Status: SLOW UPDATES
Light
Chapter One
I wake up, stretching my aching limbs. I look around the dingy room, secretly hoping that I had been dreaming my whole life.
But that's impossible, Right?
Right.
I can't hear anything from around the house. Utter silence. That means that either mum's passed out on the couch, or she's off with her drug buddies again. I'm hoping for the latter, because then I won't have to sneak past her to go to school. I grab my old backpack, shoving my textbooks into it, then collect my pocket change from the counter. I had slept in day clothes, so there was no need to change. Don't judge me, sometimes I need to make a hasty escape from this place, and you can't do that in flannel pyjamas. I slip on my battered trainers, and tip-toe down the stairs. I see my mother laying on the sofa in the living room, liquor bottle in hand.
I grab the house keys off the hook, and dash through the door, shutting it desperately slowly behind me, before locking my mother in the house. I uncovered my skateboard from under the dead rosebush, brushing the yellow branches off of it, and untangling the wheels, before skating out the gate and into the street. I loved skateboarding, it gave me a small amount of time where I felt limitless. I feel like nothing can touch me, like I'm safe from my mum, safe from her friends, safe from everyone.
After a while, I started to approach the school. As I got through the iron gates, I jumped solemnly from my skateboard onto the hard ground, before enclosing my backpack into my bag. I spotted the familiar faces of Lunar, Luka and Kelzy, my three friends, stood beside the school building. I walked up to them casually, and they all grinned when they saw me. Kelzy grabbed me into a huge hug, and whispered into my ear
"Did she catch you?". I blinked three times in succession, which was our secret code for no. Three blinks for no, two for yes. We use this code as the twins, Lunar and Luka, don't know about my mom. The only reason Kelzy knows is because she turned up at my house one time, unexpected of course, and found my mum slapping me sensless. Since then, she asks me every day.
"Shall we go to tutor then?" Lunar asked, gesturing to the stone building that was behind us. I grabbed her wrist, dragging her inside, knowing the others would follow. I guess you could say I'm close to Lunar, but I've never really been to her house or anything. Luka just hangs around with us now, seeing as he was ditched by his friend, who graduated. Me, Lunar and Luka were all 19. I guess you could say we should have graduated by then too, but they messed about so much in class, they missed 90% of their education for 2 years, and got held back for both of those two years. The reason I was still there, is because I'd had that many days off, that I practically knew nothing from the syllabus from three years.
We got into tutor, and the teacher was just about to take the register. We all rushed to our table in silence, then listened as roll call was taken.
"Amy"
"Yes Miss"
"Austin"
Yes Miss"
"Bianca"
"Yes Miss"
"Bryony"
"Yes Miss"
"Bi-"
Miss was cut off by an ear-splitting noise. It was the fire alarm. We all stood up quickly, thinking it was another drill, and walked in an 'orderly' manner. It was only when we got outside did we see the thick, black smoke billowing from the other side of the school. Everyone was screaming, running full-pelt for the school field, which was the designated 'Fire Safe Place".
As nobody had finished registering their tutor, everybody was in a state of panic. Nobody knew who was in school. Every single person was interrogated as to whether they had been informed by their friends of people not attending school today. There was about six people unaccounted for, and we had to pray the fire men would discover them, if they were indeed inside the school.
The school headteacher started walking around the field, 'checking' we were all okay. She finally retreated to the front of the large croud, and blew a whistle to call for silence. She started to speak through a large megaphone.
"Okay, everybody. You must all have questions, so I am going to tell you as much as we know. The fire was started a few minutes before school, because by the time the teacher had gotten into her classroom, the blaze was very large. We do not know who set the fire, but we can only assume it was arson. The school will be closed for a few weeks while we get everything back into order again, but for now you can expect to be able to attend within 6 weeks, unless your parents hear from us. We are now going to transport you all home, via buses. Anyone wishing to walk home must stand with Miss Parr now."
Quite a few people moved, and I laughed at their stupidity. They are most probably expecting to be able to achieve a ditch day, but their parents will almost definately be contacted. It's the way the school run. Parent-Teacher connection is 'of utmost importance'. Me, Lunar and Luka stayed put, while Kelzy walked away to Miss Parr.
"Can all of the Seniors come over here please" the headteacher said, reffering to anybody over 18 who had been kept back a year. Me, Luka, Lunar and a few others walked up to her.
"I need you lot to help with the younger kids. Make sure they get onto the buses okay, but then you can leave. "
I rolled my eyes, turning towards the buses. I stood next to the door of a large white one, Watching everyone get in.
After half an hour of watching over little children, Me, Lunar and Luka set off for their home. I was quite excited, as I had never been to their home before. Luka's phone started to vibrate. He accepted the call, and put the phone to his ear.
"Hey mate! Haven't seen you in forever. What's happening?"
Me and Lunar listened in, and my ears attempted to tune into what the other person, who I assumed was a boy, was saying.
"REALLY?" That's AWESOME!" Luka shouted into the phone. His face had lit up completely, and he was, quite literally, grinning from ear-to-ear. Me and Lunar laughed at him.
"You can let yourself in mate, y'know where the spare key is right? Lunar's got a friend round, so go straight to my room."
And witht that, he took the phone from his ear, ended the call, and looked at us, his smile huge.
"So what's going on?" Lunar asked.
"Tommo's coming over." He stated. I looked at them both confusedly. the seemed to be talking with some sort of code names. I shrugged it off and got back to walking. The twins started talking about planning someone's birthday party, so I took Lunar's iPod and headphones from her pocket, and played Hot Chelle Rae.
'I took a drive in the middle of the night,
The first time I've done that,
Without you,
By my side.
And our song was playing on the radio,
It seems to follow me,
Everywhere I go
Where I Go
So would you...?
Come back in the middle of the night
And tell me everything is gonna be
Alright
it's Alright,
It's Alright,
Without
You here, everything is grey,
The colour faded,
when you packed your bags,
and you drove away
It's hard to act
Like everything's the same,
The closest I can get you
is in this frame.
I wanna hear you say
That you will
Come back in the middle of the night
And tell me everything is gonna be alright
It'll be alright, It'll be alright
We're face to face while the stars are burning bright
And tell me everything is gonna be alright
It's alright,It's alright
It's alright,It's alright It's alright
In the dark you come to life
The memories of you and I
I want to keep you here with me
Don't wake me up just let me dream
Come back in the middle of the night
And tell me everything is gonna be alright
It's alright,It's alright
We're face to face while the stars are burning bright
And tell me everything is gonna be alright
It's alright,It's alright
It's alright,It's alright
It'll never be alright without you."
After the song had finished, I noticed we were only a short distance from the park I used to play in as a kid. Before Dad died, before all of this. I unplugged the headphones from the iPod, causing the next song, Beautiful Freaks, to stop playing, then took the buds from my ears. I gave the stuff back to Lunar, before listening once again to the pair speaking in code.
"Did BooBear explain where Hazza, Ni, Z and Li were? I don't think they'd only give BooBear time off." Lunar said. Luka looked at her, as if he understood her completely.
"They're all with their friends and family." he concluded. She nodded, and they both turned the corner into a small cottage. I followed them, and Luka ran upstairs immediately. Lunar turned to me, and smiled. She walked into the kitchen, opening her fridge. She grabbed two cans of pepsi, handed one to me, and lead me upstairs.
But that's impossible, Right?
Right.
I can't hear anything from around the house. Utter silence. That means that either mum's passed out on the couch, or she's off with her drug buddies again. I'm hoping for the latter, because then I won't have to sneak past her to go to school. I grab my old backpack, shoving my textbooks into it, then collect my pocket change from the counter. I had slept in day clothes, so there was no need to change. Don't judge me, sometimes I need to make a hasty escape from this place, and you can't do that in flannel pyjamas. I slip on my battered trainers, and tip-toe down the stairs. I see my mother laying on the sofa in the living room, liquor bottle in hand.
I grab the house keys off the hook, and dash through the door, shutting it desperately slowly behind me, before locking my mother in the house. I uncovered my skateboard from under the dead rosebush, brushing the yellow branches off of it, and untangling the wheels, before skating out the gate and into the street. I loved skateboarding, it gave me a small amount of time where I felt limitless. I feel like nothing can touch me, like I'm safe from my mum, safe from her friends, safe from everyone.
After a while, I started to approach the school. As I got through the iron gates, I jumped solemnly from my skateboard onto the hard ground, before enclosing my backpack into my bag. I spotted the familiar faces of Lunar, Luka and Kelzy, my three friends, stood beside the school building. I walked up to them casually, and they all grinned when they saw me. Kelzy grabbed me into a huge hug, and whispered into my ear
"Did she catch you?". I blinked three times in succession, which was our secret code for no. Three blinks for no, two for yes. We use this code as the twins, Lunar and Luka, don't know about my mom. The only reason Kelzy knows is because she turned up at my house one time, unexpected of course, and found my mum slapping me sensless. Since then, she asks me every day.
"Shall we go to tutor then?" Lunar asked, gesturing to the stone building that was behind us. I grabbed her wrist, dragging her inside, knowing the others would follow. I guess you could say I'm close to Lunar, but I've never really been to her house or anything. Luka just hangs around with us now, seeing as he was ditched by his friend, who graduated. Me, Lunar and Luka were all 19. I guess you could say we should have graduated by then too, but they messed about so much in class, they missed 90% of their education for 2 years, and got held back for both of those two years. The reason I was still there, is because I'd had that many days off, that I practically knew nothing from the syllabus from three years.
We got into tutor, and the teacher was just about to take the register. We all rushed to our table in silence, then listened as roll call was taken.
"Amy"
"Yes Miss"
"Austin"
Yes Miss"
"Bianca"
"Yes Miss"
"Bryony"
"Yes Miss"
"Bi-"
Miss was cut off by an ear-splitting noise. It was the fire alarm. We all stood up quickly, thinking it was another drill, and walked in an 'orderly' manner. It was only when we got outside did we see the thick, black smoke billowing from the other side of the school. Everyone was screaming, running full-pelt for the school field, which was the designated 'Fire Safe Place".
As nobody had finished registering their tutor, everybody was in a state of panic. Nobody knew who was in school. Every single person was interrogated as to whether they had been informed by their friends of people not attending school today. There was about six people unaccounted for, and we had to pray the fire men would discover them, if they were indeed inside the school.
The school headteacher started walking around the field, 'checking' we were all okay. She finally retreated to the front of the large croud, and blew a whistle to call for silence. She started to speak through a large megaphone.
"Okay, everybody. You must all have questions, so I am going to tell you as much as we know. The fire was started a few minutes before school, because by the time the teacher had gotten into her classroom, the blaze was very large. We do not know who set the fire, but we can only assume it was arson. The school will be closed for a few weeks while we get everything back into order again, but for now you can expect to be able to attend within 6 weeks, unless your parents hear from us. We are now going to transport you all home, via buses. Anyone wishing to walk home must stand with Miss Parr now."
Quite a few people moved, and I laughed at their stupidity. They are most probably expecting to be able to achieve a ditch day, but their parents will almost definately be contacted. It's the way the school run. Parent-Teacher connection is 'of utmost importance'. Me, Lunar and Luka stayed put, while Kelzy walked away to Miss Parr.
"Can all of the Seniors come over here please" the headteacher said, reffering to anybody over 18 who had been kept back a year. Me, Luka, Lunar and a few others walked up to her.
"I need you lot to help with the younger kids. Make sure they get onto the buses okay, but then you can leave. "
I rolled my eyes, turning towards the buses. I stood next to the door of a large white one, Watching everyone get in.
After half an hour of watching over little children, Me, Lunar and Luka set off for their home. I was quite excited, as I had never been to their home before. Luka's phone started to vibrate. He accepted the call, and put the phone to his ear.
"Hey mate! Haven't seen you in forever. What's happening?"
Me and Lunar listened in, and my ears attempted to tune into what the other person, who I assumed was a boy, was saying.
"REALLY?" That's AWESOME!" Luka shouted into the phone. His face had lit up completely, and he was, quite literally, grinning from ear-to-ear. Me and Lunar laughed at him.
"You can let yourself in mate, y'know where the spare key is right? Lunar's got a friend round, so go straight to my room."
And witht that, he took the phone from his ear, ended the call, and looked at us, his smile huge.
"So what's going on?" Lunar asked.
"Tommo's coming over." He stated. I looked at them both confusedly. the seemed to be talking with some sort of code names. I shrugged it off and got back to walking. The twins started talking about planning someone's birthday party, so I took Lunar's iPod and headphones from her pocket, and played Hot Chelle Rae.
'I took a drive in the middle of the night,
The first time I've done that,
Without you,
By my side.
And our song was playing on the radio,
It seems to follow me,
Everywhere I go
Where I Go
So would you...?
Come back in the middle of the night
And tell me everything is gonna be
Alright
it's Alright,
It's Alright,
Without
You here, everything is grey,
The colour faded,
when you packed your bags,
and you drove away
It's hard to act
Like everything's the same,
The closest I can get you
is in this frame.
I wanna hear you say
That you will
Come back in the middle of the night
And tell me everything is gonna be alright
It'll be alright, It'll be alright
We're face to face while the stars are burning bright
And tell me everything is gonna be alright
It's alright,It's alright
It's alright,It's alright It's alright
In the dark you come to life
The memories of you and I
I want to keep you here with me
Don't wake me up just let me dream
Come back in the middle of the night
And tell me everything is gonna be alright
It's alright,It's alright
We're face to face while the stars are burning bright
And tell me everything is gonna be alright
It's alright,It's alright
It's alright,It's alright
It'll never be alright without you."
After the song had finished, I noticed we were only a short distance from the park I used to play in as a kid. Before Dad died, before all of this. I unplugged the headphones from the iPod, causing the next song, Beautiful Freaks, to stop playing, then took the buds from my ears. I gave the stuff back to Lunar, before listening once again to the pair speaking in code.
"Did BooBear explain where Hazza, Ni, Z and Li were? I don't think they'd only give BooBear time off." Lunar said. Luka looked at her, as if he understood her completely.
"They're all with their friends and family." he concluded. She nodded, and they both turned the corner into a small cottage. I followed them, and Luka ran upstairs immediately. Lunar turned to me, and smiled. She walked into the kitchen, opening her fridge. She grabbed two cans of pepsi, handed one to me, and lead me upstairs.
♠ ♠ ♠
This took me a while, so comment, recommend, and subscribe!