Chapter 1

INFO:

Name: Alana Black

Age: 17 (almost 18)

Hair: Black

Eyes: Green

Body Type: Slim/Fit

Style: "goth"/"emo"/"punk"

Favorite Bands: Black Veil Brides, HIM, The 69 Eyes

Backstory: Lives with Mom in a small town in North Carolina. Mom is afraid of her and says she worships Satan. Alana has been sent to a mental institution by her mother. Alana's father is bailed, and her mother blames her and witchcraft, though Alana has never done any sort of witchcraft.

CHAPTER 1:

Ugh. I thought. I just wish this class was over. I just want to go home. Ha! Right. I forgot, my mom hates me and thinks I'm a murderer. Yeah, maybe home wasn't such a good idea after all. Maybe I'd crash at Joseph's place tonight. Joseph was my one and only friend at this school. I'd lived here my whole life and made one friend. Great social skills. Actually, I'd had a lot of friends when I was younger, but as I grew up and started listening to different music and wearing different clothes, we'd drifted apart. Or rather, they had left me in their dust to go on to be prom queens and cheerleaders. But what can you do?

"Alana?" I heard Mrs. Birch ask. I liked to call her Mrs. B***h, just not to her face. 

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Can you come up here and tell us why exactly the pentagram is a sign of the devil?"

Stupid question. She just wanted to single me out. I stood and walked to the front of the class. "Actually, the pentagram is only a sign of the devil in Christianity. Other religions have their own 'devil signs', just not the pentagram." I used finger quotations when I said 'devil signs'. Mrs. B***h, I mean Birch, gave me a look and I shrugged. 

The bell rang, signalling the end of school. I grabbed up my books and was leaving when I heard Mrs. Birch say, "You think you're so cool, don't you Alana?" 

"What are you talking about?" I really didn't want to stay here to talk to Mrs. Birch.

"Let me tell you something, you little freak. You will never humiliate me again, you hear me? Or I'll fail you," She snapped her fingers. "just like that."

"Yeah, okay. I got it. Don't out-teach the teacher. But I know about you and Jeremy." Mrs. Birch's face filled with horror. She had no idea that I'd known she was sleeping with one of the students, or how I'd known. I had actually walked in during lunch once and heard them in her office. Let's just say..I ended up going to lunch that day instead of studying in the classroom.

"You don't know anything." Mrs. Birch said, recomposing herself.

"Whatever." I left the school and started walking toward Joseph's truck. Joseph was tall�"almost six feet�"and always wore black. We went to concerts together and I told him just about everything. He did the same with me�"at least, I think so. Joseph's shaggy blonde hair hung down almost over his blue eyes completely. 

"What took you so long, A?" Joseph asked me when I reached him. A was his nickname for me.

"Mrs. B***h had to lecture me on schooling her. I told her I knew about her and Jeremy." 

"Ha! What did she say?" Jeremy's smile grew.

"'You don't know anything.'" I mocked Mrs. Birch's face.

"Ha ha. Yeah, maybe now she'll treat you better. Like blackmail."

"Or according to her, black magic."

Joseph laughed and got into the truck. I followed. The inside of Joseph's truck was spotless. He was kind of OCD like that, I guess. 

We were almost to the turn off to my house when I asked, "Can I crash at your place tonight? I really don't feel like dealing with Mom."

"Sure, but Katelynn will be there for a few hours." Jo glanced at me. He knew how I felt about his girlfriend, Katelynn. 

"Well, can you just pick me up after you take her home? I'll chill in my room until you text."

"Yeah, I can do that. Since it's Friday, we can stay up and watch scary movies. Ooohhh!!" Jo did a weird thing with his hands. I laughed. 

"Yeah, okay." I said.

A few minutes later, Joseph dropped me off at my place, promising to text me when he was on his way over. I walked inside to find Mom making dinner. She didn't acknowledge me, so I went on to my room..Which was looking pretty messy. I decided to pass the time by cleaning. Turning on Wretched & Divine, I started the long process of putting everything neatly in it's place. 

Afterward, I realized that I had quite a lot of laundry that needed to be done. I went to the laundry room and put a load in the washer. I was on my way back to my room when Mom stopped me. It was weird that she was talking to me, other than to tell me that dinner was ready.

"Alana, I need to talk to you." Mom said.

"Okay.." I replied, unsure.

"I emailed Dr. Phil."

"Dr. Phil?" I cocked an eyebrow. "About what?"

"You. We're flying out to California tomorrow afternoon."

I scoffed. "You can't be serious."

"I am. I'm afraid of you and for you. Honey, if you don't get on the right path, you will go to Hell. You may scare me, but you're my daughter and I love you all the same."

"Right. That's why the only time you talk to me is when dinner is ready. You haven't told me you love me in almost four years!"

"Well, we're going. Maybe Dr. Phil can talk some sense into you."

"I have plenty of sense, and Dr. Phil isn't going to change anything."

"Be packed by noon. We're leaving for the airport at 12:30."

"Fine. I'm staying at Joseph's tonight."

Mom didn't reply, just went back to cooking. I stormed off to my room to text Jo.

Me:When will you be here? Mom just dropped a bomb on me. I need someone to talk to.

Jo:Katelynn wasn't leaving for another hour, but I'll make her leave now. Be there in fifteen.

I smiled. Jo was such a good friend. 

Just as he said, Jo arrived about fifteen minutes later. I grabbed my duffle bag, school bag and favorite pillow and headed out the door. I didn't say bye to Mom; she wouldn't care that I was leaving anyway. As long as I was home for Dr. Phil. Luckily for me at least, tomorrow was Saturday, so I could sleep in a little, before the Hell began.

As soon as I got in the truck, Joseph asked me, "What kind of bomb did your mom drop on you?"

"We'll talk at your house." Was all I replied. The rest of the trip was silent.

A little later, at Joseph's house, we were in his room. He put on some HIM and joined me on the ocean of pillows and blankets that were his floor. Joseph liked sleeping on the floor. He said the only reason he kept his bed was for me. I was here a lot.

"So..The bomb?" Jo hinted.

"Right. I guess Mom and I's relationship--" 

"Or lack-thereof."

"Yeah. I guess it's so bad now that we need Dr. Phil to fix it."

"Your mom called Dr. Phil?" If Joseph thought that was ridiculous, wait until I told him we were actually going on the show.

"No, she emailed him."

"Well, that's not so bad. You probably won't even make it on there." Jo brushed it off as nothing.

"We already have. We fly out to California tomorrow afternoon."

Jo's mouth dropped open and he started laughing hysterically. I didn't think it was too funny, so I threw a pillow at him and said, "What are you laughing at, idiot?"

"You�"ha ha�"Dr. Phil!" The way Joseph was laughing made me laugh. He was on his back, gasping.

After our little fit was over, I said, "My life is so ridiculous. Come on, Dr. Phil?"

"Hey, you might become famous. A voice for all us little people."

"I think Andy Biersack does quite a good job at that. Let's leave the leadership stuff to him."

"Yeah, but you're going to be on TV, so..."

"So..."

"Can I have your autograph ahead of time?" Jo pulled out a magic marker. "A! Will you sign my b***s?!" He raised his shirt up.

"Ha ha! Why, of course young man. Who do I make this out to?"

"Your biggest fan!"

I wrote my name on Jo's chest.

A few hours later, it was almost eleven and I was super tired. Jo told me to take the bed, but for once, I didn't want it. I needed my best friend tonight. "Can I sleep down here with you?" I asked him once he was situated in the floor.

"I don't know, A. Can you?" Jo replied sarcastically.

"Shut up. I just didn't want you to think it was weird or anything. You know, since you're with Katelynn."

"Shh. She doesn't have to know. It's just sex."

"What?"

"I'm kidding. Get down here kid."

I laid down beside Joseph and he clapped his hands, making the lights go off. 

Reviews

[Riaan Steffens]

Really interesting opening. The characters are well developed and as the reader you feel like you can sense who they are and understand them. The dialogue is good and feels very natural, flowing well. I would have liked more of the senses used in descriptions and more descriptions in general eg. how things look and are perceived by characters, how things feel and sound... maybe even smell. Lots of dialogue and minimal description. But very enjoyable, thanks for that, good read!

[Shawna]

Thank you for your review. I wrote the first 8 chapters a while back. A few weeks ago, I decided to come back and continue this and finish it. So, after chapter 8, there is a lot more description. I've definitely grown as a writer since I started this story.