The Four Points

CHAPTER 1

THE FIRST DAY

It was the first day of my junior year. I walked down the crowded hall, clutching my books to my chest with my head down. I kept repeating in my mind, no more, no more, no more. This was a tool I created to help keep the voices out. I didn't mind listening to my own voice. It was the other voices I hated hearing, the voices that made it through the static wall I created. The ones that were never meant for my ears. I was able to fill my mind with a constant buzz like when you turn the radio to a non-working station, a loud static type of noise. I know it's weird that I would work so hard and choose to live with this annoying sound, and it was annoying, but it was better than the alternative¬¬¬—hearing people's thoughts. There are just some things you can never unhear, thoughts that put images in your mind that you can never unsee.

The scene was the same as it had been since my freshman year at Riverton High. On my right, lockers lined the long off-white walls, and to the left of me were the same students walking by in a blur of inaudible noise. As I strategically shuffled through the never-ending stream of bodies, my eyes focused on the same pieces of gum stuck to the same stained marble floor as last year. My concentration was broken when I heard a familiar high screeched annoying laugh. I lifted my head to see where the noise was coming from, and instantly regretted it. My eyes landed straight on Joanne and her groupies. These girls were never alone. If they didn't travel in a pack, they were always in pairs.

"Hey Erika, where'd you get that outfit from, the baby store, Gymboree?" All of her cronies laughed simultaneously at Joanne's great wit.

Joanne was my friendly high school tormentor. She and her friends were all cheerleaders, and looked more like they were in their twenties than their teens. As for me, on the other hand... well... I looked like I was twelve.

I put my head down, inhaling their nauseating perfume. I continued my walk, hoping they would leave me alone... but of course that didn't happen. Valerie, who was also a softball player and resembled a teenage bodybuilder, decided to join in on the fun. Knocking me back with all her weight, my books fell to the floor with a resounding thud. It probably didn't take much effort on her part; I weighed ninety-five pounds soaking wet.

"Hey Erika, you should really watch where you're going," Valerie's taunt echoed in my pounding ears. I took my now empty hand and rubbed at my throbbing shoulder.

Once again the group of girls cackled as they continued walking down the hall, reinforcing their admiration for their leaders, Valerie and Joanne.

I just glared after them. What else was I supposed to do?

Valerie used to be my best friend and was a big part of why I made myself stop hearing the thoughts of others. As I bent down to pick up my books I remembered back to a time before the static, when my mind was clear, when I had no barriers in place to keep other's thoughts out. I was eight years old when I heard and saw what created the Valerie of today. I didn't mean to hear her thoughts and even though things turned out the way they did, I still wasn't sorry I'd tried to help. I just hoped that what I'd seen was no longer going on.

Valerie was wearing her new pink-and-white striped pajamas in honor of our first sleepover. We were so excited running around the house giggling all day. We were in the throes of a heated pillow fight when Valerie's pajama shirt slipped off her shoulder, exposing a large purplish bruise. The discoloration stood out in violent contrast to her soft ivory skin. My mom was the first to point out the mark. Her curiosity was what prompted the tsunami of sound and images that flooded my mind. I was intruding on secrets that were not intended to be shared. I couldn't breathe. I gasped for air. I was reliving Valerie's memory. A combination of feelings washed over me—fear, loathing, love and then—the images rushed in. Valerie's feet dangled off the ground, her tiny hands furiously clawed at the larger ones clasped around her throat. A gut-wrenching primal scream filled my ears. It came from Valerie's mom. She pounced and clawed at the man's face. His skin turned red like the coils on an electric stove burning with fury, his pupils widened. He dropped the small body in his hands and turned his rage on the child's protector. Guilt overwhelmed Valerie as she lay on the floor gasping for air, helpless, not being able to rescue her mom from taking a beating that she had decided was meant for her. With all the breath Valerie could muster she cried out "Daddy, please no, Daddy don't!"