Just a dream

Chapter 1

                                               PART ONE

Out before I hit the ground

"Come on, we're gonna be late for school! Hurry up!"

"I'm trying, I'm trying. I can't fit this stupid, big lunchbox in my bag."

"You should have done that earlier this morning!"

"You know I can never bother to get out of bed!"

I always found it quite frustrating that Jana never managed to get out of bed any earlier than ten minutes before I arrived to go to school. However, it was also rather amusing too. I would see her wind round her extensive family members, mainly her mum, trying to find everything she needed for school. The only thing she always had ready for school was her PE kit. She almost always brought it to school for some kind of club, and I could never keep track of when she was doing football, or netball, or a basketball tournament, or anything else on her seemingly eternal list.

By the time she was finally done, I could have counted a thousand sheep, slowly and steadily, which I sometimes did to pass the time. Her mum would always try and make friendly conversation with me, but I had always felt very shy and awkward around adults. To be frank, I was often shy around most people, unless they were my close friends or immediate family. Then I reckon I could be the loudest of them, sometimes. Occasionally. A little. Ok, maybe not the loudest, but certainly a lot louder than with anyone else. In summary, I was antisocial. And not forgetting, I was a geek. The nerdiest of the nerd queens, even though I never liked the word nerd - I much preferred being called a geek.

"Done!" Jana hopped down from the staircase and followed me out of the front door. We had to run to get to the traffic lights as other people were crossing, and, extremely annoyingly, my hat blew off before I got across. When I had recovered my now dirty beanie and reached the lights, Jana was on the other side, and the cars had started to move again. She was laughing her head off, and if it wasn't for the fact that she could probably break my arm if she wanted to, I would have insulted her afterwards; I found revenge so sweet.

"After the next two cars, there's a gap coming. Run across the road!" she yelled.

"No! Don't be so stupid!"

"Oh come on. And go, now!"

Because of sheer instinct, I ran. When I reached the other side, I was puffing - I had never been one for sport - and muttering under my breath how dangerous that was. I had always been one to worry. I turned around to see cars passing as they normally do, no difference. I had expected one of those film scenes where the car dramatically stops, the driver jumps out, and they make a massive fuss over me, rushing me to hospital even though there wasn't anything wrong with me. Yeah right.

"Come on! You were the one who was worried about being late to school. It's twenty five past already!"

"What? Ok," I was still wheezing a little, "let's run." It was usual for us to run, for we were often on track to be late. I always just about made it into class, which was good, because I personally had a record for no late slips, behaviour slips, uniform slips, detention slips, etc. I certainly wasn't going to let one morning waiting for Jana let that slip - ignore the pun.

We ran halfway to school, only stopping at the next cross lights. We could see Alex walking a little further in the distance, and he was usually just about on time to school, which meant we were still late. So Jana ran, not bothering to even see how long it would take for the lights to turn. But because I had already done it once, I wasn't afraid to run over too. I ignored the fact that we were just by a corner.  I ignored the fact that road accident numbers were increasing across the UK. I ignored Mum.

Kind Mum, who had raised me since I was a baby. Thoughtful Mum who would always comfort me when in trouble. Clever Mum who had raised an income to help support not only me, my sister, and my dad, but my grandparents too. Helpful Mum who showed you the best way to do things. But wait, she was other things too. Bossy Mum, who would insist her way must be used. Tedious Mum, who would come back again, and again, and again, telling you to do something you're in the middle of doing anyway. Criticising Mum, who would always give more improvements than compliments, and the good points were often cut out all together. Overly precautious Mum who would repeat warnings several times over, so that I could recite them by heart.

Warning like being careful on the road.

But what harm could a little running do? I concentrated, blocked out all other noises - including the steadily growing noise of a veichle around the corner. And I ran again. The last thing I saw was the flash of the red bus walloping towards me. The last thing I heard was Jana cry out my name. I was out before I hit the ground.