Okies, I'm changing the PoV. It is now in 1st person.
Many thanks to Michaelover101 and truelovexx for reviewing!!!
Disclaimer: As much as I wish I did, I own nothing except for Evolet and Leon, their parents, and grandparents.
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Two weeks later, I was enrolled in Spenser Academy for the second semester of the year. Leon offered to drive me there, as he was enrolled there as well. Having come to the school too late those few years ago, he was forced to take his sophomore year over again, leaving him Junior year with me. The ride passed in a comfortable silence, but we both knew that inside, I was anything but comfortable. Leon had given me the scoop on Spenser, revealing that a lot of the people there were arrogant rich kids who looked down on people that were worse-off than they. Needless to say, that didn't help at all.
Not only am I going to be the new kid, I thought bitterly, I'm probably the only kid in a wheelchair.
Just as that thought left my mind, we pulled into the parking lot of a humongous, old looking building.
"This can't be a school," I gasped in awe, taking in the awesome sight.
Leon grinned at me. "No. This is just the dorms. The school is on the other side of campus."
I returned to staring out at the beautiful building and accused, "you didn't tell me it was this big!"
Leon laughed. "Yeah, well just wait until you see the school."
I shook my head as my brother pulled into a parking space by the side of the building. I was about to ask why he had parked so far away from the front door when I caught sight of the wheelchair ramp by a smaller door. Closing my mouth tightly, lips pressed into a tight line, I looked away. Sensing my anguish, Leon grabbed my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
"You'll be fine, Baby Girl," he insisted again. "You're gonna get better. I promise."
I laughed my hollow laugh again and opened the door. "That's a nice thought Leon, but I'm never going to get better. Even if I do walk again, I'll never be able to play. Being able to walk is pointless without being able to play."
My brother sighed as I struggled to get my wheelchair onto the ground. In seconds, he was beside me, helping me unfold the chair so I could slide down into it.
"You know what, Leon?" I said stiffly as I settled into the seat. "Come what may, I can handle this. I'm totally fine with it. "
Leon looked sadly after me as I twisted to get my bags from the back of the car.
"No you're not Ev," he murmured, but I pretended not to hear him.
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"Well, you're in luck," Leon said after returning from the Provost's office. "Provost Higgins was called away on family business, so you get to skip out on the whole 'welcome to Spenser, blah blah blah."
He held up a key. "This is to your room. C'mon. I'll take you up."
He lead me to the one elevator in the building, up two floors, down a hallway, and stopped in front of a door with a shiny metal plate that read '329.'
"Alright," Leon said as he pushed the key into the lock. "You have a roommate who's probably coming in tomorrow." Seeing the look on my face, he added, "I know you wanted a room to yourself, but nana insisted that you have a roommate just in case you. .. get into any, um, trouble."
I only sighed in defeat. I knew I had no chance of living a fairly normal life here, so I decided, 'why bother?' Seeing the look of resignation fall over my features, Leon rested his hand lightly on my shoulder and said softly, "I'm going to go bring up your things, and I'll leave you to get settled in here." In an attempt to get me to smile again, he said teasingly, "Hey, maybe I can even scrape up a strong, good-looking young man to help me with all those boxes."
His ploy worked, and a small smile danced across my lips as I called out to his retreating form, "Don't go terrorizing all the nice boys around here, Leon; You can't have 'em all!"
My brother just fluttered his fingers in a mock wave and disappeared down the stairs. I giggled and scooped up my bags as I wheeled back into the room to get started setting up my things. In the time it took for Leon to return with the rest of my things, I had emptied my suitcase of clothes and settled them into their respective drawers to await their companions, set up my desk with pictures, notebooks, and my I-home, and my laptop.
In the hallway, I heard my brother saying goodbye to who I assumed to be one of his friends before he opened the door and moved the boxes inside.
"Who was that?" I asked curiously as I wheeled over to the boxes.
"Oh, just a friend. He helped me out with the boxes here."
I lifted my eyebrow skeptically.
"No, really!" he protested. "He's straight, besides. Not even my devilishly good looks are enough to turn that boy to the dark side." He sniffed and tossed his hair back as I giggled uncontrollably.
His playing died down a tiny bit though, and he looked down at me with thoughtful silver eyes that mirrored one of my own. "All joking aside, I wouldn't go after the poor lad anyways."
Seeing right where he was heading, I smiled. "What's his name?"
Leon set a box of my books down on my bed and settled down in front of me with a new light in his eyes.
"His name is Matt," he said excitedly. "He's a Junior as well, but he's my age, and he has the most beautiful blue eyes! He's on the swim team, and oh, is he gorgeous!"
I smiled widely at my brother. "It sounds like you're in love," I teased, nudging him playfully.
Leon swatted my arm away good naturedly. "Oh, I am!"
Setting a few of my heavier books in my lap, I wheeled over to the book cases (which I noticed were a lot shorter than my room mate's) to begin putting them up. "How long have you two been seeing each other?"
Leon played with his lip ring as he replied softly, "five months."
I twisted in my chair to stare at him.
"Five months?!" I asked incredulously. "But you've never been in a relationship that long! Ever!"
He flopped back with a happy sigh. "I know, but after I met Matt, I just couldn't see myself fooling around with anyone else, ya know?"
I smiled softly at my older brother. "I'm so happy for you Leon," I said truthfully. "I really am." Wheeling back over to the bed to gather a few more books. "So. When do I get to meet him?"
He sat up and tugged on his earlobe as he thought it out. "Well, he 's still with his parents for the rest of break, but I think I could arrange something for the weekend after class starts again."
He moved to help me unpack the rest of the boxes as I exclaimed, "But that's more than a week away! No fair!"
Leon just laughed and helped my put the rest of my things in their rightful places.
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The ground flew by under my light feet, and the wind whipped my hair wildly around my face. The smile that spread over my lips was so wide I had no idea how it managed to fit on my face. My heart beat in time to my pounding feet, and once again, I was free. The sun shone brightly all around me and warmed up my back. In front of me, I saw the familiar sight of home plate, nestled in its bed of dirt and chalk, but I knew something was wrong when the pentagon of white rubber got no closer.
The wind turned cold and harsh against my face as the sun disappeared. Behind me, the ground was crumbling and falling away into a chasm of horrible nothingness as black as a raven's wing. With a cry of fright, I tried to run faster, tried to reach the one familiar place that was my sanctuary, but when I looked down, I was no longer running, but in a wheelchair. Throwing myself out of the captivity of the cruel metal chair, I clawed at the dirt with my fingers in an attempt to drag myself closer to home.
My fingers bled as they scraped against the unforgiving ground, which was now dark asphalt. The light was fading in my eyes as I struggled along. My tattered fingers knocked against something smooth, and as I brought the unfamiliar object up to my eyes, the vile stench of alcohol invaded my senses. With a cry, I threw the bottle as far away from me as possible, but it was at that moment that the nothingness caught up to me. I felt the ground give way beneath me, and all of my senses were extinguished, except for one. My scream of terror echoed in my ears as I plunged deeper into the pit of despair.
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With a strangled sob, I flew bolt upright in my bed, cold sweat chilling my skin. My fingers twisted in the sheets around me as the horrible nightmare flooded back into my mind. I trembled as I remembered the terror that I had felt, and the tears only came faster as I curled up into a ball. Silent sobs wracked my body as I cried myself back to sleep for what was possible the hundredth time in the past month, and what I knew was most certainly not the last.
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Wow. How was that for angst? Anyways, sorry it took me so long to pop this little bugger out, the holidays have been crazy. Do you think Kate should be her roommate, or should I introduce a new OC? Please feel free to message me, or just review. I dearly love reviews!
-Piratemuffins
