"Run!" The boy yelled, shoving me in front of him as incentive to get the fuck out of here. I felt the frigid air seem to part ways for us, the wind against our back as an aid to get away.
I didn't dare look behind me, instead staring straight ahead as we barreled through the woods, tripping and shoving each other to go faster. My hands and legs were covered in scratches as the only thing I was concerned about was escaping. I couldn't see the face beside me, only glimpses of a black and grey sweater. I screeched to a halt in front of the cliff overlooking Beacon Hills, with nowhere to run. But just as I turned to look back at the boy who was a few feet behind me, he crashed into me, knocking the both of us over the edge. A scream erupted from me as there was no ground to catch us, the feeling of weightlessness taking over. But it wasn't falling through the air weightlessness, it was ten feet underwater with no direction of up kind of weightless. I thrust my arms out in all directions, trying to figure out which way was up, or down, or any way to escape the feeling of not being able to breath.
"Clara!" I heard my name being called.
"Clara!" I shot upwards, arms and legs flailing as I reached out to grab at anything to catch me. A scream died in my throat, looking around my darkened room. "What the fuck, Claire?" I swallowed deeply, looking to the person who had awakened me. My much older brother stared at me in shock, slowly letting irritation creep onto his face. "It's four in the fucking morning." His light brown hair was still a mess although he was already dressed in his work clothes. The light from the kitchen flooded my room in yellow light, casting odd shadows against the walls.
"Sorry Finn." I got out, my mouth dry and throat scratchy.
His chestnut eyes seemed to study me for a minute more before he shrugged, leaving me wrapped in my sheets as he left to finish getting ready for work. Sweat dried on the back of my neck. I rubbed my eyes for a moment, wondering if it would be worth it to try sleeping again. It was Thursday, after all. I could easily go back to sleep and be up again before classes. Instead, I peeled the covers away from my body and stood, deciding that it was better to use my time doing something more productive.
"Hey." Finn called from the kitchen. I poked my head out of my door, squinting into the kitchen without my glasses on yet. "Can you drop the rent off today? My parts in the safe." I mumbled a yeah, working out how I was going to make it to the landlord's house between practice and hanging out with my best friend. Finn and I lived in a small 2 bedroom house together, both of us working to afford it. Finn was only 23, but when our dad skipped out on us a few years back, he instantly started picking up the slack so we wouldn't get split up. As soon as I'd been old enough, I got a job at the supermarket to help him out, allowing him to cut back on hours enough so he wasn't constantly working. Our mother had died in a car crash just over five years ago, and it wasn't long after that when our father became so overcome with hatred for us that he left us to fend for ourselves. Back then, it had felt like blow after blow as we had to find a smaller, more affordable home, but now it was just normal.
Finn left within the hour, reminding me again to pay the rent today. He still believed that I was irresponsible, and would no doubt be calling me right after school to remind me yet again. Our landlord, Mrs. Davidson, was a decrepit old lady that had pitied us and let us live in the house for a discounted price, but Finn insisted that we couldn't take advantage of it.
The instant that he left, I blasted the top hits radio on Spotify, stepping into the shower to begin my day. The hot water relaxed my muscles, and I tried not to think of the dream as I got ready for school.
The bright side of being up early for school meant that I had plenty of time to pick out an outfit. Normally, I was in a rush from waking up too late that I showered and threw on the comfiest clothes I could before driving to school in a panic.
Today, I leisurely pieced together an outfit and did my makeup. I even had the time to perfect my blonde curls with a curling iron and make my winged liner perfect. I didn't want to admit it, but I wanted a certain boy, Adam, to notice me. He was on the lacrosse team, and a year older than me. We'd hung out at parties a few times before, even hanging out with some friends after practice. I was determined to show him I was girlfriend material. His curly brown hair always seemed perfectly styled, the steely blue eyes always seeming to reflect the grin that so easily crossed his face. I felt a smile spread across my face just thinking about him, and I forced the blush back down as I focused on my task at hand. Today would be a good day, I promised myself.
Author's Note: Hey guys! Thanks for reading this. Just a quick introduction to introduce our protagonist: Clarimond Gallagher. For those of you that are interested, I picture her as Dove Cameron, a bright blonde actress with pale skin and light green eyes. I'll be uploading another chapter (maybe 2) today, so follow this story so you can keep up with it! Enjoy, guys.