My Last First Day

It was a lot, lot bigger than I thought it would be. Five stories tall, walls of dull yellow with what must have been hundreds of windows. Some unimpressive graffiti marked a wall to the left of the main entrance of the building. Behind me the busy street, a hiss from the bus that dropped me off before it drove off, to who knows where.

I took a deep breath, which was taken out of me from being shouldered by a jock.

"Hey!"

The guy laughed at my sneer. I shook it off, there was a time and place for everything. And getting into a fight before my first day started one of those things...I could do that later. No reason to add another reason to be disliked here, I thought.

So I opted for muttering a curse word after him.

My name is Helene Miller, normal teen. Or as my countless foster families have called me; Troublemaker, Freak, Mischief, countless others. They were just sticks and stones at this point.

I appear just about average. An olive complexion, jet black hair that when undone reached down to my lower back, dark brown eyes. People used to say my eyes had a fiery intensity to them, which I never understood.

Due to the insistence of my current foster mother, my hair was tied in a bun. Though as soon as I had gotten on the bus, I let it out in a long pony tail. Didn't let them tell me how to appear. I had a denim jacket and jeans to keep me warm in the winter months, plus I thought they were stylish enough.

Ever since the...the accident, I had been drifting between foster families who gave up on me and who were willing to give me a chance, only to fall into the former category. This was my seventh foster family that sent me here. I was used to high schools in the suburbs. Iron gates, two stories, brick buildings. It was too busy here, too noisy.

Students ran for the entrance as the bell rang. First day here and I was already going to be late for my first class. Holding my bag strap tight in one hand I started running after the others, my pack bumping at my back. If only I knew that this was to be my last first day.

It was crazy moving through the wave of other students, clustering together in the crowds of school rush hour. Both hands tight on my pack straps, I shouldered my way through them to get to my first class, looking up every now and then to catch a glimpse of its room number.

Fourth door down on the third story, and I finally made it. By now the crowd had thinned, and I stumbled into a very quiet room. All eyes on me, including a glaring teacher. Silently I took up my seat, getting out what I needed. The teacher didn't say a word and went on with the lesson.

It was already halfway through the learning year, so I was behind already. Paying attention always proved difficult. Several tests proved it to be dyslexia, and the ADHD never helped either. I was always looking around till a teacher would rudely get my attention, or some goody student would nudge me.

This class went by smoothly in that regard, if missing almost all the lesson was considered smooth. I couldn't read what was on the board, after the first attempt I gave up. Another student kept kicking under their desk, or tapping the window next to them. I wanted to tell them off. The teacher didn't ask me to stay back after school which was a good sign...least I thought it was, at the time.

Rest of my classes went just as smoothly. Everyone avoided me. Must have had a reputation, someone got talking right? Maybe one of the other foster kids heard something, or teacher gossip. It bothered me none what they knew about how much of a troublemaker I was. Gossip was gossip, nothing more.

What did bother me happened around lunch time. In the cafeteria, by the window I ate in silence, gazing at passing cars and pedestrians. Some kid ran into a guy, who spilled bananas all over the place. I laughed at that quietly as the kid then ran out of sight.

"Kids gotta be more careful," I looked away for a moment to a boy my age sitting at my table. His complexion was fairly dark, a patch of hair of black from the bottom of his lip and a bald head. His tray was all vegetables. His eyes watched out the window, so I turned my attention back out there.

"The guy should have been more careful about his groceries. Then it wouldn't be spilled everywhere" I took another bite of the apple I had, watching.

The boy shrugged, also watching outside. Glancing once, I noticed his eyes seemed more...focused on the outside. Intense.

"So...what brings you to the table of loneliness?" Usually people avoided her completely. He shrugged again. The more I looked at him, the more I thought I had seen him before. It nagged at the back of my mind.

"Wanted a window seat. Comforting."

That was a fair answer. I dropped it there for the moment. It was a fairly long moment before I got talking again.

"So...what's your next class?"

"Gym" he replied quick. I nodded.

"Maths. Algebra and stuff like that. You know how it gets, confusing letters with numbers" I kept going, not noticing how disinterested he was.

"What's your home room?" I asked. May as well try to make a first friend here. But he was staring out.

Not until I caught sight of what he was looking at, out the window did I come to realize why.

What caught my eye after was what looked like a small man with a dog head. That confused me at first, I had to blink a couple of times. From here, best I could make out was how stubby it's legs were, how dark it's skin was and how funny it looked with such a large body. It was early for Halloween, and it was bigger than any person I had ever seen.

Then it started running, in the direction the boy had gone. My eyes grew wide as it rapidly approached the man picking up his groceries. The man was not panicked in the least. When the thing ran over the bananas, it fell and the man yelled at it, shooing it away. Off it went, after the boy.

All I could think was how strange the reaction was from the man, and how no one else found it weird. I hadn't been able to tell if the other boy could have seen it or not, because when I finally looked back...he was gone.

Saved by the bell from the weirdness, I started packing up my things and tried to push it to the back of my mind. It wasn't important. Oh, how wrong I was.

And to make matters worse, it stuck to my mind. That dog-headed thing drew my attention like nothing else, I hadn't even noticed a teacher trying to get my attention in maths. The other guy never showed up again.

With homework packed away and the day coming to an end, I made my way for the bus. For a new school, it wasn't half bad. Aside from that...thing. It really did not want to leave my mind. It was just some guy dressed for Comic-Con, it had to be.

And it wasn't the only thing on my mind. On the way out I saw him. The other student with a patch of chin hair. He seemed to be searching for something and...and sniffing. At the air. Could this day get any weirder? My curiosity got the better of me when he suddenly took off at an amazing speed. He must be a track runner!

I followed. I ignored the fact that I would be late home. I ignored the fact that if he caught me, I would be seen as a creep no doubt. I couldn't ignore how my heart was pumping fast, how my mind was running miles an hour, how my limbs were moving on their own.

It was a kind of calling. I couldn't explain it if I wanted to. Despite the fact he ran so fast, I always managed to keep him in sight. He seemed so far...

My voice got the better of me.

"H-Hey!" I had to know. I had to know if he saw that thing from before. He didn't turn around, instead ducking around cars and pushing past people...was he trying to lose me? No, he wasn't. He just had to be somewhere. Still, I followed.

I must have gone another block before my legs were aching, my lungs strained.

"Hey! B...Baldy! Bald...guy!" A glare from a passing bald guy made me stop quick with calling that out.

Soon, he turned a corner. No, not a corner. He turned into an alley. I stopped just outside, gathering my wits...and followed.

Only to be met with a hand over my mouth, and something poking my stomach, pushed to the wall. I was met with his intense gaze again, but it held more. Wary, uptight, hungry?

"Why. Are you. Following me?" His words held a tone that made me pause. Then glared, flicking my eyes at his hand. He removed it slowly.

"I had to know...you saw...you saw that thing before too, right?" His gaze seemed to soften, but he remained wary.

"What thing? Describe it to me."

"Dog head it...it had a dog head. But a man's body, only it was dark. Darker than...than anyone I had ever seen. And its le-"

He cursed in another language. I was pretty sure it was a curse with how he said it. Then he frowned...and sniffed at me. He sniffed at me! Here I thought I would be the creep! He frowned more.

"Clear sighted...maybe..."

"Excuse me?"

"We gotta go. Like, now" I felt whatever was poking me leave, and a glint in his hand. I froze, stepping back once I was freed. I should call out for help. Why couldn't I move? "Did you hear me? I said we gotta go! So let's go!" What I was thinking rather was, I'm getting mugged by a boy my age. I'm going to die in some alley.

He grabbed my wrist and as much as I pulled back, I couldn't. His grip was too strong. Soon enough we were speeding down the streets again, my voice caught in my throat. What was I doing?!

We passed a crashed car with the driver beside it, holding an ice pack to his head with a nearby store owner beside him, a fallen traffic light, an abundance of oranges and banana beels.

My wits finally got to me, and I pulled back. Hard. I caught him off guard enough he stumbled and my wrist slipped from his grip.

"S-Stop! What is going on, why are you pulling me along, a-and what was that in your hand?! I'm not going any further!" He looked at nearby pedestrians who were whispering to each other, a few with phones out that were already observing the nearby disaster zones of fruit.

"I...I can't explain. Not right now. But listen, we are both in terr-"

"Ohhh, no, don't pull that. Not that, no. Nope, I'm staying right here until you tell me what is going on. Right now."

And he looked about to answer. But his gaze caught on something else behind me.

"Well?!" His shuddering hand lifted, pointing past me. I turned, cautiously then froze...five feet behind me was the thing I saw before. And let me tell you, this close? It was a lot worse than a dog-headed man.

This has been an idea long on my mind, and finally I got it written out! It took me long enough, so I hope you enjoy!