The Butterfly Effect

The town is a quiet one, harmonic in a way, if you will. The morning is early, the sun is appearing over the mountain peaks, still, as we speak. Stores coming alive, families are trudging along, some sleeping in. I wish I could be one of those.

I gawk into the sky. Cascades of trees cave in on me; my name is hitting them early this year. Watercolour leaves give trees character and their branches give them emotions. My eyes stared at my hand, my maroon nail polish was chipping off; I turned my palms against each other, focusing on the space between. I turned them as if holding a sphere in the center; a rhombus of ice grows there. My bottom hand drops and sustains the ice between my index finger and thumb. I force a different type of energy and the ice melted quickly. Something vibrating in my pants pocket scared me enough to make me jump. I'm not used to the idea of phones very well.

*School starts in five, where are you?*

I lock the screen making it go black and stare at my reflection, puckering the corners of my lips. I stood up and walked over to the new campus, watching the leaves crush under my light steps. The closer I get to the fence outlining the school the more I want to turn invisible. Again must I start all over, assuming I’d wash away the past mistakes like I wish I could. Again I have to keep myself a secret to everyone, and sometimes, myself as well.

My eyes fly up from the ground and I find a familiar blonde head. Adelyne is easy to identify from here; it isn’t hard to miss dark auburn lowlights on dirty blonde hair when the majority is platinum blonde, black, or another fruity colour. Her skirt dances in the little breeze belonging to my name. She turned around and met her olive eyes to mine. She turns back to the girls she’s already made friends with. She doesn’t look long enough to acknowledge that we know each other, little less advertise the family string. Another quick look; that’s the signal.

As I clutch my fragile ribs in my palms and walk slowly, the bell pounds like a bass drum in my eardrums. Maybe it isn’t too late to ditch? I turn around ready to flee but run face first into the chest of a security guard. I stepped back quickly and continue to step away from the man. His lips moved, but I hear nothing. I ran towards the campus from the man. No more running away.

The area is built of high fences, few closed three-story buildings and some of just one-story encoded in white, crème, burgundy, and black paint. Would this be anything like my last school? Did I just jinx myself? The school had its own complex presence, but then again, what school wasn’t complicated? Especially high schools.

Walking to the main office, I eyed my favorite black high-top Chucks and listened to the little thumps my feet would make against the tile. I stepped into the main office; Adelyne was just leaving. She looked away from me and joined a group of two girls. I walked over to the main counter and bit my lip. Everyone was busy, answering phones, making copies and faxes, doing junk on computers, all except the man with a Santa tummy sticking over the desk he continued to shove donuts down his vacuum.

“Can I help you?” A girl around my age stood on the other side, her mocha hair pulled to the left and her brown eyes stared.

“I—I'm new.”

She nodded slowly while looking through drawers. “Aha! You’re…Autumn?”

I nodded with my gaze dazing on far ends.

An exuberant thump on the desk thrust back my gaze. Eight textbooks lay lazily on the counter along with a stack of paper. I mentally groan.

“Day one, Mondays and Wednesdays you have blocks one through four, Tuesdays and Thursdays five through eight, Fridays, all of them. Here’s your schedule of classes, locker, and books. Welcome to Mountain Crest High.”

I stuffed the books into my locker and stared at the classes. Today was Monday, Monday October 3, my second first day of school. I took my time walking over to room 17…wherever that would be. I stared at the numbers on the doors, realizing I was at the two hundreds. I sighed. School is not my forte.

No map to guide me nor heavenly light to epiphany me, I was alone, my greatest weakness and strength. I finally found the classroom, Geography. I stared at the handle, I had two decisions; walk into class and join another year of overwhelming everything or jump over the fence and escape for another day. Despite how much better option two sounded, logic crept into my brain and without my notice I was already in the class and handing the man in front a slip.

He signed it carelessly and told me to sit wherever I’d like. It isn’t until I saw the paper that I realize he didn’t even sign anywhere near the dotted line. I picked one of the empty seats in the middle and looked at the board for a while, it was too early for my brain function educationally; it was too early for my mind to function, period. School would blow away before I could even realize it, I continued to think in standards, but I knew it would do me no good to stare at the clock impatiently.

I'm eager to run back to the forest and continue my adventure in the wilderness and playing with the elements. That was three blocks and lunch away from here, in other words, six hours and fifteen minutes from now. It’d pass soon enough, soon enough…