*Hey! So, this is a story I've been thinking about for a while. It's loosely based on the show "Ghost Whisperer," so if you haven't seen it, I'd suggest it, even though now it's cancelled. -.- I'd also love to give a big shout out to my friend, WhyCantIJustBePerfect, for letting me run this idea by her, as well as putting up with me on a daily basis. That's a challenge in and of itself ;) Anyways, this chapter's a bit short, but I promise later ones will be longer once we get further into the story. Enjoy!*
"Whoa!" I screamed, tumbling out of the passenger seat of the moving van, textbooks in hand.
"See you at three, sweetie!" My called from the passenger seat. I rolled my eyes as I watched the U-Haul drive away. I had literally just gotten into town, not even to my new house yet, and my mom pushes me out of the moving van straight to school. I got a better hod on my pre-ordered textbooks and began to push through the sea of people crowding around the front of the school. A few stared at me. I'm not sure why, but the pale skin, teal lipstick, short bob of teal and black hair, and overall Goth demeanor may have something to do with it. Internally, I was rejoicing at the fact that they weren't staring because they knew the real me. The fact is, the real me has the ability to speak to the dead.
Sometimes I counted the ability as a gift. With it came incredible powers such as superhuman strength and speed, which is undoubtedly useful for not failing Gym. The curse of it was that I had to keep it a secret from everybody. My mom wasn't even aware of what I could do. I don't know, I guess it was okay come to think of it. It kept people away from me, it kept me from making friends, it kept me from getting a boyfriend, it kept me...from getting hurt.
Upon entering the much less crowded first floor. I searched for the office to get registered and everything. As I walking, I passed a dimly lit hallway that was actually crowded with the school outcasts, a.k.a. the stoners, burnouts, and all-around troublemakers. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy the occasional prank on a teacher, but those guys were not my crowd. Unlike them, I actually have plans for my future, which by that time hopefully won't include keeping me chatting it up with dead guys on a daily basis a secret from everyone. As I walked right by the hallway, I felt a pair of bright green, bloodshot following me. I didn't look until I was sure they wouldn't notice me looking back at them. The boy had a shoulder-length, greasy crop of blackish-green hair. Something about his gaze bugged me, tugged at the little superhuman in my mind, begging for me to stop and talk to them. I ignored my head and instead followed my heartbeat to the office.
The brightly lit room greeted me almost as warmly as the lady at the front desk had.
"Hello, dear. Is there a problem? Why don't you take a seat?" She asked, pulling the glasses around her neck back onto her face. I wordlessly sat shyly in a chair by the desk and began to twiddle my thumbs.
"Um, I'm kind of new in town, so..." I started, hoping I wouldn't have to further explain what my purpose for going there was.
"Oh, you need a schedule!" She exclaimed, patting at the back of her cropped brown hair. She typed into her computer for not even a minute before looking back at me. "Name?"
"Gwen-" I was cut off by her hand motioning for me to stop. she clicked the mouse a couple more times before pointing to a printer on the other side of her desk. A paper emerged from the topside of it, riddled with words and a graph-like design to list my schedule. I picked it up off the printer and scurried off to get to my next class before it was too late.
My day after that hadn't gotten interesting again until I was sitting outside, chomping away on the bag of chips Mom had thrown at me to serve as my "lunch" for the day as I reflected on my first four periods of the day. Homeroom was alright. Our teacher, a short balding man who had a knack for brightly colored suits, had seated me at the front table right next to Courtney Cross, who's apparently Student Council president, head of the volleyball team, as well as the top-scorer on her practice SAT. Did I neglect to mention she's a witch with a capital "B"? Because she is. I suppose being best friends with Heather Wong, Queen Bee of the school (as well as my new lab partner) should have told me that, but luckily Courtney isn't as vile and evil as Heather...I think. As I picked a few black specks off of a yellow potato chip, something caught my eye in the armpit of the school.
I don't know what possessed me to walk over there, but taking my abilities into consideration, it really could have been anything. Anyways, it was the outside hangout for the teenage druggies and delinquents who've been to juvie more times than they've been to their Calculus class. Upon reaching my destination, I was glad to see that none of the little devils were outside at the moment, so no explaining my twenty to a group of half-dead binge drinkers. The thing that caught my eye was just inside of the shade the buildings in between the alley had to offer.
The display appeared to be a shrine for a fallen brother or something, killed on the streets I'm guessing. It was different than the shrines of the deceased you'd see on the news, with all of the teddy bears and flowers and hand written notes full of emotion. No, this was much smaller and photo-less. It didn't make the site any less unsettling to me. I brushed off my growing uneasiness and examined each and every item placed there. There was a lighter with the cap open, emitting a tiny flame for their dead friend. In fact, there were a few there, each one making the nervousness I already had growing inside of me swell up even more. A few other souvenir-like items scattered the cracked concrete. A pocket knife, a red retro sneaker, and a few empty and rusty bottles of spray paint were the most prominent things about the shrine. The single most prominent thing about the setup, though, was hanging on the bolt of a low-hanging pipe. It was a rather long chain with a medium-sized silver amulet hanging on it. I lifted the metal amulet in my hands to get a better look. Almost immediately upon feeling the cold metal on my skin, the ghost whisperer in me kicked in.
I had to have it. I had no reason, nor any explanation for the desire, I just had to have it. Without even so much as thinking, I pulled the chain off of the pipe and bolted. I knew I would be back, though. I had to be. That place, that person...I needed to know. As I was fleeing, the chain clutched in a death grip within my pale hands, I could've sworn I saw a pair of emerald green eyes watching me through the shadows.
*So? I know the beginning of the chapter starts off a little slow/boring, but I wanted to give Gwen a sort of backstory, and was relatively happy with how this turned out. I kind of want to know how you guys are liking it, so if you could review...PLEASE?*