House of Deception

Chapter 1

"Paige! Get up!"

I groan and attempt to muffle the sound with my pillow. Instead, I am greeted with a pair of hands shaking me. Grumbling, I make my way to the bathroom as my mom heads back downstairs.

I stare into the mirror as I brushed my teeth. My hair is a mess and I have dark circles under my eyes.

I quickly get dressed and brush out my hair. What else did I expect? With all the nightmares I've been having since I was seven, it's no surprise that I'm sleep deprived.

Some things are meant to be forgotten. Others never will, no matter how hard you try.

"Paige," my mom calls up the stairs, breaking me out of my reverie. "Hurry up or you're going to be late!"

As if on cue, a horn honks outside. Grabbing my bag, I head downstairs. My best friend rolls her eyes at me as I run out the door. "Get in," she calls out the window.

After plopping myself onto her leather seats and buckling up, she starts the car and drives.

"What's up? You look terrible," she says. Mia is incredibly honest; mainly why I love her so much.

"I didn't get much sleep last night," I say, curling up in my seat. I pull a scrunchie out of my bag and start tying my hair up.

"Ah, you had a nightmare again, right," she says knowingly. As we pull into the school parking lot, she turns to look at me. "Look, as you're best friend, I worry about you. I know it was a traumatic experience, for you, but it's been 10 years. Obviously, I can't begin to imagine how you feel, but I'm sure he would want you to live your life instead of feeling guilty, yeah?" She smiles at me, reassuringly.

We walk into school and head towards our lockers, which luckily are right next to each other. I wanted to tell her that she couldn't begin to comprehend what I was going through, but all her points were valid. "You're right," I say, spinning open my lock. "Maybe I should start seeing my therapist again." I laugh as I take out the books I need for class.

Mia grins, "Sorry, didn't mean to lecture you so early in the morning."

With my arms full with books, I lean down to grab my backpack. "No problem. Hey, what do you think Mr. Adams-"

Somebody crashes into me from behind. Flailing around, I regain my balance but all my books drop to the floor.

Bending over, I scramble to pick them up while the boy who crashed into me does the same. When he looks up at me, I nearly drop my books again in shock.

It was Parker Green, my next door neighbor. The boy who became my best friend after I moved to Eastwood, who held my hand when I cried and taught me how to ride my bike. I could even say that without a doubt, he was the reason why after the accident, I didn't sink into depression.

He freezes for a second, staring at me before shoving the books at me. "Hey, um, sorry for bumping to you," he mumbles.

"Uh, yeah, it's okay" I say, grabbing the books and shoving them into my backpack. "Well, um," standing there, I fidget with my backpack strap. For a long moment, we look awkwardly at each other. A locker door slams down the hall and I realize I've been staring at Parker the whole time.

"Well, bye then," I finally say, grabbing Mia by the arm and hurrying down the hallway.

"Whew, that was awkward," she says.

"Tell me about it," I reply, looking over my shoulder and instantly regretting it. Parker was walking down the hallway, surrounded by all his buddies.

If you were wondering how we went from best friends to basically strangers, the answer was simple: popularity.

Parker was the typical boy next door, the handsome, kind, athletic child who grew up to be the star player on the basketball team. With his new status, his fame shot up. Suddenly, every time we tried to hang out, his phone would blow up or one of his friends would invite themselves to our hangout time. By the end of freshman year, I realized I was holding Parker back. Sure, he never said it, but I knew that I was the reason why he didn't quite fit in with his new friends. I gradually started hanging out more and more with Mia, making excuses when Parker wanted to meet up. Did I feel guilty when I ignored his calls and walked in the other direction when I saw him coming? Sure, but it was for his own good.

Come sophomore year, we had settled into our rightful places; Parker at the center of the popular squad, and me with Mia. Any guilt I might have felt vanished.

Mia knew about it all, which is why I'm not surprised when she says, "Damn, I knew you guys aren't friends anymore, but I had no idea it was that awkward. Don't you guys live next to each other?"

"Yeah, but we have no reason to talk to each other," I say, setting my backpack down at my table. Mia settles herself next to me.

"Well, enough of that," she says. "What do you think is the exciting news Mr. Adams wanted to tell us?"

Slowly, the room starts filling up with people. When Parker walks through the door, I pretend not to see him.

"I'm not sure," I say. At the end of school yesterday, he asked Mia and I to meet him before first period. Looking around, I counted a total of thirteen other people, including Parker. I didn't even recognize some of them.

The door opens and Principal Adams enters. "Good morning, kids. For those of you who don't know, I'm Principal Adams."

"Good morning," some of us reply back. Others blink tiredly at him, waiting to hear what he has to say.

I'm sure you're wondering why you're all here." He smiles at us. "The truth is, I have some great news for you all. I'm excited to say that Galvanize Scopes has agreed to an Eastwood High field trip to their facilities!"

"Field trip?" I repeat quietly under my breath.

"The school has partnered with the leading company of digital technology to send fifteen lucky students to experience their newest equipment."

"What equipment are we talking about?" Owen, a smart and academically driven student, asks.

"It's a great opportunity for you. Galvanize Scopes will allow you fifteen children to experience a virtual reality simulation of an amusement park."

As everyone chattered excitedly with each other at this news, Principal Adams starts handing out permission slips. "You were all randomly chosen out of the entire student body for this trip. Please sign and bring back these slips by next Friday. The trip is on Saturday morning at 8 am, so be there bright and early." He smiles before dismissing us all.

"Wow, this is so exciting!" Mia practically screams as we exit.