Into The Shadows

Where It All Begins

                          Andrea's POV:

   I sat in my desk and pulled my journal out along with my pen. Then I began writing my next page of song lyrics:

Monday, September 20th:

    Who’s that shadow holding me hostage, I’ve been here for days. Who’s this whisper telling me that I’m never gonna get away? I know they’ll be coming to find me soon, but I fear I’m getting used to being held by you…

-Stockholm Syndrome

    I furrowed my eyebrows as I read they lyrics in my head. It seemed as if I had written it fine, but something bothered me about it. Just as I was about to write another excerpt from another song, my journal was ripped out of my hands.

‘Hey!” I scolded while standing up. As I did I found myself face to face with the most popular girl at Weatherford High, Callie Anders.

“Whatcha writing? Love notes to your non-existent boyfriend?” She smirked.

     Her stupid entourage just laughed at her amateur joke while I tried to reach for my journal. She kept passing it around to her friends and they eventually just threw it across the room. I glared at her as she said, “Fetch, Dog.” The class had their eyes on me as I walked past her and grabbed my journal. I couldn’t care less what she or anyone in school thought of me, as long as I was being myself nothing mattered.

“You’re pathetic. No wonder the only friend you have is that freak Dale.”

“His name is Dave and he's not a freak. So leave him alone.”

     And with that I sat back in my seat. I was done with her trying to make me seem weak for today, but it seemed as if she wasn’t.

“What a shocker, the nerd being such a good girl and sitting in her seat. I bet she wouldn’t have the guts to fight me,” She laughed, “And if she did, well...let’s just say she’d be the one on the ground.”

     The whole class just laughed, but I didn’t. Instead, I stood back up and looked her straight in the eyes.

“Is that a challenge, Callie? Cause, I’m pretty sure that you just challenged me to a fight.”

She smiled and said, “Yeah, I am actually.”

      I scoffed at her, she was bluffing.

“OK, OK, but see if I remember this right, which I do no doubt, the last time we fought, I won. And you were the one on the ground.” I said. By now, I was looking straight in the eyes and not daring to break eye contact. I could see the rage in her eyes, but she held back.

“I let you win. And now it's time for us to have a real fight.”

     I smirked, “OK. But it will be on my turf. The soccer field with a one-on-one game.”

       I could see her tense up the moment I mentioned the soccer field. But just as quickly as she tensed up, she relaxed and smiled.

“After school. Today.”

      That's when I smiled back at her and said, “Good luck.”

       Finally, study hall was over and I was able to leave, but I had no idea that game against her wasn't gonna be happening at all.

*************************

“Wait. Callie Anders challenge you to a soccer match?! Is she out of her mind?! She never returned back to soccer after her injury.”

         I shrugged my shoulders and slung my backpack over my shoulder.

“What are you doing? We still have three classes left.”

I sighed deeply, “I need some adrenaline rush before the game. And besides, is not like anyone will really care.”

      Dave was a good kid. He had good grades, perfect attendance, basically the perfect poster kid. Except for one thing, he had a disability in his legs that has him wear some crutches for the rest of his life. Funny thing is, whenever it's French toast day for lunch he runs like crazy to get some. That's probably the main reason almost everyone at school makes fun of him. Dave was an easy target, he was slow, sensitive, and he didn't do anything when they picked on him.

      Me on the other hand, was the most reckless girl at Weatherford High. I broke the rules, was late to class, got many  suspensions, and got kicked out of almost every school I've been through. Here's the thing though, I got kicked out for the craziest of reasons. They were things I couldn't explain without sounding like I needed a mental institution.

      Examples would be like my 7th grade field trip to the zoo, I was just playing around and before I knew it...a lion was trying to eat my class. My 6th grade year we went to a museum and I blew up the gift shop, I thought the cannon was fake. 5th grade we went to an aquarium and somehow...we ended up near the ocean. Then there was my 4th grade, nevermind...you get the idea. Dave seemed worried, as if something bad was gonna happen, but the worst that could happen was that I got another suspension.

“Andrea, I don't think this is a good idea. We should head back to school.”

“Come on Dave be a little reckless. Let me just do a few moves and we will be back at school in no time.”

Yeah. That never happened.

         I pulled my gear out of my backpack and grabbed my skateboard out of my locker then we were on our way to the skatepark. The entire was there Dave was fidgeting with his crutches and trying to convince me to go back to school. When we finally arrived I felt at home, there was other people doing their tricks on the stairs and railings, and flying in the air making 360° turns. This was probably the most dangerous part of my neighborhood, but to me it was perfect. I smiled at Dave and got up on the halfpipe, my heart started pounding in my ears as I rode

down on my skateboard. I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins and the wind in my hair. When I was done, I jumped off my board and smiled.

“You never fail to impress me Andrea.” he said giving me a high five, “but we should seriously head back now.”

“Fine…”

     We walked back to school and we went in the back door. Nobody was in the halls and that made it easier for us to sneak back in. We snuck into the library and sat in our usual spots. Lucky for us class had just begun.