One...
I woke up this morning and I swore I saw someone standing right beside my bed. Who is he? I wondered. I tried and tried to open my mouth but I could not do so as if my mouth was glued up. How? Why? I had never been like this before. My heart started to pump faster. My heart was aching. What happened to me?
“Lyra, come down now! You’re going to be late for school!” My mother screamed from downstairs. When I turned back to looked at that guy, he was not there anymore, vanished. How? My head was spinning and I did not know what to think. It was beyond the normal thoughts.
7.00 a.m. – I looked at my watch. I was dead meat if I did not go to school before 7.30 a.m. Principal McOwen would certainly wait for the late-comers at the main door. And then, he would assign them for detention classes and it would take for hours to end. So, I was surely not going to take part in that horrible detention.
After I took my shower, I put on my school uniform, the typical clean white short-sleeve shirt, knee-length plated skirt, and blue vest which had our school badge on the left. I ran downstairs after grabbing my back-pack. “Mom, I’m going to school now! See you later!“ I cried out loud. I was almost stepping out of the house when I heard mom called for me.
“Don’t you want to have your breakfast first?” She was standing in the hallway with her apron on and holding a frying pan. As usual, she cooked for breakfast and waited for dad to go to his office.
“No, mom. I’m pretty late already. I’m sorry, ok? I’ll eat lunch at home, promise. Ok? Bye, love you!” I ran to her and kissed her on the cheeks slightly. Then, I rushed back outside.
My school was situated three blocks away from home. So, I preferred to walk to school. The morning air was so refreshing. I wished that the time was long enough for me to enjoy the atmosphere. But no, I had to walk quickly to school before the bell rings.
Suddenly, I felt someone was walking behind me. But when I looked behind, there was nobody. Only that the road was starting to be busy with cars. People started to go to work at that time, the peak time.
I continued my pace, walking to school. 7.20 a.m. – Oh God, I was so late. I speeded up my pace and then I could see the red roof of Mc Kinnon High School. There, I was almost there. I ran a little bit and a few more minutes till I reached the main gate.
I was almost off balance when a car suddenly honked at me. It was a new white BMW 5 Series. What did I do wrong? I was walking, ok, running, on the path. It was supposed to be the right thing. So, why did the driver honked me? The car speeded up and passed me by. Who was that? I had never seen that car in our neighbourhood. You see, our town is just a small town, so we know who was in our neighbourhood.
Ok, I was relieved that I reached school in time, right before the first bell rung. As usual, I had to walk along the long hallway to my locker. There were some girls chatting on the right, boys playing on the left, the divas-wannabe applying their make-up on the right, the smarts reading books on the bench and so many more typical actions on that typical school day.
“Hey, girlfriend!” Keena shouted from our locker. I walked to her faster and she was smiling and waving at me. “You’re late today, Lyra,” she swung her hands on my shoulders. We were best friends since four years back. She was always been the happy ones.
“I woke up late, though. And you know what, there was this white BMW passed me by and honked at me. I didn’t do anything wrong! I don’t know what’s his problem.” We were standing against our locker. Then we saw Charmine, another best friend of mine, waving at us and walking from the end of the hallway.
“I think he likes you! I mean if he was a he,” Keena laughed while opening her bag and pulled out her books. “You’re a hottie, who doesn’t noticed you even if you’re in this lame uniform?”
“Yeah right. But seriously, I don’t know what his problem. So anyway – oh hi sweetie,” Charmine gave a kiss on our cheeks and we started to make our move to class. “Remind me to tell you guys about what had happened this morning, later, ok?” They both nodded and smiled.
••••••••••
“Get your butt off my chair, Shawn!” Shawn a.k.a. The Class Joker was sitting on my chair at my desk. He smirked at me, which I really did not like it. Who did he think he is? It was my place, not his. He always tried to tease me and piss me off, all the time.
“Do you guys know that there’s a new guy, oh a girl, I think, oh wait – a guy in our school? Cool eh? You guys don’t want to hook him up?” Shawn excitedly told us when the ‘Divas’, Maria, Laila and Christie, interrupted us.
“Oh, that boy is hot! I saw him when he got out of his car just now,” Maria said while fixing her long blonde hair. She took out her nail polish from her Gucci bag.
“Really? Whatever! Anyway, Shawn, get off Lyra’s seat now or I’ll kick your ass, hard.” Keena was so cool shouting at him. She was always be a such protective person .
“Yow, mom! Cool down, ok?” The boys laughed when Shawn emphasised the ‘mom’ word. Keena’s face turned red and she was almost trying to get him. I grabbed her wrist and asked her to cool down.
“Class, please be seated. Shawn, back to your place, Christie, switch off your phone, switch off your whatever game sources, throw away the comics and my dear Maria, how many times do I have to tell you not to bring any make-ups to school? Others, please calm down.” Poor Mr. Chuck, have to say these things every single morning before his class starts.
“Anyway, I am so grateful and happy to announce that we will have a new member in our class.” Yeah, whatever. I kept on doing my work, sketching on a piece of paper. I was certainly not interested. “This is Ethan Samuel. Ethan, we’re glad you’re here. Please introduced yourself” I heard the girls were squealed happily.
“Hi, guys. I’m Ethan. I’ve just got transferred here from Bath. Nice to meet all of you.” Charmine who was seating next to me elbowed me.
“Lyra, he’s charming!” Keena whispered at me. Charming? Do I care? I felt him walked beside me towards the desk behind me. He pulled the chair and sat down.
“Okay, today we’re going to move into the new chapter.” Mr. Chuck exclaimed.
••••••••••
BAMM! I fell on the floor. Everyone was watching at me. How embarrassed I was. I felt like I was spinning and flying at the same time. I thought that I was hit by a hard and tough object before I fell down. I opened my eyes partially and the bright light hurts my eyes, so I closed them back. Then, I opened them again half and I saw this one boy staring at me. I looked beside my body, the books were on the floor.
The boy helped me by lending his hand. I hold on his hand and he tried to pull me up. “Thanks and I’m so sorry that hit you,” I said that when I was busy picking up my books.
“No, it’s okay. Did you hurt?” his voice was stunning. I looked at him and I shook my head. He looked familiar though.
“Hilyra Adams, am I right?” He was exactly looking into my eyes while he asked me. I was stunned.
“Just call me Lyra. How do you know my name?”
“Who doesn’t know Ryan Adam’s daughter?” Okay, he has his point. My dad was the president of the Adams Motor Trading. So practically, people in this small town knew Adams’s family.
“I’m Ethan by the way,” oh, so that was the new guy. No doubt, he looked as stunning as his voice, tall, brunette and a pair of mesmerizing baby-blue eyes. “I’m the one who’s sitting behind you in our class.”
“Oh, yes. The new all-girls-crazy-about guy, huh? Nice to meet you,” he laughed.
“So, you’re saying that the girls here are crazy about me? Including you? Beautiful!”
“Ehem, excluding me. I’m not that type of girl, for your information. Anyway, I got to go. Till meet you then. Adios!” I walked away before he could say anything.
••••••••••
LYRAO3: hey, u there?
KEENACUT: yeah, wassup? J
LYRA03: wanna know what happened just now?
KEENACUT: what? what? I’m curious.
LYRA03: hahah. ur ‘charming’ guy hit me till ground! was spinning my head.
KEENACUT: OUCH! did u hurt?
LYRA03: nada, just dizzy.
KEENACUT: did he ask u anything?
LYRA03: he just asked “u’re Hilyra Adams, am i right?”
KEENACUT: aww, he didn’t even ask my name. how cud u! L
LYRA03: ya, whatever! he’ll know ur name somehow.
KEENACUT: y do u think he moved here?
LYRA03: how should i know? (-_-“)
KEENACUT: he’s sooooo making me breath faster ;) *wink
LYRA03: i’m not going to take part in this.
KEENACUT: y??
LYRA03: i’m just not interested, okay? anyway, i gtg. nyte! luv ya! xxx
KEENACUT: okay. luv ya more xxxx
Two...
I was running in the dark. Only the moon brightened my vision. I was in the bushes. I ran and ran with all my strength. I tried to avoid from hitting the branches of tree. Where was I? What was that place? What was I running away from? I had no answer.
Suddenly, I heard the sound of water. I was very sure that it must be a waterfall at the end of that path. I kept on running. I reached the end of the path. It was a cliff. I was standing on a cliff. There, I was right, there was a waterfall. I was stunned to see the height of the cliff that I was standing on. I tried to balance myself. I looked down the cliff and I saw the open wide sea.
“What are you doing here, Lyra?” I was shocked! I turned around to see who that was. When I tried to turn around, my foot kicked a rock and I was off balance.
I knew I was falling. I did not see his face clearly, it was blurry. I shouted for help.
“Help me! Help me!” I was falling down from the cliff. Flying, yes, I was flying. Death – it was what I think of. Few meters more to the ground, the death was waiting for me.
“Open your eyes, Lyra! Open them! Open them!” I could hear his voice. Who is he? A few feet more till the ground. “Open your eyes!” Again, his voice.
SPLASHH! I was under the sea. I could not swim, I didn’t know how to swim. I could feel the waters started to fill my nostril, down my throat, to my lungs. My lungs were filled with water. I tried to push my feet up, but it was no use. I begun to weak and my breathing started to slow.
“Please hold on. Lyra, open your eyes!” There, I heard his voice again, but it was like miles away. My eyes were partially opened. I saw something dark patches coming towards me. Then, I felt my shoulders were grabbed by a pair of hands. I did not know what happened after that. I blacked-out.
••••••••••
I woke up. Sweats were all covering my body. Wait, it was not sweat, but water - sea water. Huh? I looked around me. Yes, I was in my room, my study table, my wardrobe, my teddy and I was on my own bed.
“Open your eyes, Lyra” I could still hear his voice. But what was it? I was felling tired and I did not want to think about it anymore. I went back to sleep and hoped for a good rest.
••••••••••
We were in our school art studio for Art Education. Mr. Waltes assigned us to draw and paint about anything that we would like to do. Every Tuesday, we get the chance to draw anything, freely.
“Lyra, why am I hearing not-a-thing from you today?” Charmine who was sitting next to me asked. I just smiled at her.
“I’m pretty tired today.”
“Why? You must be staying up late again last night, huh?”
“No, I had a nightmare, the weirdest dream I’d ever had. That’s all.”
“Oh my, you ok, Dear?” She hugged me tightly.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. No worries.” I started to draw. Then, I felt someone was watching me and I searched for the pair of eyes. I looked around. The girls were focusing on their works in front of me. Beside them were Shawn and his gangs. There, I found the eyes, sitting two tables across me, Ethan Samuel. When I caught him staring at me, he smiled. I just gave him a slight smile.
I did not know what happened to me that day. My hands were like working on a magic, they worked on their own. First, I could see the dark blue sky and then there was like a hill. My hands kept on painting and painting until I saw the full painting. I felt familiar with the painting. When I looked closely, I was shocked. It was the cliff from my dream the night before.
“Open your eyes, Lyra. Open them! Open them!” I started to hear that voice again. I felt dizzy and I was like hallucinating.
“Open them! Open them!” I could not stand it anymore! I closed my eyes very hard, my palms were sweating. No! I could not stand it anymore! “Open them! Open them!” I stood up abruptly. Every pair of eyes in the class was looking at me strangely. I knew Charmine was shocked when I saw her from my glimpse of eyes. I started to cry and I ran towards the front door.
I ran and ran. I did not know where I was heading to. A few feet more, then I saw the ladies room. My tears could not stop. I opened the door and I was relieved that there was nobody in the toilet. I chose the last toilet and I sat on the bowl. I was panting and trying to stabilise my breathing.
I could still remember the visions of that dream I had. I was running. But what was I running from?
“Everything happens for a reason,” my mom always said that. For what reason? I cried and cried until I felt that I was running out of tears.
••••••••••
“Lyra, I know you’re in there. Open the door!” Charmine was outside the toilet. Then I heard Keena asked me to go out, too. “Please, girl. Share it with us. What’s going on? We’re your friends, right?”
I wiped my tears and opened the door. They straight hugged me. I did not know why, but I started to cry again. I felt so close to them. Deep in my heart, I did not want them to worry about me. And a part of me wanted them to know what happened to me.
“I’m sorry. I-i-i didn’t intend to make you guys worry,” I told them after I pulled myself away a little from them. I was sitting on the table next to the sink. Keena was comforting me.
“Lyra, tell us, what’s going on? One second I saw you were smiling, and then when I looked back at you, you were crying and ran out of our class. I know something is going on. What happened?”
“I-i-i didn’t know, really. L-last night, I had this weird dream. I was running. Don’t ask me why I was running, because I don’t know,” I paused. “I was running in a forest with so many bushes. It was really dark, only the moonlight lighted the surrounding. At the end, I reached the end of the path. I was standing on a cliff, a really high cliff.”
“And then?” I could see the curiosity in Charmine and Keena’s eyes.
“Then suddenly, someone was behind me asking me what I was doing there. When I wanted to turn, I flipped my feet. It was blurry, so I can’t really see who he was. I fell down of the cliff,” I shifted my body a bit so that Charmine and Keena could join me. “I heard his voice again, he asked me to open my eyes! I am very sure that my eyes were open at that time.”
“Maybe he wanted you to open your eyes for your dream. Who is he?” Keena asked.
“I wish I knew who he was. After that, I was underwater and drowning. Again, his voice asked me to hold on and open my eyes. I didn’t know what happened. I was black-out after I felt my shoulders were grabbed by a pair of hands.”
“It’s totally a bad dream.”
“I woke up later. I found out that my t-shirt was wet and I thought that it was my sweat, but it’s not. It was the sea water and I felt the sand bits on mattress. I know it sounds crazy but it’s true.”
“Creepy. How can it be possible?” Charmine looked at me and Keena. We shrugged.
“So that happened to be your dream. So, why did you ran away from class, crying?”
“You saw my painting, Charmine?”
“Yes, it’s beautiful. Why?”
“That’s exactly the place from my dream. I don’t know what’s gone into me, my hands suddenly working on their own, playing with the colours and brushes. When it finished, I realized that it was the cliff. I’m very sure. Back there, I heard his voice again, he asked me to open my eyes a few times. The longer I sat there, his voice became stronger. I can’t stand it anymore! That’s why I cried and I went out of the class.”
“Oh, my poor baby. It’s ok now.” Keena hugged me and I hugged her in return.
“You’re ok now, right?” Charmine asked me.
“I don’t know, maybe. It was the worst thing that ever happened to me.”
“Everyone in the class was shocked when you stood up suddenly and cried. Mr. Waltes got panicked and he spilt his coffee on his shirt.” We laughed after Charmine told us.
“Oh God. I’m embarrassed. I don’t want to go back in there. I’m sure Maria and the others think that I have hysteria.” I closed my face with my two palms. How am I going to face them?
“Do nothing at all. Just act normal. You don’t have to care what others think. Hilyra Adams that we know is the type of girl who is strong and she doesn’t care what others think about her. Ok?” Keena rubbed my shoulders. She was right, I must be strong.
“Ok, cop cop. We got to go back to class before Mr. Waltes does anything to find you,” Charmine hopped off the table.
We went out of from the ladies room. I was looking at the floor. I did not want people to look at my red eyes. When we wanted to turn around the corner, there was a blue handkerchief in front of my eyes. I could only see the black Nike sneaker on the floor.
“Take it,” Charmine, Keena and I stopped walking. From his sneakers, I looked up to his body; black pants and a blue sweatshirt. Ethan Samuel was in front of me. What was he doing there?
“Oh come on, take it. Your eyes are still red and watery. You don’t want to let them see you like this, don’t you?” Charmine and Keena were looking at me and they nodded, asking me to take his handkerchief.
I looked back at Ethan. He was still staring at me and he slightly smiled at me. I took his handkerchief from his hand. It looked too nice and clean, I did not want to make it dirty.
“It’s ok, you can use it,” he said that as if he knew what was playing in my head.
“Thanks. I’ll give you back,” I looked at him and he gave me a meaningful smile. “Guys, let’s go back to class,” Charmine, Keena and I were walking back to class and Ethan was behind us. I wiped my eyes with Ethan’s handkerchief. It smelled so strong, I never smell anything like that before.
I was taking a deep breath outside our class. One, two, three – I opened the class door watching everyone who was watching me back. Some of them have the sympathetic looks, while not to mention the disgusting looks. How embarrassed I was. Mr. Waltes came up to me and asked if I was ok. I just nodded at him in return.
I sighed and I sat back at my place. What a day.
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