Chapter Two

I woke up shivering, a fine sweat on my forehead. The sun was just over the horizon as I glanced at my clock. I moaned and rolled out of bed. Still groggy, I stepped into my shower across the hall and let the warm water calm my tense muscles. I didn’t understand why I felt so miserable. Maybe I’d just had a bad nightmare, and I couldn’t remember it anymore. After I washed my hair, I twisted the nozzles and stepped out into the cool air of the bathroom. I dried my hair and pulled on a pair of jeans and an old white blouse before sprinting down the stairs for breakfast.

My mom was sitting at the table reading the newspaper with her coffee and breakfast. She lifted her head as she heard me descending the stairs. “Morning honey,” she mumbled through a mouthful of toasted bagel.

“Hey mom,” I replied. “Do you have to work today?”

“Yeah. I’ll be back around six.”

I acknowledged this with a nod and poured myself some cheerios. This was usually how far our conversations got. My mom and I don’t get along very well; she’s usually working, and I’m pretty much left to fend for myself. It’s not her fault though; my dad left when I was a baby, so she had to get a job to support us. She works as a receptionist at the hotel down the street, and has long shifts and a bad salary. But at least it pays our bills every month.

She sighed and stood up, folding the paper. “I should go now,” she said, shouldering her purse. “I’ll see you later on tonight.”

I paused to wonder as she walked out the door what type of woman my mom would be if her life weren’t so hard. Happier, I guess.

I quickly finished my breakfast and got ready for another dreary day of school. It was raining as I stepped out into the cool spring morning. I pulled the hood of my windbreaker up and shouldered my bag before starting a hurried walk towards the bus stop at the end of the street, hunching my shoulders against the chill of the wind. I glanced up in envy as a group of kids drove by in a flashy sports car, dry and warm. I joined the shivering group at the bus stop, all waiting impatiently for the bus to come. They barely noticed my arrival; I’ve never been very social, but since my little episode the previous week, I’d become even more withdrawn. I felt stressed and run down, even though I had no reason to be. These feelings puzzled me, and even though I tried my best to suppress them, I couldn’t avoid them. The last week or so felt blurred and confused; I felt like I was walking in an impenetrable haze, and could only look in on the rest of the world.

The bus screeched to a halt in front of us, and I hurried to sit down beside Claire.

“Hey, what’s up?” she said, tugging her headphones out of her ears. I shrugged. “Not much. I finished our history project. I’ll give it to you at lunch.”

“Great” she replied. “Did you bring the rubric too?”

Crud. I smacked my forehead. “I’m so sorry Claire! I totally forgot.”

“Knew you would,” she said. “so I printed off an extra from Mr. Kilburn’s homework site and brought it.”

“Well, at least one of us is still functioning properly!” I said.

“Is something wrong, Kate?’ she asked. “You don’t seem yourself lately.”

“What do you mean?” I asked defensively.

“I don’t know. You just don’t seem to put a lot of effort into anything anymore. Most of the time you just stare of into space, and it’s honestly starting to scare me.”

I frowned and thought carefully before framing a response. How do you tell your best friend that you’re feeling other peoples emotions? That it is driving you crazy, and that you don’t understand it all?

Solution: You don’t.

“I guess it’s just that my mom has been working more shifts than usual,” I lied.

She cocked her head at me and squinted.

“Fine. Don’t tell me then,” she muttered. I sighed. I guess I answered to fast.

The bus suddenly braked, and I could feel it spinning wildly out of control. I jerked forward, stunned, unable to even shelter myself from the flying shards of glass. I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head, and an overwhelming sense of panic and fear as it spread through the bus.

Everything went black.