Eyes of Light

I stood, the empty field around dark and silent. A small crackle came from beside me, my eyes flashing to the ground, but I stopped at my hands: they were illuminating, so bright, blinding. A shaky breath escaped my lips and a surge of warmth ran through me when I stepped forward, a small growl echoing from the edge.

“Careful,” it rang, but not out loud. The voice, so smooth and calm, like velvet, rang through my head.

I bit my lip and took another step forward, a large, soft body brushing up against my bare leg, curling around to stand in front of me, another growl sounding.

“What?” I breathed, my voice shaky, my whole body surging with a sudden energy. It was silent, only for a moment, a creeping breath racing through the air. My head snapped around, my eyes scanning the dark trees, everything suddenly turning light.

I gasped, a ghostly hand flickering in my eyes for one second before I flew backwards, the wind whipping me harder, the light drifting out of me.

“Lonnie!” that voice shouted in my head, the deep worry working with the strained huskiness, jerking me into a sudden awareness.

“Lonnie!” a new voice sounded, my body jerking up, my eyes snapping open. A gasp flew out of my dry mouth, my hand flying to my heaving chest before my eyes finally focused on the room. My room. The light pink walls blinding me with the light through the open window. I turned my head, smiling weakly as my dad’s worried face came into view. I blinked, a deep sigh escaping his lips.

“Lonnie,” he shook his head, “another nightmare?”

“Yeah,” I croaked, rubbing the sweat off my forehead.

“Well, school kiddo. Gotta’ get up,” he smiled, kissing my temple. I shut my eyes, the tickling of his mustache making me wince.

“School,” I sighed, turning to face the window, the lit street below being some sort of calm.

[&&light]

“Have a good day, okay? Don’t be shy; make some friends,” Dad encouraged, rubbing my shoulder. I nodded, biting my lip. The school was… huge. The building a gray color holding a large blue sign reading ‘Clarence High: Home of the Tigers.’ The grass surrounding the entranced curved as far back as I could see, the bright green sparkling from the dew.

“I will dad, thanks,” I murmured, pulling the strap of my bag over my shoulder, sliding out of the car. My feet hit the cement, my eyes scanning the crowds of teens, almost all of them older than me, the upperclassman. The girls were pretty, tall and lean with highlights in their hair and shorts just short enough to get away with wearing them. The guys were tall and small too, only a few having visible muscles, wearing letterman jackets that looked old and tattered, being from last year.

I stepped away from the car and kept my eyes forward, a large group of kids that looked smaller, more feeble, much like me, in the corner. There was an older man standing in the front, a clipboard in his hands, and he quickly put his glasses on. It had to be the freshman, and if I didn’t get over there, I’d be late.

I hurried forward, the sound of the car pulling out of the lot being the only unwanted assurance that I was now alone, but I had to tough it out. My feet crunched over the dead leaves that hadn’t been raked yet and the lone rocks, giving me easy access to a clumsy fall if I didn’t watch where I was going. Taking a deep breath, I kept my head down, slowing down when the old voice sounded, telling me I was close enough.

“…Anna Rochester.”

“Here!” a giggly voice rang, my eyes settling on a stumpy blond girl, her smile bright as she bounced on her heels with nerves.

“Uh,” he cleared his throat, scribbling on the paper held by a clipboard. “Lilliani Stewart?” I licked my dry lips and looked up, watching his eyes scan the crowd.

“Lonnie, please…” I trailed off lightly, holding up my hand timidly. Eyes suddenly locked on me, heat rising to my cheeks from all the stares.

“Alright,” the man smiled kindly, quickly scribbling down my preference before moving on. “Joshua Singer.”

“Here,” a deep voice sounded, a boy with shiny black hair spiked up turning to give me a small smile. I returned it shyly, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear.

“Missy Stanton…” he continued, his voice blocking out as another came in.

“Hey,” Joshua whispered, smiling gently. “Lonnie’s a pretty cool name.”

“Gee Josh, already picking out your girl for another failed attempt?” that same giggly voice sounded, my eyes trailing between the two. “But he’s right, Lonnie is awesome. I’m Anna, by the way,” she smiled, nudging Josh. “He’s my cousin.”

“Oh,” I laughed nervously, gripping the string on my thin sweatshirt. “It must be nice… knowing at least one person.”

“Well, now we know two,” Josh chuckled, cocking his head with a hopeful smile.

“Right,” I chuckled, looking between the two.

“I’m usually not this blunt, but I’ve been dying for a female friend. Josh and I have been best friends for as long as we’ve been cousins, so…” she trailed off, her eyes hopeful. I nodded, sighing in relief. Two friends already… that was definitely a new record for me.

“Well freshman, welcome to Clarence High. I’m Mr. Cornell, your home room teacher. If you’d all follow me to the classroom, I can hand you your schedules,” he boomed, scanning the now quiet crowd. He clapped with a smile and turned on his heel, leading us up the stone steps and into the warm, clean building.

The office was to the left, the sophomores, juniors, and seniors having large crowds. There weren’t many freshman, all of us being in the same homeroom proving it, and it was kind of odd, but it was probably because most of the middle-schoolers decided to go to Clermont ten miles away.

The walls were a light green color, the linoleum floors black with white streaks, probably from the Clorox they used to clean the halls. All the lockers looked newly painted, the air smelling of coffee from the teachers lounge across the hall. I scanned the halls and tried to pass the older kids, keeping up with my crowd of freshman.

“Ignore the others kids,” Mr. Cornell sighed, wagging his finger at a couple of boys wearing letterman jackets who were already shoving a short boy that was passing. I cringed, looking away from the one with piecing blue eyes who gave me a goofy smirk, no doubt trying to convince himself that he was ‘all that.’

We headed down the rest of the hall, squeezing through the door that Mr. Cornell held open, our eyes scanning the small room at the same time. It was filled with desks, the shelves holding spiral notebooks and boxes of pencils. It didn’t even look like a real classroom.

“I’m also fifth period study hall. It includes all grades, but don’t be scared of that; it’s a great opportunity to get to know your schoolmates,” he called over the sudden chatter, closing the door behind him. “Please, everyone, take a seat and when I call your name, hold up your hand. It’ll take me some time to know your faces.”

“Come on,” Anna smiled, tugging on Josh’s arm, nodding for me to follow. I did so, setting my bag over the back of a chair, sitting next to Anna with Josh on her other side. He turned to face us, Anna glancing over at me too.

“Did you go to Graves middle school?” Josh asked, setting his chin in his hand. I looked between the two and nodded, knowing they couldn’t have.

“We’ve been to both Clarence elementary and the Junior High. We know this place pretty well, always dropping by during the summer,” Anna explained, running her fingers through her curled hair.

“That’s cool. Is it nice here?” I questioned. I had to be here for four years; I wanted to know what I was getting into.

“Oh, yeah. It’s actually way better than Clermont. That school is huge with tons of buildings, you know? We’ve never really been there, but it’s the competitor for the Tigers,” Josh explained, cracking his knuckles. I raised my eyebrows, Anna rolling her eyes.

“Josh is such a competitor. He’s going out for the younger class football team.” I smiled, my eyes glancing up at Mr. Cornell as he passed, calling out names.

“Anna Rochester, Lonnie Stewart, and Josh Singer,” he chuckled, handing us our schedules. “Thanks for making it easy.” I smiled, my eyes locking on my schedule: Homeroom, Science, Advanced English, Math, Study Hall, Art and PE. There were only seven periods, which I was thankful of, but the classes weren’t something I was looking forward to.

“Hey, we have math and science together,” Anna smiled, pointing to my fourth and second periods.

“Yeah, and I have science with you guys, PE with you,” Josh smiled, pointing to me. That meant Advanced English , Study Hall, and Art by myself.

[&&light]

The day was easy for once, beside the juniors that decided to throw paper wads at me during the instructions in art, and the kids who spilled milk all over me during lunch. My hopes of having more than two friends was diminished, though, Josh and Anna being the only people I had, had conversations with. Still, it was better than nothing and better than my usual.

I hurried down the stone steps, giving a wave to Anna and Josh who were turning down the corner, walking past the field. Turning my head forward, I spotted dad’s car, smiling at him slightly. He gave me a wave, his eyes sparkling. He lived to know I was succeeding, socially and academically, and it was sometimes annoying to have him always feeling sorry for my introverted state. I reached for the handle and pulled open the creaky door, my ears filling with soft unrecognizable music. Flinging my bag to the floorboard, I slid into the car and shut the door, sighing silently.

“How was it kiddo?” he smiled, pushing the car forward slowly, trying not to hit any kids horse playing in the lot.

“It was… okay. Better than I expected,” I answered with a small smile, buckling my belt quickly. He nodded, his eyes scanning me when he stopped at the sign, turning his blinker on.

“Make any friends?” That question was something he always asked me for a week after every grade. It was always yes, but it was always a ‘one person’ follow up answer.

“Yeah,” I muttered, looking down at my hands.

“Really?” he smiled, his tone almost holding disbelief.

“Josh and Anna,” I answered, turning my head to look out the window.

“That’s great! Why don’t we get some take-out to celebrate?” he offered, turning the car around the sharp loop, steering for the road that lead to town instead of the one that lead to an endless route with our house placed three miles into it. I bit my lip, my stomach churning. I was hungry, but I hated take-out, something he never really understood.

“We could get pizza instead,” he chuckled after a moment of silence, my eyes settling on the passing trees in the distance.

“Sure,” I sighed, “but I have a lot of homework".