• As the rain came down around me, I ran harder. The droplets stung where they hit my skin. Low branches from trees slapped my arms as I brushed them aside. My breath was catching in my throat and my lungs told me to stop. I didn't know why but I knew I couldn't stop. I knew that my life depended on it. I ran harder, faster. I heard the leaves crunch a few steps behind me. I noticed I'd stopped breathing. I couldn't breathe. I tried gasping for my breath, but I couldn't catch it. I knew that the thing chasing me was going to catch me any minute. I closed my eyes and waited for whatever might be coming.


    I opened my eyes and sat up screaming. My breathing was still hard but I looked around and saw that my alarm clock had woken me from the dream. I sighed, glad. The same dream kept coming back every night. I didn't know what chased me in that dream, but I knew that if could never let it find me in real life. Then something did jump on me. I screamed only to find that it was my cat, Pooters.

    "Hey there, Pooters. I had the dream again. I wonder if you know what it means." I cooed. She just blinked at me then yawned and curled up on my now unoccupied pillow. I smiled and shook my head. She was too cute. I looked at my clock. 6:57, it blinked. I didn't mean to but I screamed again. This time Mom rushed into my room, madder then concerned.

    "Bianca, would you stop screaming? I can't sleep. Now hurry up and get to school." she said then slammed the door. I sighed. Trust Mom to be blunt. I got up and grabbed a midnight blue T-shirt and my black mini skirt. I slipped them on then walked into the bathroom to do brush my hair and teeth. I looked in the mirror. I had medium long wavy blond hair. I'd put red streaks in it the night before and it had turned out great. I smiled at myself. I left the bathroom and ran downstairs. I smiled; the dining room table had my breakfast of toast, eggs and orange juice on it. Mom always made the same thing every morning. I didn't mind though. A little routine in my life was nice. I quickly ate then rushed out the door. I looked at the clock on my way out. 7:15. I took a deep breath then ran for the bus. It was going to leave the stop in a minute and I had to run two blocks to catch it. I got there just as it was pulling away. I jumped and kicked the side of the bus. The driver heard and stopped. I ran to the front and jumped on before he could close the door. I was panting but I smiled, walked in slowly, paid my two dollars then sat in the first empty seat I could find.

    "You have got to start waking up earlier Bianca." said the person next to me. I looked and saw my best friend, Ashley. I smiled at her.

    "Not all of us are morning people, Ash. Hey, did you finish the Math homework? I need it." She already had it out by the end of my sentence. I grabbed it and quickly copied it into my notebook. I carried it everywhere. Came in handy when I needed to copy things, like homework. "Thanks." I said and gave it back just when we reached our stop. We got off together and walked to school. It was only another block or so from the bus stop. I sighed loudly, meaning for Ash to hear it. She just smiled and shook her head. She knew what I was going to say before I opened my mouth.

    "The dream will go away when you're less stressed. Worry less about dreams and more about the hot guys that'll be transferring in this year," she sighed. "Don't you just love school?" I laughed at her.

    "I'm not a freak like you are Ash." She pouted. "Stop pouting or I'll tell every new hot guy who transfers in all your embarrassing secrets." She stopped pouting.


    School was a drag. First was Math, then Science, then PE. I was so tired that I fell asleep in History. Though I do that almost every class so no one noticed. It felt like I'd only just closed my eyes when Mr. Lint AKA Phil, woke me up. I glared at him. He smiled like he always did.

    "What's up Phil?" I asked before I noticed the new kid sitting beside me. I looked at him for a second then asked, "Who's the new kid?" Phil smiled at me and I stopped glaring.

    "The 'new kid' is Eric Sinclair. And since you are failing this class because of your laziness. I'll pass you if you show Eric around the school. I'll be asking him later so don't try to blow it off." Phil replied. I groaned and then the final bell rang. I got up and Eric followed me. I noticed he didn't have any books or a backpack with him.

    "Do you need to go to your locker?" I asked and he shook his head. I shrugged. Okay, so he wasn't big on talking. I could deal. I walked towards the gym and pointed it out to him. He had to be stupid to not know what it was. I walked farther in and pointed to the boys change room. "You change in there if you want to. Most just change in the gym in front of everyone." I kept walking until we reached the cafe. Some kids had after school activities so it stayed open after school. I told him so. He just nodded like before. I sighed in frustration and moved on to the Science wing followed by the Home Ec wing and then the Music wing. He didn't seem all that interested in any of them. I went back through the Science wing to get back to the History wing where I could get the stuff from my locker and I could tell him about that to get yet another quiet response. We were walking past the Chem lab where an after school club was pouring liquid into a beaker. I walked past like normal but Eric stopped walking altogether. I pulled his arm. "Come on," I said. I couldn't help but notice how his muscles felt tense. Then the beaker exploded. I looked inside the lab. Everyone had blue goo all over there faces but they looked okay. "Keep moving." I said and he followed me again without a word.

    An hour or so later and I was done. He hadn't said a word the entire time. I sighed. Nothing I could do if he didn't want to talk to me. I'd grabbed my stuff during the tour so I started to leave when he grabbed my hand. I turned around.

    "What's up?" I asked. He looked me in the eyes for the first time all day. I saw that he had vibrant green eyes. They matched his chestnut brown hair perfectly. Then he did something he hadn't done all day. He smiled at me. I felt my face heat up. He was hotter when he smiled.

    "Thanks for the tour Bianca." he said then walked by me. He'd let my hand drop on his way by but I'd noticed how warm it was. Almost hot. I couldn't help but wonder why. I hoped he wasn't sick. Then Ash ran up to me and snapped me out of my dreamlike state.

    "Hey. Heard you got stuck giving the new kid a tour. Girl or guy? If it was a guy, were they hot? If they were I call first dibs," she said in one breath. I smiled at her.

    "It was a guy and yes he was hot." I just knew that I wouldn't get much sleep tonight. I smiled to myself as Ash and I started the walk home.