Chapter Text
The roses were in full bloom as a gentle breeze drifted through the warm spring air. Sixteen year old Anthony Wells found himself standing on top of a small, grass covered mountain facing the evening sunlit sky. In front of him stood a girl dressed in a radiant wedding dress as she held a rose in her hands.
Madison Ellis, the class president who had just been reelected for a third straight year, had her usual smile, but this time a small tear was preparing to make its way down her rosy cheeks. Long jet black hair flowed gracefully down her thin shoulders. Her eyes had a special, shiny spark to them that he hasn’t seen since she had first come to power among the student council ranks. This was truly a special occasion; years of trials and patience have finally come to fruition. Or so he thought.
“You wanted to see me?”
He hoped to God he hadn’t already put it together.
“Yes, ever since we were in grade school, you always helped me out; I guess I was just too oblivious to notice that you’ve been-”
“Okay, that’s enough; I’m sorry, but I think I know where this is going and I really don’t feel like getting my hopes up just for my alarm to go off and bring me down to earth. You and I both know that this is way too good to be true.”
His sharp attitude caught her off guard.
“Well, what if it’s not a dream, ever think about that? Maybe, just maybe a girl is trying to show you a little appreciation for your help in getting her to the top of the corporate ladder! Sheesh; not everyone is out to get you.”
“So, is this the part where you slap me and I wake up in a sweat, or are we at the part where you just fade off leaving me to cry in this field all on my own; because if it’s the first one, I’d really like to just get it over and done with.”
For a second, he thought he had managed to break the system, but she turned around and started walking away instead. He never felt this bad; was this real and not just a dream?
“Wait, I’m sorry just hold on for a second!” he earnestly called out. She would never act like this; why would she even call him out here?
Rushing after her, he started to feel tears form under his blue eyes as they made their way down his face. The only thing he had ever wanted in life was about to slip right past him, and it would be his fault.
As he called out to her, he lost his footing and somehow found himself rolling down the hill at an uncontrollable speed. As he tumbled on past her, he caught one final glimpse of her. The tears he had thought were caused by his stubbornness and lack of self-confidence were actually tears of laughter.
“Hey! I knew that this was a-”
BAM!
He woke up face first on the cold, wooden floor of his bedroom. Rubbing his head and crawling over to the nearest dresser to lean on, he turned toward his bed in disappointment.
Every. Single. Time.
It seems like everything in the world wants to remind him of his terminal loneliness. Although some would say that there’s no point trying to accomplish the impossible, he often found himself disappointed as he kept getting his hopes up. And so, he began the journey towards his junior year of high school.
Upon entering the school yard, he was approached by a familiar face.
“Yo, how are you doing, Wells?”
A boy with a slight tan lazily walked over to him. This was Ryan Bolton, grade A slacker and hopeless ladies’ man. Although he barely put in the effort to get good grades, he had managed to graduate with his best friend. They had spent all last year arguing about school work and other useless banter, but at least he was nicer about Anthony’s loneliness than his own subconscious. It was annoying how he would lecture Anthony about never moving on and settling down, despite his own never ending, revolving door of girlfriends. Yes, Ryan was quite the hypocrite.
“Today, I woke up to find myself face first on the floor, so that was something.”
“What, another bad dream about you-know-who?” He teased.
“Oh, give me a break. I didn’t rush over here to be mocked.”
“I’m telling you man, if you would have just listened to me back then, you wouldn’t be having this problem now. But no, you’re going to spend the rest of your days sulking about a girl that you’re too scared to even talk to, wishing that you would have listened to me.”
The main entrance was in their sights.
“Look, all I’m saying is that you should try putting yourself out there and try opening up more. You know, broaden your horizons, let loose and see what happens instead of just waiting for someone to magically come over to you. Because, guess what, we all know that it doesn’t work like that.”
Anthony lost interest about halfway through. His attention was stolen by someone else who was heading towards them. He felt his face smile.
“Why, look who we’ve got over here!” A commanding girl’s voice echoed.
Anthony wasn’t sure if he was blushing or quaking in fear.
“What’s your problem this time, boss?” Ryan sighed.
Madison Ellis crossed her arms and stared down the smooth talker. She was all business today; honestly, she would have made a much better drill sergeant than student. Behind her walked what looked like a new arrival; he had mistakenly overlooked her.
“Don’t worry; you two aren’t in any trouble just yet. Instead, I have a favor that I wanted to ask you.” Her stern expression was replaced by a cordial smile.
“What’s up?” Ryan asked halfheartedly.
“So, the thing is that one of the teachers wants me to supervise her freshmen class while she gets through traffic, but the problem is that I have my own responsibilities in a meeting that takes place in less than ten minutes. To make matters worse, I promised to show our new friend here around campus.” She said, motioning to the girl beside her.
The girl rolled her eyes as the two boys looked in her direction. Anthony was genuinely surprised that she wasn’t acting shy like all the other new freshmen; instead she seemed more interested in her guide, Madison.
“Student teacher aye, you’re still moving up in the world!” Ryan complimented.
She was unaffected by his compliment, an almost impossible task for girls these days, which makes sense considering that she never cared about stuff like that before.
“I was able to get out of the meeting, but I just can’t be in the other two places at the same time. So, would either of you be willing to show our new rookie around campus?”
“Anthony will! You don’t mind, right?” His friend had broken his trance.
“Are you feeling okay, Wells? You look like you’ve seen a ghost…”
Suddenly remembering how to speak, he attempted to form a sentence.
“Wha- Yeah, sure that’s no promblem- I mean no problem! Yup, that’s totally fine, of course we will- wait... what are we talking about? I just- uh...?”
“You know what boss; I think I’ll be able to take care of that after all. You see, this guy had a rough night and almost missed the bell.”
Madison’s brow rose for a second.
“Hey, don’t let him pull you down, from what the teachers say about you, you’re on your way to a bright future. Try not to screw it up by goofing off with him.”
With that, she turned around and hurried over to wherever she was needed. It didn’t matter; she had a purpose. A scary one, but still one nonetheless.
“You okay there, chief?” His friend asked, concerned.
He nodded.
“Yeah, I just need to wake up a little.”
The freshmen gave him a judgmental look, but he didn’t care about what some new girl thought about him. It’s not like she’ll be around to judge him later. Not giving her the time of day, he escaped the scene.
“I guess I’ll see you later then.” His friend called out; Anthony just waved in response. He heard his friend mumble something in return.
Day one and he’s already went and made a fool out of himself.
The scheduled classes were as eventful as a typical first day is. He regained all of the lost brain capacity on his lunch break. Instead of sitting by himself, he found the only girl who would even bother speaking to him:
Maria Chambers is more of a science weirdo than a social butterfly, but company is company. She had curly brown hair and a friendly demeanor; from helping others cram for finals to experimenting in the lab, she was always up to something.
“Haven’t heard from you since last year, what’s up?” He asked her.
“Uh, you’ve got bags under your eyes. You slept in or something?”
“Don’t worry about them; I’m feeling better now.”
“Oh, really? Well, guess what: I heard some of the girls talking about some kid freezing up next to the president; let me guess, that was you, wasn’t it?”
He didn’t answer.
“You know, if you’re interested, I could cook up something for you. I can’t guarantee that your intestines won’t explode, but it might just be worth checking out!”
“How do you still have access to that lab?”
“Extortion.” She smirked.
“Sounds about right.”
“Oh, uh... hey, did you run into your friend today?”
“Only this morning, he’s supposed to be helping with some younger girl looking around the school. Now that I think about it, he should be here. But enough about him, what’s this medicine you’re offering me? ”
“You’re that desperate, huh.”
Everyone and their mother seemed to know about him. Before he could even open his mouth to complain, he heard footsteps from behind. They both looked up and saw Ryan and his follower. She seemed fine and unmolested, so that was a good sign.
“See, he isn’t dead after all.” He mumbled.
Out of nowhere, a loud noise came from the girl behind Ryan. It felt like the ground was shaking and a headache was creeping its way forward, although the pitch was super low, it still hurt. It reminded him of a dog whistle, except humans can hear it.
“Some kind of ringtone?” Maria asked.
“Ugh… Yeah, sorry about that!” She exclaimed before reaching into her pocket.
“Mind if we join ya?” Ryan asked.
Anthony just motioned towards a nearby seat. It was good to talk to people again.
After silencing her phone, the girl sat next to Ryan and started talking with the others almost effortlessly. She appeared to still have that youthful, energetic spirit that the rest of the group had lost midway through their freshmen year. Looking at her again, he couldn’t help but notice something strange about her. She kept sneaking glances at him; it almost felt like she was sizing him up for a meal, so he did his best to ignore her.
The rest of the day dragged on afterwards, only to become interesting at the very last minute. What he was about to experience would affect not only him, but it would also change the lives of everyone he knew forever.