VDFF
Chapter 1
It had been three days since I left Texas. I hitch hiked my way to Virginia and then bought a train ticket to an unknown town called Fell's Church. I have no idea what is in store for me here. All I hope is that if I'm in a place that no one has even heard of, he won't be able to find me here either.
"Please Sam! Please help me! Sam!" The sound of Jaime's voice haunts me all the way to Fell's Church High. I'm enrolling as a senior even though I already have enough credits to graduate. I've been practicing my story and I know I have it memorized by the time I have to recite it to the red haired woman behind the desk.
"No ma'am. I'm living with my cousins. Yes ma'am, I know I need a parent's signature, but my parents are on a mission trip in Africa, they're pediatricians you see." No one can resist people helping tiny humans, especially those who live on another continent. I know my story is gold when she files my papers even without the proper signatures. She sends me on my way to my first period, History, and wishes my parents the best of luck.
History was never one of my favorite subjects, but when I walk into class and the teacher doesn't make me stand in front of everyone like a carnie I am instantly relieved. Everyone stares at me like I'm a freak anyway though. I guess in small towns a new kid moving in might as well be an alien who landed in a UFO. I feel so alone. The ginger secretary didn't even bother to give me a book so I have absolutely no idea what Mr. Saltzman is even talking about. It gets even worse when he asks me what year the Founding Families founded Fell's Church. I guess I skipped over that while reading the handbook at the train station. Luckily, the girl sitting next to me answers the question for me.
"Hi, I'm Bonnie Bennett. You must be a new here. I don't know why Mr. Saltzman would think you would know when the tiny town was founded. The only people who do know are people like him."
"Yeah, it's a lot different from Texas. History questions down there are like who made the first gun or something."
"Wow! I don't think Fell's Church has ever had a native Texan before. You must be the first." I find it easy to smile with her. I still have to force the feeling but it doesn't cause as much pain as it used to. Maybe this place will bring me some peace.
Bonnie promises to find me at lunch so I won't have to sit alone. As she walks away I look at my schedule to see what class I have to suffer through next. Calculus. Lord, save me now. A few hormonal boys offer to carry my bag to class, but I politely decline. A boyfriend is exactly what I don't need in my life right now. I sit down in the chair next to the window and hope I become invisible. When the teacher walks in I know she's going to be the type to make me announce myself to the class; my assumption was right.
"Umm let's see, oh class we have a new student today! Samantha James? Hello, dear. Why don't you come introduce yourself? Yes, yes at the front. That a girl."
"Hi, I'm Sam."
"Well come on now. Don't be shy. Where did you move from? How old are you? How do you like Fell's Church?"
"Umm…I moved here from Dallas, Texas. I'm seventeen years old. I've only been here for a few hours, but it seems pretty nice. It's a lot different from what I'm used to though." After saying I was from Texas the students in the class immediately start whispering to each other.
"Oh how lovely! And why did you leave Texas?"
There it was. The question I had been avoiding. Just another lie I would have to tell. I highly doubted they wanted to know that I had killed four people and came here to escape the voices in my head. That would go over nicely. Instead I stuck to the plan and piped out the lies I had rehearsed. "Well my parents left for a mission trip in Africa and they sent me to stay with my cousins here in Fell's Church until they get back."
"Oh well isn't that fascinating. Welcome to Fell's Church, dear."
I quickly crept back to my seat and tried to hide my face with my hair. After what seemed like hours of torture, the bell finally rang for lunch. For a few seconds I feared Bonnie had forgotten about me, but I saw her standing near the water fountain just like she promised.
"Hey! How was second?" Bonnie fiddled with her wallet white we waited in line for pizza.
"Terrible. Mrs. Coehler made me introduce myself to the class. I was so humiliated."
"Awh I'm sorry! At least you didn't have to sit in the front row of Mr. Brown's class while he spits all over your face. Disgusting."
"That does sound pretty gross. But being the new girl in a small town beats drool any day." I'm finding it easier to smile and almost laugh around Bonnie. Something about her just relaxes me.
After we've paid for two slices of cheese pizza and two lemonades we make our way to a table in the corner of the room. There's already a blonde girl and a couple sitting down. Bonnie introduces me to them. The blonde is Caroline and the comfortable couple is Elena and Stefan. Huddled together in the corner they act as though they share some kind of secret that will never be able to break them. Caroline seems standoffish at first, the boy is shy but kind, and Elena is very welcoming. They don't ask me too many questions and most of the time they just talked amongst themselves while I ate my lunch.
After the bell I say good-bye to the group only to find out that Stefan is in my next class. He sits by me and warns me not to ask any questions while Ms. Edwards is teaching. Unfortunately, she talks in a monotone for most of the period. About half way through, I made the stupid decision to put my head down on my desk. Almost instantly I was asleep.
"Sam. Sam why aren't you helping me? It hurts so much. Please make it stop. Sam! Sam, make him stop!" I feel someone's hand grabbing my shoulder. I jump up to see the teacher calling the nurse on the phone and thirty pairs of eyes staring at me. It's Stefan's hand on my shoulder, not Jamie's. It took the rest of third period to explain that I was just dreaming and that I didn't think anyone was trying to kill Jamie Pfizer. Lucky for me, there just happened to be a Jamie in the class that I had a nightmare in.
By the time I got to fourth period, the whole school had heard about my escapade. Desperate not to sleep in art, I began working on the clay project that the teacher said I could skip. After three failed attempts and a rabbit I decided to make a snake instead.
"It helps if you keep the clay wet, that way it doesn't crack like that. I'm Matt, by the way." The boy who was offering me much needed help was your typical jock. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and enough muscles for two people. Despite his looks, his smile seems genuine and he wasn't completely avoiding me like everyone else was.
"Thanks. I didn't know it was going to be this frustrating. You would think even a first grader could make a clay snake. Maybe it's me and not the clay." I kept on wetting the clay hoping the cracks would go away.
"That's too wet now. When it's too wet you won't be able to shape it into anything. Here, let me help you." He took the clay rope out of my hands, rubbed it with a paper towel, and three minutes later it was a beautiful snake, head and all.
"Oh my gosh. You made that look so easy. Thank you." Like with Bonnie, I found it easy to smile with Matt. Something about these people made me feel like I was apart of a family again. "So…I guess everyone thinks I'm crazy now huh. What kinds of terrible things are they saying?"
"Well, rumors spread fast but in the process they get all mixed up. Some stories are that you tried to choke Jamie Pfizer. Other people say you threatened to blow up the school so you can see how out of control they can get."
"And what about you, what do you think?" I don't know why I wanted to know what he thought about me. I guess he was one of the few people who talked to me at this school and I didn't want him to think I was a freak.
"I think that you were suffering through one of the worst classes at Fell's Church High and you fell asleep and had a dream. Which is understandable, if I had gotten put in that class I probably would have choked people just to get out of it. And besides, this is your first day here. There's no way you could know how annoying Jamie is well enough to kill him, so it must have been a different Jamie. Just a coincidence."
I couldn't believe the words that were coming out of my mouth, but once they started to come out I couldn't do anything to stop them. "Jamie was my brother. He was killed two months ago. The doctors say I have post-traumatic stress disorder so sometimes when I sleep I relive the day he died. That's what happened in class."
"I'm sorry about your brother. I lost my mom a few years ago; I used to have dreams, too. It gets better though. I promise."
"Thanks, Matt. I'm gonna hold you to that promise." For the first time in two months I smiled without even knowing.
