Sarah Stone entered school that morning with a bad feeling of dread. She had learned early on that usually her "feeling" meant that there was an unnatural abomination somewhere out there. She itched her ankle, trying to get a feel for her blade. That was the good part about living in Fox, Alaska. There were no security measures like there was in her old, school in the Bronx had. She couldn't take her knife to school then, and that's when she got her scar. A long jagged one that spun down her face then down the chest, ending at her bellybutton. Feeling the weight of the blade, its silver tipped wood weighing heavily on her ankle, she knew she could stop whatever came at her.
I started training when I was five, she thought sarcastically, nothing was going to get me. Unnoticed, she added, a seed of doubt creeping it, then shook the thought out of her head.
Dressed in a dark purple turtle neck and dark wash skinny jeans, she strolled through the hallway, looking for those abominations her dad had told bed time stories about. Her dark, black hair was chopped short in a way that looked like someone had taken a blade to her hair, yet it looked styled in a cool way. She seemed to radiate a cool, concise demeanor that kept people guessing. She liked people to guess. She had been at the new school for a month now, and got the same eerie feeling when she walked in, like an abomination was hiding in the corner, lurking for prey.
"Sarah," Jude yelled out from down the hall at his locker. He smiled a happy smile, like she had made his day. She walked, hips swaying, to his locker and slammed her hand down.
"Hi," she said, looking him in the eye defiantly. Of course, she liked him, he was cool. But that shell, the one made of ice that surrounded her heart, it just wouldn't let up. So she used her sarcasm as a guard. It was something her father used to do, before he learned the family secret. She choked back her sobbed, the sob that never came, the dad she knew was gone, she would have to deal. So the shell was born, an ice encrusted heart was better than being weak. Weak was bad, she knew that.
"What's up?" He smiled at her, it was a weak smile. He knew he lost the battle with her. Though she didn't notice, there was a glint in his eye, one of those I'm-one-of-those-good-guys-up-to-no-good glints. She nodded, in acknowledgement and sauntered away, off to first period.
First Period English Sarah sat next to Kevin, a tall, muscular boy with dark caramel skin. His hair was fleck with gold strands in the dark tousles. He had large wide brown eyes and a sparkling smile. Kevin leaned over the empty space between their desks and dropped a folded up note on her desk, which in chicken starch writing said her name on the top.
She shot him a withering look but snatched the note before the teacher saw. I flipped it open and smoothed it out over her notes on the desk. Kevin wanted her to come to lunch with him, what a surprise. He asked everyday when she sat down in English, some way or another. Every day she shot him down. Today felt different. Today she would say yes. Today would start a chain of events that didn't have a happy ending. It all started with a simple yes.
When the bell rang for lunch, Sarah shambled out of her chair and down the only hallway of the school and out into the small student parking lot. Kevin stood outside waiting by his car, a rusted green pickup truck. She nodded to him as she opened the door. The ice wasn't going to disappear just because she agreed to go out to lunch with him. If he thought it was, well, guys can be sort of stupid.
"Want to go to my house for lunch?" Kevin said, jabbing a thumb over his should in which she assumed was the direction of his house. She nodded, not wanting to speak. He pulled out swiftly and sped out of the school yard and down the main street the school was built on.
"Thanks for coming out with me," Kevin said sweetly, throwing his arm over her seat head rest. His arm burned her neck and she jumped up, making a squeak. She leaned forward as he pulled his arm away, sticking his hand up in apology. "Sorry, didn't mean anything by it," He said, his voice flowing like caramel. It was hard to resist. It swam down by her heart, but she had been cold forever and when it got there, it froze on contact. "I'll just drive with both hands," he muttered under his breath, Sarah didn't hear.
They turned down a side street and made a large arc into a doublewide driveway. She stepped out of the car and let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. His house was a plain white number with a red door and shutters. One shutter hung off lopsided, like no one cared about the house. It was obvious in other ways, the unruly trees covering the windows, the unshaved walkway. But overall, the house seemed unthreatening.
The inside of the house, well, that was a completely different story. Everything was polished and neat; furniture was covered with plastic covering that made noise when you sat down. Sarah smiled at the nonthreatening look of it all and turned into the kitchen where Kevin was making two grilled cheese sandwiches. He had put on an apron. Sarah giggled, covering her mouth, so that he wouldn't notice.
"What's so funny?" he asked, smiling. He cocked one eyebrow up at her. She shook her head, a small section of ice melting away, the warmth worming its way inside. She smiled and came over to the stove by where he was. She hip-butted him, grabbed the spatula and poked at the sandwiches.
"Oh, really?" He said playfully, bumping her back. He removed the cooked sandwiches and set them on the table. He opened the fridge and motion for her to pick what she wanted. Sarah grabbed a bottle of water and sat at the table. They ate in silence for a while. Sarah couldn't keep the smile off her face. He was getting to her. She knitted her eyebrows together and focused on the cold, her home. She imagined her heart incased in it, frozen solid.
Kevin reached out and touched her arm. "Are you okay?" He asked his voice dripping like sugar coated caramel candy. Sarah flinched and nodded, biting her lip. I couldn't let him in, I couldn't let that barrier break, she thought.
"We should get back," Sarah said icily, getting up and cleaning her dishes.
As the car pulled into the school, she vowed that this would never happen again. She would eat alone. Going out to eat was a bad idea, she thought, her heart freezing again. The ice crept into her soul. She got out of the car, pulling her books with her and ran off to seventh period without saying good bye to Kevin.
"Sarah!" Jude yelled after her as she neared her elective class, Drama. It was the only class they shared. Wondering how he or Kevin, for that matter, could keep hope that she would change her mind, she wouldn't, she went to her seat in the back of the room. Jude came in, his hair blown around, and sat down next to her. "Didn't you hear me calling you back there?" Jude said, leaning in so close, his mint breath splayed in her face. She inhaled that scent, enjoying the moments of cold it gave her. Then she leaned away in disgust. What was with her today, she never let people in and now she went out to lunch with Kevin and was flirting with Jude. God, she thought angrily, her walls were crumbling. Okay, she thought serious, maybe I wasn't flirting with Jude but I was definitely letting him in more than usual, which wasn't good!
"Oh come on! I say hi to you every day, can't you at least have one conversation with me. You're my partner for this scene anyway; you're going to have to talk sometime," Jude said seriously. She glared at him as menacingly as possible but well, it just wasn't as cold as usual. The ice, the one she loved like her own child, was melting but in her mind, she denied it.
"Let's just memorize our lines and get to work on our blocking," Sarah said, picking up her script. She read through the lines in front of her, her frown increasing with each sentence she read. When Sarah looked up, Jude was smiling widely at her. Not this scene, she thought wildly, why had the teacher given them the only Romeo and Juliet scene? She frowned at him and pulled out a highlighter, marking her lines.
An hour later, she arrived home to her dad sitting on the couch. She sighed and announced she was home. Per usual, her dad jumped out of his seat and approached her, a sneer on his face. He gripped her wrist and pushed her against the hall way wall. He stuck his face right in hers and let his hot sticky breath wash over her. "And how was your day, Sarah?"
She nodded meekly, knowing talking wouldn't be a good idea. She looked down at her feet, knowing from experience that looking him in the eye would make everything explode in her face.
"Dinner's on the table," He sneered, pushing her against the wall and then into the small, crapped, neat, dingy white kitchen. He had let her off easy, and for that Sarah was extremely grateful. She couldn't take a beating after the day she had. Sarah was still upset that her heart was melting, even if she didn't want to admit it, something that wasn't allowed to happen, ever.
On the table was a frozen meal, one of those TV dinners. She smiled an icy smile. It was better than not eating like last night, she thought. She plopped the meal into the microwave. She would ask her dad if he ate but well, the thought scared the shit out of her. She dashed up stairs when the meal was ready, not wanting to be near her father for any longer. Her dad may be crazy but he was knowledgeable. He would be able to tell if she was upset about something other than his abuse.
She dead bolted her door, something she got in secret the first week they moved here.
An hour later, her father banged up the stairs and whacked her door. "Let me in or I'll take an axe to your door!" He yelled. Sarah quickly ran to undead bolt her door and let her father in. She couldn't go without her door. Because she knew he really would take an axe to her door. Her father sneered at her, announced he was watching her, making sure she wasn't up to no good, and then walked down the hall to his own room to go to sleep hopefully. Sarah got up and closed her door so that her father would think she was asleep. Turning the lights off, she stared out her window. She watched the light snow falling as the wind gushed its ghostly breath around the house.