"Sean…"
He rolled over in bed, ignoring the voice.
"Sean." This time, more urgently.
Go away, he thought tiredly.
"Sean!"
Grr… He opened his eyes and immediately shut them again due to the bright sunlight streaming in through his window.
"Sean! Lauren's already here, you have to leave!"
"I'm getting up," Sean called groggily to his mother. He roused himself—nearly falling out of bed in the process—and climbed over the various heaps on the floor. Preoccupied with rubbing his eyes, however, the boy missed the only non-hazardous path to the dresser.
Thump.
IIIIIIII
"C'mon, Mar, we're gonna be late." The sunlight glinted off his earring as Nick leaned against his car and twirled the keys. "We still have to pick up Megan."
"Go ahead, Karl's driving me there. Go get your girlfriend," his sister answered him. Mary peered out the front door when she didn't hear the car start. "Go, I'll be fine!"
Nick sighed. He did have to leave, and soon. He walked around to the driver's side, and was about to get in when he remembered something. "Mary," he called, "why is Karl taking you in? He and Derek are always at the school early on Tuesday, they get out on the track before class."
Mary sighed. Her older brother could be so obnoxious sometimes. "Derek's sick today, so Karl has to come to this end of town and get Gary anyways. He called while you were still in bed and offered me a ride."
"Oh, all right." He ran his hand through his hair and looked at his watch. Might as well go now, he reasoned. With one final look at the house, Nick got in the car and backed down the driveway.
Mary watched him go through a window. She let the curtain fall back and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Nick's car turn the corner, and picked up the phone to dial.
"…Hey, Karl? It's Mary. Listen, I know it's kinda out of your way, but I could use a ride in to school this morning…great, thanks so much."
IIIIIIII
Lauren smiled as her ride pulled up to their high school. After nursing a bruised shin, Sean had finally been awake enough to drive. She leaned over as he parked the car. "I'll see you at lunch, okay?"
"Sure," Sean answered.
Lauren started to open the door when she heard footsteps approaching. She glanced up and saw that Sean was already out of the car, with an extra shadow.
This shadow circled Sean like a cat for a second, then: "How was your weekend, my friend?"
Lauren gritted her teeth and got out of the car. Walking around to where Sean was, she intertwined her arm with his and stared at the annoyance. "Would you like something, Heidi?" Lauren asked coolly.
Heidi looked at Lauren with surprise. Had she been there the whole time? "I am simply inquiring as to how my friend's weekend was."
"It was fine."
Heidi smirked. "And you now answer for him, is that it? Brash one, you are. I would think Sean perfectly capable of telling me that himself."
Breathe, Lauren, breathe… She opened her mouth to retort, but before she could there was another interruption, this time a short young woman with hair an odd shade of purple.
"Lauren! What do you think?" The girl stopped and twirled, oblivious to the tension in front of her. "Like the hair?"
"Paula…" Lauren answered faintly. "What on earth…?"
"No?" She pouted. "Well, I like it, even if no one else does. Hi Sean, hi Heidi!"
"Hello, Paula." Heidi sniffed and turned back to Sean. "I'll see you after school," she said to him. She started to walk away, then, turning, she glanced back one more time before disappearing into the school.
"Argh! I hate that girl! Does she always need to do that?" Lauren cried.
"I think so."
"That was rhetorical, Paula."
"Oh, sorry." Paula bounded in front of Lauren. "Come on," she said. "Let's go, Lissa, Olivia, and Raine are waiting for us!"
"All right…" Lauren unhooked her arm from Sean's. "I'll see you later."
Sean shook his head as they left. He was never sure what to do about Heidi and Lauren. Though, it's not really my fault they don't like each other, he reasoned. He bent over to grab his backpack, and swung it over his shoulder as he straightened.
"Woah, watch it there!" A voice said from behind him. "You could hurt someone with that!"
Startled out of his musings, Sean spun around and came face-to-face with yet another girl. "Sorry, Sarah, I didn't see you," he apologized.
"Apparently. What've you got in there, anyways?" As Sarah reached over to heft his bag and test its weight, a shooting pain suddenly went through his head.
"What the…?" Sean dropped the backpack and staggered against his car. He put a hand to his forehead, wincing as the pain seemed to increase.
"Are you okay?" Sarah asked in concern. She knelt down beside him as best she could. "Sean, can you hear me? What happened?"
Her face was the last thing he saw before everything went black.
IIIIIIII
It was dark. Very dark. He could barely see his own hand in front of his face. "What…?" he asked vaguely. "Where am I?" He put a hand over his mouth as soon as the words came out. For some reason, he felt as though he'd disturbed the sanctity of this place.
A bright light began to shine in front of him. He approached it, until he could make out some sort of shape. Once he was closer, he saw that it looked like a type of weapon, just hovering there. It could have been a staff, except for the two large blades at either end. They were where the light was emanating from. As Sean reached out to grasp the weapon, it vanished. No…not yet, a voice sounded. You are not quite ready for this. Go.
He clapped a hand to his forehead as the pain returned. It was blinding for a moment, then subsided. He opened his eyes onto more blackness.