Karen Manson is a normal girl; that is, up until her fourteenth birthday. Contains OC's. R&R no flames please!
Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom. I never have, I never will. Get over it.
Chapter Two: The Invisible Arm
At school, my best friends Sharon and Mimi showered me with happy birthdays and told me that they were sorry, but they had to leave early to go with their mother somewhere (they were twins). Of course, they were going to see me after school, just not during the day. I told them it was fine, don't worry about it.
Looking back, I'm glad they weren't at school that day.
The morning passed without incident. I got some happy birthdays here and there, but nothing fancy. I went through my first classes as usual: History, Math, Art, and P.E. At lunch I crammed for a Spanish test that I had forgotten about until someone in the locker room had mentioned it while we were changing for P.E. I was relieved that at least I had Spanish last period, but annoyed because I had Science and English right before that. Basically, nothing really unusual happened to me…in the morning.
When lunch was over, I grabbed my books and headed over to Science class. As usual, I sat in the desk with the easiest access to the pencil sharpener, because I liked to write a lot. I didn't get a chance to write much, though.
Ms. Burton, my Science teacher, kept yelling out random trivia questions on everything we had learned that quarter. ("What does electrical power times electrical potential equal?" "What are the four layers of the Earth?") She called on me a couple of times, and I managed to get the questions she asked me right. She continued on like this for a while; I started counting the milliseconds until she stopped.
After a while, I propped my head up with my arm, my elbow on the desk. I was closing my eyes when I suddenly had a strange feeling, like I was sinking. I opened my eyes—and saw my right arm going through the desk.
I screamed. I didn't mean to, but I screamed. The entire class, including Ms. Burton, stopped talking and stared at me. I quickly pulled out my arm and raised my head. Oh, crap, I thought. Come on, Karen, come on, think of an excuse QUICK! "I-I-I-I-I, um, uh…" I stammered, "I-I-I, uh…I think...I, uh…s-s-saw…s-s-something…of the…bug…variety."
Strangely enough, it worked. A couple of the 'Barbie' girls started to freak out, screaming bloody murder and running around the room. While everyone was trying to get them to sit and calm down, I managed to sneak out of the classroom.
As soon as I was out, I ran directly to the bathroom. I tried to grasp the door handle, but my arm just went right through it. I grew even more panicked. I opened the door with my left hand and ran inside. I checked to see that no one else was in there (no one was). I finally got a good look at my arm and gasped.
There was nothing there. There was nothing but empty space where my arm should have been. It was almost as if I didn't have an arm at all. I tried hitting it with my left hand, but it just went through.
I couldn't breathe. I didn't think about breathing. As I looked at the space where my arm used to be, only one thought ran through my head: What's happening to me?
I think that's when I fainted.
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I could hear people talking, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. I had a vague idea of where I was but I wasn't positive. Slowly, I opened my eyes. Sure enough, I was in the nurse's office. I had never been in there before; it smelled like rubbing alcohol and Clorox. I looked in the direction of where I heard talking and saw my mother and the nurse. I let out a groan and murmured, "Mom?"
They stopped talking immediately and came over to my side. Mom sat me up and gave me a hug. "Karen, honey," she whispered. The nurse watched over us, giving one of those fake concerned-teacher looks that you get sometimes. Mom turned toward the nurse. "Is she going to be all right?"
"Don't worry, Ms. Manson, she'll be fine," the nurse replied. She turned to me and said, "You had a little fainting spell is all. Everything should be OK. But your mom's taking you home so you can rest, OK?"
I was dizzy. Nodding took a great effort. "What about my arm?" I asked.
Both Mom and the nurse looked confused. "What about your arm?" they said in unison.
I looked at my right side, where the empty space had been—and there my arm was. It seemed as if it had never gone away, never been invisible or untouchable or anything. A perfectly good, normal, innocent right arm.
"Uh," I said, "I had a cramp in my right arm. Did I cut it when I fell? It feels like I did." The nurse shook her head no. She had believed my lie. It was clear, however, that Mom wasn't buying it, but she didn't want to say that in front of the nurse. She thanked her and we headed out.
On the car ride home, we drove in silence. Mom seemed like she wanted to talk to me about what happened, but didn't say anything. I didn't mind. It gave me time to contemplate my situation. Should I tell Mom? Should I not tell her? Would she understand? Does she know something about it? If she did, would she say anything to me? But I didn't say anything. We got home, and I went to my room. I flopped down on my bed and asked myself the same questions over and over again. In the end, I decided not to tell her.
Eventually, I fell asleep. The last thing to go through my mind was, Well, at least I won't have to take that Spanish test.
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Next chapter up! Sorry it took me so long to update, but I've been super-busy. It may take me a while to write the next one too, because I start school next Monday. But here's the new one right now. Review, but please no flames!