Hang In There

Chapter 1

The wind blew hard against the windows, creating a loud racket, while I shivered and covered my ears, not wanting to be ridden of this temporary warmth in the harsh, cold winter. As soon as the alarm started screaming though, I threw off my bed covers, got up and groaned, "I'm up!"

My mom yelled from the kitchen, "Hurry! You're going to be late to school again!"

I quickly brushed my teeth and changed into school clothes, and glanced at the clock on the wall: 7:46. I grabbed my backpack and ran downstairs, before snatching the half-burnt bread and stuffing it in my mouth.

While I was running to the door, I looked around. "Where's Dad?" I asked, trying to chew the toast.

Mom smiled sadly. "You know he's been working hard on that big project. He wanted to get there early, saying he'll finish it anytime now."

I muttered under my breath, "Like he said yesterday and the days before that."

Mom patted my shoulder and said, "I'll probably be back before 6. Good luck on the science test today, sweetie!"

"See you later!" I said, before closing the door and running down the street to West Shores Middle School.

Five minutes later, I bursted into the classroom, praying I was not late again. A black-haired boy looked up from his desk, grinning. Frank said, "Hey Kate!"

As I took my seat behind him, I replied, "Hi. Finishing your homework again?" I looked over his shoulder. He nodded and resumed working on it. I let him and took out my notebook and looked around.

Most of the class was clustered around Trinity's desk, talking loudly about what they saw in the latest school newspaper, how much homework they've received the past week, and other miscellaneous topics.

Some other students, like Hank and Daniella, and their friends were chatting about their favorite basketball teams and joked about the upcoming spirit day. The loners in the class were looking through the math notes or sleeping.

In the margin of my notebook, I completed yesterday's drawing of a vampire dragon. The scary realistic dragon had smooth scales in the front, two claws and two feet, a black cloak draped over its back, and two large fangs sticking out of its mouth.

The bell rang, signaling the beginning of class. Mr. McCarville stood up and declared, "Okay, class, back to your seats now...you've had plenty of time to talk and Winter Break's coming up anyways. Time for a pop quiz! Let's see how much you've learned so far!"

The entire class groaned in unison.

. . .

Almost 7 hours later: 2:51 PM

Frank and I headed toward his house. We both lived on the same street in Clearfield, California. I bent my head back, and breathed a sigh of relief. "I can't believe we took like three tests in one day! And it's not even a Friday!"

Frank squinted at me. "You're usually a bit more...happy after school's over. And you complain less too. Your dad again?"

I nodded again. "Yeah, but it's fine. He's going to be done with his project anytime now," I recited, rolling my eyes.

"Hey, he'll finish sometime. And then you both will be fine." And I believed him for a moment. I believed that we'd really be fine again. But then I noticed his voice was a bit strained and his eyes were unfocused.

This time I guessed, "Your mom's pressuring you for the basketball team again?"

He forced a smile. "Yup. Last time it might have ended in explosions, if my dad hadn't intervened. She really doesn't seem to get that I like math and soccer a whole lot better." His eyes were downcast and his voice had dropped to a mutter. Obviously, this wasn't a comfortable topic for either of us. Frank's mom kept trying to get him to play basketball because it runs in her family. She played basketball when she was a kid and so did her dad and so on, but Frank never liked playing it even though he was pretty tall. He liked equations and numbers and kicking a soccer ball and taking observations on volcanoes and earthquakes instead, which baffled his mom. I could tell from the tightness in his voice that it was starting to take its toll.

"She'll drop it eventually." After a moment, though, I changed the topic. "How much homework did you get today?"

He bounced his backpack on his shoulders and replied, "A bucket load. What about you?"

"Same, I think. Do you want to play Among Us after we're done?" We reached his house and he unlocked the door.

"Yeah, sure. Come on." We entered the house and went into his room. "Sorry about the mess," Frank apologized while trying to clear a space. I dropped my backpack in the doorway, and helped him.

"At least winter break's starting soon." I brought my notebook out after I'd snatched a pencil from his desk. "Let's get this over with."

. . .

About 2 hours later: 4:51 PM

Frank stretched and said, "I'm done. What about you?"

"Yeah, just give me a sec." I packed up my textbook, and rubbed my eyes, then, stood up and plopped onto the desk chair. I brought out my phone from my pocket and opened the game. "Come on, here's the code: TMMVVF."

Frank was sitting with his back leaning against the wall, his dark brown eyes scanning his screen. "I'm in. There's already nine players?"

"Now there are ten," I responded.

The timer to the start of the game began counting down:

5 . . . . .

4 . . . .

3 . . .

2 . .

1 .

Everything turned pitch black suddenly. I turned toward where I thought Frank was in panic. "Frank, are you there?" I asked, rising to my feet, in the growing silence.

"Yeah, I'm right here." I jumped at the sound of his voice, which was closer to me than I thought.

"What happened? Do you have a flashlight somewhere?"

"Yeah...one sec. It should be right around here...somewhere." I heard things being tossed aside. "Here!" Frank switched the flashlight on, shining it bright in my eyes. But the light only lasted for a second, because the next thing I knew the flashlight tumbled to the ground

One second he had been there, the next second he hadn't.

One second I was there, the next...

I wasn't.