Chapter 1
One thing that I remembered was pain. It was a constant thing. It grabbed my conscious mind and wouldn’t let it go. What in the world had I done to deserve this? The people who had captured me were looking for something and thought that I had it. I had watched as the people I had once talked to and spent so much time with die right in front of me. I watched as people turned against one another and there was nothing that I could do. The small world around me had crumbled and I was left with nothing but the pain. I never thought my life would turn into something so nightmarish and I didn’t have any idea on how to fix it. That day had started out so normal and now it all came crashing down.
I lived in New York, well Manhattan to be exact. To be even more exact, I lived in Morningside Heights which is known as the Academic Acropolis. I hadn’t always lived in New York. In fact, I’m actually from Texas. The two places are vastly different. A New Yorker mentality just isn’t the same as the Texan one. Oh, and let’s not forget that when people figured out that I was from Texas I was asked if I rode a horse to school and wore cowboy boots and a cowboy hat everywhere. I hate to disappoint all of you who think that but no, not all Texans wear cowboy hats and boots. Yes, we have horses but we have cars too. No, we don’t take horses to work we actually drive and the traffic there sucks but not nearly as much as it does in New York. The only reason I even left Texas was because my dad accepted a job in New York and he just happened to have lived there before. He seemed quite happy to be back in his element but my mom and I weren’t nearly as happy. I was pretty damn mad when I was uprooted from the only place I knew and thrown into the hustle and bustle of Manhattan.
Don’t get me wrong, I was pretty mad at first but I don’t regret my dad dragging me to New York. If he hadn’t I would have never met my two best friends, Nathan Hana and Krista Soma. I met both of them in middle school. Nathan had stepped in when I was being picked on not because of my bright, almost bleach blonde hair or my green eyes with yellow surrounding the pupil. No, it wasn’t that. It was because I didn’t quite have the right accent. My small southern drawl was pretty noticeable up north. I thought I was hiding it pretty well but on certain words I would have a hard time hiding it and when I was upset or angry it really came out. Oh, and let’s not forget that I sometimes used the word “y’all.” I tried not to but, hey, it’s a southern thing. Let’s just face the fact that it’s totally going to come up in my conversations so why can’t they just deal with it? During one particular round of bullying Nathan had stepped in and sent the five people that were picking on me away. I was grateful and we quickly became friends. Nathan was pretty laid back. I was happy just to have someone to talk to that wasn’t self-absorbed like most middle schoolers.
Nathan was pretty popular with his boyish good looks even in middle school. He had those deep blue eyes that seemed to stare into your soul and that thick black hair that seemed to style just right. At least, that’s what all the other girls said. I wasn’t looking at all of that. I was looking at the awesome person that helped a total stranger. Nathan was just that type of guy to help those who needed it and that was what drew me to him.
Later on, more like towards the end of seventh grade, I met Krista Soma. She was so quiet and shy that people would take advantage of her. By that time I had had enough of bullies and had actually gotten into a fight because she was being picked on. I had somehow talked the principal into giving me two days of after school detention instead of suspension. Was I sorry I had gotten into a fight? No. Did I regret breaking the other kid’s nose? No. Would I do it all again? Yes, because I was trying to stand up for someone who was afraid to stand up for herself. I didn’t think it was right that she was so afraid that she had started to skip school so I had taken it into my own hands. Anyways, after the two days of detention I was walking home when I found Krista waiting for me. She reminded me of a mouse with her long brown hair and big brown eyes as she stood there looking like she was ready to bolt at any moment. When she deemed me close enough she said the fastest apology possible and darted away but I really understood what she had said. I ran after her and when I finally caught her she started to cry. She was crying because she was grateful and sorry at the same time. No one had stood up for her before and she was sorry that I had gotten into trouble because of her. When I could get her calmed down enough I explained to her that I had done it because I wanted to and I hadn’t minded getting into trouble. It wasn’t a big deal to me. When she stopped crying completely I walked her home. We became friends after that.
At the end of middle school our little group had grown really close. We went everywhere together and it was really rare to see one of us and not the others in the same vicinity. We even supported each other in our sports and clubs. Krista had volleyball and swimming, Nathan had lacrosse and basketball, and I had soccer and archery. We were each other’s biggest fans.
It was the summer before freshmen year of high school when my world tilted on its axis. My parents were in a subway train accident and went missing for twelve days. I was devastated and my sorrow grew even more when the police couldn’t find all of their bodies. They told me that all they could find of my parents were a couple of fingers. The search and clean-up went on for days but again the police couldn’t find anything and I was left with a huge void. I didn’t even get the same type of closure as everyone else. Why were my parents the only ones missing? Would they truly leave me by myself? If they really did leave, why didn’t they take me with them? Like I said I didn’t have the same closure as everyone else and it made me a pretty bitter person. Also, the whole “who I was going to stay with” thing kind of pissed me off as well. For some odd reason, none of my living relatives wanted to take me in and I was left staying at Nathan’s place because they were nice enough to let me. As it turned out, Nathan’s parents were my legal guardians if my parents happened to die before I reached the age of eighteen. It just so happened that my dad was childhood friends with Nathan’s parents. They had gone to the same high school and the same college. Funny how life works out that way, right?
The Hana family quickly took me in and immediately made me feel like I wasn’t a stranger or just a visitor. I felt like I really belonged there. They even gave me my own room and let me decorate it however I felt like. I think that helped me heal better. I also threw myself into soccer and archery. I won countless competitions and games and went to many tournaments. Because of this I became pretty popular amongst my peers but that didn’t matter to me. I found that if I kept myself busy the pain wouldn’t be so bad and the nightmares wouldn’t come so much. Also, having amazing friends helped out a lot too. Nathan and Krista were by my side through it all. We were pretty much inseparable by that time.
The only annoying thing about living with the Hana family was the oldest son, Will. Will was a bully. He would constantly pick on all of us and play all sorts of pranks. He looked like an older version of Nathan except he was a little more bulky. He had put on muscle for a baseball scholarship but due to his grades and the fact that he was in a gang, Will was on the verge of losing the scholarship. Well, he was on the verge of losing the offer. Since he was not a senior yet they couldn’t say “Here’s a scholarship for baseball. Come to our school.” Instead they could talk to him and say yes, they were interested and will be keeping an eye on him. But due to the whole grades thing and, of course, the gang thing the universities were seriously thinking about walking away. His parents were furious and were seriously thinking about disowning him when I decided to say something. I asked that they not kick him out and that they give him a second chance. I didn’t know why I ended up standing up for the guy but I knew what it was like not to have a family and having to rely to others for support. It wasn’t a great feeling and knowing that he was going to lose his because of his grades and his stupidity made me feel sorry for him. Apparently, I had a way with words because they agreed and were a little less harsh with him. Don’t get me wrong, Will was still annoying but he was a little less after that. He even came to our competitions. He also stop participating in a lot of his gang’s activities and worked on his grades. The two universities that were looking at him decided not to revoke the spoken agreement they were working on and were still offering scholarships for baseball.
The first year of high school at St. Michael’s Private High School flew by and the gossip about Nathan’s, Krista’s and my achievements followed us around. There was the constant pressure to keep up the amount of work ethic and achievements that I had in the summer and freshmen year since I was just pouring my sorrow and anger into my sports. Krista ended up quitting volleyball and taking debate. She still stuck with swimming since the practices were always in the mornings and didn’t really interfere with debate. Nathan ended up quitting basketball and focused on lacrosse. I, on the other hand, stuck to my two sports because I felt like I just shouldn’t quit. My dad loved archery and would always bow hunt. My mom was a soccer fanatic and even played in high school and college. So in the end, I just couldn’t bring myself to quit and juggled my grades, practices, and competitions. Momma Hana helped me out a lot since she was a stay at home mom. She was pretty busy with me but the great thing was she would go to all my competitions and cheer for me as if I were her own flesh and blood. She really helped me heal.
During freshmen year the three of us were pretty popular. It was like the whole school knew of us and it seemed like there was no such thing as a stranger. I guess that was what happened at a private school but it seemed a little fake to me. I was starting to think that popularity was a shallow thing. These “fans” that seemed to accumulate only liked us if we were at our peak. I noticed that when Krista lost one debate the amount of fans she had shrank and when she won the number increased again. There were even groups of people, which I dubbed “the stalker clubs,” that showed up. These “clubs” consisted of highly obsessed people who followed your every move. They tended to know almost everything about you. It was about one millimeter away from the whole “let’s call the police” line. It was a little flattering but so creepy all at the same time. My “stalker club” consisted of a lot of freshmen (which was understandable since I was a freshman), some sophomores, a couple of juniors, and even a couple of seniors. It was the juniors and seniors that I was worried about. Why would you know so much about an underclassman? Shouldn’t you stick to your own kind? Most of my fans were boys with a few girls sprinkled in for good measure. Will just happened to be one of my fans which surprised me just a little bit since he always called me a “stuck up bitch” or a “coldhearted bitch.”
I didn’t understand the stuck up part but the coldhearted comment I could understand. After my parents went MIA I really didn’t like showing my emotions. I would try to keep everything bottled up inside even though Momma Hana said, “It’s unhealthy, little Sky. What would you do if those emotions blew up?” It wouldn’t matter I kept telling myself. Emotions were things that happened on the inside anyway. It shouldn’t hurt to keep them there. At least, that’s what I told myself. So despite Momma Hana’s helpful advice, I still kept everything to myself. I kept my “cards to my chest” like Papa Hana liked to say. I even got the nickname “Ice Queen” my first few months of freshmen year because I didn’t express too many emotions and I didn’t really let too many people near except Nathan and Krista.
At the end of freshmen year Krista, Nathan, and I were nominated to become a part of the Student Council at St. Michael’s. As if I didn’t have enough on my plate with archery and soccer I let the students nominate me thinking I wouldn’t win. I mean I would have to beat out a future junior cheerleader, a future senior in debate, a future junior baseball player, and a future senior track star. There was no way I would win, right? I was wrong and I was elected President of the Student Council. I couldn’t believe it! I wasn’t supposed to win, dammit! Nathan was nominated and was elected to be treasurer and Krista was nominated and elected to be secretary. How was I going to balance everything and what the hell did the president do? The answer to that came in the form of my Vice President, Jason Wills. He was a sophomore with dyed messy blonde hair and light brown eyes. He had his ears pierced: three cartilage piercings on the left, an industrial bar on the right, and small gauges in both. He helped me out a lot due to the fact that he was vice president from last year that was reelected. I was surprised that he wasn’t bitter about not being President but he reassured me that he didn’t want to be. He said it was too much responsibility and that he didn’t want to work with all the teachers that the president would have to. Gee, what a great guy. The four of us ran the Student Council and became really great friends due to the amount of time we had to spend with each other.
Before we knew it the second year of high school flew by and we were reelected for another term, my junior year. Will was held back another year so he was repeating his senior year. It was disappointing for the Hana family but I honestly didn’t think Will was ready for the college life nor the real world if he had decided to take on a job. So in order to make sure that Will graduated Nathan, Krista, and I decided to tutor Will. It was my goal to make sure that he graduated before us like I thought he should.
Not only did I have archery, soccer, tutoring, and Student Council projects to do I also had the “opportunity” to be in charge of the first annual winter festival to be held at our school. The student body had been petitioning for this for the past three months and they thought that they deserved to have a festival to raise money for senior trips. Now, the way this worked was that the freshmen would be able to keep all the money they raised, same with the sophomores, same with the juniors, and same with the seniors as well. The seniors were the ones really pushing for the festival since it would be open to the public and also it would be a chance for the parents to see what their students have been up during school. Plus, they could earn fast money for their trip. We were to showcase all of the student talents. That meant art shows, sports shows, science and math competitions, debate competitions, club participation, and of course a food showcase for the culinary arts students. It was going to be a lot of work and I was in charge of it all. I was so overjoyed…not!
As the week of the winter festival began to get ever so closer I started my daily routine of getting to school early to make sure all projects for the festival were school appropriate and that there had been no damage done to any of the projects by other teams or schools. As I made my rounds every morning I started to notice that there were more cameras showing up at the school. These cameras weren’t your normal school surveillance cameras. These ones followed all movements. I decided to ask some teachers about these mysterious cameras but all I got was “They are there for the safety of the students.” I would nod and smile my “presidential smile” to cover up what I really thought and thanked them for their time. I still didn’t think it made sense but then again I wasn’t a grown up. They tended to think differently than we did.
Things were going according to plan. The festival was four days away and soon I would be enjoying all the fruits of my labors. Also, the fact that winter break was after the festival helped fuel my happiness too. Krista, Nathan, and even Will had helped me do my rounds as the festival grew closer but I still felt uneasy as I noticed the increase in cameras. I shrugged and continued to ignore the increased “security.” I was just ticking off the number of days until all of mess of the festival was out of my hands. Just a little more and it would all be over is what I kept thinking in my mind. Little did I know that that phrase would really come true two days before the winter festival.
