Salvia High School

Chapter 5: History Repeats

As Kaila walked the sun was getting ready to set. It sat just above the mountain peaks slowly dropping further behind them as Kaila took each step towards home. Fumbling with her keys she managed to open the door and walk in.

Locking it behind her, it wasn't a surprise to see the entire house dark. "Mom?...Dad? I'm home." She walked through the bottom floor searching for any sign of them. Coming to the kitchen she found a small note hanging on the refrigerator door. "Business exchange. Mom" was all it stated.

Rolling her eyes at the all to familiar phrase Kaila angrily ripped the letter to shreds before throwing it away. Grabbing herself a glass of water she stomped up the stairs wanting this day to just be over with.

Throwing her backpack down on her bedroom floor, Kaila sat on the edge of her bed taking large chugs of water at a time. The cool liquid helped calm her building emotions that were all going crazy. Putting the empty glass down on her bedside table Kaila went to shower for the night.

The water running down every inch of her body helped to ease some of the remaining tension in her muscles. She was able to relax feeling the warm stream engulf her. For a while she stayed still, just letting the water fall down upon her for another minute. Frowning when she felt the warm water suddenly get colder she shut the faucet off and got ready for bed.

As she laid down and shut her eyes the same repeating images that constantly played all day and night began again. Kaila twitched and squirmed at them. She mumbled and groaned watching everything unfold all over again. No matter how many times she had seen them they never seemed to get better. Each time it caused her the same torturous pain in her heart. Every night she woke up drenched in her own sweat...or tears...or on the worst of nights, both.

Hours had gone by and Kaila still hadn't gotten a single peaceful moment in bed. Her nightmares were stronger than before. Shooting up from it she felt her heart challenging itself to push harder. She could feel her entire body pulsating. An underlying itch she desperately wanted to get rid of. Her head hurt and the bags under her eyes told her to return to her slumber, but already knowing how the night would play out she knew that wasn't even a possibility. Laying back down she just laid staring up at her blank ceiling until she noticed the sun shining through her blinds.

Peaking over to a clock in her room she could see it was only an hour before school. 'Another sleepless night.' She sighed rubbing her deep eyes blinking slowly as she tiredly sat up.

She didn't move from the bed nor returned to lay down. Instead she just sat there thinking. Hearing the morning chirping was just barely helping her wake up.

After she begrudgingly got ready for the day Kaila found herself downstairs. She checked the front door seeing the bolt still undone. Her parents hadn't returned from their business trip yet. Kaila already knew this was the case as she casually made herself a quick meal to eat before rushing out the door. Realizing her mistake yesterday, Kaila left for the bus stop ten minutes early.

When she got there the stop was empty. The only thing keeping her company was the lonely tumble weed that rolled down her street. Looking at all the houses surrounding her, Kaila didn't notice anyone who looked as if they were coming to join her.

Growing more bored by the second Kaila began to softly hum a tune to herself swaying in place melodically to the beat. The smile the girl had thrown on had been quickly tossed away when she heard the engine of the bus getting louder.

As it pulled up she got on it seeing a snarky face on the bus driver as she passed him by. Choosing to ignore him she walked down the heavily crowded aisle and found her spot again at the end of a row of seats. Passing by Lauren and her friends along the way, Kaila felt shivers down her neck. Grabbing onto the hand guard she couldn't help but notice out of the corner of her eye the death stare Lauren had on her.

'Only your second day and you have an enemy...' she furrowed her eyebrows worried. After leaving her last school she didn't know why, but Kaila felt as if this was going to be a year unlike any other. One that didn't involve fear or torment. One that allowed her to live life freely without the constant worrying about those around her.

Every single year it was the same routine; new school, new students, same game plan. 'Avoid anyone who comes your way. Protect yourself from harms way.' She repeated the motto she had grown to live by. Her family never had the brightest of reputations among communities, mainly her parents, but that didn't stop anyone from excluding Kaila. She was their daughter and by association she was accountable for every one of her parents actions.

The entire ride to school she looked out the window watching the tall city buildings and cars fly by as she contemplated to herself why she would have even hoped this year would be different. Every year was exactly the same. Start out easy, people find out, and the damage is done. Fate had it out for her.

She shut her eyes imagining she were somewhere else—anywhere else. She desperately wanted to be some place where she felt safe with people she knew for a fact that she could trust. Something like that was only a fantasy for Kaila. Reality was always cruel to her.

When she opened her eyes to the sound of the squeaky doors opening, she saw this was her stop. Watching as Lauren side eyed her as she stepped off with her friends, Kaila cautiously followed. She didn't want to be anywhere near Lauren in case yesterday's accident wasn't forgotten.

As she made her way into the front school yard Kaila grabbed tightly onto her backpacks shoulder straps, keeping her head low to avoid any unnecessary attention. All the noise from the people around her made her subtle actions seemed silent. While she walked through the yard Kaila felt anxious not having seen Lauren since the bus. 'She couldn't have gotten too far, right?' She questioned carefully getting into the school building.

Inside was less crowded, aside from the several students all idly making small talk with one another it was empty. Using this time wisely Kaila decided this was the perfect opportunity to get a good understanding of the layout of the school. Walking around slowly with keen eyes on every detail she made sure she examined the halls closely watching out for Lauren as well.

The walk helped clear her mind as much as it could. But it didn't help when she was startled feeling a large hand grip her shoulder. Her every muscle tensed up ready to defend herself but the strength the grip had was strong. Using a small amount of force Kaila was swung around meeting the eyes of the culprit.
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Let me know what you think. Thanks Lexx signing off