2: We Are Different

Leo ended up sleeping in my room and I didn't mind. He jumped on my bed this morning to wake me up. He woke me up alright, but I woke up to find a wolf suffocating me. The voice in my head, which seemed like Leo's voice, never came back after last night. Maybe I was imagining things?

"Rachel, are you ready?" Joey asked after we finished our breakfast. I nodded and we headed out.

We went grocery shopping and Joey reckoned that it was his first time actually shopping for the household. I sighed.

"Oh, this looks nice," Joey said after picking up a dog collar. It was green and big; Leo could probably fit in it.

"We're here to buy food," I told him. "We should shop for food first,"

"Oh... right" Joey said, putting the collar down. He followed behind me with the cart as I gathered the things on the list. We were got along well, telling jokes and stories to each other. After we were done, Joey didn't fail to remind me of the collar.

"So, where did you get Leo anyway?" I asked him as Joey collected the green collar.

"Uh... just. We met in our backyard,"

"In our backyard?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Joey said. "He just appeared when I was playing outside,"

"So, how old is he?"

"Like, four years old,"

"Wow..." I said. We lined up by the cash register, and waited for our turn. "So he won't get violent? I've seen many articles about zoo keepers getting bitten by animals they've raised."

"Nah, he's perfectly under my control," 

We arrived home and Joey went off to find Leo after carrying all the stuff in. He came back with Leo following behind him, and I could see that the collar did fit Leo perfectly.

"Aww, aren't you looking good," I said, patting the wolf. Leo wagged his tail with happiness.

Just like Leo being happy, I was happy. I enjoyed being here with Father and Joey. Oh yeah, and Leo too. 

Easter break flew by, and it was time for me to spend my first day at Path Academy. I was so nervous and scared, that I didn't get much sleep the night before. And to ruin things more, my alarm decided to screw up by going off twenty minutes later than it was told to. I was sure that I was going to be late on my first day. 

I ran towards Joey who was waiting for me patiently. I was running all over the place, because Leo thought it would be funny to run off with my backpack. It was a matter of seconds when Leo dropped the bag when Joey asked for it.

"Not cool," I told Leo.

Joey drove me to school and even escorted me to my homeroom. I was so nervous.

"Aww, Rachel, you'll be fine," Joey said. "Everyone is nice here, especially the students. And I'm sure there will be guys in line waiting to talk to you," 

Joey winked at me before he walked off. I saw Joey run fast when the bell rang. I couldn't see him anymore since he was a fast runner. Taking a deep breath, I entered the room. The teacher was taking attendance when I walked in. He looked at me and smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Rachel," he said extending his hand for a handshake. "I'm Louis Patterson,"

I shook his hand and smiled. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Patterson,"

"Class," Mr. Patterson began. Everyone averted their attention to me. "This is Rachel Lane, our new classmate. Be nice to her, okay?"

Everyone clapped and few people started waving at me. I waved back, feeling embarrassed. Then, I sat down in an empty seat. Sitting next to me, was a pretty girl with dark brown hair. She smiled.

"I'm Katherine," she said. "I hope we get along well,"

Path Academy was one of those rich private schools I've seen on TV. And just like Joey told me, everyone was nice to me. My nervousness and meekness went away, and I was soon having fun. Katherine was such a lady; she was gentle, kind, and she knew her manners.

"Hey, let's go have lunch on the roof," Katherine said after Math. I nodded, but just when we were heading there, Katherine received a text message from one of the teachers asking for her. Katherine apologized and promised to meet up at the roof once she was done.

Just like she said, the roof top was the quietest place in the school. I sat down on the edge and looked up at the sky. The clouds were beautiful today, and the sun felt really nice too. I looked down from the roof to see how high up I was, but it was all trees down there. I continued to sit on the edge when someone entered the roof. It wasn't Katherine. A guy entered and stared at me for quite a while. 

"Rachel Lane, right?" he asked smiling. He had a great smile. I nodded, feeling hot. He came up to me and sat on the edge beside me. "I'm Zach Taylor, we're in the same class,"

"Nice to meet you," I said, feeling all tensed. Zach noticed my tension and smiled.

"It's a great day today, huh?" he asked. I nodded once more. "What are you doing out here anyway?"

"Oh, to eat lunch... I was waiting for someone,

"Cool," Zach said, looking interested.

"You?" I managed to ask.

"Reading." Zach held up his book to show me. I read the title. "The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown,"

"I love that book!" I exclaimed.

"Really?"

"I was one of the few to buy it when it first came out,"

"Yeah, this is my third time reading this book,"

"Cool," I said.

"Yup."

There was an awkward pause.

"So.." Zach began to stand up. He stood in front of me, looking at me in the eyes. "Why is your name Rachel Lane?"

I was confused. "Why? Because that's how my mom named me-"

"Why not Rachel Doyle?" Zach asked, his eyes now cold. He continued to look at me in the eyes, except, it was more of a stare.

"How do you know that?" I asked, feeling somewhat angry.

"Don't you feel as if... you're different?" Zach continued, ignoring me. "Don't you sometimes think that you're imagining things?"

"No," I said. I was mad. "I don't know what you are-"

"We are different, Rachel.. We are different..."

"What? How?"

"Let me show you what I mean,"

Zach got closer to me and before I could panic, I was falling. I. WAS. FALLING. For a moment there, my mind was filled with different thoughts. Did he really push me off the roof? Is this what it feels like to die? I suddenly remember Mom and how she passed away only last month. Maybe I'll get to see her...

But I didn't want to die. I'm happy again... I enjoy living at the mansion- with Father, Joey, and Leo. I quickly regretted that I dangerously sat on the edge of the roof... 

"I don't want to die!" I said to myself.

I soon fell through the trees, breaking some branches along the way. It all happened so quickly, but I managed to close my eyes. But the thing is... I didn't land. I didn't feel any of my bones break, and I was still conscious. When I opened my eyes carefully, I saw myself floating just a feet from the ground. I expected my uniform to be caught by a strong tree branch that miraculously saved me from dying, but that wasn't the case.

I. WAS. FLOATING.

How cool is that? NOT

My "floating powers" seemed to fade and I fell to the ground with a thud. I was alive... I could hear some girl screaming her head off, asking for help and an ambulance. Teachers came running along with the students. One female teacher hugged me, crying, while Mr. Patterson called for an ambulance.

I could see Joey pushing through the crowd to get to me, and when he did, he kneeled before me and hugged me so tight, that I was suffocating.He pulled me away from him and started asking questions.

"Are you alright? What happened? Did you jump off? Why did you jump off? Did someone push you? Were people mean to you? ARE YOU UNHAPPY HERE?" 

"Calm down, Joey!" I yelled at him. He stopped with his questions and hugged me once again.

The ambulance came in an instant, and I insisted that I was alright. The people checked my bones and all, asking me to move every part of my body. 

"How did you survive that fall?" one asked curiously. I hesitated to tell the truth. 

"The trees, I guess," I told him.

Later, a lot of people started to call me Miracle Lane, saying that it was a miracle that i survived. A lot of teachers asked me what happened, telling me that they would happily listen to what I had to say. I wanted to settle this matter myself, before he tried to kill me again. 

I insisted that I should go back to class, and with bandages all over my face and arms, I continued my lessons for the day. I couldn't help but stare at Zach who was sitting in the same room. He seemed... normal. I couldn't concentrate on the lessons, and to make things worse, Zach's voice echoed through my head, repeating itself over and over again...

"We are different..."  

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