Loner

Chapter 1 of Academy.

                Hello, my name is Maria South.  I am currently seventeen, about an adult and did not know my true identity until my last semester of high school.  I have always been ordinary and a “plain Jane”.  My hair is mousey brown and straight.  My face is oval with a small button nose.  My eyes have no way of standing out since they are dark brown.  I am 5’3 with a small frame and pale skin.  Honestly I’m nothing to look at, so I blend in everywhere. 

                I never dreamt that I would find a place where I would stand out.  In my high school I was always a wall-flower.  I constantly sat in the back of the classroom.  During lunch I ate by myself. I also did not fit into any social quota.  I did not mind being myself.  I just wanted friends that I could be myself with.

                 I have always been a very visual person.  I believe I get this from my quiet and stand-offish nature.  People may not have noticed me at school, but I noticed them.  I saw all of the cliques that schools have.  There were the preps who for some reason thought it was cool to wear snow boots in warm weather.  There were the mall Goths who thought that shopping at Hot Topic made them look cool and rebellious.  I also noticed the hip-hoppers, the wannabe rappers and many other groups.  I don’t feel like getting too detailed about all of them.  I always laughed at these groups even though I was jealous of their close friendships.

                I was a loner and feared that I would be one for the rest of my life.  My only friend was my mom.  She raised me by herself, since my father and her divorced before I was born.  I was always mad that my father never visited.  I never knew what he looked like, for my mother never kept a picture of him and rarely spoke of him.  She told me once that he left because his heart led him away.  I always interpreted that to mean he had an affair, and believed that’s the way she wanted me to see it.

                Being a loner, friendless and fatherless was my life.  I survived day to day with a book in my hand and on the weekends I read fan-fiction on my computer.  I never needed anyone to tell me that my life was dull.  Little did I know that it would all change.  My lonely life would go from dull to exciting and unexpected. 

 

                My story starts out on a boring school Monday.  My homeroom teacher sat at his desk while one of the student workers read off the announcements. 

“And today there will be an assembly for all twelfth graders at ten o’clock”.

                For some reason as I sat in my usual back seat the hairs of my neck rose.  I pushed it off and thought that it was just excitement for a break of the schedule.

                At ten o’clock I walked to the assembly with my class.  When I got into the auditorium the stage was lined with a group of people wearing black shirts, pants and shoes.  I took my seat ready to find out what this was about.  The principal took the stage.

“Today, I am proud to present you an advisor from a private academy.  He has come to tell us about his school.  Please give Mr. Roseland a warm welcome”. 

                The man who stood in the middle of the line walked forward on the stage.  His speech about his academy told us that he school was very private and only the best students were taken in.  After the last statement I decided to drown him out, since I didn’t consider myself “best student” material.  I may have made good grades, but I wasn’t very involved at all. 

                I decided to study his companions.  I figured that they were students since they looked younger.  Each student wore the same black long sleeve shirt and black slacks, even the girls.  Each student was also clean-cut.  I decided that if I had to dress so strictly I wouldn’t want to attend the academy. 

                I then felt urged to study the advisor.  At the time, I thought it was a coincidence that his eyes met mine at the same time I looked at him.  I thought that I was going insane, because for an instant it seemed that his eyes glowed red.  I could have also promised that I saw a flicker of a smile.

                I fell into a small trance and did not fall out of it until someone pushed pass me to exit, for the assembly was over.

                On my walk home I sensed that someone was following me.  I kept my eyes wide and constantly looked behind me.  I even slowly walked around every corner instead of rushing.  When I got home, I marked my disturbance as paranoia. 

                My house was empty, since my mom was still at work.  I decided to watch t.v. until I felt like doing my homework. 

                Around five o’clock I decided to start making supper.  I looked around the kitchen to see what was available.  When I was in the process of taking out pots and pans I heard a knock at the door.  I knew that it wasn’t my mom, because she would have used her key.

                I went to the window cautiously.  When I looked out of the blind I was surprised to see a person dressed in all black and very clean cut.  For a moment I was horrified, for he reminded me of one of the students from the academy.  I decided to do my best and stay quiet, so the person would believe no one was home.

                I slowly walked away from the window.  When I turned around I found another black suited clean-cut guy in front of me.  I acted quickly and ran towards the phone, but he was quicker and blocked my way.  I tried to get to the other phone in my mom’s room, but before I even stepped into the room he was there.

“What are you”, I yelled.  “What do you want from me?”

                His tall figure stood amazingly straight and still against the moonlight coming from the open blind to our right.

“I want nothing from you”, he said through tight small lips.

This confused me greatly.  “Then why are you here?”

“I am here on an errand.”

“By whom?”

                He shifted his weight slightly to his right.  It was then I noticed the light against his red hair.

“I do not have to tell you anything.  I was sent here to get you and that’s what I plan to do”.

                Just when I registered what he said he struck me a blow to the head which caused me to fall and black out. 

Reviews

[mischeif]

Wow. Very capturing story. Keep going.