she muttered to herself and flipped through the pages and made a face. "So...," she scribbled again and looked up at Sunshine. "You will have to share with a boy. But your desk buddy is a girl." She smiled, feeling proud of how she got at least part of the problem to work out. "You will be locker mates with Bobby Winegartener and desk buddies with Rachel Miller." Closing the book, she looked up over the class. "Bobby, show her to the locker, please. Rachel, raise your hand so that Sunshine knows where she will be sitting."

A slight of build girl with dark hair raised her hand. Everything about her was tailored to perfection right down to perfect ringlets of hair dripping from her ponytail. Bobby was a rather rugged sort, plain denim and simple black sweater, shaggy blonde hair, and dirty red shoes. Sunshine met him over at the locker in the back of the classroom, he was already rearranging his belongings to give her space.

"Try to stay on your side," he murmured as he stepped aside. Shuffling things in as neatly as possible, she hung her coat and grabbed some supplies before closing the locker door. When she turned around, all eyes were upon her, and it startled her. Instinctively, she took a step back and banged her whole self into the metal doors causing a loud rattle; she involuntarily yelped. A sea of laughter burst forth followed by the hiss of the teacher and a sharp command to turn around and be quiet. Sunshine recovered and slowly took her place next to the perfect girl, Rachel. Right away she noticed that the other girl smelled like beef stew or old soup, so not that perfect.

It was a relief to her and made her feel less odd.