Story Book

Friday was my favorite day, not only did it mark the weekend it marked two days of no hopping around my high school. It marked no more dirty looks from bumping into someone, mistakenly hitting them with a crutch.

Today was a glorious day that soon turned into a deadly situation all because I dropped my lock.

I stared down where it laid on the white specked tile floor. I tried to bend down, reaching for it awkwardly, the thought to drop completely to the floor came to mind. But the thought of getting up also came to mind.

Tough decision.

I was just about to close my locker and be done with it, there was nothing worth stealing inside. When Ashley bent down and passed it to me. I stared at her hand that held my silver combination lock. Hesitantly I lifted it out of her hand.

“Thank you.” I said as I hooked my lock onto my locker.

“No problem.” She stated before she turned and walked down the hall towards the main doors.

I starred after her, wondering if maybe I could finally say sorry, so that it would mean something.

“Here you go.” Noah placed something on my kitchen table.

I glanced away from my chemistry assignment not amused with the interruption after specifically asking him to stay away. I needed to catch up on chemistry, the unit test hadn't gone as smoothly as I had thought. So much for the weekend being a god given gift, I spent the whole time working on chemistry and then finishing all the work from my other courses.

I grimaced, “Smart ass.”

“Hey now, I think it could help.” Noah objected smiling.

“Noah its a piece of wood bent into a circle with string in the middle and feathers hanging from it.” I told him staring up at him from where I sat.

“Us mere mortals call it a dream catcher, and you call me a smart ass.” Noah defended himself, mocking me.

“Noah, I don't have time for this.” I stated giving him a serious look.

“Ah, I see your in one of those moods again.” Noah commented as he picked up the dream catcher, “I'll just hang this up in your room before I leave.”

He was gone before I could find the words to object.



“Aren't you afraid?” He called out from across the library.

“Of what?” I asked laughing well I trailed my finger over all the book's spines.

“Clarissa you can't be serious.” He was walking towards me trying to hide his grin from my devious mood.

“Of course I am.” I stated taking a book off the shelf, it was strangely thin. I frowned my mood lost as I flipped to the very last page.

The picture on the bottom was moving.

“Clarissa.”

I looked up at my name, smiling a little at his familiar face, his crystal blue eyes always made my heart fill with warmth.

My eyes flashed open. I winced at the light radiating from my alarm clock that read 2:30am. Rolling over on my back to get away from the time I didn't want to control my life, I stared at the ceiling. Where the dream catcher hanged, mocking me worse then Noah had.

I watched as Ashley as she drove by carefully avoiding to look at me from where I stood. I was in front of the church waiting for the bus, I could remember when Ashley took the bus with me, came to this very stop. She only lived across the street from me.

We had always been close.



“So have you two, you know?” I asked Ashley nudging my elbow into hers.

We were sixteen, me and Ashley and Noah. All of us had passed grade ten, thankful for the bliss of being in grade eleven one more year away from graduation.

Of course Ashley and Noah were also in the bliss of a new relationship that had started up just before grade ten had ended.

“Your such a dirty minded person.” Ashley said laughing as we walked for the church driveway.

“You so have.” I stated laughing.

“Can we please not talk about this until were on the bus? We are in the presence of a church.” Ashley stalled, her cheeks turning redder then they had been before.

“Mhm, whatever you say.” I replied smiling I looked towards the road when I heard the horn.

My mother drove by waving at us, we both waved in return.

I soon came to realize things changed.


“Noah broke up with my because of you.” Ashley spilled, the first words she had spoken to me for about a month.

I glanced over at her, not sure what to say. Just hoping the bus would be early.

“He thinks I haven't tried hard enough to help you.” Ashley supplied her rage was pure.

“I -” I started to defend myself, but my voice held no power.

Ashley didn't wait for the words to come, she climbed onto the bus as soon as it stopped.

The next day she got a drive and she never returned to the bus stop. Or talked to me.

I also realized that she was right, Noah had broken up with her because of me. Something that I often told him he was an idiot for doing. They had always been so well matched, he was level headed, she tended to be a little over dramatic.

They evened each other out nicely. They were the perfect couple, the one you would see at the reunion still holding hands and staring at each other like it was the first time, every time. The guilt of this knowledge ate at me for months, until I realized that there was nothing I could do to change the past.

I knew this all to well. What I wouldn't have given to stop my mother that day that she had she had beeped at us. All she needed was a five minute difference and she wouldn't have been in the collision.

But I could not change any of it, just move forward. Look straight ahead no looking back.

Sometimes I found this very hard to do.

The day of my mothers funeral it rained. For hours upon hours the sky was filled with huge gray clouds, emptying over the land. The rain at that point was the only constant in my life. How I had treasured it, the way it landed, the shape and the sweet clearness.

But the love didn't last long, Priest Marshall sat in our kitchen. Looking out the window he said to no one it appeared but himself, “The angels are crying today.”

Angels crying. I rolled my eyes at the thought. Focusing my eyes on the place where I laid just a few days ago. I thought of that night often, always carefully skipping over the part with the man. Protecting my sanity, maybe I had a brain tumor.

Or Priest Marshall is completely blind, it was raining very hard that night he might not have been able to see that clearly. I winced as the words flowed through my thoughts, if you could lie to yourself I was doing terrible at the task.

The bus pulled up screeching to a halt. I raised my head high and walked on banishing the thoughts of angels from my mind.

I stepped off the bus ignoring the sighs and huffs of annoyance that came from behind me due to my slow walking. I had still not conquered the method of walking down stairs with a cast. When I finally hit the cement side walk, a rush of people from my back walked past me from either side.

“Have some patients people.” I muttered under my breath making my way carefully towards the main doors of the school. Hopping to get to my class early to avoid the traffic.

I tried to avoid up coming people but it was hard with the one crutch, my bag and plaster covered leg. I was doing pretty well when someone smashed their bag into me. Sending me off balance, I dropped my crutch and reached for the wall of school to steady myself. I glared at Scott McDonald who looked back at me over his shoulder with little remorse and no sign of any urge to help me.

“Jerk.” I spoke pushing myself off the wall and trying with out success to bend down and get my missing crutch.

“Not my fault you didn't move.” Scott shot back shrugging as he turned to walk away.

“Actually it is your fault, and I advise you to say your sorry and pick up her crutch.” Noah's voice rang out cold through the morning air. I glanced up from my attempts to see him blocking Scott's way his eyes bore into Scott's.

Scott didn't move and just stared at Noah. Finally he bent down picked up my crutch passed it to me and muttered a sorry before he walked around Noah.

I glared at Noah.

“What is it gimp?” Noah asked taking my bag, brushing away my protests.

“I was perfectly fine, without your help thank you very much.” I told him as we walked towards the front doors.

“I know. But you have a disadvantage your gimped.” Noah said calmly back as if it was obvious.

“Stop calling me that.”

“Fine I'll call you black eyes instead.” Noah snipped back.

“What?” I asked confused as to where he was getting this.

“Apparently my dream catcher isn't working because you have two black holes under your eyes.” Noah explained smiling down at me as he held the door open.