March 1, 2009

"Tory? Tory! Tory help me!"

The screams were frantic, but when I turned all I saw was the blaze of orange, red, yellow. The heat rolled off, hitting me in the face like a freight train. Sweat dripped between my shoulder blades, soaking a shirt that was turning black with ashes.

"Tory! Please Tory!"

As I watched, the roof collapsed into the flames, and the screams died.

"Tory! Tory!"

Someone shook me gently at first before it felt as though the world was shaking.

"Tory!"

I awoke with a jump, tears streaming down my face, the sheets sweaty and tangled around my legs. The light from the hallway spilled across the foot of my bed where Jacob sat, eyes wide.

"Tory, sweetie, it was just a dream," my Aunt Kayla said gently, helping me sit up.

She shooed her son off the foot of my bed.

"Just a dream," I repeated quietly, though I could still see the flames, feel the heat, hear those screams. Screams that I had never heard really heard.

"Just a dream," I said again.

On the Chinese Zodiac Calendar, it had been the year of the Ox. Which meant dependability, strength and determination, neither of which I had had that year.

"Feeling better?" Kayla asked as I sat down for breakfast.

The kitchen table was shoved up against the window, surrounded by four mismatched chairs. A small vase of daisies sat in the middle, hidden by boxes of Corn Pops, Wheaties, and Rice Krispies. A yellow ceramic frog sat on the windowsill, which was level with the table, along with a pink plastic elephant and a set of red nesting dolls. It all clashed brilliantly with the faded lime green wallpaper that matched the color of my favorite novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which was wedged between the phone and the toaster. The worn white linoleum floor betrayed coffee stains from years past while the fridge proudly revealed kindergarten and eighth grade artwork with chipped magnets.

"I guess," I replied, pouring a bowl of Corn Pops.

As I drowned them in milk I looked across the table to where Jada sat, whacking her plastic bowl on the table in front of her. Her bib was askew and there was some sort of liquid smeared across her face. Sighing inwardly, I stood up and took the wet towel Kayla handed me, dodging Jacob as I walked over to wipe Jada off.

Just as I sat back down to eat I heard the familiar horn of the bus as the large yellow box pulled up in front of a mailbox. Hurriedly, I grabbed my bag off the chair and raced out the door, calling a goodbye.

"Busy morning?" Carrie asked, nodding at my hand as I slid in beside her. Looking down, I saw my fingers still clamped around the rag I had used to wipe Jada's mouth.

"As always," I said, shoving the thing into my backpack. My fingers brushed over the notebook but I pulled them away quick, as though it could actually burn me.

"So Paul tells me this kid he knows is transferring over from the Academy," Carrie said. My eyes landed on the back of Paul's head, who was sitting a couple rows in front of us. He was her second cousin and next door neighbor, with the same blond curly hair and green eyes.

"Our age?" I asked absently, tucking my flyaway brown curls behind my ears.

"Yet another charming senior," Carrie said, smirking.

I saw him as we slumped off the bus, dreading another long day at Independence High. Paul had raced off the bus ahead of Carrie and I and was now performing a complicated handshake with a kid I had never seen before. The kid shrugged out of a gray jacket, throwing it carelessly over his shoulder as he and Paul talked excitedly.

"So what's his name?" I asked Carrie as we headed by the two, Paul completely ignoring us.

"Josh Black," she replied, dropping her bag at Dana's feet. I stopped next to Carrie and found myself facing Julian. He stood up, so close to me that I took a step back in shock, trying hard to look anywhere but his eyes.

"I'll see you guys later," he said, nodding to everyone. They all looked silently back at him.

As he walked away I glanced over at Danny who just pressed his lips together, looking away. I switched my gaze to Ben, though he avoided my eyes as well. Harry was the only one who would look at me. I raised my eyebrows at him and he just patted the empty stone of the fountain next to him. Sighing, I walked over and plopped down, leaning against him.

"He doesn't know what to do," Harry said quietly, while conversation picked up around us again.

"He's the one that ditched me," I said back. Harry opened his mouth to say something but then Paul was standing in front of us.

"Hey guys," he said, his face still echoing a laugh. "This is Josh, he's coming from the Academy."

My eyes slid to Josh's. He was glancing around slightly nervously at everyone, his gaze meeting mine for only a fleeting moment. His jacket was still thrown casually over his shoulder, his hair slightly disheveled, sticking up even more as he ran his hand through it again.

"Cool, yo," Dana said, nodding at Josh. He half smiled back.

"I don't know why Paul is introducing you to us, as his group barely acknowledges ours," Carrie said to Josh, shrugging. Danny smacked her arm. "What?" she asked, innocently.

"Just thought you'd like to meet him," Paul said, shooting Carrie a dirty look. "My charming cousin," he added to Josh, nodding at the back of Carrie's head, for she had turned around to talk to Dana again.

Everyone else went back to their conversations, though I kept my eyes on Josh as he glanced around the front of the school where half the school's population was still gathered. He was still looking around when Paul said my name.

"Basically my sister," Paul said to Josh, whose eyes met mine instantly. I gave him a small smile, nodding.

"Hey," I said. He raised his eyebrows, pressing his lips slightly together, and nodded.

And then he and Paul were walking away, headed towards the school building. Without realizing it, I watched them go, my eyes on the back of Josh's head. As they started to climb the steps, he turned his head, his eyes again finding mine immediately. I felt my eyes widen and quickly turned away.

OKAY. So, I have to owe this to two people : Miss Understood and author jaseyray. Because I follow jaseyray's stories, I catch every chapter update. With the most recent one, which was not actually a chapter, I realized her and I were basically doing the same thing with our stories. We both repeatedly issued rewrites, because we were not happy with our stories. So I apologize for that, I really am sorry. It's not fair of me to continuously put up the same story because I was the one unhappy with the way the first two turned out. Miss Understood, in a review to jaseyray, mentioned me also, kicking us in the butt, which was exactly what we needed. So I am moving on. I will finish SAM because I don't feel right just leaving it up there like it is. Of course, you don't have to read it, I'll just post the rest of the chapters so it's finished.

Now THIS story. I am also sorry that you have already seen this chapter if I am not mistaken, but this is the new way I will be writing this story. It may be confusing and obnoxious, but I'll make it as clear and fun as I can. If you couldn't tell already, this second chapter takes place a few months before the first chapter.

Basically, AOD will be a series of oneshots, all put together like puzzle pieces to eventually form a complete story. I may not update as often as you will like, but I will do my best, and make it as fun and interesting as I can.

So thank you to my readers. And thank you Miss Understood, if you are reading this.

-zoomie