The next day, every male already had corsages. Some even had dates to the dance already. Mom of course talked me into going and took me shopping for a new suit. To my surprise, Erica agreed to go with Clyde. Erica and Clyde were the only ones in our friendship circle that had conquered going to the dance alone.
Elizabeth and Blake had not been talking to each other since Blake asked her at lunch. Daphne happily turned down everyone who asked her while Freya and I could barely make eye contact.
*************
Two weeks to the dance, I got tangled into some sort of mystery.
It started when I met a girl at lunch.
When it was time for lunch, Principal Powers had every student in my class stay behind in class for some sort of meeting. I was the only one allowed to leave. My guess; what Mr. Hickery spoke to me about.
As I ate and read a novel on my phone, someone came and sat next to me.
“Hello,” she greeted with a broad smile on her face.
Her blonde hair blended perfectly with her brown eyes, enhancing the beauty in her smile.
“Hi,” I greeted back.
I had seen her before. On the first day of school, she was with Dexter who told me to get up as I sat on ‘his’ seat.
“We haven’t officially met. I’m Misty,” she said, offering me a handshake.
“Henry,” I replied, shaking hands with her.
“I knew that. I sit about five seats away from you in almost every class. That’s probably why you don’t notice me”, she said and a nervous laugh followed.
“Don’t mind me being nosy, but is that Captive in the Dark you’re reading?” she asked.
“Yes it is. How’d you know that?”
She dipped her hand into her bag and brought out a book. The black aura it emitted captivated me.
“That doesn’t exactly explain how you knew the book I was reading just from one glance.”
“Oh. Well I have read the book a lot. I love it and I connect perfectly with the book,” she replied.
“I think it’s mid though. It’s mainly erotic,” I said.
“True, but it does have its dark aspects. I still don’t know why I haven’t read the second book.”
It took a while, but my brain finally kicked in. I thought I was the only one Powers allowed to go.
“Wait, why aren’t you with the others and Principal Powers?” I asked.
“Oh, she gave me a free pass. Said I don’t need to be there as what she wanted to address doesn’t concern me.”
‘Hmm.’
Just as she was about to say another word, Clyde and Blake arrived at the table.
“Misty, what are you doing here? You know how Freya gets when she sees you,” Clyde said with a tiring look in his eye.
“So because Freya hates me, you do as well?” she asked softly.
“We don’t hate you, but watching the drama that usually occurs between you two gets very tiring” Blake added.
Misty didn’t say anything back.
“Hello Misty,” Elizabeth greeted.
“Hi,” she responded softly with her head lowered.
As soon as Elizabeth sat, the dragoness arrived.
“Excuse me, but Jerk-Ville is that way!” said Freya, pointing in the direction of the far side of the cafeteria.
“Relax Freya, I was just saying hi to Henry,” Misty replied with a low tone.
“Well you’ve said hi. You’re in my seat. Get up!” she demanded.
It was the first time I’d seen Freya that way. She was an entirely different person. The Freya in front of me was not the jovial Hathaway I had come to know.
“Fine,” she said in a whisper.
She got up, looked me in the eye and walked away.
“Geez!” Freya exclaimed as she sat next to me.
“Was that any way to treat her?” I asked.
“Trust me Henry, you do not want to be friends with Misty,” said Freya.
“Why? If I may ask”
Freya stared at me oddly and I did the same. I looked her straight in the eye in an attempt to make her spit out her reasons. Her eyes widened, and her lips quivered, but not a word left her lips.
“Okay, leaving that aside,” said Erica, immediately changing the topic.
“What did Powers want?” I asked. The thing with Misty seemed like a topic for another day, so I just let it go.
“Right. According to her and many of the teachers present, our class is like the worst they’ve seen and now, our class, you and Misty included, have a Parent-Teacher conference this evening,” Daphne explained.
“My mom is so going to kill me. I’m failing history and it’s a course she teaches,” Erica wailed.
*************
That evening, every ninth grader except me and Misty felt the heat of the Parent-Teacher conference. Mine went smoothly as expected.
After mine, I heard some parents yell and some just had disappointed looks on their faces. Erica’s mom was a member of the yelling squad as I saw her scold her at their car. It was one hell of a night for my class.
***********
The next day at school, things began to shift little by little. According to Clyde, our class ran great risks by not taking school work seriously. Risks like no junior or senior prom, summer school for everyone and some others.
I was in the library before basketball practice reading a novel Misty recommended. As I read, Blake hurried to sit with me and raised a rather odd topic.
“Henry, I need a favor.”
“Can’t it wait?” I asked, still engrossed in the pages of my paper-back friend.
“Well no,” he said, and tossed a newspaper on the table for me to look at.
I sighed, picked it up and read the headline.
“So there’s a psychotic girl going around at night vandalizing things that belong to other people. Sounds like something for the cops and the neighborhood watch to deal with,” I said, handing him the newspaper.
“Dude, you know me. I love this kind of stuff. Help me find out who it is,” he pleaded.
“Why don’t you ask Clyde to help?” I asked.
“He’s going to say no to this. I know him,” he replied.
“You know Clyde would say no, and you think I’ll say yes?” I asked, raising my eyebrows slightly.
“Come on man. Please. Help me satisfy my curious lust for this mystery,” he pleaded.
“No thank you.”
********************
A week to the dance, and I still didn’t have a date. My mother already bought my suit and I couldn’t bail as it would be rather insensitive of me.
Before lunch, I was having a casual conversation with Daphne at my locker. Of course, she was asking about why I didn’t have a date.
“So tell me, why exactly haven’t you asked anyone to the dance?” Daphne asked.
“I don’t know,” I replied, closing my locker.
“Why don’t you just ask Freya? Or are you scared because you like her?”
I paused.
“Don’t try to deny it Henry. Both of you have this spark. It’s small and hard to notice, but it’s there,” she added.
“If I tell you I’ll consider it, will you stop talking about it?”
“I’ll stop talking about it when you ask her,” she insisted.
*********
That day after school, I finally decided to ask Freya to the dance. I gave it a bit of thought and maybe i had caught feelings for Freya as we constantly talked. Anytime I needed something, I would go to her. We had connected, and I didn’t even know when and how.
I told her to wait in the chemistry lab after practice as there was something I wanted to show her.
“Why did you ask me to wait?” she asked.
‘Alright Henry, now’s the time.’
“I was wondering if---”
“Yes!” she interrupted.
My eyes widened a bit in surprise. I definitely didn’t tell anyone I was going to ask her. No one could have given her the heads-up.
“It’s about the dance isn’t it?” she asked with eagerness.
‘This works,’ I said to myself.
I pulled out the corsage from my bag and slid into her hands carefully. It was almost impossible not to notice the flush on her cheeks.
“See you on the twenty-fifth”.
**********
I walked down the hall a happy thirteen year-old. It was the first time I ever asked anyone to a dance and it came out successful.
As I walked down the hallway, a happy boy, someone bumped into me.
“I’m so sorry about that,” she immediately said, looking me in the eye.
Bright brown eyes, shiny blonde wavy hair and average sized pink lips that shone via aid of lip gloss I was standing in the presence of beauty herself. I was in the presence of Katie Hathaway.
“This is the first time we’re meeting in person, isn’t it Henry?” she said with a smile.
“Yeah it is,” I responded.
“Weird. Have you seen Freya?” she asked.
“Chemistry lab,” I replied.
“Okay then. Thank you.”
It was short conversation, but it was one I kept in the back of my head. I was mesmerized by her beauty, and her voice made me feel very light-hearted.
I thought Daphne was hot, but nahh- Katie Hathaway was the meaning of beauty.
***********
The next day at lunch, Blake came to me again, requesting my help with whosoever was vandalizing properties on some nights.
“Dude just help me with this,” he pleaded.
“You’ve asked me this loads of times and you already know what I’ll say,” I replied.
“Why won’t you just let it go?” Clyde asked with a small laugh.
“I can’t. Mysteries like this one calls for minds like mine and Henry’s. Henry, help a friend satisfy--”
“Fine I’ll help you,” I groaned.
“You will!” he exclaimed with his eyes wide open.
“Yes, but only a little. You don’t quit,” I said with a tiring sigh.
“Oh thank you thank you thank you!!”
“What do you have so far?” I asked, getting straight to the point.
“Alright.”
He zipped open his bag and pulled out a file with few paper-works inside of it.
“The vandalism started exactly four weeks ago today. Some say it’s someone from our side causing some trouble.”
“Why do they think we’re such bad people anyway? Anything goes wrong and they blame us?” Erica said with a pout.
“Let’s leave that Erica. Anyway, here are the dates that all vandalism occurred,” he said, handing me a sheet of paper.
On the sheet of paper I held, there were different items listed. From mail boxes, to garden gnomes, to the most recent, coach’s car.
“Besides the fact that they all happen at night, there’s no pattern in the dates or damaged properties. It--”
“There’s a pattern,” I interrupted when something stuck me.
“Where?” Blake asked, looking at what seemed to be a copy of the sheet of paper he handed me.
“All the vandalism happened on school nights. And I’m pretty sure the cops have noticed it always happens at midnight. This person’s a student,” I replied.
Blake looked closely at the dates of each activity.
“Now that you mention it, it shines a small light into this dark path,” said Blake.
“Hope you find something, cos’ I’m not helping again,” I said and tossed the piece of paper onto the table.
“Come on Henry, you could be a great deal of help to him,” said Daphne.
“I agree. You seem to have a knack for this kind of stuff. Look at how you got a lead just from a glance of some files Blake had,” Elizabeth added.
They pleaded and pleaded until it was impossible to ignore. In the end, I agreed to help him.
I looked at all the leads he brought and made possible deductions. Being the son of the Police Chief allowed him to gain some access to files. His dad would most certainly be mad if he found out he was making photocopies of some of his office files.
**************
The night of October the twenty-fifth;
My very first high school dance. The suit my mother got me fitted perfectly. I definitely didn’t wear a tie. Ties have never been my thing. Under my blue suit, I wore a white shirt with the first two buttons undone, revealing a thin gold necklace underneath.
“Henry, Alexis come on down already!” Heather yelled.
“We’ll be down soon!” Alexis yelled back.
As I added some finishing touches to my hair, someone opened the door and stepped into my room. Alexis.
The part of her gown covering her torso was black and it fitted her tightly, covering her cleavage. The gown skirt flared slightly and slit up to her knee. She added a few curls to her hair, still maintaining its natural look.
“Well?” she asked.
“It looks good on you,” I replied with a smile.
“Is the make-up too much?” she asked nervously.
Ever since her date asked her to the dance, she’s always been so uneasy about her looks. Not every girl in high school got to be asked to the dance by their teenage prince charming, in her case, Michael Henderson.
He asked her to the dance the week I pulled out the students’ life-saving event from the box, and just like magic, they happened.
“You look great. Stop being such a worry-wart.”
She stayed quiet with a smile on her face.
“I have to say, that suit looks good on you,” she chuckled.
“Thanks. Now let’s get downstairs before Heather screams her lungs out.”
I finished up and stepped out of my room. I offered Alexis my elbow and she slipped her hand into it and we walked towards the stairs.
“Don’t you think it’s weird that you’re taking Freya to the dance and her younger brother is taking Heather?” Alexis asked.
“I try not to think about it too much. Makes it less weird,” I replied.
***********
“Awwn, you guys look amazing!” mom exclaimed.
“Thanks mom,” Alexis replied.
Heather sat at the table with a glass of orange juice. She was wearing something rather similar to Freya’s second choice of dress with little make up.
“For once you look like a human being and not someone who rose from the dead,” Heather teased.
“I could say the same about you,” I replied and we both laughed.
After we took few pictures, a car pulled over in the driveway.
“Alright Henry, Michael’s here,” said Alexis. He was my ride to Freya’s house and the dance.
“Hold on,” I said, pouring myself a glass of water.
Michael Henderson; Daphne’s older brother and Vice-president of the Student Body. Unlike the rest of my family, I didn’t seem to take a liking to him.
When the doorbell rang, dad went to get it.
“Good evening Mr. Collins,” he greeted with a bouquet of tulips.
“Good evening,” dad responded, trying to sound intimidating.
“May I come in sir?”
He stepped out of the way, allowing for Michael to come in.
“Hey Henry,” he greeted.
“Hey.”
Mom was talking to Alexis while we all sat and waited.
“You look nice,” Michael said with a smile.
“Thanks,” she replied, blushing heavily.
“So this is when she’s most vulnerable,” Heather whispered.
“Take notes. Moments like these are of high value,” I whispered back.
He gave her the flowers he brought her and slipped the corsage into her hand.
“Can we go now?” I asked, walking towards the door.
“Henry, Alexis, don’t forget your curfew!” said dad.
“We won’t. Bye.”
*********
YOU ARE READING
A Different Descendant: Freshman Year 1
Teen FictionStep into Mystery Falls via the eyes of Henry L. Collins and witness the life of the last male of the Collins lineage as he uncovers secrets necessary to maintain the safety of his family, friends and city while living through highschool.
