Hey guys!
So this idea has always been on the backburner of all my story ideas (and trust me, I have 21 existing ideas currently being developed all at the same time), but for some reason, I suddenly felt the strongest urge to finally tackle and pursue this one.
I don't have many thoughts on this story idea, other than the fact that I wanted to write something that had suspense, friendship, angst and romance all at once – a pretty cool challenge if I do say so myself. :P
To be honest, this merely had a 12-line outline and all chapters were written without forethought and prior planning. This is all just off the back of my mind, something I was working on when I wasn't desperately trying to write for my chapter story Secrets and Lies. Most of the facts and the culture are slightly based off my private school back in high school. This isn't some magnum opus or anything; but it has a story :)
Note:
If you didn't already infer from my summary, this is an AU, AH story. That being said, characters will be OOC but I had made sure to retain most of their personality. This is strictly rated T for some gory descriptions and heavy content. It'll last for exactly 12 chapters including the prologue and the epilogue – no more, no less. Chapters range from 'super short' to 'just long enough', but every chapter is important to the story and will have substance.
And this'll be the first and last time I'll say this: I (pretty freakin' obviously) don't own Maximum Ride.
Synopsis: St. Xavier was just like any other school – boring teachers, school uniforms, and the occasional run in with your smokin' hot ex-boyfriend you're still in love with. But when a dangerous threat comes to school and you're stuck with two freshmen, your sister's friend, your Calculus seatmate, and said ex-boyfriend; well, let's see how long we'll all last...if we don't kill each other first.
PROLOGUE
School is your home away from home.
Unless you were being bullied, it was supposed to be a safe haven where kids were sent to learn and make friends in a peaceful environment. Of course, that was the sugarcoated definition given by schools and teachers themselves, but I for one didn't really have a problem with it either.
Some teachers were insufferable, but when were they not? And a good minority of them were really good at what they did best.
You have your friends, a handful of people that you trust most. And you had your enemies, which was okay, because when was high school ever easy?
You excel in academics; and if not, then you're forte lies in sports, or choir, or writing. You may be good at everything, or maybe just one thing.
But that was the thing about school: everything was a learning process – learning the basic subjects, then learning what you're good at, learning about what you want to do when you're older, who your true friends were, and maybe even finding the one you wanted to marry. Finding yourself first, because that was the most important thing; and learning the rest about life as you go on.
Although sometimes, school isn't all it's cracked up to be. There will be bullying, maybe even a lot of it; fights, especially in high school; a lot of gossiping and backbiting because girls are just catty and pathetic like that. There will be a hundred of other trials and problems you'd have to face, and a hundred other more such as relationships and school work that can bring you down.
School isn't just meant for academic purposes. That the main prerogative, sure, but stepping foot into the threshold is you allowing yourself to be thrust upon with conflict. It entails all the drama, and we go to school battling our own struggles to prepare us for the real world. We'll learn, and we'll get smarter, and we'll have success and losses; we'll cry when we get pushed down, and we'll get back up eventually; we'll make friends along the way, and we'll figure things out in the end. No one gets out of high school unscathed.
School was made to prepare us for any situations in life that came our way; but this wasn't something that could be learned, something that any of us could prepare for.
Not this. Never this.
Max
In the end, I guess I had my bladder to thank for this.
Then again, it was my aversion to Mr. Wright's droning lecture in the first place that made me ask to be excused to the lavatory 20 minutes before the final bell, so I should ultimately be thanking Mr. Wright.
Technically I wasn't skipping class since I had the hall pass – I was by no means a 'bad girl' – but any second longer in that classroom and I swear I would've flipped my desk and ran out, screaming. Normally, I could stand to pay attention and take down notes grudgingly, but today had been more exhausting than most days and I just wanted to go home already. I was tired, running on only two hours of sleep finishing my English term paper at the last minute; and I was hungry, having spent the entire lunch period studying for a test next period.
I wasn't normally one to procrastinate but it was Hell Week here at St. Xavier High, the week before finals, which meant all the teachers were dumping their papers and projects on their students at the last minute to meet the quota number of assessments required per subject. Bullshit, if you ask me.
There wasn't much to do alone in the halls, so I spent my first few minutes of freedom organizing my locker out of boredom. It wasn't cluttered, really, so that only took me three minutes before I was back to doing nothing. Eventually, I was reduced to roaming the halls, occasionally reading the posters and bulletin boards on the walls.
It was actually nice and pretty relaxing to walk the halls alone. St. Xavier was a private school so everything was pristine and neat, with the marble floors waxed and the cherry red lockers polished to perfection. Not a single piece of trash littered the ground, and the air was somehow always tinged with the scent of raspberry air freshener. Major kudos to the auxiliary staff.
My mind wandered from thought to thought as I walked, not lingering too long on any particular subject. I didn't want to stress on anything since my mind was already winding down for the weekend, already imagining myself sleeping in on Saturday. By the time I'd reached the main hallway, I had a few more minutes till dismissal. Subconsciously, I made my way to the nearest bathroom.
During dismissal, I usually had this routine I'd follow to make sure everything was in order. The moment the bell rang I immediately pack my things (insert the occasional conversations between friends here), then head straight to my locker to get the rest of my stuff. I take a trip to the bathroom in case I needed to piss, and when I'm all set I wait by my car in the school's parking lot for Ari and Ella, my younger brother and sister. If any of the three of us had an extra curricular activity at school, we would drive the 10 minutes home, drop off our bags and change into our uniform, then I would drive us back to school in time. Rinse, repeat.
Now to clear the confusion on why I had thanked my bladder in the beginning, it was because I needed to piss. I needed to piss and I rearranged the order of my routine.
Most stories neglect to mention the fact that everyone needs to pee. It's a normal, everyday activity. I guess it's not important to mention it, especially if the story were centered on romance or horror or something, but in the grand scheme of things my need to take a leak was what saved my life.
I'm not going to go into details – I'm sure you all know what you need to do when you pee – so it wasn't long until I was exiting the cubicle and washing my hands thoroughly at the sink. As an afterthought, I splashed my face and arms with the cool water, clutching the marble countertop as I let the water slide off my skin.
Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I couldn't help but scrutinize what I saw. The dark circles under my eyes were prominent against my pale skin, making me look sick and ghostly in the fluorescent lights. My normally shiny wave blond hair would've been limp and dull had it been down, but I couldn't bring myself to care as I've been putting it into a messy bun these days. My maroon necktie was knotted loose around my collar, my blazer and blouse askew, and I knew I wouldn't do anything to change that either.
Just one more term, Max. Two and a half more months and you're off to college.
I never heard the final bell, but I figured enough time had passed for it to already be dismissal. Drying my hands off with a few paper towels, I made my way to the door so I could finally head home.
I wish I could say I'd felt it. I wish I could tell you that I knew something was wrong, or that the atmosphere felt different the moment I stepped out into the hall, but I didn't. I was so ridiculously oblivious to what was going on a few doors down that I'm surprised I survived that long.
Turning on my heel to head back to my classroom, I'd only taken two steps when it happened.
Without warning, all the lights suddenly shut off at once, plunging me in complete darkness in the middle of the hallway.
Three seconds later, the tiny round emergency lights at every other wide interval switched on, illuminating small round patches of the marble floor red.
There was no alarm, nothing to signify what type of emergency this was. I'd studied here since my first year in high school, and I've long since practiced and committed all the earthquake and fire drills to memory. Each drill constituted a different type of siren or bell; but as I listened for something, anything; the halls remained eerily quiet like a blanket of silence draped over everything, suffocating every other noise.
That was worse than hearing a siren or a bell come onto the intercom.
It was then that my heart clenched at the infinite possibilities, frozen on the spot as I stared at the red emergency lights a few feet down the hall with only my ragged breathing in my ears.
Aaand scene.
I know it's not much yet but things are only going to pick up from here! Tell me what you think about it so far :)
.: Tiffany :.
