They call you crazy when you see things they don't.
When you hear things other's can't.
When you KNOW things they just can't understand.
But sometimes they're not the ones who realize the shocking truth.
You are.
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I opened my eyes to clamoring and voices and people bustling around the kitchen. "WuzzgoinonamIlate?" I yawned. I was sleeping on the couch, which didn't surprise me. I had a tendency to sleepwalk.
"Jacob, you're awake! Remember, today's Monday! You have school!" Andrew's voice boomed. I I observed him carefully. Dark brown hair, yellow eyes. As he looked at me through his half-rimmed glasses, I could see a light in his eyes that didn't seem right.
He looked like a regular person, but something just felt off. Maybe it was just the getting used-to phase I was going through.
"Yes, I made some breakfast for you. Pancakes and blueberries. Evelyn already went upstairs to get dressed; you'd better hurry." Millie looked tired. Her dirty blonde hair was tied up in a messy ponytail and there were dark circles under her very very pale brown eyes. Even though I disliked them the same, Millie radiated an aura of protectiveness and cheerfulness. A thought poked me in the head, but before it could form, it vanished.
I shrugged, said a quick "Thanks," and headed to the table to shove as much food as possible into my mouth in three minutes.
I dressed and showered in record time and rushed down the stairs, almost knocking Evelyn over.
"Watch where you're going!" Clearly, her snottiness had returned. It was a pretty long walk to school, so Andrew had offered to drive us there. This place was ancient. It merged middle and high-school, so I would have to endure having Evelyn there like I did in elementary.
By the time we got into the sedan, it was 7:55. Oh shoot. School started in 5 minutes.
Not that I really cared. See, there were a few categories. Whenever we changed schools, Evelyn had over five friends in under 2.5 seconds, while it took me ages to find even one.
She was considered a "cool kid" while I was the school freak. Not that she ever bragged about it.
The thing about my sister is that she's loud, obnoxious, and shows off a lot, but if it comes to something that will hurt my feelings and not just annoy me, she drops the subject.
"Here we are!" Andrew's voice jolted me out of my thoughts. We had parked in front of a rather shiny building painted white but with different patterns in purple and blue.
Evelyn hopped off and immediately rushed off at the bell, reaching just in time. I, on the other hand, stayed put.
"Well? Aren't you gonna go?" Andrew asked.
I just shook my head.
"You know, if you're worried about getting bullied, just relax, take a few deep breaths, and ignore them. What really matters is how you, your family, and your friends see you. Now run before you get detention."
Wow. Andrew was good at pep talks. I grinned at him- for probably the first time in ages- and practically teleported through the doors of the school.
On the way to class, I stalled. The walls were scribbled on, and crumpled homework was scattered on the floor.
I assumed they had dropped it on the way to class.
Or not.
Being the rebellious person I am, I took another detour to the boys restroom. As I was washing my hands s l o w l y, the hand dryer turned on.
Huh? I turned around to look at it. No one except me was in the room so how....?
When I whipped around to get the hell outta there, something gray appeared for a split second and opened a gaping hole in that same dryer.
I almost yelled for help, but then I noticed something else. Another piece of paper. Why did this keep happening to us?
Once again, I uncrumpled it. And once again, there was a series of connected sentences on it. Same handwriting. Same wrong format.
Unless. Unless I made a move. Ripped it into pieces. You
heartless soulless shadow of the one you used to be, why? Make or break? I never
Thought you would choose the latter
I gaped at the paper.
My heart thumped. Ripped it to pieces. To pieces.
Why did that line bother me so much?
And what was that thing I'd seen? Surely I hadn't imagined it? The bell rang again. Oh no.
Homeroom was over. I'd missed it.
I threw the door open and ran all the way to room 2B.
A stern looking woman with black hair in a very tight bun glared at me. "Homeroom is over."
"I know, ma'am. I'm very sorry. I got lost," I said.
She narrowed her eyes. "And I suppose you couldn't go to the office to ask for a pass?"
"No ma'am, I am new here. I'm called Jacob Stone."
Suddenly she gasped. "Stone? As in, Jennifer Stone?"
Blood rushed to my head. "Yes. She was my mother. Why do you ask?"
The teacher didn't even react to how my tone had changed from polite to intense in a matter of seconds.
"Nothing. She just used to go here. Now you wouldn't want to be late to first period, would you?" she asked and handed me a small piece of blue paper with the word "pass" written on it. Then she flashed a small smile and turned back to her work.
I couldn't believe I'd gotten off so easy. I ran up the stairs where room 4A should have been and almost crashed into a group of older kids. High schoolers.
The boys snickered and I caught a few mumbles of the word "freak." The girls just giggled and moved along. One of them just stayed silent, neither defending me or agreeing. She finally forced a laugh and walked past me.
My heart dropped to my toes when I realized that girl was Evelyn.
Period 1 was Science, which was alright I guess. The teacher was a man with a bushy brown beard and hair. His eyes were light brown.
"You're right on time, young man," he said. "What's your name?"
"Jacob, sir. Jacob Stone."
His eyes flashed with something almost emotional. In a good way.
Thoroughly weirded out by now, I settled for a long lecture on the gray zone between solid and liquid.
My mind still rested on what had happened earlier. Ripped to pieces.
I felt like this should trigger something in my memory but it didn't. Figures.
My eyes scanned over the teacher one more time, and mine met his. The second it did, I got whisked off to a different reality.
I was back in the attic room. The dusty cobwebs seemed to hang lower. I sensed a presence around me.
This time, they didn't bother to hide. I remembered hand that had given me the first paper.
Just like I had wished it, I felt a familiar aura approach me. They stretched out an arm. It had glossed nails with a scene of the ocean painted on each one.
