The Outsider: Chapter 1
Julie woke up in the same room as she had every day of her life. She trudged to her apartment kitchen that she had eaten breakfast at every day. She got ready to go to the school she had gone to since kindergarten, where she was an average-grades, not-popular-but-not-a-loser type of girl.
But what she didn't know was that today, her life would change forever.
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Julie's father was a professor at the school they lived near. He rushed off to school at the same time Julie, an only child, did.
She didn't know who her mother was. She had asked her father, but all he did was shake his head sadly and say,"She loved you, but she had to go. It's not your fault. But I won't. I won't leave."
By then, he was talking to himself, so she would leave him alone and sneak off. Anyway, she was clever and smart, but had ADHD. Her mind whirred with ideas for inventions and improvements of architecture. And the only thing she didn't know all about was the whereabouts of her mother.
So Julie rode the bus to school. Suddenly, the bus driver slammed on the breaks and screamed. Julie looked out the window to see what it was. And what she saw was horrifying, because charging the bus was a monstrous, hairy mega cow. It was running full speed ahead towards the bus and didn't look like stopping anytime soon. The bus driver stood up and screamed to the kids, "Get out in the back door! Now!"
All the kids ran to the back off the bus and ran in the other direction. Even the bus driver ran like a chicken. Everyone was in a panic. Everyone, that is, except Julie.
She never left the bus. She ran to the front, and once everyone was off, put the bus in drive. She thought of her driving lessons, because even though she was only 13, her dad had taken her out to the country to practice. Julie took a deep breath and slowly headed toward the monster. As she got close, she kicked up the gas to 45 mph and swerved. The monster charged right past where she had been, not realizing what had happened.
The students way behind her screamed and dodged as the monster charged past them.
Julie slammed the brakes and looked in the rearview mirror. The monster was turned around and headed back to the bus.
Again, Julie waited until it was close, then swerved. Finally, the monster fell down, exhausted, and Julie got off the bus. The driver was yelling at her and coming towards her.
"You, young lady, CAN NOT drive! I could get fired! You idiot... you could have gotten hurt-" she rattled on.
But the ADHD side of Julie panicked, and she ran. She ran from the driver, and all the angry "spectators", and the monster. As she ran, she processed what she had seen. And she couldn't make herself believe it had happened. It couldn't have. Monsters don't exist, she told herself. And I didn't drive a bus. When Julie first started running, she had been running away from something. But now, she realized, she was running home.
When she got to her apartment, her dad was home. "Dad, what are you doing here?" Her father did not appear yo be surprised to see her.
"I was talking to Mr. Chiron here." he said calmly. He motioned towards a man in a wheelchair, who had a beard and smelled like horses.
"Hello, my dear. I'm afraid you must come with me. You are in danger."
Julie was puzzled. "Is this about the noodle thing? That wasn't my fault!"
"No, it's about the monster "thing"." Chiron said. "I have explained to your father what happened with the Minotaur. You must come with me, to a special camp."
"A what? Was it after me? What's going on?" Julie inquired.
"I'm sure you have many, many questions, but you must trust him. I do", her father added.
"Okay... can I take some stuff?"
"Yes, pack all of your things and say goodbye to your father. You won't be back for awhile".
Note: I know it's obvious who her godly parent is, but I wanted to describe her anyway. Please review!
