Remember Me (Redone Chapter 1)

A new first chapter. Get a taste and tell me what you think.

The morning for Ashira Putt had started off normally. She got out of bed, took her shower, put on her uniform, and rushed out the door with a piece of toast to the car. Driving to school, needless to say, was equally normal. Nothing was wrong today. It was a normal one, she thought to herself, a tad disappointed. She had always been hoping for a break in the routine, and she didn’t know when she would actually get that.

            Pulling into her parking space in the student parking lot, she grabbed her satchel bag from the seat next to her, and locked her car. Slinging the bag over her shoulder, she rushed to the front of the school, the day’s wind bustling her about, messing with her black hair as if in play.

            Ashira wasn’t a spectacular sight; in her eyes anyway. She was… normal, like everything else in her life. She was a routine of black mid-back hair that fell in soft waves; a routine of the same hazel eyes that stared back from the mirror every morning when she brushed her teeth and brushed her hair. She was a routine of stepping on the scale and realizing that she’d always be short and of average figure. Ashira Putt was a routine of waking up every morning and going to school, knowing that her friends would always be there.

            However, what was not part of routine were the looks her friends gave her the moment she stepped into the choir room. They were all a tad put out, perhaps confused even. Ashira figured there was something a off when they stopped whispering to each other, as she got closer. Placing her bag on the table, she could feel their eyes boring into her back as she rummaged through her things, pulling out her phone and her Biology Notebook.

            Sighing, she turned to look each of her friends in the face. “Okay. What’s up?” She finally asked, her eyes sparking. They all looked around at each other. All four of them had something about them that made them special in Ashira’s eyes.

            Her best friend, Jesse, was a skinny redheaded cheerleader, which totally threw everyone for a loop. She, and the rest of the cheerleaders, always wore their uniforms to school, even on free-dress Fridays. It never failed. The redhead in question eyed Ashira with her own sky blue eyes, leaning back against the wall. “You know Chase, yeah?” She asked, her lips twitching at the corners into a small smirk.

            Ashira stared at Jesse. “Yeah… Why?” She asked.

            Chase Thomas, though he failed to be on any sport team, was the school’s very own rock star. He seemed perfect, unless you were determined on hating the in-crowd.

            Jesse looked over to their friend James, their eyes meeting. James, the tallest in the group, was sitting on the risers that the choir used next to Will, the second tallest. James had dark skin, hair, eyes… He was a dark person in general. He was even particularly somber in personality, but his biting wit and sarcasm kept his friends coming back for more. “Well,” he started, looking up at Ashira with his seemingly black eyes, “we kinda overheard him talking about you to his ex.”

            Will fidgeted next to him, as if James was keeping something out of the conversation. Ashira stared at the shorter blond, her hazel eyes connecting with his green ones. “Me?” She questioned Will, and the blonde looked down at his lap, his hands linked together.

            “Yeah. You.” He replied hesitantly.

            “Well,” her fourth friend, Lori, started, staring up at the ceiling. “He kind of approached us about you too. Told us that he had been needing to talk to you for a while.”

            Ashira, as any person at her school would understand, couldn’t quite understand why he would want anything to do with her. Most of what Ashira felt for that man was in no way friendly or warm. It was nearly inhumane. Her friends knew how much she hated the thought him, though she never said why.

            To be honest, Ashira herself didn’t even know. It was just a feeling at the back of her mind that urged her to feel sick when she thought of him. It was a reaction to his presence, his image. She had felt that way ever since she met him, and when she heard him playing his guitar and singing to his friends at lunch, she felt like hell.

            That was months ago, and she still had a bad reaction to him.

            “So, what did he say?” She asked James, recalling his earlier topic.

            James looked at his friend, the thick and handsome eyebrows that sat above his eyebrows knitted together in thought. He honestly looked like he could be a character in one of those run-of-the-mill romance novels as he rubbed his chin with his hand. “I can’t really remember, but I know he was asking Elena about you.” He paused for a moment, looking at Ashira thoughtfully.

            Ashira nearly laughed. Chase’s ex, Elena, was in Ashira’s Trigonometry class. The two had barely ever even shared two words together. How was she supposed to know anything about Ashira?

            Smirks traced her friends’ lips, knowing full well that, on the inside, Ashira was laughing. The black haired girl covered her lips with her pale hand, looking at Lori, who was running a hand through her short choppy hair. The butch shook her head in response to Ashira’s silent questioning glance.

            “You guys know how he makes me feel. Why bring it up?” She asked, forcing the sickening image of the guitarist from her mind.

            Her friends all look at her, their eyes full of concern. “Have we ever actually figured out what it was that made you so upset?” Will asked, standing up to cross the floor to his backpack and pulled out his wallet. She watched as her other friends did the same. The silent call of the “burrito run” was in the air.

            She put her things back in her bag and pulled out her black and blue plaid wallet. “Nope,” she sighed, making a face as she straightened out her blue pleated skirt, “Never did.” The raven-haired girl shrugged. Not like getting over her dislike for him was really on her to-do list, anyway. It just happened to be an inconvenience when she saw him and had to throw up, or the pain made her head and body ache for hours.

            The strange thing was when she needed to throw up and was at the nurses… nothing came up. She shrugged it off as an oddity, and didn’t give it much thought afterwards. It was just something she’d get used to. Will still looked unsure, as if what she had to go through was something serious. She would just laugh and joke about men’s cologne, anyway.

            The group of friends exited the choir room, crossing the courtyard to the front of the school. The trees were fully green now, the end of the school year close at hand. It was so close to graduation that the seniors could almost taste it. Ashira was relieved. Soon, she would be able to stay at home and take care of her brother without worrying about school.

            She looked up as they began to climb the steps of the overpass. She had felt the churning feeling in her stomach and knew that a certain male was coming their way.

            Sure enough, as soon as she looked up, she caught his eye, and watched as the corners of his lips turned up in a smirk. Though her stomach twisted with disgust, there was no getting past the fact that Chase Thomas was a looker.

It had been early fall, the leaves a golden brown with flecks of emerald green. She remembered that she had been inside the Choir storeroom that day, sorting through the extra choir uniforms, folding and hanging the garments. As soon as she had finished, she told the choir director, Ms. Paula, that she was heading out. With a short wave, the dark haired girl opened the door and stepped outside. And, though stepping outside seemed easy, she found herself tripping on the first step of the stairs that lead to the courtyard.

Having clenched her eyes shut, she used her arms to brace herself for the impact with the concrete. However, she didn’t feel the cold stone on impact, nor the pain. Ashira heard a deep grunt, and felt warm cloth beneath her fingers along with strong arms wrapped around her waist. She knew for sure that she had fallen on someone, but she couldn’t think past the thought that whoever it was she had fallen on smelled extremely good.

She looked up into soft hazel eyes, and her stomach lurched. Those eyes looked so familiar, though she couldn’t quite place it. Stuck staring at the young man beneath her, she studied his face, pleasantly surprised by what she saw.  The soft angles of his cheeks and his jaw made him look strong, his lips a soft shade of brown on tan skin. All the time she spent staring at him, a soft pain was poking at the base of her spine and across her chest.

Ashira barely noticed.

“Hey,” he said quietly, his voice like… poison. She stared a bit longer as the corner of his mouth twitched up into a smirk.

Suddenly aware of her surroundings, she sprung up with an embarrassed gasp, grabbing her bag. It seemed the moment she got to her feet, she also had her hand gripping her stomach in nauseated pain. Staring at the ground, she placed her hands on her knees. What in the world was happening? She had felt just fine a moment ago.

Ashira cast a curious and sickened look up at the taller boy. He stood at about six foot two is what she estimated, though, at this angle, she felt she could cut herself some slack if she were wrong. He was looking down at her with, what she expected, a reflection of her own confused face. Everything was suddenly extremely awkward, the tension in the air making the young woman cautious about saying anything at all.

“Wait,” Ashira shook herself, staring down at her feet; she needed to repaint her nails. ”Who… You’re the new guy.” She had stammered and stumbled over her words in her embarrassment, but finally straightened up and looked him square in thee eyes.

“Chase Thomas,” he supplied, and gave a small smile, though his face was still shadowed in confusion. Like she was something that he’d never seen before in his life.

Feeling the chill of uneasiness shoot down her spine, Ashira stared up at him, his facial expression keeping her eyes locked on him. Suddenly, she felt like she had just been hit by a truck, and growled.

“Becca!” Chase gasped, and held his hands out toward her, stooping to look her in the eyes, his face frightened and pained. “Are you alright?”

She stared up at him, her facial features twisted in pain. “My name’s not Becca.” She knew she had heard that name somewhere before, but she just couldn’t place it. She made a note to look into it when she got home.

Chase’s face was instantly blank, taking a step back. “Right. I apologize.” Clearing his throat, he placed a warm hand on her shoulder. “May I take you the Nurse?” He questioned, and Ashira figured that it wouldn’t hurt to get herself checked out.

“Sure,” she muttered with defeated sigh. Shaking herself, Ashira bent to pick up her bag, but Chase beat her to it, slinging it effortlessly over his shoulder along with his own backpack. He turned and picked up a guitar that had been leaning against the rail of the short stairway. “Uhm, thanks,” she mumbled, turning and starting to walk away.

They walked in tense silence, giving Ashira nothing to do but think over what had just happened. She was still in pain but it was dull again. It couldn’t have been his cologne that did it, because, well… Men’s cologne was a big turn on for her, and she could rarely have too much of it. She couldn’t think of anything she’d eaten today that would have made her this sick.

Before she could figure anything out, she was standing dumbly in the Nurse’s office, Chase placing her bag down on one of the chairs set out in the waiting area, and crossed the room to the desk to fill out a form. Ashira felt oddly hostile at him for taking the initiative, but shook it off. He was just being a gentleman.

“May I get your name?” She heard some one ask from the deep abyss of her mind, and she looked up. A younger woman stood next to Chase, her eyes worried. She shuffled through a book, her bangs falling into her eyes, and then looked up again.

“Ashira Putt.”

Now Chase knew her name and all she could do was hope that he wouldn’t be creepy about it. Ashira took a peek at Chase to see that his face hadn’t changed at all. He looked like he was in thought, dug in deep and hard to remove.

The Nurse, Ms. Kelly, shuffled some more, and removed a paper from a binder. She looked at Chase, paused for a moment while inspecting him, and the smiled softly. “Chase, you don’t have a class, do you?” She asked. It was almost hard to believe that the day wasn’t over yet.

Chase’s eyes came back into focus and then stared at Ms. Kelly. He suddenly had a jolt, and Ashira stared at him in surprise. “Right, uhm, no.” He laughed nervously, and ran a hand through his thick dirt brown hair. “No, I don’t.”

Ms. Kelly nodded and then indicated he sit down and wait for her to finish with Ashira. The teenaged girl was not all too thrilled to have him waiting for her, but a small nagging feeling at the pit of her stomach, that wasn’t, in fact, nausea, made her blush a little.

Ashira followed the petit blond into the room, and sat down. The moment she made contact with the chair, she felt… better. Confused, Ashira felt her forehead. What in the world was going on with her? Ms. Kelly rummaged through some cabinets  and then returned with ibuprofen and a glass of water.

“How are you feeling, Ashira?” She asked sweetly, worry still in her eyes. Ashira looked up, and took the cup and the medicine.

“Actually…” She trailed off and stared down into her hand. “I’m feeling fine.”

Ms. Kelly looked at her, and then sat down, resting her chin in her hand. “IS that so?” Ashira nodded, an embarrassed smile on her lips. “Well, take that in any case. I want to keep you here for a little bit. What class do you have?”

“I don’t have one.”

Ms. Kelly looked up in what Ashira thought was interest, and then started to scribble on a piece of paper. After a moment, Ms. Kelly spoke. “What was the pain like?”

Ashira didn’t really want to go into it with Chase in the other room. She placed a hand on her neck as she felt the pain return slowly. She took the medication. “It was like I was hit by a bear or a big cat, or something along those lines.” She looked up and gave a shy smile. She felt somewhat ashamed for what she was saying, but it was true. “I felt like my skin had been sliced open by something ragged.”

She stopped, and stared blankly.

What was she saying?

“Well,” Ms. Kelly sighed, and wrote something more down on a piece of paper, “you seem fine now. I guess just come back if you start feeling the same way again.” Ashira nodded, but she probably wouldn’t. She felt like a crazy, sitting here and talking about her pain like this. The nurse handed her a slip of paper that had a few notes scribbled on it. �"Make notes on the pain if it returns more than once.

She’d consider that. “Thank you, Ms. Kelly.”

Ashira exited the room and saw Chase, slumped over in a chair and staring down at his feet. Her chest began to hurt. He looked up, his eyes blank of any emotion. There was something wrong with this guy. He stood up and slung their backpacks over his shoulder. “Let me take you to your car.” Ashira nodded toward the door, and then led him out. She listened to his soft footsteps following close behind. She could almost feel his body heat, which was abnormal. Or so she thought.

She approached her car, just now noticing how dirty she thought it was. The black paint job was splotched by mud from the trail she had to travel from her home on the side of the mountain. Sighing, she opened her car door, and then began to get in, but Chase grabbed her forearm, stopping her. She looked up at him incredulously, slightly angry.

“You aren’t driving.” He said simply and held out his free hand for her keys.

Begrudgingly handing them over, she took a step back. She watched him drop her backpack and jog across the lot to a jeep, and threw his bag in, then placed his guitar on the seat. He ran back, and motioned for her to get in the passenger seat. “Tell me where to go.” Chase slid into the black leather seat, and put his foot on the break, starting the car. Ashira saw no point to this, though the pain in her neck was now traveling down into her stomach.

He exited the parking lot, taking the road that led up to the mountain estates. She told him how to get there, and then leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. The pain had already begun to make her eyes tear up. She just wanted to get home.

She opened her eyes just as they pulled into her gravel driveway, the trees around the house turning orange. Up here, you could clearly feel the nip in the air from the coming fall. She stepped out of the car, Chase doing the same as he grabbed her pack. Handing it to her and closing the door, they walked up to the front door, and she unlocked it before walking in and tossing her backpack down on the floor. She sighed, and turned to Chase, glancing around her house. She sucked in a breath and then looked at him. “Thanks,” she said, and he looked at her, “for your help.”

He nodded. Something about his face made her want to stare.

“Feel well soon.” He replied, and turned out the door, his hands in his jacket pockets.

She stared after him. “How will you get back?” She called.

He turned around, still walking backward with a smirk on his face. “Feet.” He called back, and gave her a small wave before jogging down the hill and out of sight.

And with him went the pain.

“Ashira. Sup?” She looked up swiftly, into warm hazel eyes, and then looked around. She was back on the steps of the overpass, her friends already at the top and waiting for her patiently. She noticed Elena at the bottom, glaring up at them, pure and petty hatred in her eyes. “I’ve been looking for you.”

Ashira stared at him, her head throbbing and chest clenching. “Oh?” She muttered pathetically. She still had no idea why he had walked back that day when he could have waited for her mom to get home and take him back. But part of her was thankful. As soon as he had left, she had felt just fine, and as the days went on, she figured out that the pain was all due to him.

She had always noticed that Chase was extremely tense around her. His emotions seemed forced, and behind them he seemed tortured. He chuckled, and looked down at her. She hadn’t been wrong about his height. “Yes.” He replied, a small smirk forcing at his lips.

“Well, you found me.” She finally shot, desperate to get away and let the pain fade. “See you later.” She rushed away, and heard Chase call after her. Peeking over her shoulder, she saw him watching after her, his face blank.

Chase Thomas was a mystery.

Author's Note

I rewrote the first chapter, changing everything. Well, most everything. I hope it works out. I probably won't be adding the rest, because I don't want it all to be stolen. Chase, by the way, is not a vampire. No, not a werewolf either. Ha ha!