Chapter One
I was not particularly excited to be going to a school orientation during the summer. I mean it was only the first week of June, summer was just getting started, and here I was walking right back into school. OK so now I was walking into a high school instead of the middle school I had attended for the past three years, but still school was school.
So I was walking into Goode High School-that was really its name- and OK I couldn't help but be impressed by it. Not to mention a little intimidated. It was huge. Way bigger than my old school. It even had a stone archway over the door. How many buildings had stuff like that nowadays anyway? Not very many that was for sure. And it was in a very nice spot too, you could look out a window while in there and probably be able to see the East River. You could see it from out here anyway.
So I was just standing out here gawking at everything when this man walks up to me. He extended a hand. "Welcome to Goode! I'm Paul Blofis one of the teachers here." he said. I shook his hand.
"Rachel Elizabeth Dare."
I wondered if he would be one of my teachers. He didn't look strict and he was pretty friendly. I decided it would be a good thing if he did end up being one of my teachers. "um could you tell me where I'm supposed to go?" I asked. He smiled knowingly "No problem. Just go down this hallway and take a left. You can follow the crowd from there to the gym." He informed me.
"Thanks." I headed in the direction he had indicated and quickly found the crowd of new freshman. From there I followed until I found myself crammed on the bleachers. I looked around the gym and took in the scene a band that couldn't play to save their lives, teachers welcoming the students that were still coming in, student council geeks showing us the proper uniforms and trying to look cool nothing I hadn't seen before. Well, except for the banners all over the walls in what I assumed were the school colors purple and white that said things like WELCOME FUTURE FRESHMEN, GOODE IS GOOD, they were all cheesy to say the least.
Ugh, I so did not want to be here. I can't believe I let my mom talk me into coming to this stupid orientation. The band stopped playing what I guess was supposed to be the schools alma mater and this dude stepped up to the podium. I didn't even try to listen. I was just counting down the seconds until I could leave. I occupied myself by thinking of all the things I could have been doing if I hadn't been forced to come here. This worked for awhile, but then I got bored so I started looking at the people around me to see what they were doing.
Most were just sitting there pretending to pay attention, their eyes glazing over.
I didn't recognize anyone. I studied the guy sitting in front of me. Actually he looked kind of familiar. I don't know what was familiar about him though. Of course I could only see the back of his black haired head, but still I'm usually pretty good with faces.
He turned slightly to the side allowing me a view of his face. I nearly fell out of my chair with surprise. Because I recognized him now. It was him. The mystery boy who had never been far from my thoughts since our family vacation to Hoover Dam….
I was really starting to get up with this whole vacation thing. Since when did my dad want to spend quality time with his family? Since now apparently. And he couldn't have picked a worse time to get all sentimental. Nobody wants to visit Hoover Dam for winter break. I don't anyway. It would have been better in the summer. Especially since I had a terrible cold that my friend, Cindy, so graciously gave to practically the whole art club.
Ugh, I felt like elephant turd. I had a runny nose, itchy throat, watery eyes the whole shebang. Not to mention I was a nonstop sneeze machine. But my dad did not see this as any reason to cancel our vacation of course not. He had spent perfectly good money on this trip and there were no refunds. Not that he couldn't afford it he was rich after all. If we could afford to give me a whole apartment floor for a bedroom we had to be. But
Whatever I had no choice but to go. I was in the dam bathroom –hehe dam bathroom- having politely asked the tour guide to point it out to me. I didn't really
need to go to the bathroom but I needed a break from all the dam facts the tour guide kept spouting at us.
After I finished washing my hands and playing with the foam soap I walked out of the bathroom resigned to another hour at least of dam facts. I let out my billionth sneeze of the day and blew my nose. And this man who had been standing in the was fine. Still I was freaked out.
"Oh my god!" I shouted."Do you always kill people when they blow their nose?"
"You're mortal!" he exclaimed sounding shocked. I realized he was not a man after all, as I had first thought, but a boy. He looked about my age. He had raven black hair and green eyes, like me. He was wearing some kind of animal fur. It still had a head attached to it! And he was holding a glowing gold sword in his hand.
I stared at him "What's that supposed to mean? Of course I'm mortal! How did you get that sword past security?"
"I didn't-wait you can see it's a sword?" he seemed confused. I rolled my eyes. Was this guy for real? How could I not see it? "Well, it's either a sword or the biggest toothpick in the world," I said sarcastically. "And why didn't it hurt me? I mean, not that I'm complaining. Who are you? And whoa what is that your wearing? Is that made of lion fur?"
I didn't give him time between questions to answer, but I couldn't make myself slow down I was so panicked. I mean he was wearing lion fur for god sake! I stopped talking for a moment as I tried to calm myself down. And the boy just stared at me.
After a moment of this silence he tried a new tactic. Snapping his fingers he said, "You don't see a sword. It's just a ballpoint pen." I blinked at this.
"Um…no. It's a sword, weirdo."
"Who are you?" he demanded. I was outraged! He wanted to know who I was? He had no right to demand anything! He had been the one to trying to kill me! I answered anyway though. If hotly. "Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Now are you going to answer my questions or should I scream for security? "
"No!" he said quickly. "I mean, I'm kind of in a hurry. I'm in trouble."
"In a hurry or in trouble?"
"Um, sort of both."
I was about to ask what kind of trouble would be a problem against that sword of his when I looked over his shoulder. Stomping right toward us were these horrible skeleton monsters! Eyes wide I exclaimed "Bathroom!"
"What?"
"Bathroom! Behind me! Now!"
He didn't argue. He dashed into the bathroom leaving me outside to face the monsters. I watched them as they came wobbled nearer. They were the grossest most terrifyingly ugly things I had ever seen! Gray skeleton warriors in uniforms and caring weapons galore. No wonder that kid had been caring around a sword! He needed to be able to defend himself. Still even with the sword he would have been dog meat. There were just so many of them! I counted at least twenty skeleton warriors.
And they were just walking among the tourists like nothing. You would think everyone would be screaming their heads off with these things walking around all undead looking, but noooo. Nobody ever saw anything.
I wasn't surprised by this though. This was not the first time I had seen monsters that no one else could see. They never failed to terrify me. I swallowed my fear though. That boy was in trouble and I was pretty sure that trouble was those skeletons. I don't know why I was so determined to help some strange boy I didn't even know. And a boy who had tried to kill me at that!
I just did.