The Rising

The sun seemed to beam down like a spotlight through the garden as I worked. I loved to get my hands dirty. I spent most of my mornings laying dirt and planting seeds, bringing life to our front yard that once resembled a landfill. This morning was cold. It was colder than any other morning we’d had in August.

Although this morning started out bizarrely, what felt normal were the sense of eyes watching me at my every turn. I wondered if it was my mother. She was known for that sort of thing. Ever since I was little she would watch my every move, like someone here would ever take me away. Vicksburg is small, everyone knows everyone, so I was doubtful that would every happen.

“Ivy...You’ll be late for school again!” My mom shouted from the front entrance of our house, holding on the door knob for support.

Mom had her way of doing things and our front yard wasn’t one of them. She never liked this house. She believes it used to be part of a plantation, but I figured it was due to the house was a gift from my father’s parent, who weren’t very fond of her. I wouldn’t know why they wouldn’t be. My mother’s milk chocolate skin and classic cover girl smile, anyone would fall in love with her. I wished so much those features would grow on me. We look nothing alike her and me.

“Ok…alright,” I urged, since I’d rather be in the bug infested dirt, then in class.

I was already late, so changing wasn’t an option. The blue jean overalls and black camisole i wore displayed blotches of dirt, which I quickly dusted off. The overalls were my mothers and fit me just right, but baggy. I was obsessed with the 90’s so they fit my style.

Only my walks in the morning were the best part of my days. My High School was a few blocks away, so I usually walked when I couldn’t catch a ride.

 As I became closer to my High School, the wind blew heavier. I stopped mid-way on the small bridge overpass that was covered in mud. I  looked down at the pond below, seeing dishes  swim through my reflection causing the pond water to make my tawny brown skin more dreary than usual.

The wind blew hard again creating mist on my lenses; I removed my classes from my face to clean them and continued walking.

When I reached the school, I could see my best friend Willow, standing in the parking lot where we always met before class. Her ivory skin soaked in the sun like roses in the spring. She was wearing her favorite yellow cropped top that had the word LOSER in bold letters and apparently my shoes. Plus the blue jean shorts she wore left little to the imagination.

Willow stood with her hands crossed as if she had been waiting on me for hours. Oddly the mist on my lenses built up again to the point that I couldn’t see the angry look on her face, which she always had.

“Why haven’t you answered any of my calls?” She requested to know, moving her hands to her hips.

“I left my phone at home.”

“Well the power went out throughout the city last night, didn’t you know?” Willow asked, her face covered in confusion.

“I didn’t notice. The power was ON in my house?”

“That’s so weird. Nearly all the cities power went out, even spread to parts of Jackson,” she said with a concerned tone. She picked up her bags from the lot.

 In a rush, Willow yanked me by my wrist pulling me towards the front entrance of our school. The entrance was like an overstuffed piñata that was filled with posters advertising cheerleading try-outs all across the double doors. Willow insist we tryout"like we couldn’t do something better with our time. “Our sophomore year is the year that will be unforgettable,” she believes.

Dancing was something i did as a kid, spending countless summers at my Aunt Elizabeth’s dance studio.  Though Willows dancing was not so great .Watching Willow dance was like watching a scary movie on repeat; you’d close your eyes in fear, hoping it would end soon. Willow and I have been best friends since preschool, so doing this one thing with her wasn’t a big deal. Although if I didn’t, she would guilt trip me until the end of time.

We entered the hallway, which was still mildly empty. I suggested we walk through them until the first bell rang, hoping to avoid the gym.

 Our high school cheerleading squad"the Vicksburg Gatorettes were best in the state of Mississippi, and nothing but the best dancers made the team. The captain, Veronica Laurent had been captain since her freshmen year. Veronicas attitude was as louder than her red hair and  she had overly tan skin similar to an orange.

The try-outs used to be anyone and everyone, but since the growing popularity, Veronica proposed “The Sheet” and it’s been that way ever since.

Willow and I were near the gym. Our schools mascot the Gator was the only thing on the cement covered wall. We looked for the sign-up sheet to no avail, but when we looked inside, we could see against the back corner of the gym a crowd was forming. We immediately saw Veronica and principle White in the middle of the crowd, Willow rushed inside"I walked.

“Because class is being delayed this morning, the sign-up sheet will not go out until, after first period home room!” announced Mr. White.

Willows face had nothing but disappointment all over it. She realized we would never make it back to the gym from Mrs. Fisher’s room on the other side of the school.

The crowd around Mr. White quickly dispersed after the first bell rang. Everyone started whispering and chatting about school gossip and the power outage. I turned to my left where Willow was standing"she had disappeared.

“Where could she have gone that fast!?” I thought, as I looked around.

Willow was nowhere to be seen. I made my way to the main entrance of the gym that leads out to into the hallway. I placed my hand on the door and pushed forward…it was stuck. I nudged harder and it opened abruptly, I heard a loud thud on the other side.

            “I’m so sorry…I’m so sorry!!!” I yelled, as I peeked around the door, hoping I didn’t kill anyone.

            It was Ben Le Roux. He held his hand to his head as he towered over me. He had a statuesque body, like the ones you saw in a Renaissance museum and I just put a chip in him. He had eyes greener the summer grass and thin shoulder length hair, brown in color that mimicked dark leaves in the fall. He could be a model, or at least I think he was one at one point. Ben was known to be a nice guy, but his reputation as a heart stomper didn’t help his case.

            Entirely embarrassed, I picked his book up off the ground still apologizing, “Are you ok?”

“It’s cool"I’m fine, it was just a small bump,” Ben assured, as he held his head in pain.

I imagined our first time talking to each other would have been more satisfying than this, but it’s me, so it was bound to happen.

Our eyes were focused on each other and for the first time in my life I didn’t know what to say. So I said the first thing that came to mind, “The door was sort of stuck.”

“Or maybe you just don’t know your own strength,” He said as he laughed to himself, still obviously in pain. “You want me to take to the school nurse?”

“No"no I’m fine, I’m Ben by the way, “ he said as He held out his hand. “I know"I’m Ivy,” I smiled nervously, and shook it. I didn’t know what else to say to him, and he me.

“Well if you’re ok, I think I see my friend,” I pointed at willow who was somehow speaking with Veronica. I didn’t notice we were still holding his hand, I  let go.

 “Wish I could help more but I have to go,” I said ,making my way over to Willow.

“Alright see you later,” He said in a low voice.

 I walked away and turned my head to see if he was still standing there, and he was just watching me walk away. Our eyes met, and  I couldn’t  look way until before I crashed into Veronica and her bundle of friends.

 “You need to watch where you’re going!” Veronica yelled, with a nasally voice, the look of disgust lived her face.

I wasn’t sure if she was angry because I ran into her or because I was talking to her boyfriend. Either way I could care less. I turned quickly to see if Ben was still standing there but he was gone. Veronica pushed me out of the way to surveillance the area as if she was looking for him too. After, Veronica pushed by me , she marched on by like she was on a mission.

Willow waited until Veronica and her friends were further away before she started to speak.

“What were you and Ben talking about!?” She demanded to know, curiosity written all over her face. “Nothing, it was just a little incident, that’s all,” I replied hoping that answer would satisfy her…it didn’t.

 “Oh-ho no! It was more than that and you must spill.” She said with excitement in her voice jumping up and down.

 “I’ll tell you when we make it to homeroom.” I said, wishing that she would forget all about it once we got there.

The first bell rang. It was more than likely we were going to be late, Hurried we started on our way to homeroom.

While we walked, I desired to know where Willow had gone earlier. Including why was she talking to Veronica? It was odd to me, seeing her follow Veronica like that, but I figured it must have had something to do with the try-outs. Bothered by what I saw I started to ask.

“Willow, why did you leave me in the gym earlier?” I needed to know, since if she would have never left me I probably would have never struck Ben.

 With frustration in her voice Willow began to explain, “I went to ask Veronica if she would wait until after school to post “The Sheet,” that way I’d have a better chance of signing my name.”

“As expected she told me “no”, she was “obligated to post it after homeroom,” Willow mocked in her best Veronica voice. “ that’s not the only news I have to report today,” Willow stated. I knew it had to be gossip; she has dubbed herself the queen of. “Ben Le Roux and Veronica Laurent are over,” she blurted out.

I thought to myself, “no wonder.”

Veronica was never too far from Ben. I should have known since he was alone when I hit him.

We made it in good time to Mrs. Fisher’s room where there was a note on her classroom door it read, “Mrs. Fisher is out today. All those attending homeroom will report to Mr. Jackson’s Room # 208.”

“Mrs. Fisher was always here,” I thought.  “never has she once missed a day.”

“Let’s just skip”, Willow proposed.

“I can’t, my birthday is tomorrow and detention is not something I want to deal with after school…you can.” I made clear to her.

 I encouraged Willow as only a bad friend would. Just so I could avoid having to speak about my incident with Ben. I also suspected she wanted to be the first name on the list. so even if I told her no she would still do it anyway.

Willow hugged me and started her way to the gym yelling back, “I’ll see you at lunch.”

The last bell rang.

I left Mrs. Fishers door and made my way over to room #208. Through the classroom window everyone was already seated and it looked like Mr. Jackson had been taking attendance. The entry  had been locked, so I tapped on the window. Mr. Jackson pointed at someone to open the door. A boy with thick glasses and looked like he could be about twelve opened the door.

 I walked through the door, closing it quietly behind me hoping to not draw any attention to myself. The class was talking loudly as Mr. Jackson was taking attendance, so I walked over to him to make sure had my name on the list.

“Name please!?” He said loudly.

            “Ivy Harte,” I replied.

“Take a seat,” he said pointing to the two empty seats in the back.

I sat down at one of the desks and Mr. Jackson continued taking attendance. I sat there thinking about what had happened earlier between Ben and me. I had determined I needed to get my mind off of it. So I began to look around Mr. Jackson’s room. Mr. Jackson taught upperclassmen and I wondered why they assigned us sophomores to his room. The classroom was different from Mrs. Fishers.it was similar in size but the subjects couldn’t be anymore unrelated. Mrs. Fisher taught Home Economics and Mr. Jackson taught A.P World Geography with nothing but globes and maps around his room. So today instead of daydreaming about cakes and pies, I focused my mind on places I wanted to travel to.

My fantasy was interrupted by a sudden knock on the classroom door. Awaking me from my warm Hawaiian paradise. I wondered if it was Willow, and if she changed her mind about the whole, “skipping thing”.

Mr. Jackson squinted over at the door and for a sec it seemed like he wasn’t going to open it,but I guess after he saw who it was he reconsidered. He walked over and opened the door. He stood there for a brief moment and a smile ran across his face. I knew it couldn’t have been Willow, nothing but frowns appear across teacher’s faces when she appears.

I still couldn’t see who Mr. Jackson was talking to. A pink slip was handed over to Mr. Jackson and then Ben walks through the door. I hid my face in the book that was under my desk, I couldn’t believe Ben was in this Homeroom. Ben walked in my direction then sat down at the only seat that was open next to me. He had an ice pack on his head where a minor bump could be seen.

Mr. Jackson began to lecture, but it was known to get him of track to start asking him questions about his army days. The boy with the thick glasses that opened the door for me; raised his hand and asked the question, knowing it would get Mr. Jackson off track. Mr. Jackson began to speak aimlessly.

 I gazed over at Ben in guilt, “Hey, are you ok?” I whispered.

“Yeah just a little scratch, nurse sees no sign of concussion.” he said with a smile  as if it was nothing. “So you went to the nurse alone?”

“Of course, I was on my way there anyway, I sprained my wrist in last night’s game, when the power went out.” he said leaning his bandaged wrist at me. “I’m ok, I’ve been hurt worse than this, so don’t worry about it.”

“Thanks,” I said as I stood up to look at the damage I caused on his head.

“Really, for what?” he said with a flat voice.

“I felt bad for hitting you,” I replied, lifting the ice pack out of his hand and placing it on his head.

“It wasn’t your fault"if it wasn’t you it would have been someone else, but I’m glad it was you…I mean, someone else could have done some real damage,” he joked trying to cover up his earlier statement.

“Hey!”  I whispered loudly. “I may be small but I could do some real damage. You’re just lucky the door was stuck.” I pointed out. we both laughed quietly.

I sat back down with the ice pack still in my hands. Overthinking I kept talking myself out of asking him this question fearing the outcome,  I breathed deep and  I just came out with it.

“Ben, I know its short notice but, I’m having a dinner tomorrow, uh, for my birthday, and I was wondering if you would like to go?” I said, anxiously awaited his answer.

“Sounds cool, I just have practice after school, but I can make it afterwards.” He answered.

“Ok here’s my number,” I said as i wrote my number down on my blank sheet of notebook paper.

“Thanks, I’ll send you a text.” He said, taking my number and sticking it inside his phone. “This was a perfect day to leave my phone at home,” I thought to myself.

Dead-air and feedback came through the speaker of Mr. Jackson classroom and a man’s voice came on with mild static.

 “Ivy Harte Report to the main office, again, Ivy Harte report to the main office.”

I looked at Ben who was already looking over at me and I shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t know why I was being called, but I assumed it had something to do with Willow. I picked up my bags and waved bye to Ben and paced in the direction of the door.

 Mr. Jackson stopped his lecture to tell me to, “Grab the hall pass,” which I did. It was a small globe, which I thought was weird for a hall pass but fit the subject.

I walked into the hallway, and it was dead silent. I started in the direction of the main office, and I was still confused on why I was being called on. I’m an honor roll student who’s never been in any trouble. What would they want with me?

 It was getting colder in the hallway and I remembered my jacket in my locker. I turned around heading now to my locker. At the end of the hall it seem like someone was standing there, in what looked like a cloak. I thought it was the exchanged student from the Netherlands; he wore something similar, he believes he’s a warlock. I screamed out to him thinking that he was lost; he’s only speaks a little english.

“Hey are you lost!” he didn’t respond. “I’m on my way to the main office, maybe you can follow me!” I shouted at him again hoping he understood me.

He raised his right hand and quickly a flash of blue light beamed from his hand and hit me directly in my chest. I leaned over in pain holding my hand over my chest, “what did you do to me!” I shouted at him.

He raised his hand again and aimed at me for a second time. I started to run in the opposite direction but suddenly I felt me feet lift from the floor .I looked up and all I could see was black flowing hair and from the contour of the face I could tell it was a woman.

The woman’s face was a dark tawny complexion similar to mine. She looked young, as if she were in her late twenties. I looked behind me and I could see the figure in the cloak following closely behind us. I needed to get away from the both of them, but I feared more the being that shot me in the chest. So I held on to the woman tighter.

The flying woman was navigating through the schools hallways with ease. Although when a dead end was approaching, she stuck her hand in the tiny bag on her waist and threw a black powdered substance in the air.

We vanished.

Author's Note

ignore grammar issues,just a draft, lease gives some feedback...