Chapter 1

Normally, when you begin to read a book that your teacher assigns you to read for homework, you normally assume everything would be normal.  Unfortunately that’s not what this teacher had in mind when he assigned this particular book to me.  The name it’s self caught my interest.  ‘The Night The Angels Fought Tears’ was the name of the first book in the saga of seven dark books by the author of James Mickeny.  I didn’t question my English teacher about it I just took at the book and slowly walked down the aisle to my seat.  A few students hurled crumpled paper wads at me and giggled immaturely.

“Look, it’s Amy Dorkerwade,” laughed Susan Minset.

“Yeah Amy, you shouldn’t keep changing your last name, many people won’t have anything to remember you by.  Oh wait, no one remembers you anyway.” Derek Souvier said joining in with Susan in her poignant game to torture me with insults.

“Leave me alone… and I am sure that your brains are capable of remembering my last name, which happens to be Addison.” I clarified defenseless.

The class laughed harder at the immune comeback I had said to them.  All I could do was sit down in my seat and absorb the insults and push them to the back of my mind and fight it all away word by immature word.  Once I had reached the destination of my seat I opened the cover of the book and read the preface and then read the back of the book’s hard cover…

‘Angels watch the innocent world engulf and drown it’s self in painfully unforgivable sin and they fear that nothing can be done.  Where does humanity stand in the arms of angels that fight no longer for her existence?’ the back of the book’s words stained my memory for the rest of the day.  I couldn’t forget them after the words recited themselves over and over in my mind like a broken record player.  What did they mean I was not sure, but I was going to find out.

The rest of the class had submerged themselves in a deep cloud of conversation, which I was not interested in whatsoever.  I opened the book once more and skipped the already read preface to the first chapter and began to read.  Once I started I couldn’t stop; the world that James Mickeny had created was terrifyingly beautiful.  It was almost as if the descriptions were so definite that the characters and settings were real.  I held my place in the book and turned the book over to look at the spine; it read ‘F’ standing for fiction.  I sat there puzzled. ‘Was it fiction or was it real and the world just denied it?  If it is real I must find out!  Is there a possibility that ‘F’ could stand for something else instead of fiction?’

I was completely riveted by this book and I was reading it down the halls on my way to my sixth period science when my English teacher, Mr. Morgan stopped me.  “You know walking and reading in a hall of three hundred bustling students is dangerous, right?” his smile reminded me a lot of what my grandfather’s smile looked like before he passed.  In reaction to his kindness I couldn’t help but to smile back.

“Yes sir, I do know that, but I am just so engrossed in this book that I can’t put it down for one second.”

“Well, neither could I.  Amy,” he paused and took a deep breath, “do you know why I gave you that book?”

I shook my head lightly and tried to guess,  “Because I am easy to read and you figured that I might like this book?”

He laughed at my unsure response and I laughed as well when he spoke, “No, I gave you that book because I know your secret.”

I raised my eyebrows and my face grew surprised, “Hmmm?  Secret?  I… do not have… a secret.” I said confused and shaking my head and still trying to smile at him.

“Yes, well, there is not a secret yet, but there is soon to be.”

“Um, okay… a ‘soon to be’ secret.  I’ll keep an eye out for it.” I said and walked away quickly thinking only of what he said about the ‘soon to be’ secret.  I pulled the book back to my face and begin walking the direction to the science lab where Mr. Carver was probably growing more impatient. 

I entered the room a few seconds after the tardy bell and once I did enter Mr. Carver’s words were cold, “Nice of you to join us, Amy.” he looked away from me and finished writing Carbon Dioxide plus Oxygen on the white board.  When he finished he walked over to the computer and marked me as tardy and began to the front of the classroom.  Everyone braced for the words they knew were to come.

“I’m sure all of you know that today is… a pop quiz!” he said with no sympathy for those who did not study.  “What is the answer to the question on the board?  Um, Amy… answer it now.”

I walked to the front of the classroom to the board and tried to think of the answer.  Suddenly a strange force inside me lifted out and searched the minds of all of those in the room.  I could observe what was playing through their mind as if they were being projected onto the white board and I could see the answer floating around in the room.  I wrote the answer on the board after I had found it and not to my surprise, the answer lay in Mr. Carver’s mind.  Plus the other words of insincere doubt burned as I over read them as well.  “It is... Glucose.”

He stared at me with complete astonishment scribbled on his face and the fascination sparkled in his eyes.  “Well done…. But the one thing that confounds me is how you knew that answer?  We haven’t even gone over this chapter yet… and technically you won’t until next semester!” he crossed the room to where I stood.

It was my turn to look dumbfounded.  “I"I just… um…”  I searched the room for helpful excuses, “My father had to learn it for something once and I learned it along with him.” I said coolly after scanning through the room and putting pieces of everyone else’s sentences together to construct mine.

“Hmmm… fascinating, please do tell me more, but it will have to wait after you are done with detention.  Take your seat!”

“But I"!”

“Your seat!” he pushed.

“Well at least I have a right to know why I have a detention!” I stated deeply angered by his defiantness.

“I will tell you after class.  Now, take your seat Miss Addison!”

I did as he said and I buried my face in my arms with anguish on my desk.  The rest of the class went on in a drag and didn’t seem to pass fast enough for me.  Amazingly no one took their fair share of turns staring at me as I thought they would have.  We finished section one in the Periodic Table of Elements and we went over the first two chapters of section two.  The bell finally rang and when all of the others left the classroom I marched to Mr. Carver’s desk and demanded to know why I was getting a detention.

“Because you obviously cheated!” his voice was three octaves higher than it had been earlier when our debate began.  Fury dominating all signs of another tone trying to color what was left of his voice.

“Cheated?  You… think I… cheated?” My voice was incredulous now.

“I don’t think, I know.  If you didn’t cheat how else would you’ve known what the answer to the formula of Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen added together?  There is no way you could’ve known that!  You are merely a 11^th grader!  You wouldn’t have learned that until you were possibly in college!  But of course it is my job and right to test the ability and strength of your mind so there was nothing wrong with asking such a simple question as such.” He said without remorse, but deceit showing in his eyes.

“Then why in the world did you ask the question if you were not expecting an answer?  I told you how I learned the answer!  Why can’t you just believe me at that?” I asked my voice becoming hollow and bitter.

“You have a senior brother, do you not?  He could’ve taught you anything!  He could’ve"well he could’ve showed you everything I taught him!  Or you could’ve asked one of the other students through out the whole school for the answer!  Just a simple conversation could’ve slipped up about what we were doing in science today and you whom ever you were talking to could’ve told you about the question!”

“I did not cheat whatsoever!  I haven’t even talked to anyone today and if you have not noticed I have not any friends.  Except for one and he would never cheat, nor let me cheat… even if I wanted to!”

“Ah yes… Mr. Canter.  I see, hmmm well you two can tell me all about this innocent charade of yours in detention… together.” The last word sizzled on his tongue like acid.  My patience’s limit burst and I fought back full force.

“What would I have asked him?  And why would I ask him about science?  Besides I haven’t seen him today.  He was gone at lunch to get a new wire for his braces… so you cannot blame him for nothing.  And no one enjoys talking to me so why on earth would they give me an answer the would enjoy watching me answer incorrectly?”

He had no words to follow mine so I kept going with no mercy in my tone to soften any other emotions that might have tried to peek out the surface of my voice.  “And if he did?  So what?  What difference does it make?  And that is not cheating.  For him to teach me something is not cheating.  And still he did not teach me a thing.  My word to you is promised, but knowing you, you probably would not take it for anything.”

It must not have taken much to change his mind for he gave in quickly after the long argument.  “I"I guess you are right.” He said with remorse coloring his tone, “My greatest apologies, Miss Addison.  You had better get on to your next period. There is no detention so there’s not a need to worry.” He said his regrets he said good-bye and I vanished out of the room not leaving as much as a whisper of my presence behind.

I was breath taken by what had happened earlier today.  Had I been able to do what I thought I had done?  Could I read minds?  Would I be able to do it again?  I had thought about this the last two periods of school and it took my being brought to the front of attention to realize I had not done any of my work.

“Why, Miss Addison, you haven’t done any of your work!” squealed Mrs. Ashby astonished at my unusual behavior.

Instantly, I snapped into the present and I starred at her and then quickly looked down at my incomplete work and back to her.  “I"I… um… I was",” I stammered.

“Yes, I know what you were doing!  You were trying to figure out what you are going to write!  Don’t worry about it, if you can’t figure out something to write about I will assign you a topic.” She said simply.  I sighed a great breath of relief to know I was not in any trouble.  She paused for a minute obviously thinking of something to assign me.  “You are to write about… something that has happened to you that was so great that you couldn’t define it in your wildest dreams!” she said her growing more engrossed as if she was wanting to read what I began to write as soon as I wrote it.

The rest of the period went by in a blur and I found myself walking out of the school building when I was beginning to realize that people swarmed the front end of the building.  They were all gathered around something or someone that lay on the ground only seven or eight yards away from me.  The girls were crying and screaming and the boys were just repeating “Oh my God!” and holding onto and comforting the girls.  Out of curiosity I walked over to the crowd and pushed through it and saw it.  My eyes began to feel like they were on fire and my stomach lurched around inside me.

“What happened?” I tried to ask coolly trying not to reveal the anger and fear behind my voice or cry a river of tears.

“James was attacked by something!  We couldn’t see it.  He was just fine about three minutes ago and then something… out of exactly nowhere killed him!” Tracy Gillenwater spoke through tears looking away from James Canter’s body.

“But it’s impossible!” cried another girl in the crowd.

“What did it look like?” I asked more alert now.

“I just said we couldn’t see it!  It was like the air of all things attacked him!  It was completely invisible to the human eyes!” Tracy said again and then she buried her face in Derek Souvier’s chest.

The poor boy’s corpse lay on the cement pale, and cold.  It was like the air attacked him… completely invisible to the human eyes.  He was just fine about three minutes ago and then something out of exactly nowhere killed him!  We couldn’t see it.  Tracy’s frightened words rang in my head as I stare at James’s body.  I pushed through everyone to where I was standing in the ring along with James that the petrified mob had made around us.  I placed my index and middle finger on the vein in James’s wrist.  Nothing.  Then I did the same with the artery in his neck.  I held it there for five minutes and just when I was about to give up I felt three weak heartbeats.

“He’s still alive!” I gasped, “He’s still alive!  Someone call an ambulance!” I scrambled to my feet and looked at the crowd that surrounded us both.  “You heard me!  Get an ambulance!!!  Now!!!”  One of the girls must have awoken from the terror-stricken stupor that hypnotized her and grabbed her cell phone out of her purse and dialed 911.

I sat there and placed my right ear on his chest and I listened for a greater heartbeat.  There was one, but it was so faint that it sounded like it wasn’t going to exist much longer.  “Hurry!” I screamed at the girl.  I didn’t know how far it would get me, but I preformed CPR on James.  I breathed into his lungs and I pushed on his chest three times and then I breathed again.  Once more I listened for a heart beat; the small, faint pulse was getting stronger.  I kept going and going until I heard the ambulance pull up inside the school parking lot.  I listened for the soft murmur of his heart one last time and it was fading again.

“Thank you, but he’s in our arms now, Miss. Addison.” A paramedic said softly holding onto my arm.  Two other men carried James’s body off in a gurney and placed him into the ambulance.  “I’m going to ride with him in the ambulance.” I said firmly not leaving them much room to argue.  They didn’t so, I climbed in and sat on a small bench that was placed beside James.  I grabbed James’s hand and held it tight.  I am so sorry, James.  This didn’t have to happen to you…

James of all kids was the nicest one I had ever known.  He was like a brother my age and he always loved to hang out with just me.  We would do basically everything together… inseparable we were.  He never had the chance to ask me out, but I’m sure he would’ve if he could’ve ever gathered the courage.  My eyes began to burn with tears and I watched his chest slowly rise and fall with the oxygen that the pump released into him.  I looked up at the heart monitor and his heart beat regained consciousness and he looked up at me frightened and unsure.

He blinked and then took the oxygen mask off so he could speak.  “Amy?  Amy… what am I doing in an ambulance?” he asked me observing the surroundings that swallowed us.  “What happened to me?  Why are you here in the ambulance with me?  Where are we?  Where are my parents?” he asked growing more startled by the sudden change.

I took a deep breath and answered. “You were attacked by something. I saved your life by giving you CPR and I told the paramedics I was going to ride with you in the ambulance.” I said softly fighting tears.

“Exactly what attacked me?”

I knew this question was coming, but I just didn’t have any answer to it.  “No one knows.  Many of us thought you wouldn’t make it, but turns out you are a survivor… a fighter. We knew you were attacked because you were walking away from the school building and something just knocked you backwards.” I said my voice beginning to shake.  “The force in which you flew was impossibly strong and fast… almost superhuman.  You hit the ‘welcome’ sign to the high school.”

“I what?” he blinked incredulously at me.  “I don’t remember a thing.”

I looked away from him for the moment because the tears began to stream down my face.  As if on instinct his index finger brought my face back towards him.  I stared into his sky blue eyes and he stared back into mine; they were unreadable for the moment.

“Thank you.” He said sweetly to me.  “Thank you for saving my life.  And thank you for being my friend.”

I smiled and he sat up on the gurney watching for the IV in his hand and he sat me upon his lap and we stared into each other’s eyes again, but this time only our faces were only few inches away from each other.  He smiled back at me and then he said, “Will you be mine?” and then giving me just enough time to say yes he kissed me.  The kiss was one of fear and excitement.  It surprised him and I both.

“Whoa.” I said gasping for air.

“Yeah, whoa.” He said with his heavenly blue eyes sparkling.

I smiled shyly and climbed back into my seat and at the same time the ambulance came to a stop and we both got out and the paramedics wheeled James into the hospital and I stayed with him for the rest of the day.  We were the only ones in the room for a good two hours.  James’s parents lived an hour and thirty minutes from where the hospital was so we just kept each other company.

“You will never be able to understand how long I have wanted to kiss you.” He said with his cheeks growing darker.  “I used to get angry at myself for not telling you I loved you.  I would lay awake at night and just imagine what it would be like to hold you in my arms.  And now… I know.”  He kissed me again except this time it was a calmer firmer kiss and not as much panic surged through it as it had with the first.

“I’m glad of all guys in the world it was you.  No one understand me like you do.” I rolled the sleeve up on my arm and it revealed all the healed cuts.  “I member when you first found me.  I was misunderstood to everyone and when you found out about me cutting myself you told me I should stop because what ever the reason I was doing it for was not worth it.  You saved my life as well.  By being my friend you healed me.” I smiled and looked back at him.  He was no longer smiling his face was just a stone-hard mask.

“Yeah, um, that’s not a good memory to remember you by.” He said softly grasping my hand.  He placed a lock of my dark brown hair behind my ear and he smiled a dazzling half smile that gave away the dimple in his right cheek.

“Oh, I so love you.” I said sweetly and I didn’t have to wait long for him to kiss me.  “Out of all the gorgeous girls that stare at you everyday, why me?” I asked now laying with him in the hospital bed.  I propped myself up on my left elbow to face him.

“Easy.  Your eyes.”

“My eyes?”

“Yes, your eyes.  They are so beautiful.  I’ve never seen an eye with a radiant green color to it like yours.  Almost as if your irises were made of .” He smiled a deep smile now revealing both dimples.

Suddenly almost like a sixth sense a part of me went soaring down the hall and I could see James’s parents and his siblings charging through the crowds of nurses and doctors down the hall.  Automatically I jumped off of the bed and took my previous seat on the couch across the room from the bed not thinking of the irregular event that just took place.  And just in time for James’s parents to bust through the door and rushed to meet him.

“Oh, James!” cried Marian Canter as she rushed to hug him.  “I didn’t"what happened to you?” she said looking back at him with deep solemn blue eyes.

“Mother, I am fine.  No need to worry, all is well now.” He said surprised by the sudden crowd of people in his room.  “Hello, Kathleen.” He said smiling holding his arms out wide to his little sister who rushed up to hug him.  “Joshua, Brandon, Trent.” He said and gave a respectful nod.

Little eight year-old Kathleen was the first one to speak to James after their mother.  “What happened Jay?  Who hurt you?  Was it her?” she said pointing a small index finger in my direction. 

Suddenly the attention of everyone in the room was feasting off of me.  I had forgotten that I hadn’t been introduced to his family.  Joshua was a freshman so he had seen me around school, but he didn’t know I knew his brother.  Trent was a senior when I started high school, but James and I didn’t know each other much then.

“Yes, who are you?” his mother asked me with a twisted look on her face.

“I"I” I began to speak.

“She’s a friend… she played an important role in my survival today.  She came to see if I was okay.” James cut me off.

I flashed a thankful look in his direction and he nodded his head slightly.

“Well, may I ask your name then?” Marian asked not believing her son.

“Her name is Amy Addison.” Spoke Joshua as he was sitting down in a chair across the room from me.  “She is in James’s grade.” He said with no emotion whatsoever.  “And the event that happened today that James’s claims in which she saved his life was true.  I saw it with my own eyes.  I was in just too much shock to do anything about it.”

“Well, Miss Addison, now that my son is all better you can go home now.  He is no longer in need of your assistance,” remarked James’s mother bitterly stretching the word ‘my’ as if to make it clear she was not willing to share her son.

“Well not even a thank you?” Mr. Canter asked his wife.  “Why, she did save our son’s life.  She does deserve some kind of thank you.”

Before anyone could say anything else Dr. Mathers walked through the door with a clipboard in his right hand.  “Okay, James.  Let’s get a good look at ya.” He said in a happy teasing tone.  The small Hispanic doctor checked his vital signs and went over his charts.  “Well you’re a lucky one.  Took a huge blow I see, but no broken bones.  Very lucky indeed.” He said looking at him with an impressed grin.  “Since you’re in such good shape you can go home today, but you must stay for at least a few more hours.  We need to see if you will stay in this good condition of yours.  But, the good news is you should be out of here by at least six-thirty.” He said, his Spanish accent gripping his words.

“Perfect!” Boomed Mr. Canter.  Everyone in the room jumped including the Dr..  “Now we can take Amy out for supper!  That ought to be a way to thank her.  Don’t you agree, honey?”

Mrs. Canters face shrank and she turned to face him.  “But John!  I was thinking of just a family night tonight.  We could go eat out somewhere just the family.  You know, to celebrate the well-being of our son.” She said, her words turning more into complaints.

“That’s okay.  I was planning to have dinner with my mother and my sister tonight.  We were all supposed to gather around the television to watch ‘Survivor’ tonight.  You guys go ahead, I’ll be fine.” I said and I started to get up and go out the door when little Kathleen caught up to me.

“It’s okay.  You can come have dinner with us.  It’ll be fun!  We were planning to go eat at ‘Outback’ anyway.” She said as she slid her little hand into mine and drug me back to my seat.  “’Sides, I don’t think James wants you to go either.” She giggled and she climbed back in James’s lap.  He rustled her blonde hair playfully as if that is exactly what he wanted her to do and she cuddled up sweetly into his chest.  The scene was so adorable it only made me wish I could switch places with Kathleen and be the one to share the warmth and love of James’s arms around me.  I would feel like I was invincible with a man to hold his arms around me.  Like with his strength in my hands I could do anything I pleased. 

Then suddenly Mr. Canter’s voiced boomed throughout the room and hallway.  “Then it’s settled!  Amy, I hope you like Australian food cause we’re all eating out tonight!” Mr. Canter’s smiled at me and then I soon noticed that he was not the only one smiling at me… James was also and so were Kathleen, Brandon, Joshua and even Trent, whom I had thought from the beginning that he hadn’t begun to like me like his mother.  So in reaction to everyone else’s kindness… I smiled back at them and James winked at me.  

The supper with the Canter family went by fast and everyone seemed to enjoy my presence except for Mrs. Canter. Nothing I wasn’t expecting from her.  We all ate and talked about school which led to beliefs on politics and then to the stupid mistakes our president was making.  Most of the time it was just Mr. Canter and Trent the oldest talking about politics.  The rest of us just talked about simple things and picked around at our food even though we were full.

James and I barely got to talk because of his mother.  Every time we started to try to talk his mother would become jealous and would lure his attention into her conversation.  I felt no envy for him, for he was her son and she was just being overprotective of him, and I was not going to stop that.  Sooner or later he would stop it on his own.  He would grow tired of her games and finally push her aside to make room for me to fit in his life.

I sat quietly and listened to Kathleen talk about the crafts they had made today in her class.  She sat and talked excessively about how difficult making paper snowflakes were and how Mrs. Martin would try to explain how to do it, but nobody but her could accomplish it.

“The hardest part was when you had to fold the paper.  You had to follow the instructions just right or you messed up.” She said shrugging.  “I didn’t see why the other children couldn’t do it.  I mean, it was so easy.  It was like ‘taking candy from a baby’ easy.  Though that might’ve been easy, but the cutting part was the easiest of it all!  I made bunches and bunches of snowflakes for everyone!” she cried with the enthusiasm increasing in her voice.

 

 

Reviews

[James Watts]

“Yeah Amy, you shouldn’t keep changing your last name, many people won’t have anything to remember you by. (“Yeah, Amy, you shouldn’t keep changing your last name, many people won’t have anything to remember you by. )

“Yes sir, I do know that, but I am just so engrossed in this book that I can’t put it down for one second.”(“Yes, sir, I do know that, but I am just so engrossed in this book that I can’t put it down for one second.”)

You are merely a 11th grader! (You are merely an eleventh grader! )

“I"I… um… I was",” I stammered.(“I, I… um… I was,” I stammered. 0r “I...I… um… I was,” I stammered.)

“Oh, I so love you.” I said sweetly (avoid the -ly adverb tagged to dialogue.)

He rustled her blonde hair playfully as if that is exactly what he wanted her to do and she cuddled up sweetly into his chest. (try to avoid the -ly adverb in prose. It weakens the work. Sometimes they cannot be avoided but for the most part they can. A simple rewrite will tell. Then read aloud. Sometimes you can just omit the -ly as it is not needed. In this case you could just omit them.)

Not a bad start. It reads well and is interesting. Has a nice hook.