When Lightning Strikes [COMPLETED]

Chapter 12: New Start (Part 2)

Julie couldn't remember a single question from her English final. She remembered writing answers but not the questions themselves. She was the first to turn the test in and sat in the back of the room pretending to work on something quietly, like the two boys in her class who were also finished.

The paper in front of her was covered in in random looking words: the Academy, dancing, Atlanta, Jamie, Mom, Dad, the island, Jamie's school. Next to each word were times, somewhere between five and ten minutes apart. Some of the words were crossed out and re-written. Others where underlined several times until the pen had ripped the paper. Down in the left hand corner, one word was circled several times until the paper around it was tattered.

Anger.

Was anger the trigger, making her forget things and have missing pieces of her day? Pieces so small she wouldn't notice. But why? None of it made sense. She put her head down on her arms on the desk. She had to be going crazy.

The paper began as a wild experiment. She wrote down the time from the big clock above Ms. Azul's desk in the front of the room and one word like 'Atlanta.' Then she tried to think about how angry she was still about leaving Atlanta, her friends, and dance school. That part wasn't hard.

Then out of nowhere she would blink, see the paper, remember what she was doing, and check the clock. She wrote the time down next to the first. Five or ten minutes were missing in a few cases. A wave of nausea washed over her.

She couldn't remember any thoughts in the five or ten minutes that were lost.

"Class, time is up." Ms. Azul clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "If you haven't finished by now, then you won't."

Julie jumped a little in her seat. Her hand paused over the paper as she decided what to do with it. Did people dig through the trash here? Would they know what she was working out?

She folded the sheet neatly and slipped it into the slim red book in her bag. She finished zipping it up when Tilik came to carry it for her. Her stomach churned. She didn't like giving up that book or that paper. She didn't want anyone to know that something was different with her today.

Kara came to the back, frowning. "That was hard. I can't believe you finished it so quickly."

"Yeah." Julie shrugged, sure she did terrible. But she didn't need to do all that well to keep her B in the class. She got to her feet in a hurry to keep up with Tilik, who was with the other two boys walking to their next class.

"What did you put for ..." Kara went on and Julie tuned her out, occasionally answering noncommittally when her friend paused.

Julie's teeth worried at her bottom lip. She was so alone. She wanted someone to talk to. Could she trust Kara? Should she ask her?

As the boys entered the next room, she turned suddenly, startling her friend into stopping ten feet from the classroom door. She whispered fast. "Kara, why are there two schools on this island? Why are all the kids you went to school with when you were younger all over there now? It doesn't have younger kids right? Does this make sense to you?"