Shadow Fears

Aug. 12 2019, 5:58 am Home

Buzz... buzz... I open my eyes. What time is it? I sit up and look at my alarm clock, 5:58. I then remembered, it was my first day of school.

"Kayla! Get ready for school! You too Evan! Come on you don't want to be late do you?" I heard my mom yell.

I was really tired, but somehow I had managed to have enough energy to get dressed and get to the kitchen for breakfast. I sat down across from Mom at the dark oak table, we were only kinda eating breakfast.

"Kayla, I know you're nervous about going to school with kids your own age and everything but,-" Mom began.

I cut her off, "I just don't think I can make friends. They'll all think I'm a freak."

"If they start to bully you just go talk to Mrs. Hill, remember her? She'll help you." she said.

"Yeah... I'm still nervous though." I mumbled looking down at my soggy cereal.

...

The bus looked like it was falling apart, it was coughing and the door had to be pushed open. As soon as I got onto the bus, about half the kids were sleeping and the other half was full of energy. It was kind of crazy (I swear I saw an orange rolling around the floor.) I slipped into an empty seat near the front. I closed my eyes, and tried to get some extra minutes of sleep.

...

We finally made it to school. I quickly got off the bus and followed the crowd of people, just like their shadows. Hovering around, driving me insane. Pushing me into my endless mind alone. I felt like I was choking. I couldn't breathe.

"Hey are you okay?" asked an older boy. I looked up, I remembered how to breathe, in... out... in... out...

"I'm fine. Do you know, uh, where the office is?" I asked, desperate to get out of the hallway.

"Yeah, it's at the next left. Are you sure you're okay?" he said.

"Thanks, and don't worry I'm fine." I started to walk, never released I had stopped walking. Even though I was already separated from that boy, I could see the worried expression on his face when I lied to him.

I look up and take a turn to the left. I open the door of the room. I took a look around, a secretary was sitting at a long desk in the corner, there were chairs around the room, and positive quotes hung on the walls. There were filing cabinets that looked full, and to my right was I think a printing room. Straight ahead was a narrow hallway that probably had the principal's office and the nurse's. I heard the clacks of the keyboard as the secretary was typing something. A tall woman walked out of the printing room holding a large stack of papers.

"Oh, hello!" She smiles at me. Her white blouse and blue jeans gave her a 'i'm happy' kind of vibe. She looked young and her blonde hair sat on her shoulders. That's when I recognized her.

"Hi Mrs. Hill. Uh, do you have my schedule by any chance?" I asked her.

"Yes, it's in my office, come follow me!" She said happily. She turned around and started to walk down the narrow hallway. Her shadow eyed me before following her, it was faint, barely noticed, forgotten.

I followed them.

Her office was the second to the left, it seemed empty. Her desk had only a few pieces of paper on it along with a laptop, the bookshelf was only half full, and the filing cabinet looked old. There wasn't a window, just a poster that said 'Be Yourself'. The whole room just felt like it was missing some personality. It was kinda sad. Mrs. Hill sat down on a black spinney chair, and shoved the stack of papers into the filing cabinet. She looked at a piece of paper on her desk. She nodded.

"Here you go." she said handing me the paper.

I looked down at it. I first had homeroom, then E.L.A., math, art, lunch, S.S., Science, and then finally study hall. It could be worse.

"Oh, and for your locker, just ask your homeroom teacher." Mrs. Hill explained, "hurry up now, you don't want to be late to class do you?" She smiled, and opened her laptop. I took that as my permission to leave. I walked out of her office and out into the narrow hallway.

I cluelessly walk up a flight of stairs looking for room 207. There are still some students at their lockers talking. There shadows stare at me with their white eyes. I walk faster. I look at the classrooms I pass by. 205...206... 207! I open the door. Most of the kids were sleeping, but there was a group in the back talking in hushed voices. The kids stopped talking and turned to face me.

"Why does she have white hair?"..."Is she new?"..."Why does she look possessed..."

The teacher looks up from her computer screen. She motions me toward her. I walk to her desk at the front of the room. She seemed tired and her hair seemed hastily through into a bun, her glasses were kept sliding down her nose.

"Hello, you must be Alicia Wiltion?" She asked. I nodded. "Well, welcome to Riverbrooke Middle. My name is Mrs. Mužikaši, but you can call me Mrs. M." It sounded like she rehearsed the words over and over again.

"Follow me, I will show you your locker." She said quickly. I hadn't even given her my hall pass, but it didn't seem like she cared. I kinda liked her.

I followed her out to the hallway (ignoring the cold stares my classmates gave me). We passed several lockers until we got to locker K113. It looked like every other locker. I didn't really seem like it had been cleaned in a very long time. Mrs. M taught me how to open a locker. It was actually really simple. For the first time that day, I thought I could make it through the day