Fire
It was my first day at a new school. The kids knew nothing about me and I knew nothing about them. It was quite possible it would serve in my favor being new this time. My parents had recently died in a house fire and my best friends’ parents adopted me. Dean and Ohanzee were my best friends and they had been the ones who had insisted to their parents that we move to a different school district.
The only problem I saw with being in their family of three sisters and three brothers was that I had a major crush on one of the twin sisters. Her name was Alyssa Marie. As I was walking out the bathroom door I glanced into the mirror. My blonde hair was shaggy and messy. My eyes were blue and bright, almost neon blue. I didn’t bother to look at the rest of my face; it had, for the most part, been burned in the fire my parents died in.
Dean, Ohanzee, Alyssa and I all walked to school together. The others were riding with their oldest brother. Alyssa walked in the middle of Dean and Ohanzee and she had her arms around them and they had their arms around her. For brothers and sister they were close. I walked a little behind them and didn’t say anything. The entire thing was hard on me. Losing my parents in a house fire wasn’t exactly great, but for the fact that I was only fifteen at the time made it worse.
I had always been close to my parents and now I didn’t have them anymore. It was hard to shoulder as I walked to school two days after it all happened. As I thought about the fire I remembered something that I hadn’t until then… When I was pulled out of the building my hair was on fire according to my friends Alex and his twin Jake.
The flames we bright and right in my eyes. They licked my face burning me and eating away at my hair. The heat was almost unbearable as the fireman tried to get me to settle down so they could put out my hair. Sweat rolled down my cheeks; or was it tears? I wasn’t sure.
I reached up to my hair and found that it wasn’t on fire. Slowly I realized I had closed my eyes. As I opened them I looked around me. All I saw were the knee caps of my three friends. Quickly I stood up and kept going like nothing had happened. It had seemed so real. I had felt the flames licking my face and the smell of burning hair had been so vivid.
I walked into the building and straight to the classroom I had been shown to the day before after all the students had gone home. My eyes wondered the hall. It was blue and green. I assumed they were they school colors. The halls were empty still, which surprised me. There wasn’t even the sound of distant chatter emitting from the classrooms that I passed.
Before I got to my classroom I stopped and peered into one of the others. There were other students there and they were speaking but I couldn’t hear a single word they said. I kept walking to my classroom and rubbed my eyes. My vision was starting to blur again. One minute things would be fine then my vision just went completely for a few minutes. Was it a side effect of the fire? Was I simply going nuts?
Dean finally managed to catch up to me and grab my shoulder. I looked at him and he held my gaze. Slowly he smiled like he was trying to make me feel better without saying anything to me. Alyssa was right behind him and she just gave me a hug in the middle of the hall. Ohanzee followed her and he simply gave me a nod. He was the only one who typically didn’t talk much anyway so I just nodded back to him.
They all had sweat rolling down their faces. I must have started running without realizing it. Slowly I walked into my classroom and they all went into the one across the hall from me. All the eyes in the room looked up at me and then away, horrified. It was the constant reminder of the burn marks on my face. I made my way to the seat in the back of the room and sat down.
My foster mother had cut off all evidence that my hair had been on fire. It was still shaggy like it had been but there was a lot more missing than it looked like. It hadn’t just been shaggy before the fire; it had been long enough for Alyssa to braid whenever I went to her house to hang out with Dean, Jake, and Ohanzee. The first time she had braided it I had put up a huge argument with her, but arguing with her was like waiting for the Sun to orbit the Earth; impossible and pointless.
I had learned after that to let her if she asked because we had fought for about an hour and then when I gave in she made it painful. She was angry with me for fighting with her so every few seconds she would pull on my hair hard and then she’d laugh at my pain. After she had her fill she apologized and she meant it.
I was honestly one of the few people who could tell the difference between her and her sister Brooke. They were identical twins who behaved the same, the only difference was Brooke was left handed and Alyssa was right handed. Brooke also had a freckle on her neck where Alyssa didn’t.
I thought about my new family and faintly heard the bell ring, but I didn’t bother to look up. There was a sound of someone sitting in the desk next to mine and I glanced up. Half the room was empty and they had chosen to sit next to me? It was probably a dare.
The teacher walked in and looked around. She didn’t seem to mind that there was a new kid with a big burn mark around his eye; in fact it looked like she hadn’t even noticed there was another head in there at all. I watched her as she turned her back to us and then I saw why she hadn’t made any acknowledgement of my scar… she had a scar like it on the back of her neck.
I looked back down at my desk and started to tap it quietly. No one looked at me and no one spoke as the teacher wrote on the board. It was how I had always wished it had been at my old school with all the jerks and bullies there were, but now I wished it was like my old school; loud and obnoxious. People actually talked to me there and made me feel like I belonged there. With these people I was just another new student who they wouldn’t bother getting.
The kid next to me was quiet but I could feel their eyes on me, searching for some small sign that I had noticed them. Instead of turning to speak to them I wrote down what was on the board. The kid looked away and then elbowed me. Still I didn’t look up. Whoever it was probably just wanted another chance to make fun of my scar.
They elbowed me again and I gritted my teeth. I wasn’t going to be the one to interrupt the silence. There had to be a reason the classroom was so well behaved. The teacher walked by and saw me writing down what she had. She slapped my hand that I was using like it was wrong or something. I knew I was different because of my scar but now I was different because I wrote with my left hand.
“Other hand!” she barked.
“Sorry, ma’am.” I said quickly switching hands.
The kid next to me touched my hand that she had swatted. It was red and stung like a snake had just bitten me. I pulled it away and looked at him. He smiled and said, “The name is Daniel.”
“Trent.” I said nodding.
“You okay?” he asked looking at my hand.
“Yeah. I’ve been through worse. Trust me.” I said looking down.
“Hey, it’s okay. We all have gone through tough times.” he whispered.
“I’ve had a pretty tough past is my point. I know my future is no greater.”
“The worst things happen to the best people, ya know? One of these days… something will work out.”
I nodded and looked back at my paper. “Why doesn’t she let us use our left hands?” I asked.
“She doesn’t want anyone to stick out. Don’t worry, she got my hand pretty good to when I first started coming.” he said showing me the back of his hand.
“She bruised it?” I said, astounded.
“This was just last week.” he told me shrugging.
I looked up and the teacher walked to my desk. “Is there something you would like to share with the rest of us? I’m sure we’d all love to hear how you got your scar.” she told me.
“No. That’s personal.” I said looking straight up at her.
“That wasn’t an option!” she said pulling me from my desk and pushing me into the front of the room.
If she didn’t want us to stand out then why make people actually have to stare at my scare. It was a giant burn make across the entire left side of my face. It surrounded my eye and stretched to my ear. It was from my eyebrow down to my chin and had different levels of intensity.
Instead of telling them how I had gotten it, I walked straight out of the classroom and down the hall. There was a mummer and I heard the sound of a ruler slamming onto a desk. The next thing I knew there was a hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off me and walked out the doors.
“Hey, calm down. It’s just me.” Ohanzee said softly.
I turned and looked at him. He smiled a soft smile and hugged me. “It will all be okay, Trent.” he told me.
I smiled a little. “No it won’t, Ohan. It never will be.” I told him.
“What are you talking about!? You still have Alyssa, Brooke, Lillian, Stoner, Dean, and me around now. When you can coop with what’s happened then we will go home and then you will have Cytheria, Alex, and Jake too.” he whispered.
“I got slapped for using my left hand! I don’t think this is the proper cooping environment for me!” I told him.
“I’ll talk to mom and dad when we get home. Can you wait that long or do you have to go now?”
“I need to go now. I’m not staying here so that lady can make me tell the rest of the students how I got this scar.” I said pointing to my face.
“Fine, but wait a few minutes. I don’t want you to go home alone.” he said.
“I’m fifteen! I’ll be fine!” I told him.
“You need to have someone to hang out with at least.”
“Fine, but I don’t want it to be one of you. I see you enough.” I joked.
He laughed lightly. “I’ll find someone to keep you company.” he told me.
I watched Ohanzee walk back into the building and into the room I had come out of. Slowly I started making my way down the street towards my house and heard panting behind me. “Really got out of there fast, eh?” Daniel asked from behind me.
I nodded and stopped walking. “You okay?” I asked.
He used his hands and signaled that he needed his inhaler. I check his book bag and pulled it out of the front pocket. Quickly I handed it to him and waited until he could breathe again. “You okay, Daniel?” I asked.
He nodded slowly and smiled. “You can call me Dani.” he told me.
“Okay, Dani, you want to come hang out at my place?” I asked.
“You’re actually inviting me over to your house?” he said tilting his head to the right, curiously.
“Well… yeah…” I said.
I knew it was a weird school but did the kids not see each other outside the school? Was it against the rules of the school? What had I been dragged into? Everything was so different. Where I had lived before it was considered rude to invite a new friend to your house to meet your family.
“B… but we aren’t supposed to go to someone’s house unless the teacher instructs us to.” he told me.
“Well where I am from its rude not to meet your friend’s family.” I told him.
“I think we should just go hang out elsewhere. I don’t want to get caught at someone’s house unless instructed otherwise.” he said.
He was truly afraid to go to my house. Was the teacher really that harsh? Daniel looked around and started walking towards a different street. “Wait! Ohanzee told me to go home. I have to listen to him.” I said.
Daniel looked at the ground. “Come on, you don’t always have to listen to him do you? He’s not your guardian angel or something.”
“But he’s my brother now. He’s second oldest. I have to do what he says. Ohanzee knows what’s best. If you don’t want to come, then fine. Go back to that school and get your hand smacked for being different.”
He didn’t move so I turned and started walking down the street back to the house. I didn’t bother to look back as I knew he was too afraid to follow me. When I got home I went straight downstairs to my room. Nancy, my foster mother, was in there picking up laundry. “Trent! What are you doing home so soon?” she asked looking up.
I held out my hand that had started bruising. “That teacher is a menace.” I told her.
“She must be!” she said astounded.
“I’m going to lay down, Mrs. Stone.” I told her.
“Please call me Mom.” she smiled.
I blinked. “I think I’ll just stick with Mrs. Stone for now.” I muttered lying down on the bed.
I closed my eyes for a few minutes and that turned into a few hours. When I finally woke up I was in the room with my three brothers. Ohanzee, Jake, and Dean were all sitting on the couch watching television. Once more I closed my eyes and a few minutes later I felt a hand take mine. “Do either of you know what happened to his hand?” Alyssa asked Ohanzee and Dean.
“I noticed his hand was starting to bruise when I stopped him on the steps to the school. He did mention getting his hand smacked for using his left hand to write.” Ohanzee told her.
“Why didn’t you report her then!” she demanded.
“Why wouldn’t other students or teachers? They must know what’s going on.” he told her.
“Well if they haven’t told then it is your duty to Trent to tell.” Alyssa said softly.
She was still holding my hand, examining it was my guess. I kept my eyes closed and tried to go back to sleep. “Trent wake up.” she said in my ear.
I groaned letting her know I was awake. She let go of my hand and moved away from the bed. My eyes opened slowly and looked around. Ohanzee was facing Alyssa talking to her, but I didn’t know what was being said. Jake was whispering to Dean and he whispered back. The television was on and it was loud.
“Do you mind turning that down?” I asked sitting up.
“Sorry.” Dean said grabbing a remote and turning off the television.
“How’s your hand?” Ohanzee asked.
“It hurts a little but not bad. When’s dinner?” I said changing the conversation.
“An hour ago. Mom left some out for you upstairs.” Alyssa said.
I walked up the stairs and found pizza sitting on the table. Quickly I skimmed through the refrigerator and found some lettuce, tomato, and cheese. When I had that set out on the table I found a bowl in a nearby cabinet and made a salad. They didn’t realize that I was a vegetarian and put meat on the pizza.
“Trent? Is there something wrong with the pizza?” my foster father asked.
I looked at him and smiled. “I don’t eat meat.” I told him simply.
He nodded like he was making a mental note. “I’ll remember that next time.” he smiled back.
I finished making my salad and poured some Ranch dressing on it. After I grabbed a fork I headed back downstairs to where to others were. There was a spot on the couch between Alyssa and Ohanzee so I took it. The television was back on and was much quieter than it had been before. “I forgot you didn’t eat meat!” Alyssa exclaimed.
I choked on the salad, not expecting her to yell as she had. Ohanzee patted my back as I shook my head. “Its fine, Alyssa.” I told her.
She laughed a little. “I’m sorry, Trent. I didn’t mean to startle you.” she said.
I took a bit of my salad and nodded at her. “So… what happened to the kid that followed you out of the school?” Ohanzee asked. “I thought he’d be here.”
“He got scarred and left. Apparently it’s against the rules to go to someone’s house unless the teacher instructs you to.” I told him.
“You must be kidding!” Jake said from behind me.
I turned and looked at him. He had his arm around his girlfriend Cytheria. She had her head on his shoulder and her hand on her stomach. It wasn’t abnormal for someone to put their hand on their stomach so I ignored it. “I’m not kidding, bro. He seriously thought she’d smack him or something for coming over.” I said.
“Maybe you should transfer schools again.” Cytheria said. “Go home, ya know? It’s better there than it is here.”
“I know it is, but it wasn’t my idea to come here in the first place.” I said.
“Mom and Dad already said they weren’t leaving until he showed that he was doing better than he was before we moved here.” Dean said.
I heard footsteps on the stairs and then saw Brooke and Lillian emerge. “What’s going on? Some sort of sibling meeting without the youngest siblings?” Lillian asked softly.
Her voice was soothing and caring. You wanted to trust her from the moment she spoke, but usually it was more wise not to. “We are discussing school issues.” Jake said.
“I don’t care what we are discussing. Include us.” Brooke said.
They sat down on the other couch. “I am doing better… emotionally anyway, physically not so much!” I said holding up my hand to show the bruise.
Jake sighed and shook his head. “Trent Edward! Stop being difficult. We know you are having a hard time. You sleep more than the rest of us combined! And there’s nine of us!” he said.
“Don’t EVER call me Trent Edward.” I growled at him.
He looked taken a back. “Sorry, bro, don’t get your knickers in a twist.” he said.
“Chillax.” Ohanzee said softly.
I looked at Ohanzee. He reminded me so much of my friends Alex and Jake. They were fraternal twins, unlike Alyssa and Brooke. Jake was taller than Alex by a lot, but Alex was better at most sports than Jake. The only sport Jake was better in was basketball. Even then Alex still beat him often enough that they decided they were equals in basketball.
Just then my phone started to ring in my pocket. It was a song by Uncle Kracker… Alex’s favorite one. I pulled it out and flipped it open. “Talk to me.” I said.
“Hey, man, what’s going on!?” Alex asked.
“Nothing, really. I just finished eating dinner.” I told him.
“Jake told me to tell you he said hey and to come home as soon as possible.” he told me.
“Don’t worry. I’m working on it already.” I said with a laugh.
Alyssa looked at Brooke then Lillian. They all started walking upstairs. “Is Alyssa with you?” he asked me.
"Yeah, hang on.” I said and covered the phone. “Alyssa, he wants you.”
Alyssa walked over to me and held her hand out for the phone. “Hey, Alexander.” she said smiling.
I looked at the television and listened to her laugh at something Alex had said. I started thinking about everything that had happened to Alex and his brother. It had been about three years before when Jake was crossing the street and Alex pushed him out of the way of a speeding car and gotten hit himself. He broke his leg and three ribs. That was only after finding out Alex had heart problems and was blind out of his right eye.
After Alex got out of the hospital he broke up with his girlfriend Alexandria. The next time he was at her house she committed suicide right in front of him. He had tried to take the knife from her but after he touched it she killed herself. The police arrested him and sentenced him to three years in prison. Jake, being his best friend and brother, served the time with him.
After getting out of prison Alex started smoking. Then he started drinking and doing drugs. He was on the high way to death but then that faithful day came when he had to go to the hospital and the doctor told him he was slowly killing himself with all the smoking, drugs, and drinking. Alex never went back to the drugs, smoking, or drinking after that. The issue with his heart was what stopped him. If he kept going, he was sure to die.
Even through all that Jake and Alex were tight as two brothers could be. They did everything together. There wasn’t a single class they didn’t have together. Jake had to be there for Alex and Alex had to be there for Jake. No one else understood what they went through after those three fatal years.
The only thing that was “bad” about either of them was that Alex liked Alyssa. He was my best friend and since we both liked her, we decided neither of us could go out with her so we could protect our friendship. We both have kept that promise even though his friend online named Brooke Hendrickson kept pressuring him into asking her out. He told her repeated no.
“Trent!” Alyssa yelled.
“What!?” I said jumping.
“Alex is still on the phone. He wants to talk to you.” she said softly.
I held my hand out for the phone. She handed it to me and I pressed it to my ear. “Yeah?” I said.
“What’s up with you? She was trying to get your attention for a good five minutes.” he said.
“I was just thinking.” I told him.
“Are you sure you weren’t checking her out?” he joked.
“Now that you mention it.” I said casually.
“Not cool, man!” he laughed.
I laughed with him. When Alex laughed everyone around him had to laugh. It was impossible not to. “I have to go do some homework. I’ll catch you later.” he said.
“Alright, man. Peace.” I said.
“Peace.” he said and hung up.
“What was that about?” Cytheria asked curiously.
“Nothing. Just a joke between me and Alex.” I told her.
“I suppose we could always torture it out of you…” Brooke said.
“I’ll get the water!” Lillian said.
“I’ll tie him down!” Dean said.
“I’ll drip the water on his forehead.” Jake said.
“I’ll wipe it away from his mouth so he can’t drink it.” Cytheria said.
I laughed. We had all thought of that way to torture people when we were younger. It was hard to believe they remembered it at that point in time. Lillian looked at me. “You think I’m kidding?” she asked.
“No, ma’am.” I said quickly.
“Well she is.” Ohanzee said from the stairs.
“Ohan, you always ruin the fun!” she said.
He smiled. “It’s my job.” he said.
“Come on, I knew she was kidding. I was there when that was thought of, remember? It was my idea.” I said looking at him.
“Ah, so I have you to thank for when they actually did that to me?” Jake asked.
I looked around innocently. “I haven’t the faintest what you mean, Jake.” I said.
“Well you better remember because you were there.” Ohanzee said.
“Don’t tell him that!” I said.
Jake looked at me stunned. We all laughed at him because we knew we were joking but he actually thought we were serious about having done that to him instead of it just being a dream. “Stop laughing! It was a terrible ten minutes!” he said.
“Jake, baby, calm down. It wasn’t real. The kids told you it was even though it was a dream.” Cytheria said.
He looked at her a smiled. “I know that.” he said calmly. “I was just waiting to see how long it would take for someone to cave and tell me.”
“Kids, come up for some games!” Mr. Stone called.
“Stoner, can I talk to you real quick?” I said looking at Jake.
“Sure.” he said nodding.
Lillian, Ohanzee, Brooke, Alyssa, Dean, and Cytheria all went upstairs to pick out a game we would play. “What’s up?” Jake asked when Cytheria shut the door to the basement.
“What if I never get over the accident? Are you guys really going to make me stay here?” I asked.
“You will, Trent. These kind of things happen every day.” he told me.
“My teacher has the same kind of scar on the back of her neck. I think she has it out for me.” I said.
“You are way out of it aren’t you? No one has it out for you. You just got here yesterday. This will take time to blow over, but it will simmer down. I promise you that by this time next year we will be home, with Alex and Jake.” he said.
“Are you sure, Stoner?”
“Of course. If not then you can really torture me like that.”
He said it with such a humor I couldn’t help but laugh. He laughed to, not because he thought he was funny, but because he could never figure out why he was the only one of the Stone family that I called Stoner. I decided it was because he was the oldest that he would be the one I called Stoner; not because he got stoned. They were the cleanest family I knew.
“Come on, it’s family game night.” he said heading upstairs.
“Stoner… every night is family game night.” I pointed out.
They played games together every night and ever since I joined their family they included me in family game night. It was Ohanzee’s night to choose the game we were going to play. The order went from oldest to youngest. Jake, Cytheria (if she was there, which she usually was), Ohanzee, Dean, me, Alyssa (older than Brooke by eleven minutes), Brooke, and then Lillian was the literal order they used.
We sat down and started playing Monopoly. Hours later we were finished and Dean had won. I went to the refrigerator and opened it. As I reached in for a soda I became light headed and dizzy. After that all I remember is hitting my head on the corner of the counter.
The only problem I saw with being in their family of three sisters and three brothers was that I had a major crush on one of the twin sisters. Her name was Alyssa Marie. As I was walking out the bathroom door I glanced into the mirror. My blonde hair was shaggy and messy. My eyes were blue and bright, almost neon blue. I didn’t bother to look at the rest of my face; it had, for the most part, been burned in the fire my parents died in.
Dean, Ohanzee, Alyssa and I all walked to school together. The others were riding with their oldest brother. Alyssa walked in the middle of Dean and Ohanzee and she had her arms around them and they had their arms around her. For brothers and sister they were close. I walked a little behind them and didn’t say anything. The entire thing was hard on me. Losing my parents in a house fire wasn’t exactly great, but for the fact that I was only fifteen at the time made it worse.
I had always been close to my parents and now I didn’t have them anymore. It was hard to shoulder as I walked to school two days after it all happened. As I thought about the fire I remembered something that I hadn’t until then… When I was pulled out of the building my hair was on fire according to my friends Alex and his twin Jake.
The flames we bright and right in my eyes. They licked my face burning me and eating away at my hair. The heat was almost unbearable as the fireman tried to get me to settle down so they could put out my hair. Sweat rolled down my cheeks; or was it tears? I wasn’t sure.
I reached up to my hair and found that it wasn’t on fire. Slowly I realized I had closed my eyes. As I opened them I looked around me. All I saw were the knee caps of my three friends. Quickly I stood up and kept going like nothing had happened. It had seemed so real. I had felt the flames licking my face and the smell of burning hair had been so vivid.
I walked into the building and straight to the classroom I had been shown to the day before after all the students had gone home. My eyes wondered the hall. It was blue and green. I assumed they were they school colors. The halls were empty still, which surprised me. There wasn’t even the sound of distant chatter emitting from the classrooms that I passed.
Before I got to my classroom I stopped and peered into one of the others. There were other students there and they were speaking but I couldn’t hear a single word they said. I kept walking to my classroom and rubbed my eyes. My vision was starting to blur again. One minute things would be fine then my vision just went completely for a few minutes. Was it a side effect of the fire? Was I simply going nuts?
Dean finally managed to catch up to me and grab my shoulder. I looked at him and he held my gaze. Slowly he smiled like he was trying to make me feel better without saying anything to me. Alyssa was right behind him and she just gave me a hug in the middle of the hall. Ohanzee followed her and he simply gave me a nod. He was the only one who typically didn’t talk much anyway so I just nodded back to him.
They all had sweat rolling down their faces. I must have started running without realizing it. Slowly I walked into my classroom and they all went into the one across the hall from me. All the eyes in the room looked up at me and then away, horrified. It was the constant reminder of the burn marks on my face. I made my way to the seat in the back of the room and sat down.
My foster mother had cut off all evidence that my hair had been on fire. It was still shaggy like it had been but there was a lot more missing than it looked like. It hadn’t just been shaggy before the fire; it had been long enough for Alyssa to braid whenever I went to her house to hang out with Dean, Jake, and Ohanzee. The first time she had braided it I had put up a huge argument with her, but arguing with her was like waiting for the Sun to orbit the Earth; impossible and pointless.
I had learned after that to let her if she asked because we had fought for about an hour and then when I gave in she made it painful. She was angry with me for fighting with her so every few seconds she would pull on my hair hard and then she’d laugh at my pain. After she had her fill she apologized and she meant it.
I was honestly one of the few people who could tell the difference between her and her sister Brooke. They were identical twins who behaved the same, the only difference was Brooke was left handed and Alyssa was right handed. Brooke also had a freckle on her neck where Alyssa didn’t.
I thought about my new family and faintly heard the bell ring, but I didn’t bother to look up. There was a sound of someone sitting in the desk next to mine and I glanced up. Half the room was empty and they had chosen to sit next to me? It was probably a dare.
The teacher walked in and looked around. She didn’t seem to mind that there was a new kid with a big burn mark around his eye; in fact it looked like she hadn’t even noticed there was another head in there at all. I watched her as she turned her back to us and then I saw why she hadn’t made any acknowledgement of my scar… she had a scar like it on the back of her neck.
I looked back down at my desk and started to tap it quietly. No one looked at me and no one spoke as the teacher wrote on the board. It was how I had always wished it had been at my old school with all the jerks and bullies there were, but now I wished it was like my old school; loud and obnoxious. People actually talked to me there and made me feel like I belonged there. With these people I was just another new student who they wouldn’t bother getting.
The kid next to me was quiet but I could feel their eyes on me, searching for some small sign that I had noticed them. Instead of turning to speak to them I wrote down what was on the board. The kid looked away and then elbowed me. Still I didn’t look up. Whoever it was probably just wanted another chance to make fun of my scar.
They elbowed me again and I gritted my teeth. I wasn’t going to be the one to interrupt the silence. There had to be a reason the classroom was so well behaved. The teacher walked by and saw me writing down what she had. She slapped my hand that I was using like it was wrong or something. I knew I was different because of my scar but now I was different because I wrote with my left hand.
“Other hand!” she barked.
“Sorry, ma’am.” I said quickly switching hands.
The kid next to me touched my hand that she had swatted. It was red and stung like a snake had just bitten me. I pulled it away and looked at him. He smiled and said, “The name is Daniel.”
“Trent.” I said nodding.
“You okay?” he asked looking at my hand.
“Yeah. I’ve been through worse. Trust me.” I said looking down.
“Hey, it’s okay. We all have gone through tough times.” he whispered.
“I’ve had a pretty tough past is my point. I know my future is no greater.”
“The worst things happen to the best people, ya know? One of these days… something will work out.”
I nodded and looked back at my paper. “Why doesn’t she let us use our left hands?” I asked.
“She doesn’t want anyone to stick out. Don’t worry, she got my hand pretty good to when I first started coming.” he said showing me the back of his hand.
“She bruised it?” I said, astounded.
“This was just last week.” he told me shrugging.
I looked up and the teacher walked to my desk. “Is there something you would like to share with the rest of us? I’m sure we’d all love to hear how you got your scar.” she told me.
“No. That’s personal.” I said looking straight up at her.
“That wasn’t an option!” she said pulling me from my desk and pushing me into the front of the room.
If she didn’t want us to stand out then why make people actually have to stare at my scare. It was a giant burn make across the entire left side of my face. It surrounded my eye and stretched to my ear. It was from my eyebrow down to my chin and had different levels of intensity.
Instead of telling them how I had gotten it, I walked straight out of the classroom and down the hall. There was a mummer and I heard the sound of a ruler slamming onto a desk. The next thing I knew there was a hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off me and walked out the doors.
“Hey, calm down. It’s just me.” Ohanzee said softly.
I turned and looked at him. He smiled a soft smile and hugged me. “It will all be okay, Trent.” he told me.
I smiled a little. “No it won’t, Ohan. It never will be.” I told him.
“What are you talking about!? You still have Alyssa, Brooke, Lillian, Stoner, Dean, and me around now. When you can coop with what’s happened then we will go home and then you will have Cytheria, Alex, and Jake too.” he whispered.
“I got slapped for using my left hand! I don’t think this is the proper cooping environment for me!” I told him.
“I’ll talk to mom and dad when we get home. Can you wait that long or do you have to go now?”
“I need to go now. I’m not staying here so that lady can make me tell the rest of the students how I got this scar.” I said pointing to my face.
“Fine, but wait a few minutes. I don’t want you to go home alone.” he said.
“I’m fifteen! I’ll be fine!” I told him.
“You need to have someone to hang out with at least.”
“Fine, but I don’t want it to be one of you. I see you enough.” I joked.
He laughed lightly. “I’ll find someone to keep you company.” he told me.
I watched Ohanzee walk back into the building and into the room I had come out of. Slowly I started making my way down the street towards my house and heard panting behind me. “Really got out of there fast, eh?” Daniel asked from behind me.
I nodded and stopped walking. “You okay?” I asked.
He used his hands and signaled that he needed his inhaler. I check his book bag and pulled it out of the front pocket. Quickly I handed it to him and waited until he could breathe again. “You okay, Daniel?” I asked.
He nodded slowly and smiled. “You can call me Dani.” he told me.
“Okay, Dani, you want to come hang out at my place?” I asked.
“You’re actually inviting me over to your house?” he said tilting his head to the right, curiously.
“Well… yeah…” I said.
I knew it was a weird school but did the kids not see each other outside the school? Was it against the rules of the school? What had I been dragged into? Everything was so different. Where I had lived before it was considered rude to invite a new friend to your house to meet your family.
“B… but we aren’t supposed to go to someone’s house unless the teacher instructs us to.” he told me.
“Well where I am from its rude not to meet your friend’s family.” I told him.
“I think we should just go hang out elsewhere. I don’t want to get caught at someone’s house unless instructed otherwise.” he said.
He was truly afraid to go to my house. Was the teacher really that harsh? Daniel looked around and started walking towards a different street. “Wait! Ohanzee told me to go home. I have to listen to him.” I said.
Daniel looked at the ground. “Come on, you don’t always have to listen to him do you? He’s not your guardian angel or something.”
“But he’s my brother now. He’s second oldest. I have to do what he says. Ohanzee knows what’s best. If you don’t want to come, then fine. Go back to that school and get your hand smacked for being different.”
He didn’t move so I turned and started walking down the street back to the house. I didn’t bother to look back as I knew he was too afraid to follow me. When I got home I went straight downstairs to my room. Nancy, my foster mother, was in there picking up laundry. “Trent! What are you doing home so soon?” she asked looking up.
I held out my hand that had started bruising. “That teacher is a menace.” I told her.
“She must be!” she said astounded.
“I’m going to lay down, Mrs. Stone.” I told her.
“Please call me Mom.” she smiled.
I blinked. “I think I’ll just stick with Mrs. Stone for now.” I muttered lying down on the bed.
I closed my eyes for a few minutes and that turned into a few hours. When I finally woke up I was in the room with my three brothers. Ohanzee, Jake, and Dean were all sitting on the couch watching television. Once more I closed my eyes and a few minutes later I felt a hand take mine. “Do either of you know what happened to his hand?” Alyssa asked Ohanzee and Dean.
“I noticed his hand was starting to bruise when I stopped him on the steps to the school. He did mention getting his hand smacked for using his left hand to write.” Ohanzee told her.
“Why didn’t you report her then!” she demanded.
“Why wouldn’t other students or teachers? They must know what’s going on.” he told her.
“Well if they haven’t told then it is your duty to Trent to tell.” Alyssa said softly.
She was still holding my hand, examining it was my guess. I kept my eyes closed and tried to go back to sleep. “Trent wake up.” she said in my ear.
I groaned letting her know I was awake. She let go of my hand and moved away from the bed. My eyes opened slowly and looked around. Ohanzee was facing Alyssa talking to her, but I didn’t know what was being said. Jake was whispering to Dean and he whispered back. The television was on and it was loud.
“Do you mind turning that down?” I asked sitting up.
“Sorry.” Dean said grabbing a remote and turning off the television.
“How’s your hand?” Ohanzee asked.
“It hurts a little but not bad. When’s dinner?” I said changing the conversation.
“An hour ago. Mom left some out for you upstairs.” Alyssa said.
I walked up the stairs and found pizza sitting on the table. Quickly I skimmed through the refrigerator and found some lettuce, tomato, and cheese. When I had that set out on the table I found a bowl in a nearby cabinet and made a salad. They didn’t realize that I was a vegetarian and put meat on the pizza.
“Trent? Is there something wrong with the pizza?” my foster father asked.
I looked at him and smiled. “I don’t eat meat.” I told him simply.
He nodded like he was making a mental note. “I’ll remember that next time.” he smiled back.
I finished making my salad and poured some Ranch dressing on it. After I grabbed a fork I headed back downstairs to where to others were. There was a spot on the couch between Alyssa and Ohanzee so I took it. The television was back on and was much quieter than it had been before. “I forgot you didn’t eat meat!” Alyssa exclaimed.
I choked on the salad, not expecting her to yell as she had. Ohanzee patted my back as I shook my head. “Its fine, Alyssa.” I told her.
She laughed a little. “I’m sorry, Trent. I didn’t mean to startle you.” she said.
I took a bit of my salad and nodded at her. “So… what happened to the kid that followed you out of the school?” Ohanzee asked. “I thought he’d be here.”
“He got scarred and left. Apparently it’s against the rules to go to someone’s house unless the teacher instructs you to.” I told him.
“You must be kidding!” Jake said from behind me.
I turned and looked at him. He had his arm around his girlfriend Cytheria. She had her head on his shoulder and her hand on her stomach. It wasn’t abnormal for someone to put their hand on their stomach so I ignored it. “I’m not kidding, bro. He seriously thought she’d smack him or something for coming over.” I said.
“Maybe you should transfer schools again.” Cytheria said. “Go home, ya know? It’s better there than it is here.”
“I know it is, but it wasn’t my idea to come here in the first place.” I said.
“Mom and Dad already said they weren’t leaving until he showed that he was doing better than he was before we moved here.” Dean said.
I heard footsteps on the stairs and then saw Brooke and Lillian emerge. “What’s going on? Some sort of sibling meeting without the youngest siblings?” Lillian asked softly.
Her voice was soothing and caring. You wanted to trust her from the moment she spoke, but usually it was more wise not to. “We are discussing school issues.” Jake said.
“I don’t care what we are discussing. Include us.” Brooke said.
They sat down on the other couch. “I am doing better… emotionally anyway, physically not so much!” I said holding up my hand to show the bruise.
Jake sighed and shook his head. “Trent Edward! Stop being difficult. We know you are having a hard time. You sleep more than the rest of us combined! And there’s nine of us!” he said.
“Don’t EVER call me Trent Edward.” I growled at him.
He looked taken a back. “Sorry, bro, don’t get your knickers in a twist.” he said.
“Chillax.” Ohanzee said softly.
I looked at Ohanzee. He reminded me so much of my friends Alex and Jake. They were fraternal twins, unlike Alyssa and Brooke. Jake was taller than Alex by a lot, but Alex was better at most sports than Jake. The only sport Jake was better in was basketball. Even then Alex still beat him often enough that they decided they were equals in basketball.
Just then my phone started to ring in my pocket. It was a song by Uncle Kracker… Alex’s favorite one. I pulled it out and flipped it open. “Talk to me.” I said.
“Hey, man, what’s going on!?” Alex asked.
“Nothing, really. I just finished eating dinner.” I told him.
“Jake told me to tell you he said hey and to come home as soon as possible.” he told me.
“Don’t worry. I’m working on it already.” I said with a laugh.
Alyssa looked at Brooke then Lillian. They all started walking upstairs. “Is Alyssa with you?” he asked me.
"Yeah, hang on.” I said and covered the phone. “Alyssa, he wants you.”
Alyssa walked over to me and held her hand out for the phone. “Hey, Alexander.” she said smiling.
I looked at the television and listened to her laugh at something Alex had said. I started thinking about everything that had happened to Alex and his brother. It had been about three years before when Jake was crossing the street and Alex pushed him out of the way of a speeding car and gotten hit himself. He broke his leg and three ribs. That was only after finding out Alex had heart problems and was blind out of his right eye.
After Alex got out of the hospital he broke up with his girlfriend Alexandria. The next time he was at her house she committed suicide right in front of him. He had tried to take the knife from her but after he touched it she killed herself. The police arrested him and sentenced him to three years in prison. Jake, being his best friend and brother, served the time with him.
After getting out of prison Alex started smoking. Then he started drinking and doing drugs. He was on the high way to death but then that faithful day came when he had to go to the hospital and the doctor told him he was slowly killing himself with all the smoking, drugs, and drinking. Alex never went back to the drugs, smoking, or drinking after that. The issue with his heart was what stopped him. If he kept going, he was sure to die.
Even through all that Jake and Alex were tight as two brothers could be. They did everything together. There wasn’t a single class they didn’t have together. Jake had to be there for Alex and Alex had to be there for Jake. No one else understood what they went through after those three fatal years.
The only thing that was “bad” about either of them was that Alex liked Alyssa. He was my best friend and since we both liked her, we decided neither of us could go out with her so we could protect our friendship. We both have kept that promise even though his friend online named Brooke Hendrickson kept pressuring him into asking her out. He told her repeated no.
“Trent!” Alyssa yelled.
“What!?” I said jumping.
“Alex is still on the phone. He wants to talk to you.” she said softly.
I held my hand out for the phone. She handed it to me and I pressed it to my ear. “Yeah?” I said.
“What’s up with you? She was trying to get your attention for a good five minutes.” he said.
“I was just thinking.” I told him.
“Are you sure you weren’t checking her out?” he joked.
“Now that you mention it.” I said casually.
“Not cool, man!” he laughed.
I laughed with him. When Alex laughed everyone around him had to laugh. It was impossible not to. “I have to go do some homework. I’ll catch you later.” he said.
“Alright, man. Peace.” I said.
“Peace.” he said and hung up.
“What was that about?” Cytheria asked curiously.
“Nothing. Just a joke between me and Alex.” I told her.
“I suppose we could always torture it out of you…” Brooke said.
“I’ll get the water!” Lillian said.
“I’ll tie him down!” Dean said.
“I’ll drip the water on his forehead.” Jake said.
“I’ll wipe it away from his mouth so he can’t drink it.” Cytheria said.
I laughed. We had all thought of that way to torture people when we were younger. It was hard to believe they remembered it at that point in time. Lillian looked at me. “You think I’m kidding?” she asked.
“No, ma’am.” I said quickly.
“Well she is.” Ohanzee said from the stairs.
“Ohan, you always ruin the fun!” she said.
He smiled. “It’s my job.” he said.
“Come on, I knew she was kidding. I was there when that was thought of, remember? It was my idea.” I said looking at him.
“Ah, so I have you to thank for when they actually did that to me?” Jake asked.
I looked around innocently. “I haven’t the faintest what you mean, Jake.” I said.
“Well you better remember because you were there.” Ohanzee said.
“Don’t tell him that!” I said.
Jake looked at me stunned. We all laughed at him because we knew we were joking but he actually thought we were serious about having done that to him instead of it just being a dream. “Stop laughing! It was a terrible ten minutes!” he said.
“Jake, baby, calm down. It wasn’t real. The kids told you it was even though it was a dream.” Cytheria said.
He looked at her a smiled. “I know that.” he said calmly. “I was just waiting to see how long it would take for someone to cave and tell me.”
“Kids, come up for some games!” Mr. Stone called.
“Stoner, can I talk to you real quick?” I said looking at Jake.
“Sure.” he said nodding.
Lillian, Ohanzee, Brooke, Alyssa, Dean, and Cytheria all went upstairs to pick out a game we would play. “What’s up?” Jake asked when Cytheria shut the door to the basement.
“What if I never get over the accident? Are you guys really going to make me stay here?” I asked.
“You will, Trent. These kind of things happen every day.” he told me.
“My teacher has the same kind of scar on the back of her neck. I think she has it out for me.” I said.
“You are way out of it aren’t you? No one has it out for you. You just got here yesterday. This will take time to blow over, but it will simmer down. I promise you that by this time next year we will be home, with Alex and Jake.” he said.
“Are you sure, Stoner?”
“Of course. If not then you can really torture me like that.”
He said it with such a humor I couldn’t help but laugh. He laughed to, not because he thought he was funny, but because he could never figure out why he was the only one of the Stone family that I called Stoner. I decided it was because he was the oldest that he would be the one I called Stoner; not because he got stoned. They were the cleanest family I knew.
“Come on, it’s family game night.” he said heading upstairs.
“Stoner… every night is family game night.” I pointed out.
They played games together every night and ever since I joined their family they included me in family game night. It was Ohanzee’s night to choose the game we were going to play. The order went from oldest to youngest. Jake, Cytheria (if she was there, which she usually was), Ohanzee, Dean, me, Alyssa (older than Brooke by eleven minutes), Brooke, and then Lillian was the literal order they used.
We sat down and started playing Monopoly. Hours later we were finished and Dean had won. I went to the refrigerator and opened it. As I reached in for a soda I became light headed and dizzy. After that all I remember is hitting my head on the corner of the counter.
“Trent? Trent, can you me?” a voice asked from next to me.
“Please, dude, give him some space.” another voice said with a pause. “Who are you anyway?”
There was a hand holding onto mine. I could hear the faint sound of someone speaking and it sounded like a prayer. It was all too confusing to take in at the time so I ended up falling asleep before the first voice answered.
When I woke up again I didn’t open my eyes; I just simply listened. There was a television on somewhere nearby. The two voices had stopped talking and my hand was cold. Slowly I opened one eye and saw a blur of a figure. I blinked and the blur started clearing up. “What are you doing here?” I whispered.
“I heard that you got hurt and I wanted to make sure you were okay.” it replied.
“What happened?” I asked.
“You hit your heard on the corner of a counter and split your head open. The Stoner family brought you here as soon as they could. Don’t move around too much. You still look a little ditsy.” the figure told me.
“Dani, I got you a water.” someone said walking in.
“He woke up.” Dani said nodding at me.
“Trent! Oh my gosh you had us so worried!” Lillian said walking over to me.
“Hey, sis.” I said lightly.
“Sis?” she smiled. “How hard did you hit your head?”
“I don’t know. That’s a good question.” I laughed with her.
She kissed my cheek and said, “The others are asleep. They haven’t slept in three days.”
I looked at her. “Why aren’t you asleep then?” I asked.
“I slept all day yesterday.” she told me.
“How long was I out?”
“About a week.”
“Who told him?”
“No one. He showed up the other day and started talking to one of the doctors about new patients and your name got mentioned.”
I looked at him for an explanation. “The doctor is my father.” he said quietly.
“And you still have to go to that hell hole of a school?” I asked.
“Yeah, it sucks.” he smiled.
I sat up and looked around. “That was a nice nap.” I said and stretched.
“You have got to be kidding! Trent, lay down right now.” Lillian said strictly.
“I’m fine, Lillian. Really, I am.” I told her standing up.
“Maybe Lillian is right, Trent. You should lie down.” Daniel said as he watched me stumble to the door.
I shook my head and walked out of the room. “What do you think you are doing?” a new voice asked.
“I was going to get a drink.” I lied.
“Get back in there and lay down like you were told.” it said.
I turned and Alex and Jake standing there. “I knew it was you all along, Jake.” I said.
“But it wasn’t. It was Alex.” he laughed.
I punched Alex’s arm and walked back into the hospital room I had emerged from. “What changed your mind?” Lillian asked.
Alex and Jake walked in behind me and she squealed with excitement. “You came!” she said hugging the twins.
“Of course we did! He came when I was in the hospital.” Alex said.
“So it’s only fitting we came while he was in the hospital.” Jake said.
Daniel was looking at the floor and rubbing his arm. “Who’s the kid?” Alex asked quietly.
“His name is Daniel. He goes to the same school as me. He’s been explaining some weird… practices our teacher has.” I said.
“Meaning?” he asked.
“We can’t write with our left hand. We aren’t allowed to go to one another’s houses.” I told him. “Isn’t it strange? They tell us exactly to opposite back home. It’s okay to write with our left hand and it’s perfectly normal to hang out at someone’s house.”
Jake sat next to Daniel and said, “The name is Jake. I’m a friend of Trent’s.”
“Friend is forbidden.” Daniel said quickly. “Do not use that word here. You will be taken out of the equation of mankind permanently if she hears you.”
“What’s your name, kid?” Alex asked ignoring the odd statement.
“Daniel.” he said.
“Is there something wrong with your arm?” he asked Daniel.
Daniel shook his head while Alex forcefully lifted the sleeve. “What happened?” he asked touching the burn mark.
“Fire. Big fire. Teacher was mad at me and set my home on fire. It is how she punishes us.” he told him.
“Trent, you have to get out of here. You have to come home with us.” Jake said, concerned.
That was my opportunity. It was my way home, where I knew people. I wanted to go so badly I would have run all the way there with Jake and Alex at that very moment. “Go. You need to get out whilst you still can.” Daniel said standing.
It must have been a sign. There had to be a reason for him to say that. All he had needed to say was to go. I looked at him and shook my head. “No. I am not leaving unless you come with me. You don’t deserve to be treated like so.” I told him.
“Get out of here!” he yelled.
Lillian stepped between us. She knew there was a fight brewing. “I can’t leave unless you come, Daniel. That’s the reason I came. I know it is! Fate has a way of working out and I know it was fate I brought here today.” I said softly.
He closed his eyes and said three words, “Death will come.”
Jake tugged on my arm. “Now would be a good time to run.” he said.
I walked back to the bed and lay down. “No. I am not leaving.” I told him.
“Just last week you were begging mom and dad to go home. Now you want to stay?” Lillian asked.
“Exactly.” I said.
I didn’t listen to their begging and pleading for me to leave. I stayed right where I was, on the bed and talked to Daniel in a soft voice. He looked like nothing had happened and like he didn’t remember the last five minutes of the conversation. All I could do was ignore the eerie feeling.
‘Death will come.’ What did that mean? Was someone going to die? Would it be me? Was I supposed to have died in the house fire? Should I have been dead after hitting my head off the corner of the counter? Should I have taken my chance and left with Jake and Alex? Was that teacher the answer to the problems or was she out to get me? There were so many questions running through my mind it was a wonder how I hadn’t said any of them aloud.
Jake and Alex seemed to being plotting a way to get me to go home, though they knew it wouldn’t work. “Lillian, out of curiosity how long have the others been sleeping?” I asked.
“A few hours.” she said shrugging.
“Maybe you should go home and let them know I woke up.” I suggested.
“I can’t drive. I’m only fifteen.” she said.
“Alex and Jake will take you.” I said.
“We will?” Jake asked.
“We will.” Alex said elbowing him.
“Right! We will.” Jake grinned.
“Okay, well lets go.” she said shooing them out of the room.
Daniel watched
them leave then looked at me. “You should have gone with them.” he
said.
“Why? Is there a reason you are so scared?” I asked him.
“The teacher will kill you if you go against her. I was supposed to die in the house fire.” he said looking around.
“Then why don’t you come with me?” I said.
“Death will come.” he repeated.
“If you come with me?”
“Even if I don’t. Death will come, it is inevitable.”
He avoided eye contact with me like he was hiding something. Daniel knew something and he couldn’t tell me. “Are you okay?” I asked him softly.
He shook his head. “No.” he whispered.
I got up and sat next to him. Gently I touched his hand. “Tell me.” I whispered back.
“She… she doesn’t like you.” he said looking at me. “Wants you dead.”
My eyes widened. “She… wants me dead?” I whispered.
He nodded slowly. “I don’t want you dead, Trent. You’re the first person to care.” he said glancing around nervously. “Like a friend.”
“Please, come with me. For your protection.” I urged him.
He looked around. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“It’s too late for me.”
I looked at him. “What do you mean?”
“My family has their heels dug in here, they won’t leave.”
“Well then we’ll take you and if they love you they’ll follow you.”
“That’d be worse. If they follow me, she’ll follow me.”
“Then we won’t let them follow.” I whispered.
I knew I had to knock sense into that kid’s head and I had to do it fast. Quickly I slapped him across the face. His expression changed. It had always been a blank stare but now it was an expression of pain and confusion. “We have to go!” I whispered
furiously.
He nodded and grabbed my hand. “Come on, there’s a car out back.” he said and pulled me from the room.
I followed him closely and looked around. The rooms were basically filled with patients who had burn marks somewhere on their body. Compared to me though, some of them were lucky. Some of them wouldn’t have permanent scars like I did. The lucky ones
were alive but there were a few who had died, I knew that by the look of pain
and sorrow in their eyes as we passed their rooms.
He turned down a hall and pushed open an emergency exit. “Be quiet and don’t make a sound.” he told me.
I nodded and followed him to a vehicle.“Please tell me you know how to drive motorcycles.” he whispered looking at me.
I nodded to him and threw my leg over the seat. Quickly I handed him a helmet and grabbed my own. As soon as he was on behind me and I had the helmet on, I started the
motorcycle and the engine roared to life. Daniel wrapped his arms around my
waist and pressed his head to my back, holding on for dear life.
I sped down the high way without a moment’s hesitation. No one was on the street or walking down the sidewalk. It was quiet and far too eerie. The darkness was starting to draw in, even at noon. The sun wasn’t as bright as it should have been at that time
of day. “Dani! What’s going on!?” I yelled as I drove down the highway.
“They know!” he whispered. “They are looking for us.”
“Reach into my right pocket and get my phone. Text Lillian to get them out of the house and in the car. Tell her to go home now and not to wait for us.” I told him.
I felt him slip his hand into my pocket and pull out my cell phone. He quickly sent the text with on hand and held onto me with the other. “Don’t get me killed!” he yelled into my ear.
“Don’t worry! My friend Eli thought me how to drive one of these bad boys when I was thirteen!” I yelled back.
“How old are you now?” he asked
“Almost seventeen!”
He didn’t reply to me until Lillian had texted back. “She asked what’s going on! Should I tell her we’ll explain later!?”
“Yes. Tell her we’ll meet her at home.”I yelled back as I took a sharp turn.
He sent her a text back and wrapped his arm around my waist again. Daniel’s grip around my waist was tightening as he grew more nervous. “Relax! I can’t breathe!” I yelled
to him.
His arms relaxed but not very much. I pulled into the neighbors drive way and got off the motorcycle. “Come on!” I yelled and ran into the house.
He followed me closely and we started searching the rooms, making sure everyone was gone. “Get the keys from the counter!” I yelled as I ran into basement.
No one was anywhere in the house so I assumed they had all gotten away. Daniel ran into the basement. “No one’s here, but there are two cars in the garage!” he said.
“What? That doesn’t make sense. They should have taken two cars, leaving one in the… Alex and Jake had their car!” I realized.
“So should we take the motorcycle or one of the cars?” he asked.
“The motorcycle is stolen… so I’d say the car.” I said. “But let’s take the SUV so we can fit a motorcycle in it.”
Daniel nodded and ran out to the vehicles. He started putting down the two back seats in the SUV. I ran into my room and grabbed my phone charger, the iPod, and the laptop
me and my six siblings shared. Then I remembered all the money we had saved in
the coffee cans. After gathering the three coffee cans I ran out and put them in
the getaway vehicle.
Daniel and I loaded the motorcycle into the back and tossed in the helmets. We got in the front seats of it and I backed out of the garage. As I drove away from the house
I put on my seat belt and made sure Daniel had his on to. “Where are we going?”
he asked.
“Home.” I told him.
“You mean home as in the place we just left?” he said.
“No, I mean home as in the place I used to live.” I told him.
I drove for three hours then pulled into a gas station. “Why are we here?” he asked
me.
“I’m hungry, thirsty, and we need gas.”I told him as I pulled up by a gas pump.
“I’ll fill the tank. How much do you want?”
“All the way. Do you want a soda and something to eat?”
“I’ll come in when I finish.” he said shooing me away.
I walked over to the fountain sodas and got something filled with caffeine. Quickly I put a lid on it and found the corn dogs. As soon as I had finished getting a corn dog
Daniel walked in and got a bottle of soda and a bag of chips. “Dani! Get a big
bag of those so I can have some.” I said as I looked at the pump number.
He grabbed the bigger bag of chips and we went to the cash register. “Gas on five.” I
said.
The lady nodded and started punching in numbers. “All this together?” she asked looking at the stuff Daniel had out on the counter next to mine.
“Yes, ma’am.” I said pulling out a debit card.
I slide the card in the machine and punched in the pin number. I selected no cash back and we grabbed out stuff and left. “Hurry.” I muttered to Daniel as I climbed in the
driver’s seat of the SUV.
He pushed himself into the passenger seat and put on his seat belt. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“The lady saw the news. She knows we are missing and is going to call the police.” I said
pushing down the gas pedal.
As I drove down the highway I finished eating the corn dog and drank the soda. After a few hours of driving I pulled into a garage. Daniel had fallen asleep in the passenger
seat so I took my phone out and texted my oldest brother, Jake. A few minutes
later Jake and Ohanzee came into the garage. “You made the getaway in this?”
Ohanzee asked.
“No.” I said. “Check the trunk.”
Ohanzee walked to the back of the SUV and opened the trunk. “That’s sick!” he grinned. “It’s kind of like Justin’s!”
Jake undid Daniel’s seatbelt and carried him into the house. Ohanzee and I followed him in and closed the garage door.“How did you get that bike?” he
whispered.
“Daniel knew it was out back and it had the keys in it.” I said with a shrug.
“Wicked.” Ohanzee said with a grin.
We laughed and went into the kitchen. Jake came in a few minutes later. “He’s fast asleep.” he said with a nod to me.
“Stoner!” I said smiling. “It’s been forever since I saw you."
“I saw you yesterday.” he said with a laugh.
I shrugged and opened the refrigerator door. Quickly I grabbed a bottle of water and closed it.
“So is he just asleep or did he pass out of fright?” I
asked.
“He’s asleep.” Jake’s fiancée said walking into the kitchen.
“Hey, Cytheria.” I smiled.
“Hey, Trentifer!” she laughed.
I smiled and tossed her the keys to the SUV. “Why didn’t you take the car?” she
asked.
“We brought something that Justin would like.” I told her.
She nodded and walked back into the room that Jake had taken Daniel to. I followed her with the bottle of water. He was asleep on the king sized bed. There was a chair next to the bed so I sat down in it. Cytheria walked out of them room and closed the
door.
I put my feet on the foot rest and tilted my head back. Slowly I closed my eyes and started running things through my mind. After what seemed like hours I opened my eyes
again and saw Daniel sitting up in the bed. “You okay?” I asked.
He nodded and turned around. “Where are we?” he asked me.
“Home,” I smiled and sighed, “in Orlando.”
“Orlando?” he asked.
I nodded again. “You passed out half way here. I assumed you were pretty tired so I had my oldest brother carry you in. His fiancée has been keeping an eye on you to make sure you weren’t sick.” I smiled at him softly.
He nodded at me and sat up. “So you drove two hundred miles plus while I was asleep?” he asked curiously.
I nodded and
looked out the window. It felt good to be home again. “What are you thinking of
doing now that we got you out of there?”
“I don’t know. Transfer to your school under an alias?” he asked.
“That could work but what about your scars?” I said.
“No one will see them. They are on my arms.” he told me.
I nodded and smiled. “You have a good point. Mom just has to call the school and let them know we are transferring back.”
He looked at me then smiled. “What about your scar?”
I shrugged. “They won’t care. I’m just another normal kid with a scar on his face. Not to abnormal.”
“Really?”
I bit my lip. “No, not really.”
He laughed and got out of the bed.“So we are in Orlando and it’s Sunday.” he said.
“What should we do?” I asked walking into the living room.
“We could go bowling or something.”he said.
“Sure, ask Stoner if he’ll drive you to the alley. I’ll walk to Jake and Alex’s and see if they want to come with us.” I said with a nod.
He followed me into the living room and then he went into the basement. “Stoner?” he asked as I walked down the stairs behind him.
“Yeah, Dani?” Stoner asked turning around.
“Can you give me a ride to the bowling alley? Trent is going to see if Jake and Alex want to come.” he said.
“Sure.” he said getting the keys to the car.
“Thanks.” I said turning and going back up the stairs. “Take my ball with you please!”
“Got it!” Stoner called from behind me on the stairs.
I smiled and jogged out the door and down the street. After about two blocks I walked up to a house painted green. Quickly I rang the doorbell and let myself in. “Jake! Alex! You guys here!?” I called through the house.
“Upstairs!” they called in union.
It was just like them to be in the same room. The only place they went to without the other was the bathroom. They double dated, same sports teams, class council, student council, yearbook, and when Alex got arrested Jake followed by saying he was just as guilty as Alex. Truthfully neither of them were guilty.
I jogged up the steps to the attic, where their game room was. “You want to go bowling with Dani and me?” I asked plopping down in the beanie bag next to Alex.
“Sounds cool.” Jake smiled.
“Yeah, I love bowling!” Alex said.
“Well duh, you’re both on the bowling team.” I laughed.
“Come on then! Let’s go.” Jake said.
Alex pushed himself up out of the beanie bag. I pushed myself up with ease and walked to the steps. “Come on, Jake!” I said to him.
He nodded and pushed himself up and walked towards the door. “Brothers from another mother, first.” he said.
I laughed and walked down the steps and out the front door. “Want to race?” I asked.
“You know you can’t beat me. You never do.” Jake laughed ducking down to avoid hitting his head on the door frame.
“Because you are so freakishly tall…”Alex muttered under his breath.
I laughed and started to run down the sidewalk before Jake could even work out what Alex had said. It was to my advantage Jake was distracted and Alex saw the opportunity as well. He wasn’t far behind me. We both heard the footsteps of his brother right behind us but we were less than a block from the bowling alley.
It took all I had to run faster, I had learned to que my random bursts of speed during track. This time I ran through the door before he managed to run past me, but Jake wasn’t but three seconds behind me. “Track?” he asked panting.
“You know it.” I laughed.
Dani walked towards us from the shoe rental counter. “Did they find us?” he asked looking around quickly.
“No, Dani, we were just racing for fun.” Alex smiled as he took his pulse.
Alex had been born with a heart condition but they didn’t really think it would be a problem until recently. He had been released from jail for being an ideal inmate, along with Jake for the same reason. It hadn’t been but three weeks after words when Alex got in his accident.
He and Jake had been going to an old friend’s grave. They were crossing the road at a crosswalk when a car came speeding over a hill. Alex had stopped to tie his shoe on the sidewalk but Jake kept going, forgetting to make sure there were no cars coming. It was the one time he forgot… and it was bad timing.
Alex had finished tying his shoe and looked up in just enough time to see a car come speeding down the road towards his brother who had frozen in the lane, terrified. Without thinking Alex ran at his brother and pushed him out of the way, getting hit himself.
When I found out what had happened I told my siblings and parents, who called my parents to have us pulled out of school. All of us went to the emergency room and found Alex alive, breathing, and joking as usual. We had made it just in time to hear what the doctor had to say.
“I’m afraid to say that his accident made his heart condition worse. He broke three ribs, that we knew, and he seems to have lost sight in his left eye.” the doctor paused and looked at an x-ray under his paper work. “He also has a broken left arm and right leg.”
“Trent!” someone yelled shaking me gently.
I had passed out on the floor, but not from heat or thirst, but because of the detail in the memory I had missed until that moment. The doctor from the hospital where Alex had been taken to was Dani’s dad.
“Dani, you used to go to school around here.” I said. It wasn’t a question but an accusation. “You know me already and you know Alex.”
“H-How’d you find out?” he asked quietly.
“The doctor who was taking care of Alex when he got hit is your father.” I said looking at him.
He nodded slowly. “He won’t think we’d come back here though. My father doesn’t even care about me enough to wonder where I am. If he did he would have called by now.” he told us.
“Get rid of your phone! He could be tracking that thing!” Jake said in a hushed tone.
Dani looked from me to Alex to Jake and back to me. “Fine.” he said walking to a trashcan and throwing it away.
I looked at Alex and he looked at me curiously. “What was that about?” he whispered.
“Remember when you got hit by a car and went to the emergency room?” I asked.
“No.” he said sarcastically.
“Well that doctor who gave us the results of your tests is Dani’s father. His father was in on the conspiracy theory to keep students in that school that the Stone family sent us to.” I whispered.
His eyes went from confused to angry. “We need to get rid of this kid.” he whispered.
“We can’t. He is just as scarred as we are. Did you know he used to be left handed… before the teacher wacked his hand with a ruler for using it?” I said quietly so no one, not even Dani or Jake could hear.
Alex stared at me for a minute in shock. “She would have done the same to you.” he stated softly.
I nodded lightly and then picked up my bowling bag from a table. “Get geared up.” I told Jake, Dani, and Alex.
By ‘geared up’ they knew I meant their shoes on and bowling ball chosen. It took a few minutes before they were ready and met me at the lanes we had been given. “I got Alex on my team!” I said.
“Then that means it’s you and me Dani.” Jake smiled.
Dani nodded slowly, unsure of how to react. “You know how to bowl league right?” I asked him.
“Yeah, of course.” he said turning red.
“Well if you didn’t I’d tell you to watch us and then find a comfortable position.” Alex smiled. “Take a practice shot real quick while Trent punches in names.”
Dani picked up a ball that looked like it was pulling half his body down. “Dani, that’s way too heavy for you. Try using a light ball.” I said glancing back down to the keys on the board.
I heard him shuffle away and find another one. “Are you sure this kid can bowl?” Jake whispered.
“Does it matter? It’s not like we are in an actual tournament.” Alex said.
“This is just for fun, Jake, not for the prize.” I said.
He nodded and when Dani came back helped him get in a good stance. I heard the ball hit the lane and then seconds later smack into the pins. “He got a strike.” Alex whispered.
“Good job, bud.” Jake smiled.
He nodded to Jake in thanks. “We ready to start the match?” I asked.
The other three nodded and I pressed start game. Up first on the right lane was me and on the left was Jake. “You first, bud.” I grinned.
“Confident?” he asked.
“A little.”
He nodded and took the first approach. Danny stood back and watched carefully. When Jake rolled the ball it went head on into the head pin, leaving him with a seven-ten split. “Good luck with that, bro!” Alex grinned.
Daniel looked confused. “But that’s easy.” he said quietly.
“Seven-ten splits are nearly impossible to get. None of us have ever gotten them.” I told him.
“I could.” he smiled brightly. “All it is, is angels.”
“Well we’ll hold it to you if you get the same split.” Jake said picking up his ball as it came out of the return.
He took up his stance and aimed for the right side of the ten pin. Daniel shook his head before Jake even threw the ball, and he was right. Jake missed the pin completely. “You’re up, Trent.”Alex said elbowing me.
I picked up my ball and bowled my turn, earing myself a nine. Daniel went after me. Low and behold he got the seven-ten split. “Watch and learn.” he grinned, picking up my ball from the return.
It was two pounds heavier than his ball was. He closed his eyes and then looked at the pins. A few seconds turned into a minute and a minute turned into two minutes. “Come on, Danny.” Alex said. “I can’t go until you finish your turn!”
Daniel didn’t make any sign of acknowledgement but I knew he’d heard. He took a deep breath and rolled the ball down the lane. It smacked into the left side of the seven pin and it crashed into the ten pin, knocking it over.
“He was serious! It’s just a game of angels!” Alex whispered to me.
“That’s basketball, nimrod. Bowling is a game of skill and chance.” Jake said.
“No, you are both right. It’s a game of angles, but also of skill and chance.” Daniel said smiling. “I didn’t get that by skill obviously. It was more of angel and chance.”
“First time bowling?” I asked.“That’s hard to believe.”
He shrugged and sat down, watching the rest of us taking out turns. We bowled for a few hours and each time Daniel was in the lead until the tenth frame when I just barely scrapped past him by one point. I knew it wasn’t because of skill or chance or angels but he was getting to cocky and sure of himself to bowl well.
When we finished I went up and paid for the games and their shoes. “Same time tomorrow, Trent?” my friend Elijah asked.
“Nah, but dinner at my place, okay?”I said.
He nodded and smiled. “Is Aly going to be there?” he asked.
I nodded. “Of course she will. Everyone will be.” I told him, handing him an extra sixty dollars.
“What’s this for?” he asked.
“Get yourself some nice clothes to impress her.” I smiled at him.
“I can’t take this.” he said handing it back.
“Yes you can.” I said pushing it back to him.
Alex, Jake, and Daniel came up to the desk and handed him their shoes. “Race ya back.” Daniel said.
“Why so you can beat us there to?”Jake grumbled.
“What’s got his knickers in a twist?” Elijah asked.
“He lost.” I shrugged.
“To you?” he raised his eyebrow.
“And Danny.” I said biting my lip.
He nodded as we ran out the door before he could insist I keep the sixty dollars. We ran all the way back to my house. Jake kept pace behind Alex, Daniel, and myself. “We’ll see you later!”Alex said turning the corner where Daniel and I kept going.
Jake followed his brother and then I heard a scuffle. It wasn’t like them to argue but Daniel insisted it was fine. I stopped and listened for anything that was even less like the brothers. Groaning and hitting, a fight. “Daniel go home and get Stoner and Ohanzee. Tell them I’m at the corner of Oak and Washington.” I told him and turned around.
I sprinted down the street and then turned the corner. “Alex!? Jake!?” I called.
I head a whistle and grunt then people running. “Trent! Help!” Jake yelled. “Call the police!”
I pulled out my cell phone and dialed the police. “What happened?” I asked.
“The Runners!” Jake said bending over his brother. “They got us!”
I told the police what had happened and where we were. They sent an ambulance to our location and a police car to my house, to their house, and to pursue the gang members. When the ambulance arrived they loaded Alex into the back and closed the doors. “When the police come to the hospital they are going to need to ask you a few questions.” one of the medics said.
“Please, dude, give him some space.” another voice said with a pause. “Who are you anyway?”
There was a hand holding onto mine. I could hear the faint sound of someone speaking and it sounded like a prayer. It was all too confusing to take in at the time so I ended up falling asleep before the first voice answered.
When I woke up again I didn’t open my eyes; I just simply listened. There was a television on somewhere nearby. The two voices had stopped talking and my hand was cold. Slowly I opened one eye and saw a blur of a figure. I blinked and the blur started clearing up. “What are you doing here?” I whispered.
“I heard that you got hurt and I wanted to make sure you were okay.” it replied.
“What happened?” I asked.
“You hit your heard on the corner of a counter and split your head open. The Stoner family brought you here as soon as they could. Don’t move around too much. You still look a little ditsy.” the figure told me.
“Dani, I got you a water.” someone said walking in.
“He woke up.” Dani said nodding at me.
“Trent! Oh my gosh you had us so worried!” Lillian said walking over to me.
“Hey, sis.” I said lightly.
“Sis?” she smiled. “How hard did you hit your head?”
“I don’t know. That’s a good question.” I laughed with her.
She kissed my cheek and said, “The others are asleep. They haven’t slept in three days.”
I looked at her. “Why aren’t you asleep then?” I asked.
“I slept all day yesterday.” she told me.
“How long was I out?”
“About a week.”
“Who told him?”
“No one. He showed up the other day and started talking to one of the doctors about new patients and your name got mentioned.”
I looked at him for an explanation. “The doctor is my father.” he said quietly.
“And you still have to go to that hell hole of a school?” I asked.
“Yeah, it sucks.” he smiled.
I sat up and looked around. “That was a nice nap.” I said and stretched.
“You have got to be kidding! Trent, lay down right now.” Lillian said strictly.
“I’m fine, Lillian. Really, I am.” I told her standing up.
“Maybe Lillian is right, Trent. You should lie down.” Daniel said as he watched me stumble to the door.
I shook my head and walked out of the room. “What do you think you are doing?” a new voice asked.
“I was going to get a drink.” I lied.
“Get back in there and lay down like you were told.” it said.
I turned and Alex and Jake standing there. “I knew it was you all along, Jake.” I said.
“But it wasn’t. It was Alex.” he laughed.
I punched Alex’s arm and walked back into the hospital room I had emerged from. “What changed your mind?” Lillian asked.
Alex and Jake walked in behind me and she squealed with excitement. “You came!” she said hugging the twins.
“Of course we did! He came when I was in the hospital.” Alex said.
“So it’s only fitting we came while he was in the hospital.” Jake said.
Daniel was looking at the floor and rubbing his arm. “Who’s the kid?” Alex asked quietly.
“His name is Daniel. He goes to the same school as me. He’s been explaining some weird… practices our teacher has.” I said.
“Meaning?” he asked.
“We can’t write with our left hand. We aren’t allowed to go to one another’s houses.” I told him. “Isn’t it strange? They tell us exactly to opposite back home. It’s okay to write with our left hand and it’s perfectly normal to hang out at someone’s house.”
Jake sat next to Daniel and said, “The name is Jake. I’m a friend of Trent’s.”
“Friend is forbidden.” Daniel said quickly. “Do not use that word here. You will be taken out of the equation of mankind permanently if she hears you.”
“What’s your name, kid?” Alex asked ignoring the odd statement.
“Daniel.” he said.
“Is there something wrong with your arm?” he asked Daniel.
Daniel shook his head while Alex forcefully lifted the sleeve. “What happened?” he asked touching the burn mark.
“Fire. Big fire. Teacher was mad at me and set my home on fire. It is how she punishes us.” he told him.
“Trent, you have to get out of here. You have to come home with us.” Jake said, concerned.
That was my opportunity. It was my way home, where I knew people. I wanted to go so badly I would have run all the way there with Jake and Alex at that very moment. “Go. You need to get out whilst you still can.” Daniel said standing.
It must have been a sign. There had to be a reason for him to say that. All he had needed to say was to go. I looked at him and shook my head. “No. I am not leaving unless you come with me. You don’t deserve to be treated like so.” I told him.
“Get out of here!” he yelled.
Lillian stepped between us. She knew there was a fight brewing. “I can’t leave unless you come, Daniel. That’s the reason I came. I know it is! Fate has a way of working out and I know it was fate I brought here today.” I said softly.
He closed his eyes and said three words, “Death will come.”
Jake tugged on my arm. “Now would be a good time to run.” he said.
I walked back to the bed and lay down. “No. I am not leaving.” I told him.
“Just last week you were begging mom and dad to go home. Now you want to stay?” Lillian asked.
“Exactly.” I said.
I didn’t listen to their begging and pleading for me to leave. I stayed right where I was, on the bed and talked to Daniel in a soft voice. He looked like nothing had happened and like he didn’t remember the last five minutes of the conversation. All I could do was ignore the eerie feeling.
‘Death will come.’ What did that mean? Was someone going to die? Would it be me? Was I supposed to have died in the house fire? Should I have been dead after hitting my head off the corner of the counter? Should I have taken my chance and left with Jake and Alex? Was that teacher the answer to the problems or was she out to get me? There were so many questions running through my mind it was a wonder how I hadn’t said any of them aloud.
Jake and Alex seemed to being plotting a way to get me to go home, though they knew it wouldn’t work. “Lillian, out of curiosity how long have the others been sleeping?” I asked.
“A few hours.” she said shrugging.
“Maybe you should go home and let them know I woke up.” I suggested.
“I can’t drive. I’m only fifteen.” she said.
“Alex and Jake will take you.” I said.
“We will?” Jake asked.
“We will.” Alex said elbowing him.
“Right! We will.” Jake grinned.
“Okay, well lets go.” she said shooing them out of the room.
Daniel watched
them leave then looked at me. “You should have gone with them.” he
said.
“Why? Is there a reason you are so scared?” I asked him.
“The teacher will kill you if you go against her. I was supposed to die in the house fire.” he said looking around.
“Then why don’t you come with me?” I said.
“Death will come.” he repeated.
“If you come with me?”
“Even if I don’t. Death will come, it is inevitable.”
He avoided eye contact with me like he was hiding something. Daniel knew something and he couldn’t tell me. “Are you okay?” I asked him softly.
He shook his head. “No.” he whispered.
I got up and sat next to him. Gently I touched his hand. “Tell me.” I whispered back.
“She… she doesn’t like you.” he said looking at me. “Wants you dead.”
My eyes widened. “She… wants me dead?” I whispered.
He nodded slowly. “I don’t want you dead, Trent. You’re the first person to care.” he said glancing around nervously. “Like a friend.”
“Please, come with me. For your protection.” I urged him.
He looked around. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“It’s too late for me.”
I looked at him. “What do you mean?”
“My family has their heels dug in here, they won’t leave.”
“Well then we’ll take you and if they love you they’ll follow you.”
“That’d be worse. If they follow me, she’ll follow me.”
“Then we won’t let them follow.” I whispered.
I knew I had to knock sense into that kid’s head and I had to do it fast. Quickly I slapped him across the face. His expression changed. It had always been a blank stare but now it was an expression of pain and confusion. “We have to go!” I whispered
furiously.
He nodded and grabbed my hand. “Come on, there’s a car out back.” he said and pulled me from the room.
I followed him closely and looked around. The rooms were basically filled with patients who had burn marks somewhere on their body. Compared to me though, some of them were lucky. Some of them wouldn’t have permanent scars like I did. The lucky ones
were alive but there were a few who had died, I knew that by the look of pain
and sorrow in their eyes as we passed their rooms.
He turned down a hall and pushed open an emergency exit. “Be quiet and don’t make a sound.” he told me.
I nodded and followed him to a vehicle.“Please tell me you know how to drive motorcycles.” he whispered looking at me.
I nodded to him and threw my leg over the seat. Quickly I handed him a helmet and grabbed my own. As soon as he was on behind me and I had the helmet on, I started the
motorcycle and the engine roared to life. Daniel wrapped his arms around my
waist and pressed his head to my back, holding on for dear life.
I sped down the high way without a moment’s hesitation. No one was on the street or walking down the sidewalk. It was quiet and far too eerie. The darkness was starting to draw in, even at noon. The sun wasn’t as bright as it should have been at that time
of day. “Dani! What’s going on!?” I yelled as I drove down the highway.
“They know!” he whispered. “They are looking for us.”
“Reach into my right pocket and get my phone. Text Lillian to get them out of the house and in the car. Tell her to go home now and not to wait for us.” I told him.
I felt him slip his hand into my pocket and pull out my cell phone. He quickly sent the text with on hand and held onto me with the other. “Don’t get me killed!” he yelled into my ear.
“Don’t worry! My friend Eli thought me how to drive one of these bad boys when I was thirteen!” I yelled back.
“How old are you now?” he asked
“Almost seventeen!”
He didn’t reply to me until Lillian had texted back. “She asked what’s going on! Should I tell her we’ll explain later!?”
“Yes. Tell her we’ll meet her at home.”I yelled back as I took a sharp turn.
He sent her a text back and wrapped his arm around my waist again. Daniel’s grip around my waist was tightening as he grew more nervous. “Relax! I can’t breathe!” I yelled
to him.
His arms relaxed but not very much. I pulled into the neighbors drive way and got off the motorcycle. “Come on!” I yelled and ran into the house.
He followed me closely and we started searching the rooms, making sure everyone was gone. “Get the keys from the counter!” I yelled as I ran into basement.
No one was anywhere in the house so I assumed they had all gotten away. Daniel ran into the basement. “No one’s here, but there are two cars in the garage!” he said.
“What? That doesn’t make sense. They should have taken two cars, leaving one in the… Alex and Jake had their car!” I realized.
“So should we take the motorcycle or one of the cars?” he asked.
“The motorcycle is stolen… so I’d say the car.” I said. “But let’s take the SUV so we can fit a motorcycle in it.”
Daniel nodded and ran out to the vehicles. He started putting down the two back seats in the SUV. I ran into my room and grabbed my phone charger, the iPod, and the laptop
me and my six siblings shared. Then I remembered all the money we had saved in
the coffee cans. After gathering the three coffee cans I ran out and put them in
the getaway vehicle.
Daniel and I loaded the motorcycle into the back and tossed in the helmets. We got in the front seats of it and I backed out of the garage. As I drove away from the house
I put on my seat belt and made sure Daniel had his on to. “Where are we going?”
he asked.
“Home.” I told him.
“You mean home as in the place we just left?” he said.
“No, I mean home as in the place I used to live.” I told him.
I drove for three hours then pulled into a gas station. “Why are we here?” he asked
me.
“I’m hungry, thirsty, and we need gas.”I told him as I pulled up by a gas pump.
“I’ll fill the tank. How much do you want?”
“All the way. Do you want a soda and something to eat?”
“I’ll come in when I finish.” he said shooing me away.
I walked over to the fountain sodas and got something filled with caffeine. Quickly I put a lid on it and found the corn dogs. As soon as I had finished getting a corn dog
Daniel walked in and got a bottle of soda and a bag of chips. “Dani! Get a big
bag of those so I can have some.” I said as I looked at the pump number.
He grabbed the bigger bag of chips and we went to the cash register. “Gas on five.” I
said.
The lady nodded and started punching in numbers. “All this together?” she asked looking at the stuff Daniel had out on the counter next to mine.
“Yes, ma’am.” I said pulling out a debit card.
I slide the card in the machine and punched in the pin number. I selected no cash back and we grabbed out stuff and left. “Hurry.” I muttered to Daniel as I climbed in the
driver’s seat of the SUV.
He pushed himself into the passenger seat and put on his seat belt. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“The lady saw the news. She knows we are missing and is going to call the police.” I said
pushing down the gas pedal.
As I drove down the highway I finished eating the corn dog and drank the soda. After a few hours of driving I pulled into a garage. Daniel had fallen asleep in the passenger
seat so I took my phone out and texted my oldest brother, Jake. A few minutes
later Jake and Ohanzee came into the garage. “You made the getaway in this?”
Ohanzee asked.
“No.” I said. “Check the trunk.”
Ohanzee walked to the back of the SUV and opened the trunk. “That’s sick!” he grinned. “It’s kind of like Justin’s!”
Jake undid Daniel’s seatbelt and carried him into the house. Ohanzee and I followed him in and closed the garage door.“How did you get that bike?” he
whispered.
“Daniel knew it was out back and it had the keys in it.” I said with a shrug.
“Wicked.” Ohanzee said with a grin.
We laughed and went into the kitchen. Jake came in a few minutes later. “He’s fast asleep.” he said with a nod to me.
“Stoner!” I said smiling. “It’s been forever since I saw you."
“I saw you yesterday.” he said with a laugh.
I shrugged and opened the refrigerator door. Quickly I grabbed a bottle of water and closed it.
“So is he just asleep or did he pass out of fright?” I
asked.
“He’s asleep.” Jake’s fiancée said walking into the kitchen.
“Hey, Cytheria.” I smiled.
“Hey, Trentifer!” she laughed.
I smiled and tossed her the keys to the SUV. “Why didn’t you take the car?” she
asked.
“We brought something that Justin would like.” I told her.
She nodded and walked back into the room that Jake had taken Daniel to. I followed her with the bottle of water. He was asleep on the king sized bed. There was a chair next to the bed so I sat down in it. Cytheria walked out of them room and closed the
door.
I put my feet on the foot rest and tilted my head back. Slowly I closed my eyes and started running things through my mind. After what seemed like hours I opened my eyes
again and saw Daniel sitting up in the bed. “You okay?” I asked.
He nodded and turned around. “Where are we?” he asked me.
“Home,” I smiled and sighed, “in Orlando.”
“Orlando?” he asked.
I nodded again. “You passed out half way here. I assumed you were pretty tired so I had my oldest brother carry you in. His fiancée has been keeping an eye on you to make sure you weren’t sick.” I smiled at him softly.
He nodded at me and sat up. “So you drove two hundred miles plus while I was asleep?” he asked curiously.
I nodded and
looked out the window. It felt good to be home again. “What are you thinking of
doing now that we got you out of there?”
“I don’t know. Transfer to your school under an alias?” he asked.
“That could work but what about your scars?” I said.
“No one will see them. They are on my arms.” he told me.
I nodded and smiled. “You have a good point. Mom just has to call the school and let them know we are transferring back.”
He looked at me then smiled. “What about your scar?”
I shrugged. “They won’t care. I’m just another normal kid with a scar on his face. Not to abnormal.”
“Really?”
I bit my lip. “No, not really.”
He laughed and got out of the bed.“So we are in Orlando and it’s Sunday.” he said.
“What should we do?” I asked walking into the living room.
“We could go bowling or something.”he said.
“Sure, ask Stoner if he’ll drive you to the alley. I’ll walk to Jake and Alex’s and see if they want to come with us.” I said with a nod.
He followed me into the living room and then he went into the basement. “Stoner?” he asked as I walked down the stairs behind him.
“Yeah, Dani?” Stoner asked turning around.
“Can you give me a ride to the bowling alley? Trent is going to see if Jake and Alex want to come.” he said.
“Sure.” he said getting the keys to the car.
“Thanks.” I said turning and going back up the stairs. “Take my ball with you please!”
“Got it!” Stoner called from behind me on the stairs.
I smiled and jogged out the door and down the street. After about two blocks I walked up to a house painted green. Quickly I rang the doorbell and let myself in. “Jake! Alex! You guys here!?” I called through the house.
“Upstairs!” they called in union.
It was just like them to be in the same room. The only place they went to without the other was the bathroom. They double dated, same sports teams, class council, student council, yearbook, and when Alex got arrested Jake followed by saying he was just as guilty as Alex. Truthfully neither of them were guilty.
I jogged up the steps to the attic, where their game room was. “You want to go bowling with Dani and me?” I asked plopping down in the beanie bag next to Alex.
“Sounds cool.” Jake smiled.
“Yeah, I love bowling!” Alex said.
“Well duh, you’re both on the bowling team.” I laughed.
“Come on then! Let’s go.” Jake said.
Alex pushed himself up out of the beanie bag. I pushed myself up with ease and walked to the steps. “Come on, Jake!” I said to him.
He nodded and pushed himself up and walked towards the door. “Brothers from another mother, first.” he said.
I laughed and walked down the steps and out the front door. “Want to race?” I asked.
“You know you can’t beat me. You never do.” Jake laughed ducking down to avoid hitting his head on the door frame.
“Because you are so freakishly tall…”Alex muttered under his breath.
I laughed and started to run down the sidewalk before Jake could even work out what Alex had said. It was to my advantage Jake was distracted and Alex saw the opportunity as well. He wasn’t far behind me. We both heard the footsteps of his brother right behind us but we were less than a block from the bowling alley.
It took all I had to run faster, I had learned to que my random bursts of speed during track. This time I ran through the door before he managed to run past me, but Jake wasn’t but three seconds behind me. “Track?” he asked panting.
“You know it.” I laughed.
Dani walked towards us from the shoe rental counter. “Did they find us?” he asked looking around quickly.
“No, Dani, we were just racing for fun.” Alex smiled as he took his pulse.
Alex had been born with a heart condition but they didn’t really think it would be a problem until recently. He had been released from jail for being an ideal inmate, along with Jake for the same reason. It hadn’t been but three weeks after words when Alex got in his accident.
He and Jake had been going to an old friend’s grave. They were crossing the road at a crosswalk when a car came speeding over a hill. Alex had stopped to tie his shoe on the sidewalk but Jake kept going, forgetting to make sure there were no cars coming. It was the one time he forgot… and it was bad timing.
Alex had finished tying his shoe and looked up in just enough time to see a car come speeding down the road towards his brother who had frozen in the lane, terrified. Without thinking Alex ran at his brother and pushed him out of the way, getting hit himself.
When I found out what had happened I told my siblings and parents, who called my parents to have us pulled out of school. All of us went to the emergency room and found Alex alive, breathing, and joking as usual. We had made it just in time to hear what the doctor had to say.
“I’m afraid to say that his accident made his heart condition worse. He broke three ribs, that we knew, and he seems to have lost sight in his left eye.” the doctor paused and looked at an x-ray under his paper work. “He also has a broken left arm and right leg.”
“Trent!” someone yelled shaking me gently.
I had passed out on the floor, but not from heat or thirst, but because of the detail in the memory I had missed until that moment. The doctor from the hospital where Alex had been taken to was Dani’s dad.
“Dani, you used to go to school around here.” I said. It wasn’t a question but an accusation. “You know me already and you know Alex.”
“H-How’d you find out?” he asked quietly.
“The doctor who was taking care of Alex when he got hit is your father.” I said looking at him.
He nodded slowly. “He won’t think we’d come back here though. My father doesn’t even care about me enough to wonder where I am. If he did he would have called by now.” he told us.
“Get rid of your phone! He could be tracking that thing!” Jake said in a hushed tone.
Dani looked from me to Alex to Jake and back to me. “Fine.” he said walking to a trashcan and throwing it away.
I looked at Alex and he looked at me curiously. “What was that about?” he whispered.
“Remember when you got hit by a car and went to the emergency room?” I asked.
“No.” he said sarcastically.
“Well that doctor who gave us the results of your tests is Dani’s father. His father was in on the conspiracy theory to keep students in that school that the Stone family sent us to.” I whispered.
His eyes went from confused to angry. “We need to get rid of this kid.” he whispered.
“We can’t. He is just as scarred as we are. Did you know he used to be left handed… before the teacher wacked his hand with a ruler for using it?” I said quietly so no one, not even Dani or Jake could hear.
Alex stared at me for a minute in shock. “She would have done the same to you.” he stated softly.
I nodded lightly and then picked up my bowling bag from a table. “Get geared up.” I told Jake, Dani, and Alex.
By ‘geared up’ they knew I meant their shoes on and bowling ball chosen. It took a few minutes before they were ready and met me at the lanes we had been given. “I got Alex on my team!” I said.
“Then that means it’s you and me Dani.” Jake smiled.
Dani nodded slowly, unsure of how to react. “You know how to bowl league right?” I asked him.
“Yeah, of course.” he said turning red.
“Well if you didn’t I’d tell you to watch us and then find a comfortable position.” Alex smiled. “Take a practice shot real quick while Trent punches in names.”
Dani picked up a ball that looked like it was pulling half his body down. “Dani, that’s way too heavy for you. Try using a light ball.” I said glancing back down to the keys on the board.
I heard him shuffle away and find another one. “Are you sure this kid can bowl?” Jake whispered.
“Does it matter? It’s not like we are in an actual tournament.” Alex said.
“This is just for fun, Jake, not for the prize.” I said.
He nodded and when Dani came back helped him get in a good stance. I heard the ball hit the lane and then seconds later smack into the pins. “He got a strike.” Alex whispered.
“Good job, bud.” Jake smiled.
He nodded to Jake in thanks. “We ready to start the match?” I asked.
The other three nodded and I pressed start game. Up first on the right lane was me and on the left was Jake. “You first, bud.” I grinned.
“Confident?” he asked.
“A little.”
He nodded and took the first approach. Danny stood back and watched carefully. When Jake rolled the ball it went head on into the head pin, leaving him with a seven-ten split. “Good luck with that, bro!” Alex grinned.
Daniel looked confused. “But that’s easy.” he said quietly.
“Seven-ten splits are nearly impossible to get. None of us have ever gotten them.” I told him.
“I could.” he smiled brightly. “All it is, is angels.”
“Well we’ll hold it to you if you get the same split.” Jake said picking up his ball as it came out of the return.
He took up his stance and aimed for the right side of the ten pin. Daniel shook his head before Jake even threw the ball, and he was right. Jake missed the pin completely. “You’re up, Trent.”Alex said elbowing me.
I picked up my ball and bowled my turn, earing myself a nine. Daniel went after me. Low and behold he got the seven-ten split. “Watch and learn.” he grinned, picking up my ball from the return.
It was two pounds heavier than his ball was. He closed his eyes and then looked at the pins. A few seconds turned into a minute and a minute turned into two minutes. “Come on, Danny.” Alex said. “I can’t go until you finish your turn!”
Daniel didn’t make any sign of acknowledgement but I knew he’d heard. He took a deep breath and rolled the ball down the lane. It smacked into the left side of the seven pin and it crashed into the ten pin, knocking it over.
“He was serious! It’s just a game of angels!” Alex whispered to me.
“That’s basketball, nimrod. Bowling is a game of skill and chance.” Jake said.
“No, you are both right. It’s a game of angles, but also of skill and chance.” Daniel said smiling. “I didn’t get that by skill obviously. It was more of angel and chance.”
“First time bowling?” I asked.“That’s hard to believe.”
He shrugged and sat down, watching the rest of us taking out turns. We bowled for a few hours and each time Daniel was in the lead until the tenth frame when I just barely scrapped past him by one point. I knew it wasn’t because of skill or chance or angels but he was getting to cocky and sure of himself to bowl well.
When we finished I went up and paid for the games and their shoes. “Same time tomorrow, Trent?” my friend Elijah asked.
“Nah, but dinner at my place, okay?”I said.
He nodded and smiled. “Is Aly going to be there?” he asked.
I nodded. “Of course she will. Everyone will be.” I told him, handing him an extra sixty dollars.
“What’s this for?” he asked.
“Get yourself some nice clothes to impress her.” I smiled at him.
“I can’t take this.” he said handing it back.
“Yes you can.” I said pushing it back to him.
Alex, Jake, and Daniel came up to the desk and handed him their shoes. “Race ya back.” Daniel said.
“Why so you can beat us there to?”Jake grumbled.
“What’s got his knickers in a twist?” Elijah asked.
“He lost.” I shrugged.
“To you?” he raised his eyebrow.
“And Danny.” I said biting my lip.
He nodded as we ran out the door before he could insist I keep the sixty dollars. We ran all the way back to my house. Jake kept pace behind Alex, Daniel, and myself. “We’ll see you later!”Alex said turning the corner where Daniel and I kept going.
Jake followed his brother and then I heard a scuffle. It wasn’t like them to argue but Daniel insisted it was fine. I stopped and listened for anything that was even less like the brothers. Groaning and hitting, a fight. “Daniel go home and get Stoner and Ohanzee. Tell them I’m at the corner of Oak and Washington.” I told him and turned around.
I sprinted down the street and then turned the corner. “Alex!? Jake!?” I called.
I head a whistle and grunt then people running. “Trent! Help!” Jake yelled. “Call the police!”
I pulled out my cell phone and dialed the police. “What happened?” I asked.
“The Runners!” Jake said bending over his brother. “They got us!”
I told the police what had happened and where we were. They sent an ambulance to our location and a police car to my house, to their house, and to pursue the gang members. When the ambulance arrived they loaded Alex into the back and closed the doors. “When the police come to the hospital they are going to need to ask you a few questions.” one of the medics said.