The Haunted Mask Part 3

Chapter 3: Accidental Friends

The bell rings, signalling the end of the school day. Students rush out the doors into the crisp autumn air and hurry to the bus or to get picked up by their parents or to ride their bikes home. Sabrina and Carly Beth go to get their bikes, but Carly Beth has to try to but her chain back on because her crash into Steve and Chuck this morning caused it to come loose. As Sabrina waits for her best friend, and Noah, as he'd be coming from the Grade 1 doors, she notices the new girl coming out, dragging her skateboard along. She does another grind off the school rails and begins riding around the yard for the heck of it.

"Wonder why someone would want to risk breaking their necks with a skateboard? Sabrina scoffs. "No brakes, no handlebars, nothing to make it safer, it's like riding a surfboard on land except when you fall, there's no water to save you."

"I guess some people like to take some risks," Carly Beth shrugs. "Besides, surfing is just as bad; the water makes the board slippery and the waves can push you under so quickly. At least on a skateboard, you don't risk drowning. She's a city girl anyways. What was her name again?"

"Adriana, but she wants us to call her Adi,"

"Wonder what she's like, or why she moved here?" Carly Beth wonders.

Meanwhile, Adriana is riding around, trying to take her mind from how lonely she'd felt all day. She's sat alone at lunch, barely had the courage to talk to anyone during any other classes, even art, which was her favourite subject. At least on her skateboard, she felt free and that nothing had changed. Moving again sucked badly, but she didn't want to go home yet and deal with Michael teasing her. She couldn't wait until he went to college... in two more years. Those years can't come soon enough for her. And she didn't want her annoying little sister becoming her shadow the moment she walked in the door.

Virginia, or Ginny for short, was five-years-old and scared of almost everything. Adi couldn't even watch a PG movie when her sister was around because if even the painted face of a clown was shown, she'd run away and cry. While Adi was sympathetic to her sister's fears, Michael was not and loved tormenting Ginny, no matter how many times their mother scolded him for doing so. It's why he picked on Adi more because he knew that if he scared the baby of the family, he'd be grounded for a week. Although, sometimes Adi suspected that Ginny merely played the scared/tears card to get sympathy and attention. Ginny also followed her sister around like a puppy dog, begging for her to read her stories and to borrow all her "pretty" clothes. What's worse is that back at old house Adi had had to share a room with Ginny, that is until they'd moved here, where she finally got her own room. Her baby sister's room was next to her parents, and Michael was sleeping in the basement, nothing could be better. Guess this move to a new house did have some benefits.

Adriana was so lost in her thoughts that she doesn't see a little boy with blonde hair running towards his sister, right in the skateboarder's path. Adi breaks but not using the back, she goes flying from her board, stumbling off and knocks the poor kid over. Fortunately, they land in the grass, so injuries are kept at a minimum, but the boy still scrapes his knee badly. Adi hits her side really hard and scrapes her forearm, but nothing she hasn't handled before. However, the boy can't, and he begins to cry. Adi feels immediate guilt as she gets up from the grass and goes over to the boy.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asks. The boy's sad blue eyes tell her that this isn't the case. She feels immediate sympathy, he reminds her of Ginny. "I'm so sorry. It was an accident, are you hurt?"

The boy continues to sob as Adi gently helps the boy sit up and looks at his knee.

"NOAH!" a voice across the schoolyard calls. Both Adi and Noah look up to see Carly Beth and Sabrina rushing towards them with their bikes.