Further

Chapter 1

"Alright class, tonight's homework assignment will be pages 511 and 512, due tomorrow. Class dismissed," Sofia's math teacher said, snapping her out of her daydream. She glanced up at him, sighing. Math was her least favourite subject, and on top of that, it was her last period.

As she passed by him on her way out of the classroom, he ran his fingers through his short brown hair. It flashed grey for a second, glowing the same way everything did when she saw Further. 

Ever since she turned thirteen, she was able to see Further. At first it startled her, but she learned to live with it. They were all glimpses of what the future looked like. It was only small things, haircuts, nail polish, things that would happen in the near future. People told her they were sure it was just her imagination. Nobody believed her except for her best friend, Zoe. It wasn't something she expected them to believe though, being able to see the future. The things would flash to how they were going to be, then flash back to the way they were currently. An apple might flash to a core and back before someone ate it. She never really thought much of it.

She walked down the hallway to the locker she and Zoe shared. Since they were still in eighth grade, they were forced to share the space meant for one. She unlocked it and shoved her math textbook in her bag, grabbing it and locking the locker back up. Through the crowd, she spotted Zoe's neon pink backpack, a colour you couldn't miss in a sea of grey school uniforms.

"Hey Zo!" she exclaimed, squeezing the life out of her best friend, "Want to come back to my place?"

"Sure!" Zoe replied, never turning down an offer to get away from her own house. She had seven other siblings, two older twin brothers, three younger sisters and two younger brothers. Sofia, on the other hand, had only one sister, Tatiana.

 A short bus ride later, they reached Sofia's house, a standard two-story cottage on the edge of town. 

Sofia opened the door and dropped her bag in the front entrance, "Тато!" she called to her father. (A/N: Any other Ukrainians here?)

"Tak?" he responded, coming out of the office, "What do you need?"

"Can Zoe stay over tonight?" she asked, making puppy dog eyes at him.

"Sorry, princess, but this time, ні," he said, "You have an appointment."

She scrunched up her face in confusion. Appointment? She didn't remember having any kind of appointment coming up.

Her father gave her one of those 'We'll talk later looks'.

"Sorry, Zo, maybe next time," she told her friend, "Text you later!" 

She closed the door behind her, "What appointment?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"киска, your mother and I have been worrying about you, we think it's best for you to talk to a psychiatrist about these visions you've been having," he explained.

Psychiatrist, what did they think she was, a psychopath?

"NO, YOU CAN'T MAKE ME! I'M NOT навіжений!" she exclaimed, using the Ukrainian word for insane. She clapped a hand over her mouth, realising it just made her sound crazier.

"Sofia don't use that tone on me, we're going and there's nothing you can do about it," he snapped, gripping her firmly around her arm.

He pulled her out the door and sat her down in the passenger seat of their car, a Honda CRV.

---

"Sofia Tereshchenko," a woman called from behind the front desk of the office. She grudgingly obliged, following he woman down the empty white hallway. It didn't smell like normal doctors offices, it had one of those new house scents to it.

"Dr. Parker should be here to see you in a moment," the nurse said, flashing an obviously fake smile.

She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited. She wanted anything else but to be there. Doctors offices always creeped her out, no matter what they smelled like.

The door swung open, startling her and revealing a young doctor, fresh out of college. He had spiked brown hair and a darker complexion.

"You must be Sofia," he said, sticking a hand out for her to shake, "I'm Dr. Parker, but you can call me Ash. I prefer to remain casual with my patients."

She rolled her eyes and shook his hand. He sat down behind his desk, pulling a thick file from out of his desk drawer with her name on it.

"So, Sofia, what seems to be the problem?" he asked.

"My dad thinks I'm навіжений, but I'm not, I'm perfectly normal," she stated, not showing any signs of giving into him.

"He thinks you're what?" Ash asked, obviously being an Anglophone. 

"навіжений, crazy, insane," she replied.

"Why would he think that?" Ash asked, crossing his legs.

"I don't know," Sofia said, trying not to sound suspicious.

"The look on your face tells me you do," he said, "Spill."

She sighed in defeat, "Sometimes things change, almost as if they are getting older, but I'm the only one that sees it. It changes back after a couple of seconds though, it's really not something to worry about."

He rested his chin on his fist, brow furrowed in concentration.

"That's not like anything I've ever heard of, I'm going to run a couple of tests, then get back to you about this. It's certainly not something I see every day."

He left the room, Sofia following close behind. They turned down a couple of halls, then stopped at a grey door, different from all the others white ones. He opened the door and motioned for her to sit on the dentist-style chair in the center.

She sat down and he returned with a large machine. Sprouting out of it were various coloured wires with suction cups on the ends.

"Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit," he said. She rolled her eyes, that's what all doctors say.

He stuck the suction cups all over her head, then left the room for a few minutes, returning with a new file, marked Case 104. 

He took the suction cups off her head, "You're free to go, Sofia," he said.

She was out the door in a flash and after a couple of wrong turns, made it back to the waiting room.

"Let's go," she said, grabbing her dad by the hand. They drove home in silence, Sofia going straight to her room once they arrived, completely forgetting about dinner and the math homework that awaited her.

She pulled off her uniform, a thin grey sweater, black and white plaid skirt and a pair of black knee socks. She took out both of her French braids, letting her thick brown hair fall down to her waist and slipped on a grey tank and a pair of grey and pale pink polka dotted pyjama pants, then crawled into bed, falling asleep almost instantly.