Under the Surface

Chapter 1-Alyssa

The constant beeping of the machine next to me was getting annoying. Like, very annoying. I've been listening to it for the past five hours and let's say I'm sick of it, so believe me when I say I was excited when the door opened and my best friend's. Zara's head peeked through it.
-Hey Lisa, can I come in?
-Of course.
-How are you doing?
-I'm booored. -I said fake crying.
-Then be happy cause I got a ton of questions. First of all, what the hell happened?
-I was in the woods and I was lost, because -as you know- I'm the queen of directions, and then suddenly something bit my right leg and my left arm. Owen found me on the ground passed out. -Owen is my brother. I motioned to my leg with my injured arm.
-What attacked you?
-No clue. They say the one on my leg was a wolf or some shit and the one on my arm is unidentified so I stay here until tomorrow morning to see if there is any reaction in my body.
I tried mocking the nurse while saying 'unidentified'.
-Okay. -Zara looked like she was processing.- Unidentified, huh?
-Um, yes, why?
-What if it was a vampire? -She asked jumping around the room. I laughed.
-Yeah, and you're an alien.
-I could be. -She smiled at me.
-But you're not and vampires don't exist. You can watch a million episodes of supernatural but this isn't a tv show.
-It could be.
-I'm done. So now what?
-Noooow -She started looking through the content of her huge backpack and pulled out a fuzzy blanket and a pillow.- we sleep.
-What? You can't sleep here this is a hospital. -I grinned.
-Well duh, but I have permission from your doctor, a kind nurse, and my mom so therefor I can sleep here.
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Around midnight I fell asleep entering a pool of crazy dreams.

I was standing in the forest ina weird dress. This was unusual for more than one reason. a) I was barefoot, b) I don't wear dresses c)Who wears a dress to a forest? d)The whole situation gave me weird vibes. I started moving forward even though it wasn't me. Weird right? It was me but I wasn't the one in control, it was another me, the dream me and I was an observer. Complicated? I feel you. I could feel branches and dry leaves crunch under my feet as I made my way to a stream. I knelt down even dough the forest floor was filled with razor-sharp stones. I put my hand in the water and despite the stinging feeling in my palm, I kept it there. To be honest I felt like e lunatic. Someone must have sneaked up behind me because I heard a loud Snap!, and with that, I jolted up in the hospital bed gasping for breath. I looked at my watch. 6:30 am. Zara was still asleep but with my luck and this heart rate, there was no more sleep for me today. I sighed and turned to my side. What the hell was that dream? Am I going crazy? Did I lose that much blood? Whatever.
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An hour or so later my older sister Amelia came to take me home. By that time Zara was up too.
-You have school in half an hour so hurry up. -Amelia just dropped this info bomb randomly.
-Are you kidding me? I have to go to school? I just got out of the hospital.
-And I just came back from a night shift so I don't have the energy to argue with you, plus you can't miss the first day of school. Now go you, little bastard. -She was obviously joking with the 'bastard' part so I made a sad face.
-Bastard? -We laughed.
-Run or you'll be late. See you later Sissy. -I was already running so I just shouted a quick 'See you!' and disappeared around the corner. Zara left a bit earlier than us so I couldn't catch up with her but when I reached the fence of Eastview High I spotted my friend Joel in the crowd.
-Joel! Hey!
-Alyssa. Heyyyy. -He swung his hand at me like he was attempting to hush away a fly. I shook my head and walked over to him.
-How was your summer Jolly?
-Ah you know, hot. -At the word hot he winked at me.- Speaking of hot, have you seen the new guy?
-You never change, do you? -I laughed.
-No, not really. Oh good lord, I almost forgot to ask, how are you?
-Oh you know, just a normal day when I get bit by a fucking wolf and sth "undefinable".
-Ohhhh girrrrl. So sorry for you. At the same time though, we live in Hollow Shore. You could have been smarter.
-Yeah maybe. Anyways have you seen Eve?
-Yeah, but I wouldn't interrupt her.
-What?
-Khm... -Joel pointed to the other side of the garden where Eve was talking to a guy I didn't know.
-You're right. I'll talk to her later. What's your first class?
-Same as yours.
-How do you know that? -He looked at me with a smirk painted on his face.
-I might or might not stole your schedule from Mr. Hughes and made mine quite similar. -I had to laugh.
-You stalker! You stole my freaking timetable. -I said still laughing.
-Noooooo, I just um... borrowed it.
In the middle of laughing a sudden wave of nausea and dizziness hit me and I stumbled back.
-Woah, you alright there? -A concerned looking Joel caught me.- Don't pass out on me.
-I won't relax and I'm fine just a little dizzy. Let's get to class.
As we're walking through the familiar corridors of our high school I noticed a few changes compared to last year. First of all, there were more students, secondly, the usually dull grey walls had creative pieces of art hung up on them. Interesting.
-What's up with all these drawings? -Ryan caught up to us.
-No clue but I like it.
-It's better than the bleak grey shit we had last year but I could improve it. -I looked at him.
-You could improve anything Foster, it's your talent. -It sounded a little sarcastic but he was actually good at this stuff.
-We have like two seconds to get to class but I'll see you in the break.
-Works for me.
I noticed that Joel was silent since Ryan joined us, so when he left to go to History I asked about it.
-Are you alright?
-Sure.
-Sounds promising. -I mumbled- Joel, come on. You can tell me anything. -I playfully hit his arm.
-Yesterday, I was with Chad. Don't say anything I'll tell you after school.
-What does that have to do with Ryan? -I asked as we walked into the classroom. He seemed surprised.
-Nothing, he is straight. -I grinned and sat down at my usual seat. Seconds later our class teacher walked in with a boy by his side. I immediately knew I was going to dislike him. He just looked like one of those heart breakers every girl wants. Well, almost every girl.
-Good morning class. -Most of us were human enough to say good morning but some people never change.
-I want to introduce you to your new classmate, Xavier Cassius.
Joel leaned close to me and whispered 'he's hot'. All I could do was roll my eyes but we loved him for who he is.
-He will need a mentor for the next week, who will escort him around our school and make sure he feels comfortable.
Right away around fifteen hands shot up volunteering to be the new kid's mentor. To be honest I didn't really care who it was as long as it isn't me. Did I mention that I'm extremely lucky?
-Ms. Banks.
I stood up and looked at my teacher trying not to murder him with my eyes.
-Yes, Mr. Hughes?
-You seem to have a very similar time table to Mr. Cassius. Would you mind being his mentor?
I forced a smile. I did mind, very much actually but I knew that there was a correct answer and it wasn't yes.
-No, Mr. Hughes.
-Good, thank you, Ms. Banks. -I nodded and sat back down next to Joel who muttered 'lucky'.
-You could have him believe me.
-We have the same schedule, why did he pick you?
-I don't know. -I put my left hand in front of me.- I don't care. -My right hand followed.
-Ok, chill.
-Mr. Wilkinson, Ms. Banks, am I interrupting something. -I didn't even realize that Ms. Siun entered the room so I put on an apologetic expression.
-I'm sorry Ms. Siun. It won't happen again.
-Yes sorry, Miss. -Joel quickly agreed with me.
Miss Siun nodded and walked back to the front where the new kid was standing.
-As I know Mr. Cassius already has a mentor.
The whole class nodded including Jolly, thanks, buddy.
-It's Alyssa Banks. -A girl named Cassie called out from the front and I could clearly sense the jealousy in her voice.
-Thank you, Miss Blake. Mr. Wilkinson, would you be so kind as to sit next to Miss Blake so Mr. Cassius can sit with his mentor?
Joel stood up and started packing. I sent a death glare towards him and he mouthed a sorry.
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I was more than happy to get out of class so I basically dragged Xavier out of class as soon as I heard the bell. I stopped in front of my locker and turned to the boy. Maybe I was too harsh.
-Sorry about that. I'm Alyssa and it looks like you are going to see me a lot. -I smiled at him and he smiled back. Maybe, just maybe I misunderstood him. I put my hand out and he shook it.
-Xavier but I guess you know that by now.
A second later Joel showed up and tried to pierce me with his gaze.
-You've got a problem?
-No, I mean just storming out of the classroom without an explanation is very normal.
I put my hand on his shoulder and looked at him with pretended pity.
-Welcome to high school.
I saw Xavier slightly grinning.
-Go find Chad or Zara or someone but I have people to mentor.
I turned back to Xavier but Joel turned back and playfully hit me before storming off in the other direction.
-You love me! -I shouted after him with a huge smile painted on my face.
-Fuck you! -I laughed and turned to my classmate again.
-I'm sorry he is a little extra. -I meant what I said but I couldn't erase the grin on my face.
-It's okay. So, are you guys a thing?
-You mean Joel? -I laughed.- He is gay.
-Oh.
-Come on let's go.

I showed him the whole school throughout the day and introduced him to my friends. I could tell that Ryan wasn't a fan of him but he'll live. Anyways Xavier did have a kind of cool, heart breaker style so I mostly passed him on to that group of people.
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The week flew by and I had zero contact with the new kid and I was perfectly fine with that because he began to freak me out a little with his ice-cold behavior and death glares towards anyone and everyone
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September is finally over. I was walking to school with Ryan when I started to feel dizzy. I was about to pass out but someone splashed water in my face.
-Are you okay?
-Yeah, was that really necessary? -I asked pointing at the now empty water bottle in his hand.
-Yes.
I felt a sharp pain in my palm and I could feel blood dripping from the wounds I just caused with my nails. What the hell? I don't even remember how I did that.
-Let's go.
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I didn't make a big thing about it and I didn't start to worry until today. I was in the cafeteria and because Eve is Eve she dropped and broke a glass. I helped her clean it up but I cut myself in the process. It wasn't too deep but I decided to wash it because it was bleeding a bit. This is normal right? Totally. Well, if we don't look at the fact that until I got to the bathroom it disappeared. There was nothing. I thought I was hallucinating so as soon as I got home I cut my finger with a kitchen knife and watched it heal. What is happening?
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The week went by and I was so distracted by schoolwork that I completely forgot about my magical healing powers. I know. I'm insane. The next thing I noticed was a shadow. I kept seeing it from the corner of my eye but I couldn't see what or who it was.
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-Hello, Earth to Alyssa, do you copy? -Zara's voice pulled me back to reality for the fifth time in three minutes.- What's going on.
I have no clue. I wanted to tell Zara but she would never believe me. Or maybe...
-Come to our house after school. I want to show you something.
-Sounds promising.
-Extremely funny. -I responded without looking up from my notebook.
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-I'm home and I brought Zara. -I shouted up to my siblings not caring if they heard or not. Apparently one of them did. Layla stormed down the stairs and hugged me as she does every day.
-Hey Lals. -Zara had special nicknames for everyone she knew. She made Lisa for me, Jolly for Joel and Frosti for Ryan.
-Layla, why don't you go and play with Dylan?
-Dylan said I should play with you.
-What about Owen?
-Okay.

We walked up to my room.
-Does she remember your parents?
-No, not really and it's perfect like this. Now come on.
I pulled out a knife from my drawer and sat on the bed.
-Woah, what are you doing with that?
-This.
-No!
I cut my palm and showed it to Zara. We just watched as it healed and she looked at me with disbelief.
-What the fuck are you?