*Begin author's note*

Salutations! It's the author, the awesome and dashing Ash-dash! Well, yeah, I guess I'm not DASHING but it worked with my username which also makes no sense.

I apologize in advance for this story. It's my first one, and it turned out way different than I expected. I know, it seems cheesy and it makes no sense, but give it a chance? Please? Please review (nicely) and give me any advice that you have!

Weeeeeelll, talk to you later I guess?

*End author's note*

Chapter One: Sorry, we don't play dodgeball with witches

I never expected my day to end the way it did. It started out as an innocent Tuesday morning, with no crazy plans or after school activities. I had planned to go home from school and draw the illustration on the fifth page on my lame and boring diary. I was going to get in bed early and read and cuddle my cat Cheddar (don't ask, I was five when I named him) until I fell asleep.

That didn't happen. Not even close.

The trouble started the last period of school, which is my physical education class. I've never been a very "physical education" person. You can tell when you see me, a fourteen year old girl who is of the average height, average build, with light brown hair and little green glasses. I had hoped for an easy class today so I could work on getting extra credit, because I was failing terribly due to my lethargic movements and the fact that I run from the ball or the person holding it.

The teacher, Mrs. Wilder, told us to go change and that we were going to play dodge ball today. I was excited and scared at the same time; dodge ball was the only thing I was good at in PE because it involves running away in fear and I am great at that.

Which is all beside the point. I get sidetracked a lot. Back to the story…. The trouble started when I came back to the gym from the locker rooms, fully changed into my shorts and t-shirt. We had a new student, who was for some unknown reason being introduced to us at the end of the day. He was a guy and the girls had one half of the gym and the guys the other, so I didn't really pay much attention to him at first, so I didn't catch his name. Class resumed and we started playing dodgeball. On the girls side, things went quickly because I was in the same group as what appeared to be the entire female softball team. The other team never stood a chance. Well, maybe a small one, because I have the throwing power of an ant. But I could easily dodge all of the balls the other team chucked. I heard a yell behind me,

"NOW FOR THE FACE OFF!" Mrs. Wilder yelled.

Oh dear, I thought, boys against girls now.

The two teams of girls mixed together and formed a huddle. A girl named Annie said,

"We have to beat them. But the new guy is really good!"

"What's his name?" inquired my friend Molly, a thin and mousy girl with brown hair.

"Uh… Ben?" a girl named Laura said.

"Yeah that's it," agreed Annie, and then she said,

"LET"S DO THIS!"

She only got a couple of halfhearted claps, and a quiet, "Go team!" from Molly.

We resumed battle stations. I picked out the new boy from the crowd of the "enemy" on the opposite side of the gymnasium. Ben had dark brown hair, which was not too long, and he was an inch or two taller than the rest of the boys. He was wearing all black and looked mildly gothic. He turned his head to find me observing him. I didn't know what else to do, so I waved at him. Did he just wink at me? It was hard to tell from the distance, but I blushed, and turned bright red, anyway.

The dodge ball war began, with heavy casualties on each side. Ben could throw, but he wasn't much of a dodger. I was the opposite. Eventually it became a truce with just me and him left, Ben picking up balls and throwing them at me, barely missing, and me running away, squealing. Soon there were no dodge balls left on his side, and it was absolutely against the rules to cross the line, so I picked up a ball and walked towards him, trying to look menacing. It must have worked, because he backed up against the wall, and I laughed at his fright. I missed the first time, but I threw it hard enough so that it bounced off the wall straight back to me. I picked it up again, but then I noticed that he wasn't looking at me. Ben was staring behind me, then he looked to his left and his right. I followed his gaze.

We were completely alone in the gym. No one was there. How on earth did that happen?

Ben walked up to me, crossing the line. "Where did they go?"

"I don't know," I replied.

The doors to the gym opened, and a very confused- looking Molly ran out, along with her friend Albert. They were both panting for breath, and Molly was holding an icepack to her hand. Her hand had gotten smashed into the wall by a rogue dodge ball, and she had reluctantly allowed Albert to take her to the nurse after it had turned purple.

Molly started wheezing, and making weird sounds like she was trying to speak. Albert grabbed me and Ben's arms and dragged us into the boys locker room, with Molly following us closely.

"What is happening?" I asked Molly, who seemed to be the one with the most energy to speak, even though she was sitting on the floor.

"Lock… both doors.." she gasped, clutching her side.

Ben complied, giving the exhausted couple a weird look.

Albert slid down the wall beside Molly and said, slowly regaining his breath "We went over to get her hand taken care of, but the nurse wasn't there so we borrowed an icepack. And on the way back, we saw our entire school on the sidewalk, and they looked really weird."

"Okay, they looked weird. Why on Earth did you sprint back to us and lock us in the locker room?" Ben asked, crossing his arms.

"We asked a little sixth grader why they were outside, and she said, 'we are going to start over' and wouldn't answer any more questions. The whole school sat down as one and started singing this song," Molly said, clutching her head with both hands.

"I can't get it out of my head," Albert said, smacking the side of his skull.

"Me neither," Molly said.

"What song was it?" I asked.

"It went like this," Molly said, then she counted down for her and Albert to sing it at the same time,

The moon rises over a starry night

A starry night, filled with a light

A light that's cold, dark. and grim

Albert stopped, but Molly continued, a glazed look in her eyes.

Dark and grim, they pay for their sin.

Their sin will show, all will follow

All will follow, with heart turned hollow.

She had a lovely voice, but the words made goose bumps show on my skin.

"Stop singing," I commanded her.

Her voice drifted down to a low hum as she repeated the song.

Ben stepped up beside her and slapped her on the face, not too hard.

"HEY!" Albert and I said, the former rising up with a fist held high to punch Ben.

Molly shook her head, distracting Albert. She looked around confusedly.

"What just happened?" she said.

"It was magic. Black magic." Ben said.

"What are you talking about? That doesn't exist!" Albert retorted.

Molly and I just sat there, with me trying to read her face.

"The school has been taken over by a witch. An evil one- good ones don't exist. I'm not sure why we were spared… but it's beyond my control," Ben said.

"Gracie? Are you hearing this loon?" Albert asked, turning to face me.

"Loud and clear." I said.

"We need to leave. To get to my house and find a way to reverse the spell," Ben told us.

"The song was a spell?" I said.

"Yes," Ben muttered quietly, "and it's been quiet outside for too long."

Loud hammering noises echoed around the locker room as the bewitched mob tried to break in the door.

"We don't have long to get ready," Ben said, "We need to block the doors so we have more time."

Albert had paled as soon as he heard the noise of the mob, and he helped Molly up as we all moved the benches to barricade the doors.

Albert and Ben searched through the clothes to grab anything they could find us to protect ourselves and to get to Ben's house safely while I treated Molly's hand, laying paper towels on the icepack and using someone's old white t-shirt to tie it to make a makeshift glove to hold it on her hand.

I was dabbing my face with a wet paper towel, and Molly was retying her shoe, when Ben and Albert stopped their search of the bags. They walked over to us, holding four small backpacks. They handed us each one and Ben said,

"These have some clothes, a Gatorade each, and a snack. Grab something to protect yourself when we run out the back door."

I looked around the room, and took off the rod holding the shower curtain, while Molly grabbed a long metal hook from a book bag hanging rack. Albert was holding a pair of scissors and Ben a pocketknife he must've already had.

"So, is that the plan? Run outside and then what?"

Ben smiled and pulled something out of his pocket: a pair of keys.

"We borrow a Mule."

*Begin author's note*

So, like it? Not really? I know it's bad. It seems a bit lame. I mean, just a tad. [sarcasm} I kind of thought of the song really quickly and just made it rhyme like that for the creepy effect. Even though it made no sense.

I know this story has its flaws. But give it a chance.

And if you don't know, a Mule is sort of like a golf cart. If you don't know what a golf cart is, then you need to get out more. Anywhoooooo I'm trying to add a tinge of suspense when I say:

WHO is the witch?

WHAT is going to happen next?

WHEN will there be any real good qualities to this story?

WHY is the witch taking over the school? It's seemingly pointless!

HOW does Ben know what is going on? What deep, dark secrets is he hiding?

These are good questions to ponder, and all of them shall be addressed (except perhaps the WHEN)...

soon.

Whoa. Look at the screen… the 'WHO' through the 'soon' looks like a Christmas tree.

Do you see it? Oh well…

Ciao for now, my unnamed and most likely nonexistent readers!

Oh and PS: please review! NICELY!

*End author's note*