I've decided that my update days for this story will be Fridays. So without further delay, here's chapter two.

School.
Mostly everybody hates school, mainly because there's always so much work to do. I hated it for different reasons all together.
I was alone.
For years, I had my best friends with me every day to make this place so tolerable. Since Danny died and Tucker moved away, I was completely and utterly alone.
The police promised my family and I that the fact that Tucker and I were involved would be kept a secret. The death was ruled as an accident, and that's truly all it was.

***
"Tell us again what happened, Ms. Manson," a police officer looked down at his legal pad full of scribbles, not looking directly at me.
He seemed dull and uninterested in the situation. I was reaching for another tissue, finishing off the second box that had been provided to me.
"Why?" I sniffled.
I couldn't keep telling the same story over and over this way. It had just happened, after all.
"We need to make sure you and Mr. Foley's story is straight, and then you can go home," he encouraged, still not looking at me. "You two were the only witnesses."
I inhaled and recalled the story of the accident to him one more time. Tucker had been dismissed long before me.
The officer occasionally nodded and marked more things down as my story went on. He let me pause and take deep breaths when I needed to. I would collapse every few minutes in the retelling. I was so broken.
"Thank you for your time," he finally said, reaching his hand out to shake mine. I shook it twice and left the room to find my mother waiting for me.

"Are you alright, Samantha?" my mother asked.
I couldn't answer her; I was still so caught up in one fact.
The officer never looked at me in the eyes.
I wouldn't have wanted to either.

Had I known any danger could have come out of it, I would have never told Danny to go into the portal. I honestly just wanted to see a ghost. I would have never wanted to kill my best friend.
I held my English textbook tightly to my chest and made my way into Mr. Lancer's classroom for first period. Same as everyday, I could feel the eyes of everyone in the hallway on me. Judging me. Though I was promised it would remain a secret, somehow everyone found out Tucker and I were there when Danny died.
No one talked to us anymore, not that they ever did talk to us much to begin with. But after that day, Tucker and I had become completely and totally shunned by everyone in the school. I thought it would be somewhat okay, until I realized not even Tucker wanted to talk to me anymore. Almost nobody wanted anything to do with me anymore.

***
The bell rang nosily as the Friday school day ended.
Normally people ran outside cheering that the week was over. The halls were silent as students poured out of their classrooms and left the building.
This particular Friday had marked one week since Danny had died. Everyone in the school, even the bullies who had mocked him were somber. Danny had never been much of a standout, but his death scarred this entire town.
I approached my locker as the intercom rang with the principal's voice.
"Students, please remember we are holding a memorial in the school auditorium tonight for Daniel Fenton. All are encouraged to attend."
Ice shot through my veins as his name echoed through the halls. And everyone turned to look at me.
I stuck my head in my locker as a silent stream of tears began to cascade down my cheeks.
"Hey, Sam?" Tucker's voice quietly spoke from behind me.
I hadn't heard Tucker's voice in over a week, and it was heavily laced in grief.
I turned to face him, not sure how to respond to his simple greeting.
"I need to talk to you."
We walked out onto the empty football field. The sky was bright and sunny and the temperature was a hot 85. The football team should have been out there practicing, but they weren't. Every extracurricular activity had been cancelled that week.
Tucker stopped in the center of the field, and turned to face me. There was no emotion on his face.
"I can't," he stuttered. "I can't know you anymore."
Out of everything that I expected to happen, that was not one of them.
I starred at Tucker, my only friend left in the world, and tried to make sense of what he was saying.
"You, this place, this accident…it's all so much and I just…I can't handle it anymore. Everything that's happened, everything we lost, it's just all so much."
"Tucker, I…" I started to say.
"What Sam," he was suddenly angry. "What? What could you possibly have to say to me? I told you and Danny both going into that portal was a stupid idea. And you didn't listen to me. You told him to go in there, you didn't do a damn thing to prevent that from happening."
I began to back away from Tucker's booming voice.
"It's your fault Danny's dead Sam, your fault!" Tucker exploded.
I stood there, wounded. Tucker had taken a sword to me with his words. He cut open every wound that was still bleeding from the previous week.
"My family and I are moving out of this town," Tucker spoke again, no emotion in his voice this time. "My parents said I needed to get out of here, this town is too traumatizing for me now. I'm leaving and I don't want any contact with you. Goodbye."
I watched as Tucker walked away, and out of my life. I watched as my only friend disappeared out of my sight.

The sound of someone slamming his or her locker doors snapped me back to reality. These fragments of memories, these shards often took over my mind and forced me to watch my life unravel again and again. It was a nightmare.
My life was a nightmare.
My legs carried me to my first period class as I did everything I could to keep my mind focused on the present. It took all of my concentration to make it to the desk in the middle of two empty ones. Desks that used to be occupied by my best friends.
Mr. Lancer dragged himself into the classroom and began his role call. I slumped into my seat as he skipped their names looking out the window. The skies grew dark and stormy.
"Ms. Manson?" Mr. Lancer called.
All eyes in the room turned to face me.
"I'm here," I answered quietly, same as I did every time.
The rest of class dragged on. A group assignment was given out, and no one even glanced at me until they all had partners of their own.
I sighed and started to read the textbook, hoping no one would continue to look at me.
Mr. Lancer surprised me by softly clearing his throat.
"Sam, do you want me to pair you up with someone?" he asked politely. "I can make an exception for a group of three."
Mr. Lancer's words thrust me into my own world. Suddenly everything around me changed.

***
"I call Sam!" Danny said, pulling my right arm.
"No way dude, you got Sam last time," Tucker responded, tugging my left arm the other way.
I sat there in the middle being pulled both ways and laughed. I loved my boys, especially when they fought over me.
There was an uneven number of students in the class, and everybody in the class already had their partners.
"Tuck, you can totally do this on your own!" Danny continued to whine and pull me in his direction.
Truthfully, I would have much rather worked with Danny than Tucker. It wasn't because I had any problems with Tucker, but rather because I had come to accept that I secretly liked Danny. Not that I would ever tell him, of course.
"I can't read Shakespeare and you know it!" Tucker countered. "I'm a techno geek, not an English geek."
I was so out of it that I hadn't even noticed the whole class was watching the debate.
"Look, two losers fighting over one loser," Paulina snickered.
Most of the class laughed as Dash and Kwan placed money bets on who would win me in the final outcome.
Mr. Lancer startled the entire class by dropping a heavy textbook onto his desk.
"Enough!" he shouted.
Every student in the class turned to face forward and Mr. Lancer slowly approach our group of desks.
"Mr. Foley, Mr. Fenton," he began. "I'll have you know that this class is a serious matter and there is no time for your childish antics."
"But there's an uneven number in the class," Tucker informed him. "One person will be left out."
Mr. Lancer looked down with little sympathy for Tucker or Danny. He knew I could have easily done the assignment on my own.
"Very well," he said. "Ms. Manson, you may choose who you will work with."
I didn't want to choose between my two best friends, my two only friends. My first choice would have been Danny, but maybe that would have hinted at too much. And if I chose Tucker, would it have offended Danny?
"I, uh," I spoke quietly, still debating.
Mr. Lancer decided that there wasn't enough time for my stuttering.
"Alright, the three of you can work together," he finally said, knowing he would regret the decision. "But just this once."
Danny and Tucker both sighed in relief as Mr. Lancer turned and walked back to his desk.
After that day, every time a group project came along, the three of us became the one exception. Most of the other kids in the class complained and tried to pair groups of three, but Mr. Lancer would never allow it. He got on our nerves sometimes, but I felt like Mr. Lancer liked the three of us, deep down.
***

"SAM," Mr. Lancer was gently shaking me.
My eyes flew open, and I was thrust back into reality. I looked around, frantic. The classroom had been emptied and Mr. Lancer was accompanied but the school nurse, who was fanning me.
My face grew hot as I lowered my head in embarrassment.
"Sam, that's the fourth time this month that you've zoned out on us like that," Mr. Lancer said, concerned.
"I know, I'm sorry," I said sheepishly. "I can't help it…"
The school nurse ceased her fanning and began to write in her little pink notebook she always carried around. I watched her for a second, and then diverted my eyes to the window outside. I hadn't even noticed it had begun to rain outside.
"We can't keep ignoring this problem," Mr. Lancer continued. "It's beginning to worry all the school administration and staff. We need to call your parents to-"
"NO!" I instantly protested.
The last thing I wanted was for my parents to become involved. They hated me enough for what had happened.
"You can't tell them," I begged. "I'll do anything, just please don't tell them. I can't deal with that, they can't know. Please, they can't know."
I began shaking. It took everything I had not to break down and cry.
"Samantha, calm down," Mr. Lancer urged. "Your parents will understand. You experienced something very traumatic and we are all here to help and support you through this tough time in your life."
I ignored his kind words.
"They can't know! They'll disown me or something…I don't know. Please don't tell them."
I could feel myself getting hysterical, and yet I could do nothing to stop it. The room around me was getting smaller. My lungs were getting tighter, and it was getting harder to breathe. Every sound around me became amplified; the ticking of the wall clock, the whispers of my classmates in the hallway, the nurse's pen hitting the paper of her little pink notebook. The world around me started spinning as I realized I was having an anxiety attack.
"Calm down, Ms. Manson," Mr. Lancer, now frantic. "Breathe in and out, in and out."
I could hear his words. I tried so hard to listen. But I could feel myself slipping further and further away from him and the nurse.
Suddenly, a firm hand grasped my shoulder, and the scene around me returned to normal. I fought to control my breathing as my eyes met the nurses. She was starring back straight into my eyes as she slowly took her hand off of me.
We never broke the connection of our eyes while she reached down and gently ripped a sheet of paper out of her notebook and handed back to me.
I took it and studied the writing on the page.
Dr. Tessa Wells
Psychologist / Therapy Services
1-555-837-2938
My eyes again met with hers as she began to speak for the first time.
"You should contact her and make an appointment," she explained. "These symptoms you're showing, it's far beyond what anyone here at Casper High can help you with."
Mr. Lancer's eyes shifted back and fourth between the two of us, I never looked back at him. Before I could ask or say anything, the nurse continued.
"She'll keep everything confidential, your parents won't have to know anything."
I nodded, and folded the paper as I inserted it into my backpack. Whether I would actually call the doctor or not remained up in the air.
Mr. Lancer and the nurse stayed with me for a few more minutes before determining that I was okay to continue with class for the day.
Eventually the students filtered back in, and Mr. Lancer continued lecturing without even mentioning the group work again. I was thankful for that.
The day continued on as every day for me did. It was all a blur of going to classes and not paying attention to the lessons, but more so of paying attention to everything around me, making sure the shards of memories wouldn't take over me again. The shards that now ruled my life.
I walked to lunch alone as I did every day. As I stopped by my locker, I could hear the popular kids gossip about me.
"There's the freak," Paulina commented.
"God, she's so weird," Starr agreed.
I let their words pierce me as I tried to tune them out, but I knew I needed to keep my head in the present. I could not afford to slip up again, not after I had slipped so early in the day already. I still had three hours of school to face after lunch, anyway.
"Guys, maybe we shouldn't be so mean to her," Kwan, the only good-hearted one of them all commented. "After all, she did kill Fenton. That's rough to live with."
"Kwan, you only feel bad because you hit a dog the first time you drove a car," Dash commented. "That bitch killed an actual person…well, if you can count Fenton as an actual person."
I slammed my locker shut. I had had enough; they could bad-mouth me all they wanted (and they did, every day) but they could not talk about Danny. Even in his death, they were still so cruel to him.
I turned to face them, their eyes all on me from the slamming of my locker. Paulina looked at me with her eyebrows raised, not sure what to expect. Dash looked uninterested. Starr looked quizzically at me. Kwan looked genuinely terrified.
"You do not talk about Danny like that," I warned them, acid dripping from my words.
They all starred at me wide eyed, and they had reason to. It was the first time I had spoken to any of them in mouths, and my tone truly was frightening. I could have been scared of myself had I not been so heated in the moment.
"None of you ever fucking talk about him again," I said. "Not unless you're going to talk about how great he was. But none of you assholes have any right to disrespect him."
Dash was the first to recover. He shook his head and composed himself.
"Excuse us," he said sarcastically.
I glared as he got down on his knees and look up to me pleading.
"I beg your forgiveness," Dash cried. "I'm simply not worthy to speak of Fenton in your presence."
Paulina caught on quickly. She knew the game Dash was playing. I suddenly regretted speaking out.
"But wait, Dash," she matched his tone. "Why should we be begging forgiveness from the girl who is responsible for what happened?"
Starr and Kwan stayed behind the leaders. Whether they didn't dare stand against me after I stood up, or felt sorry for me, I'll never know. All I could focus on was Dash slowly rising to his feet as he and Paulina continued their counter attack.
"What ever are you talking about, Paulina?"
"Oh Dash, didn't you hear? It was all over the news just a few short months ago!"
I began backing up; there was no way to brace myself for what they were about to say. They followed my movements until my back was pressed against the lockers on the opposite side of the hall. I was cornered, and I was about to pay for speaking out against them.
"Remind me, please!" Dash said, aiming for the kill.
"That bitch right there," Paulina smiled. "She killed poor little Danny."
Her words were sharper than any blade could have ever been.
"Ah, Fenton," Dash continued. "I believe this was his locker right here…"
He patted the locker. And that was it, I was gone.