Hold On

Chapter 2 - Panic

Anna stepped off the bus nervously. Her legs felt shaky beneath her. As she made her way into the school building, she couldn't help but recall the terrible nightmare she'd had last night.

Without meaning to, she found herself glancing for any empty rooms that she could escape to in case she needed to. Unlike her dream, there were numerous unused classrooms or janitor's closets along the walls. Suddenly aware of how crazy she must look, she shook her head.

Around her, students pushed through the crowded hallway. Anna stayed to the far right, up against the wall to avoid the shoving underclassmen. As a senior, she probably could have pulled rank and shoved the others right back. That's what most of her classmates did, anyway. But Anna didn't. There was no point, in her mind. She was perfectly content to stay along the wall until she reached her locker.

Locker number 50. Blue, just like the rest, but conveniently on the very end of the line of lockers so that she never really had to pay attention to where she was. All she had to do was walk to the first locker on the right and put in her combination.

37-42-6.

It was easy to remember her combination. 37: her mother's age. 42: her father's age. 6: the age she had been diagnosed with her condition. Anna wasn't sure how things had happened that way, but she always found the little coincidences in life to be amusing.

Ignoring the bell that sounded through the hallway, she opened her locker. Inside, it was extremely organized. Color coordinated binders and books by the order that she had those classes throughout the day. A small, magnetic mirror hung on the back of the door. At the beginning of the year, she'd taken a black marker and written a small note on the top. "Live day by day."

She'd decided to make that her motto for the year. For so long, she had been constantly worried about the future. Would anyone ever love her, with her condition? Could she ever get a job? College wouldn't be a problem with her parents' jobs and the money they made, but would she make any friends there? Was she destined to be lonely forever?

For years, those types of questions weighed on her mind. It had eventually begun to take a toll on her in such an unhealthy way that her parents had threatened to send her to a therapist. That was when she'd sat herself down on her bed one night and made the decision. The decision not to worry about her future. Everything, she had decided, would turn out one way or another. And worrying about it now wouldn't change a thing. She didn't need anyone to love her. She could love herself. She would get a job because she wasn't the only person in the world with her condition. Others had done it, so she could too. As for college, she'd decided that friends weren't absolutely necessary. Sure, she may not enjoy her college experience without them as much as she would with them, but she didn't need to enjoy it. She just needed to get a degree.

"Excuse me."

Annah flinched, glancing around her. As she'd been gathering her books, the hallway had cleared out. Now, only she remained. Or so she thought. She turned to see a tall, dark haired boy standing directly to her left. He was smiling almost shyly, waving.

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Anna blinked. For a moment, she was lost in the color of the boy's eyes. They were blue, but not like any other shade of blue she'd ever seen. They were almost aqua colored.

Suddenly, she realized she was staring. She cleared her throat, closing her locker and shifting her textbooks in her hands.

"It's fine," she said. "I'm a jumpy person. It doesn't take much to scare me."

The boy laughed. He held a hand out.

"I'm Kendrix," he said. Anna took his hand and shook it.

"Anna," she said.

For a moment, Kendrix held her hand as he stared at her face. Anna felt her face grow hot.

"S-sorry," Kendrix muttered. To Anna's surprise, she noticed a slight flush to his cheeks. "I didn't mean to stare. I just... you're..."

Anna blinked, waiting for him to finish his sentence. Instead, he cleared his throat again and shifted his feet uncomfortably.

"Um... I'm new here, and I'm sort of lost," he said. "I'm looking for my first period class. And... since you're the only one not in class..."

Anna nodded.

"I can help you find it," she said. "Let's see your schedule. Whose class do you have?"

Kendrix reached into his pocket and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper. He unfolded it and turned to the side so that Anna could read it.

"Mrs. Hannon?" he asked. "Do you know her?"

Anna glanced up at him.

"Yeah, I do," she said. "I've been going here since I was a freshman. I've basically had every teacher in class. Mrs. Hannon is pretty easy. Just make sure to turn in your homework."

Kendrix smiled.

"That's a relief," he said. "I'm no good at science."

Anna managed a small laugh. "Science isn't so hard once you learn the basics. Come on, I'll take you to her lab. It's across campus so you'll probably be late."

Kendrix hesitated.

"Won't that make you late to class too?"

Anna considered the situation. She was already going to be late to class, more than likely. Traffic had been bad that morning. Finally shrugged.

"I'll just tell Mr. Barel I was showing a new kid to his class," she said. "He won't care."

Kendrex snorted out a laugh.

"Mr. Barrel?" he asked. Anna rolled her eyes, but she couldn't stop the small smile from spreading across her face.

"Barel," she corrected him. "Emphasis on the end. But yes, that's really his name."

Kendrix laughed, finally moving to follow her out of the hallway. They made their way across the freshly mown campus lawn in awkward silence. Anna considered starting a conversation, but she wasn't sure what she'd say.

Suddenly, her textbook fell from her hand.

"I'll get it," Kendrix said, hearing it fall. He bent down and retrieved the book before standing up again and holding it out to Anna. "Here you..."

Anna heard his voice trail off, and she knew her face was pale. She'd felt the blood drain from it.

"Anna?" Kendrix asked slowly. Anna swallowed thickly.

"Anna, are you okay?"

Anna managed to nod. She shook her hand, just barely holding in a sigh of relief with the feeling returned to her fingers.

"Yes," she finally replied. "Sorry, I'm so clumsy."

Kendrix eyed her closely, clearly unconvinced.

"Are you sure?" he pressed.

Anna took her book back and nodded cheerfully, careful to hide the panic she felt.

"Yep! Let's get going," she said.

And with that, she walked off before Kendrix could ask any more questions.