Chapter one: Nightmares and Daydreams
Smoke. Fire. Scream. Baby. Mum. Emily. Car. Blood, blood, and more blood. Followed by darkness, and then voices;
"It's your fault,"
"You're the one who should've died,"
"Ruthless demon,"
"You killed them,"
"Murderer!"
"You pitiless, selfish girl,"
"Heartless creature,"
"Monster!"
I was surrounded by people who were pointing at me and blaming me. All had resentment in their eyes. I was covered in hot sticky blood. My ears were ringing, and all I heard was people accusing me. I covered my ears and screamed till my throat went sore. Then suddenly the ground below splits open and I fall into a dark abyss.
"Noooooooo!!"
I woke up with a jolt, sweating, and panting. My shirt was soaked with sweat and so were my sheets. I got up from my bed and threw open the curtains to get some fresh air.
The nightmares had started again since I started taking my sleeping pills; pills that dad makes me take. I prefer being an insomniac rather than suffering these nightmares.
Seeing it's already six in the morning, I did not attempt to sleep again and headed to the bathroom to get changed.
***
As I got down the stairs, I was welcomed with a waft of pancakes. And with that, my stomach started gurgling. As I rushed to the dining room, I heard noises of people speaking and metal clanking on the ceramics.
I opened the door and saw that everyone was already halfway through their meal.
"Good morning Emma, nice of you to finally join us," dad said while he sipped his tea.
"Good morning to you too dad," I said chuckling. And I took my seat next to Tyler; my twin, who by the way didn't even notice that I had just taken the seat next to him. He and Ethan were busy having a pancake eating contest. I swear both of them were stuffing pancakes as if they've never seen them before.
"Ew guys, why can't you eat like normal people?" I said as I was helping myself with some toast and eggs.
"Good morning, Emma! You could join us too," said Ethan with a mouth full of pancakes.
"I would've but, it's my first day back at school. And I don't want an upset stomach."
He shrugged and continued stuffing. I sat across the twins and believe me when I say, it's not the best seat. They do a lot of weird things that make you lose your appetite. And I love my food.
I finished up my meal promptly and got ready to go to school. I was never this excited to go to school. But today it's different, today I feel like this is going to be a fresh start for me. Today is the day that I will press resume on my normal life.
"Ethan! Hurry! I don't want to be late on the first day of school!" I said hurriedly, putting my shoes on.
"Relax, Emma. There's an hour left before classes start, and it's your "first day" and not mine, mine was 2 months ago," he said and rolled his eyes.
Yeah, you heard it right. The school did start 2 months ago. The thing is, I've been homeschooled since her death. Until 2 weeks ago when I was fed up with this lifestyle and decided to go to school. So here I am, 2 months behind on school work. Yay me! So much work to do! (Note the sarcasm.)
(spoiler alert)
Since there was time to kill, I went to our library and picked up a random book to read. I sat on a bean bag and turned the book over to read the title, 'The Last Olympian' a smile crept on my face. I love Rick Riordan. His characters are the best. Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Nico I love them all. Luke's death was depressing, even though I hated him at the beginning he died a hero. Putting that thought aside, I started reading it and soon half an hour passed and it was time to head to school.
I picked my bag and headed to the door."Ethan! Tyler! Come on, let's go!" I yelled but got no reply in return.
"They're already outside," a voice behind me said. I turned back, Bryce was standing by the door.
"Beast?! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be on the way to school? And where's ben?" I asked him, surprised to see him.
"I am taking a day off from school. You see, I am very sick today" he pretended to be nauseous, but I knew better. If he was sick for real, he wouldn't get up from his bed. I went up and checked his temperature and smacked the side of his head.
"Ow! Why did you do that?!" he exclaimed while rubbing his head. I might've hit him harder than I expected. What can I say I have strong hands.
"That mister,-I flicked his nose to annoy him a little more- is for lying to get a day off from school. I don't know how you fooled dad, but you're not gonna fool me kiddo" I ruffled his hair and took the chocolate he was hiding behind him and I left him there ignoring his protest.
"Bye beasty have fun! But not too fun though, don't trouble Ms. Nancy" I said whilst I slung my bag over my shoulders and munched on his Twix. I know stealing chocolate from kids is not good. But that kid has stolen enough of mine, so I am just making it even.
"Ms. Roberts! You forgot your coat. It's cold out there!" Nancy yelled behind me. I turned to see her hurrying towards me with my coat in her hand. I took the coat from her outstretched arm, "Thank you, Ms. Nancy, and please call me Emma. I am 16, not 60 for god's sake," I said.
"Sorry, Ms. Ro- I mean Emma I won't do it again," saying tenderly that she bowed and left.
Ms. Nancy is one of our maids. She's in her late 20s and new too. It's only been a month since she joined, so she kinda fears doing anything wrong. It's not like my dad is cruel and wouldn't tolerate mistakes. In Fact, he's the kindest man I know.
I walked to the car. Ethan was already in the driver's seat, and Tyler was by the main door looking down on his phone. Ethan drives Tyler to school every day, and I joined them because I don't have a license yet, and neither does Tyler.
"Shotgun!" I yelled and got in the front seat. Tyler looked up from his phone and groaned dismally and sat dully in the back.
The school is just a 10-minute drive from here. I've been to Redwood high before, for Ethan and Tyler's games and some other events. It's a fairly large school, and ancient too. The school was built a hundred years ago, at least that's what grandpa had told me. Even though it's old, they had done quite a few renovations to it. There's a huge garden in the middle of the school and also a garden in front of it. In short, it's a pleasant place made as a hellhole, aka school.
Ethan parked the car in the lot, and we got out. As soon as I stepped out of the car, I immediately felt pairs of eyes staring at me. It didn't really bother me much. I looked around and saw that Ethan was already talking to his friends. Tyler was by my side.
"Come on Tyler, I need to get to the office so I can get my timetable," I said to Tyler.
I dragged Tyler by his arm into the school building, and rather harshly I might add.
"Yo! Easy on my arm. What's the rush why you are excited to go to your classes"
"Sorry, I guess it's all the adrenaline that's rushing through my body. I really don't know why I am so excited to go to my classes."
Tyler and I went to the office and got my timetable. The administrator lady was a charming lady. I already loved this school, now I love it even more. 'how can she judge a school she never attended' you might ask? Well, even though I never attended this school, I know it like the back of my hand. Well, not the building, of course, that I might need a little help from Tyler.
What I meant were the teachers and the students. Tyler has me up to date on all that's happening here. Which teacher will let you in late, which one I should watch out for, and all those things. For instance, I know that Mr. Avery, the math teacher, is very grumpy. And that he's always in a bad mood and if you get on his bad side, no matter how smart you are, he will purposefully fail you and give you lots of detention. On the other hand, Mr. Clarke, the English teacher, is a very easy person to flatter. And he's considerate too. This is all you need to survive high school.
My dad made sure that Tyler and I have our lockers next to each other. And I am glad he did that. It makes a lot of things easier if I have to access it in the future. I already planned all the pranks I am going to pull on him this year. This is going to be fun. *cue evil laughter and palms rubbing together*
Tyler left me at my locker to submit some work before class started, and he said he would meet me at our homeroom. As I was stuffing my books inside the locker, I recognized a burst of familiar laughter down the hall. I looked behind me and saw a bubbly blonde talking with someone.
"Noelle! Yo Elle! Over here," I yelled at her, waving my hands at her. I saw her looking all over the hallways until her beady eyes landed on me.
"Emma!" she said and rushed towards me. "You came! I really thought you were joking when you said you're going to start school today."
"Well, what can I say? I stick to my words. And here I am," I shrugged.
"That's great. Did you get your timetable?"
"Yes, I did. I have a homeroom with Mr. Clarke first. What about you?"
"I have the same. So does Andrew and Zoe," she said excitedly.
She linked my arms with hers and dragged me to the classroom. That's Noelle Anderson, best friend since I've moved here. I met her through Tyler. She's the bubbliest person I've met. You rarely see her without a smile on her face.
When I entered the classroom only a few of them were there. Noelle went up ahead and sat near the window and motioned me to sit next to her.
I sat in front of her. Tyler came shortly after, followed by Andrew. They took their seats next to Nicole and me.
"Hey Em, how have you liked the school so far?" Andrew turned to me and asked.
"Well, so far it has been good. I only received a couple of stares, and most of the students aren't that mean." I shrugged. Before he could ask any further questions, the door opened and a tall, lean man waltzed in.
"Hello, students! Good morning," he said cheerfully. He was rather cheerful for someone who has to wake up early in the morning to teach a bunch of moody teenagers.
He scanned the room until his eyes landed on me. He raised his eyebrows, and I knew what he was gonna say next. And I dreaded it.
"Ah, I see a new face amongst us. Why don't you come forward and introduce yourself?" he said smilingly. I am not a big fan of introducing myself. Anyway, here goes nothing. I got up from my seat and headed towards the front. All eyes were on me.
"Hello everyone. I am Emma Roberts, and yes, Tyler over there is my twin. I was homeschooled for 3 years. And um... Well, here I am." I nervously waved and returned to my seat.
"Well now that's over, everybody take out your copies of 'how to kill a mockingbird' now, please. And Ms. Anderson?" he said, pointing his pen to her and then to me.
"I require you to help Ms. Roberts catch up on her work. Everyone keep your mouth shut and eyes on the board." With that, he faced the board and started writing some questions. While I was copying it down someone poked me, I turned around, Nicole sat there with her hand extended out front passing me a chit of paper.
I unfolded it and immediately recognized Tyler's chicken scratch handwriting.
YOU ARE READING
The Seven Musketeers
Teen Fiction"What about the seven musketeers" Zoe suggested. "Yea like how we were known as the three musketeers when we were young," said Andrew happily. Everyone agreed on that name. In fact, everyone loved it. "At last something, everyone could agree on" Noe...
