Chapter One- Dodge-balls and Lockdowns
*SMACK* The dodge-ball bounced off my face with an audible sound. For the second time today. I sighed in exasperation.
"You alright there, Madeline?" a quiet voice asked tentatively.
I looked up to see Miranda, a girl in my physical education class. Her red hair bounced as she lowered her body to the ground, next to my currently aching body. Her bright green eyes shone with sincerity. An outstretched hand with multiple freckles reached out to me, and I took it gratefully. It didn't take much effort from Miranda to haul my bruised body off the cold gym floor. I weighed less than our five foot PE teacher, whose legs where bonier than most chicken bones.
She eyed my face, where I was almost positive there was a brand new, red welt forming. Because every Wednesday our teacher decided he need to grade our 'endurance skills,' or so he put it, we were forced into one giant dodge-ball game for the entire class period. Basically, it was a free for all on which guy could hit the hardest and which girl could dodge the flying obstacles best. Me being the clumsiest fifteen year old at Jefferson High, I was the one person who stumbled out of the gymnasium with red spots and blue bruises all over my body.
"Uh, how about you sit out. I'll tell Mr. Boney we both needed a rest." Miranda said ruefully as she walked over to our PE teacher, Mr. Brady, who was nicknamed that after his no-gluten-no-fat diet that he started a year ago. For apparent reasons, Mr. Brady was now called Mr. Boney by all students, most teachers, and the vice principal. I watched as she made some exaggeration with her hands, waving them in the air and swiftly walking over with a triumphant smile on her face.
She sat down hard on the bleachers and waved me over. "Do you want some ice? I can run over to the nurse's office if you w-" she started.
"No, thank you. I'll be fine. I always end up with a sore spot on dodge-ball days." I interrupted, choosing not to burden her with another favor for me. I will not be a burden, on anybody.
She looked at me warily, as if I had just told her the sun was green, and reluctantly relaxed her posture. We chatted for a few minutes about her father, who apparently had 'stolen only the most important thing in her life' as Miranda put it. Her father had taken away her cell phone.
Hm, phones, I thought silently, I didn't realize the had such an impact on someone's life, I'm glad I don't have one to depend on. Being the only girl to not have a cell phone in our entire school was tiresome, everyone expected that me, the daughter of a major phone salesman, would at least have a cell phone, and were surprised when I didn't show off some sort of super-smart device. It's so tiresome to always have some blonde girl asking me to tell my 'super cool daddy' that his latest model is 'the bomb.' Without a phone, I have an excuse to stay at home all day and not socialize. It's not that I don't like people, in fact, when someone is nice to me, I immediately put them under the FRIEND tab in my head. I just prefer to lay on my bed in my room and watch old Star Trek reruns on BBC. My room is my only sanctuary, the only place I can call mine. Everything else in my house is my mom's, my fathers, my brother's, or something one of my dad's colleagues left over on one of his many dinner parties.
"-can't believe I didn't notice, it's not like he was being secret or anything. He just took me out for ice cream, told me I'd been replaced, and left. Leaving me to pick up the bill! As if that wasn't enough, he also left me without a way to get home. Such a jerk. Anybody else would've seen it earlier, but I was too naive to even notice." Miranda ranted to me, clearly expecting me to agree and talk bad about a person I didn't even know. She was apparently talking about her cheating ex boyfriend, and I wasn't even sure who he was. She looked to me, her eyes eager and her mouth set in a disapproving curve. "Can you believe it?" she said loudly, clearly wanting an insult to whoever had wronged her.
"Um, no? Sorry, I'm not extraordinarily experienced with boys, I have no prior reference to compare to." I muttered quietly. Much to my surprise, she leaned over and patted my arm without hesitation.
She looked down at me, our height difference noticeable. "Oh, hunny, how horrible it would be for you. Having everyone talk about their break-ups, when you can't even get a boyfriend." Miranda smiled softly at me, as if I didn't get to be in on some trade secret.
I looked down, listening to brag on about her no-good very-bad new boyfriend she had just discovered.
Suddenly, the schools intercom pulsed to life with a staticky fizzle. Our Vice Principal's annoying, reedy voice came on.
"This is a lockdown. Teachers, code blue. Lock all doors and windows. Collect all students inside. Do not open for anyone, I repeat, do NOT open for anyone. Await further instructions"
As if an inaudible whistle blew, every student in the class lined up quietly and filed into the restrooms, where there were no windows. Two female PE teachers shuffled in after all girls had settled in our luxury bathrooms, doing a head count, twice, then locked the bathroom doors. I glanced up, my elbow was resting on a sink, and I was right in front of the wide mirror kept in the bathroom.
My long, auburn wavy-curls that framed my small, heart-shaped face were slightly out of order, probably from the ball I took in the face earlier. Stormy eyes stared back at me, wide from the current excitement in the room, thick lashes making them even more striking. My full, pink lips naturally turned down at the corners slightly, but it didn't make my face look unkind, just extremely thoughtful. My pale skin had become tan from the warm rays summer provided, as I liked to spend most summer days laying in a hammock in my backyard reading a fiction novel. I had a reasonably fit waist, and had the all the right curves in all the right places. The regulation shirt we had to wear for PE was quite big on me, mostly due to the fact I was smaller than most girls. At a whopping five foot and three inches and nearly one hundred pounds, people definitely count me as one of the smallest girls in my grade.
A loud pop sounded behind me, drawing my attention away from the mirror. Apparently, it also drew the attention of one of the chaperons, because I heard quiet scolding behind me as whoever had blown the bubble spit out their gum.
"Now girls," one of the teachers began, "we are to remain calm and wait out this minor setback. No need to panic, it will all be over very soon."
Not only fifteen minutes later, we were all corralled out of the bathrooms and into the main gym. Every child from the entire school was lined up back-to-back shoulder-to-shoulder. All squished against each other, there was the inevitable low murmur of talking children, even though the teachers kept making hushing sounds and gave a dirty look to any student they caught talking.
The principal was standing at the top of the bleachers with what seemed to be a police officer looking down upon the students, clearly looking for a specific face.
I quickly averted my eyes. Not because I was trying to hide something, I had done nothing wrong, but because I didn't like all attention on me. Ever.
I looked back up at the two men, expecting them to be chatting. Instead, I saw the police officer's eyes lock on me. He pointed to me, looking at the principal. After the principal nodded, he gestured for me to come forward. I gulped, pointing at myself to clarify. He nodded, then called, "Madeline Lockhart, please come forward." He didn't have to speak loud, as his deep voice carried over the students.
As the realization that this clearly important man had called to the small girl next to them, my classmates surrounding me parted. Glancing at me like I was a criminal, they entire student body parted a small path, straight from me to the edge of the bleachers. I took a step forward.