Writers support discussion

I wouldnt mind posting a chapter or two of my story on here just as a sample of what I have written. I will get right on that!

Chapter One - The New Girl

Surrounded by darkness I tried to look around to make out something familiar to me. But unfortunately all I could see was dirt and rocks. As I was trying to figure out where I was a light came from behind me. That made it so I could see that I was in a cave somewhere so I got up and started walking towards the entrance. As I got closer I noticed two shadows standing next to each other. I started to sprint towards them before they were to move away. Once I was close enough to see who it was I saw that it was my parents. Overjoyed with seeing them again I ran faster so I could be with them again. But once I got to them and reached out to hug them they disappeared into a cloud of smoke that raised high into the air and vanished. Instantly I sank to my knees in the grass with tears running down my cheek and fell on my white dress.

“Please don’t cry little angel”. A voice came from behind me as a cold hand rested on my shoulder. “We are always watching over you.”

Before I could turn and see who was comforting me I awoke in my dark room only illuminated by my computer screen. A cold chill ran up my spine thinking about what just happened in the dream especially with the voice and hand. As I was stretching my arms and back from sleeping on my keyboard of my laptop at my desk I noticed the pictures circulating on my screen saver. Just then a picture of me with my parent’s right before they died pulled up on the screen. I shook the mouse to get it off and saw the paper I was working on right before I fell asleep. I let out a sigh as I turned off the computer and got up and stretched as I went to lay down in my bed to go back to sleep.

After tossing and turning for about 20-30 minutes I turned on the table side lamp and grabbed my worn book. Thinking that reading would help me go to sleep but my mind was wandering too much that I kept reading the same sentence about 10 times before I gave up on that idea. So I sat in bed just staring at the ceiling as I waited for morning to break through my window. At dawn I got up from my bed and grabbed my robe to cover up my pajamas. I also slung my towel over my arm and grabbed my bag of toiletries before heading to the bathroom to get ready for the morning before everyone else.

I loved the feeling of the hot water that fell over me in the shower. I started to relax a bit but I kept thinking about the dream and trying to figure out what it meant. Then I started to hear voices filling the bathroom and I knew everyone else was up and would be in the bathroom soon enough. I finished fast and grabbed my towel and clothes. Once I got dressed I proceeded to the sink to brush my teeth and rinse out my mouth before heading back to my room. Unlike a ton of the girls here I wasn’t big on makeup and glamour. I wore my hair in braids, ponytails, or bun and had on some geeky glasses. People knew me as the loner around here because I would sit as far away from everyone at the appropriate grade table for meals along with hiding in my room or library when I wasn’t in class. It’s not that I didn’t find myself attractive but I just didn’t care about any of that stuff anymore.

Once I made it back to my room without running into too many people I got on my black, blue and white plaid skirt that dropped to my knees, my white blouse with my blue jacket over top, and my knee high white socks. Brushed through my hair and grabbed my black scrunchie to put it in a ponytail before slipping on my black heels that we are required to wear. Looking at the image in the mirror to make sure everything was in precise order I headed down to the mandatory Saturday breakfast. It had now become a routine with me every morning since I first came here when I was 5 years old.

I sat in my usual place once I got into the dining hall of the school. The table was filled with tons of food like a buffet but we couldn’t touch it until the headmistress finished morning announcements. Like a robot I went through everything like I had since nothing around here has changed. I just waited for when we could finally dig into the food. I should have been paying attention to what Ms. Hillson told everyone so I wouldn’t be so surprised to see someone standing at the chair next to me.

“Can I sit here?” A sweet angelic voice came from next to me. I looked up from my plate to see a porcelain skinned angel standing next to me. Her hair was blonde with a bit of a wave to it that I felt accented her face very well. Her eyes were emerald around the outside with a brown accent on the inside.

“No it’s free.” I managed to get out after swallowing all the food that was in my mouth at the time.

I couldn’t help but watch as her skirt flowed so well with her movement. It lay perfectly on her lap as she took the seat. She flung her hair over her shoulder and smiled at me with her perfectly lined lips and white glorious teeth. I was actually stunned to see someone that perfect talk to me since Ashley and her band of glamour girls were more suited for her style.

“I am Mary.” She seemed so familiar to me even though she was a total stranger.

“I am Christina.” I managed to respond to her introduction after a few minutes of trying to figure out where I knew her from.

Shaking off the feeling I went back to finishing my plate so I could go hide in my room until everyone left campus for town pass. Then I would go to the library and finish some homework in solitude. Once I was done I got up from where I was sitting and proceeded to the dorm wing to change and gather my stuff up for study time. I walk in silence hearing heels clicking on the floor as other girls head upstairs next to me as fast as they can to get ready for town pass.

“So is there anything fun to do around here?” Mary just suddenly appeared at my side as I walked up the stone spiral staircase.

“Um well town pass is one thing people get excited for around here.” I was a little annoyed that she had followed me and was still bugging me.

“Yea but I kind of want to stay behind and look around the school today.” She looked sincere but with a hint of hiding something. “Do you mind showing me around or are you going on town pass?”

“I don’t do the town pass.” I stopped since I was a little bombarded by her question. I knew she was hiding something but I couldn’t figure out what. “I mean I guess I can show you around I have to study a bit though.”

“Well how about we tour around then hit up the library so I can help you study since I am taking time out of your schedule.” Again she seemed to have an underlying motive and if I wanted to know what it is then I would have to stick to her.

“I guess that could work.” I figure I had to play her game to find out what she wanted from me. “Let’s change into something more comfortable and meet at the dining hall and go from there.”

As we split ways and I headed into my room to change I ran through what her motive might be to walk around the school on a Saturday. I know she is new but the layout of the school is pretty self explanatory. So I took off the uncomfortable uniform and found my old worn jeans and put them on. Then I went to the closet and hung up my school uniform before I grabbed out a t-shirt with jeans and light jacket since it is October.

I was still trying to figure out her motives as I walked down to meet her. Once I got to the dining room I saw Mary standing there in her regular clothes. She was way more gorgeous then when she was in her uniform. Her skinny jeans fit her and showed off how long and slender her legs and waist was. The long sleeved purple shirt looked like it had melted onto her body. She pinned the sides of her hair back which showed off her pretty face. I noticed one if her ears were pierced all the way from bottom to top. Usually I wasn’t a big fan of flashy jewelry but on her it just fit her and looked nice.

“So I guess we start here and go around.” She had a smile on her face that made me smile at the obviousness of where we start.

“Alright then let’s begin.” I tried to sound like one of those tour guides you see in museums. “This of course is the dining hall where we eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s also where announcements are made to the girls. Usually it’s all the same every morning but I have zoned it out lately.”

“Interesting.” She had a good sense of humor about all this. She knew where things were and what they meant for.
From here we went around the school showing her place after place and actually enjoying the company for once.

“What’s behind this door?” She stopped looking at a door that the end of one of the halls.

“Oh that is the staircase up to the top of the tower.” I tried to play it off like nothing exciting happened up in that room. “It’s just full of student documents from previous students and some old furniture they don’t use down here anymore. No one is allowed up there but since the girls think it’s haunted no one tries to go up there.”

“Oh really.” She had that devious smile on her face as she stepped away from me and walked to the door. “I don’t believe in ghosts.”

“We aren’t allowed up there though.” Even though I went up there quite a bit to get some alone time at night or when I didn’t need to be head counted. “I think we should just head to the library.”

“Fine but that means we will have to check it out later then.” She looked like a 3 year old who didn’t get her way with the pout face. “Let’s get going then.”

Chapter Two - Date

The week went by faster than my weeks normally do. Mary and I had almost the same schedule so we spent a lot of time together getting to know each other over homework. We became really close in a short time. She even talked me into going to the tower room with her to hang out and get away from the school. She talked me into actually cleaning it up a bit since there was dust over everything and we kept sneezing from it. We were able to turn it into a nice little hang out spot for us. One Saturday after everyone left we were sitting up there just hanging out when I saw a look in Mary I hadn’t seen in a long time.

“So.” She wanted to tell me something that she knew I would say no to. Finally she just blurted it out. “Are you going to the Halloween ball next week?”

“Um I wasn’t planning on it.” I was a little taken back by the question and didn’t know how to respond. “I mean I don’t see a reason to have a costume dance around here.”

“I thought it would be fun to dress up and go since nobody would think we would go.” She had this look in her eyes and the way she chose her words made me think about how she knew something I didn’t know. I was hoping that I could break her so that she would just come out and tell me what she really wanted.

“I was planning on staying in my room and doing my homework or something while the other girls had their fun.” I was hoping that if I gave her enough excuses that maybe she would get agitated enough to tell me what she really wanted.

“We can work on homework together on Friday and Sunday.” She was always good at thinking on her feet and while trying to be one step ahead of me.

“I have nothing to wear.” I was running out of excuses.

“We can look through my closet and find something.” She now had a sly smile on her face letting me know I wasn’t getting out of this that easily. “If not then we can go to the mall tomorrow on town pass and go shopping my treat.”

“I don’t have a date and I don’t want to go stag.” It came to me out of thin air and I couldn’t help say what I said next even though I regret it to this day. “If you really want to go then you should have picked someone else to be your friend. I figure you have a date coming and that’s why you are pushing this so hard on me.”

“I cant believe you would think I would ditch you like that.” The look on her face was one of horror at what I said. She lowered her head and that’s when I started to feel ashamed at what I said. “I do have a boyfriend coming to the dance but I also wanted you to go with me so we could hang out somewhere other than this attic.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” I knew I would have to go to the dance with her now or the guilt of hurting her like that would eat me alive. “Well then I guess I could go but I don’t even have a date.”

“Well then we will look at the mall for a date.” She seemed to perk right back to her normal self after I agreed to go. I knew it would be a bad idea but I just couldn’t help myself by make her happy.

“What if we don’t find anyone while shopping?” Honestly I was hoping that we wouldn’t find one so I could have a reason not to go.

“Then I will call my older brother and have him come be your date.” I never knew she had a brother but I also didn’t know she had a boyfriend and that made me wonder what else she was hiding.

“Well I guess I am going with you to this dance then.” She was almost jumping for joy when she finally heard me say I was going with her. “But before I say for sure to all of this I would love to learn a little more about this brother didn’t tell me about earlier.”

“What do you want to know?” She sighed as she slumped back into her chair and rolled her eyes at me.

“What does he look like?” I had to start my questions with a shallow one about looks even though I never really cared about it. I needed to watch what I said or how I said it around her I learned. I started to think of random questions that actually had some good meanings behind them. “I meant do you have a picture of him so I can see what I am getting myself into. Also how old is he and where does he go to school if he does?”

“I haven’t ever been able to get a picture of him but from what I hear from other girls he is drop dead gorgeous.” She thought back to all the questions in her head as she responded to them. “He is 18 years old and a senior at our brother school across the way.”

“Alright but you have to promise this wont turn into a disaster.” I let out a sigh as she went back to jumping for joy.

“Oh this is going to be so exciting!” She got up and started pacing around the room. “That means that we will have to not only go shopping tomorrow and get you a spectacular costume but also that I will have to work on your make up to bring out your face more. It will make everyone so jealous.”

I started to zone her out after she started talking about shopping and make up. It made me think back to when my mom and I would go shopping when she was around. I couldn’t believe that she was gone and it made me miss her even more. I would have loved to get her opinion on what I was going to wear and how I looked.

“What’s wrong?” She must have noticed shook me out of my trance.

“Nothing.” I didn’t know how to explain how I was feeling. I never opened up to anyone about that and I didn’t know where to start. “I guess I am just a little nervous about leaving the school and that mixes with the idea of the dance next week.”

“No need to worry about that since I will be there the whole time.” She had come over and sat next to me and put her arm around my shoulder to comfort me. Her eyes went big as she saw the looked at the watch on the wrist lying on my shoulder. “Everything will be ok I promise. But if we don’t get downstairs and change for dinner I can’t keep that promise.”

With that we left so we could change into our uniforms for dinner. During dinner I stayed quiet and let Mary do all the talking. I nodded and responded when I needed to but I wasn’t really listening to what she was saying. The thought of heading to town kind of scared me since I was afraid anything on wheels because of my parent’s accident. I felt a little more secure knowing that Mary would be with me to help me get through.

“You really don’t need to worry about tomorrow.” Mary was trying to reassure me once more as we were going to the dorms.

“Yea I know I just am still going to be a little apprehensive about going.” She understood and I liked that she was trying to help me get through but I was going to feel that way until I get back to the school without a scratch on me.

“Just get some rest and I will see you for breakfast.” She gave me a big hug and went on her way to her room.

I went into my room and changed out of my uniform and get ready for bed. I didn’t know what I was going to do about this dance but I knew I couldn’t get out of it now. To get the dance out of my head I hopped on the computer to check some things out. After a while I started to feel sleepy and headed to bed. As my head hit the pillow I was out for the night.

Suddenly I was back in the cave from the dream I had before. This time I recognized the surroundings and just walked with my bare feet to the cave entrance. The only difference this time was that my parents weren’t waiting for me. Once at the entrance I looked around and saw that it led down into a meadow. Slowly I went down the small slope that led into the grass and wild flowers. It smelled like lavender and daisies right after a rain storm. The sun was bright in the sky up ahead and made the blue sky sparkle and the white clouds above look like cotton balls. A small breeze made my white dress flutter around my legs so I lay in the grass and looked up enjoying the view.

Right after I got comfortable with my surroundings the whole atmosphere changed. The grass and flowers started dying from underneath me in a circle spreading towards the edges of the meadow. The blue sky turned black and the clouds had a red hint to them right before the wind started up. I felt like I was going to be knocked over from side to side as the gusts came at me from all sides.

“Christina you need to get up and get to him as fast as you can.” The same voice from the dream was calling me to him. I looked around and saw his shadow at the cave entrance with his hand extended out for me. I didn’t know where he came from but I knew he would keep me safe and I wanted to get to him but I couldn’t move. “Now Christina!”

Finally I willed myself to started running towards him as I hoping he wouldn’t disappear like my parents did. I heard a booming noise coming from behind me so I glanced over my shoulder as I kept running to see what the noise was. That’s when I saw that the meadow was being swallowed by what looked like a sinkhole right where I was laying a minute ago. That made me run faster but the ground was giving way too fast. As soon as I got to the entrance of the cave the ground gave below me and I started to fall. I reached out for the hand that was extended towards me to grab it but was just an inch short. I felt myself fall down the hole I suddenly stopped and felt the cold hand holding onto mine.

“Don’t let go.” It was a stern voice as he felt my grip slipping from his. I couldn’t clearly see his face but I felt like I knew him from somewhere. “I will not lose you again.”

I held on with all my might but the blackness of the hole seemed to be sucking me into it. At that moment my grip slipped from his and I started falling into the blackness of what I thought was a bottomless pit. I sat up startled over the dream and drenched in sweat. I have no clue what the dreams could mean let alone what the guy meant when he said he wouldn’t lose me again.

I am working on editing more so I can put some more on here. Let me know what you all think.

The hole has a meaning and gets described a lot more later on and to find out if something happens at the halloween dance I will have to put up more so you can read it. I dont like giving anything away haha.

Yea I am hoping it gets published. I just need to figure out how to go about doing that haha.

Chapter Three - Shopping

As we boarded the bus for the junior girls I looked around to see the rest of the girls looking confused on about me boarding the bus. I heard some snickers as I walked by the seats to the empty row that Mary and I could sit together. Luckily it was near the back so I didn’t have to feel the cold stares of the girls.

“Alright settle down girls so we can go.” Mrs. Johnson my math teacher was the advisor of us as we went into town and we had to check in with her throughout the day. “The sooner you settle the sooner we get to the mall.”

After that everyone quieted down and settled into their seats so we could head off. I got even more nervous about riding on the bus when I saw a few flakes of snow drifting by our window. Mary put her arm around my shoulder to help comfort me when she saw me start to tense at the flakes of snow.

“Hey look its snowing.” One of the girls in the front of the bus had to point out to the rest of the bus.

“We are going to be ok.” Mary whispered in my ear as she saw how much more nervous I was that it started snowing. “I promised you nothing would happen to you and I keep my promises.”

As we drove through the giant snow flakes I worried about hitting some ice and skidding off the road. But soon we were out of the snow as if it was only falling around the school. I relaxed a bit but I still thought that if the snowed here before we got here there was some ice on the ground already. I was glad that Mary was sitting by me trying to take my mind off of things. We made it to the mall without any problems and we waited until everyone got off the bus before making our way off. We all hurried inside the building since it was freezing outside.

We wondered around the mall going into random shops and picking out the goofiest things. I haven’t been to this area in about 5 years so it was interesting to see what has changed. After going through the stores and working up an appetite we went to the food court to get some lunch.

“Let’s now actually look for a costume for the dance.” She said as we finished our food. “We had our fun now to get down to business. We need to find you an amazing costume that will make everyones head turn at the dance next week.”

“I was hoping that you would have forgotten about that.” I gave her a smile since I was having a ton of fun hanging out with her. “But I guess I was just having wishful thinking when it came to that. Well the sooner we get the costume the sooner I don’t have to worry about it. By the way aren’t we supposed to find a date?”

“My brother already told me that he is coming.” She had a great big grin on her face at the fact that he was coming. “He is going tomorrow to get himself a costume after we get ours today.”

“Alright then lets do this already.” I shook my head as I stood up to carry our trays to the garbage.

This time as we walked around the mall we looked at each store for a costume for me. Unfortunately most of them were low on costumes and the ones they did have were either too sexy or something really embarrassing. We were getting nowhere with the stores in the mall so we pulled out our smartphones so we could try and find an actual Halloween store. We found one that was just down the street so we asked one of the chaperones if it was ok to head down there. We were given two hours before we had to get back to board the bus back to the school.

“We will find you something I promise.” I hate when she promises stuff. “What are you looking for so we have an idea of what to look for in the store?”

“I don’t know something that doesn’t make me look like a total slut to everyone.” I smiled at her thinking back to the sexy costumes we saw at the mall. Made me kind of wish I looked online at stuff to see what all might be out.

“That doesn’t help me out.” She put her hand on her hip and had a smirk on her face. “I mean what theme or character do you want to be?”
“I don’t know exactly what I want to be.” I started to think back to past Halloweens and what I might have worn. “I know its got to be a nice big ball gown dress and we should get a mask like if we were going to a masquerade.”

“You want it to cover your whole face or just around the eyes?” She looked at me with interest while hanging on every word I said and ready to give me her opinion. “I mean you shouldn’t cover up your entire face. I think we should look for a nice mask that would go around your eyes and really bring the blue out. Ok so what do you want to be since a ballroom style dress and mask isn’t totally specific.”

“How about a princess?” I don’t know where that came from but for some reason I just wanted to be a princess. Not just any princess though I wanted to be a fairy princess. “Maybe a fairy princess that has some nice big wings that people will look and gasp at.”

“Alright princess lets get you a nice fairy princess costume.” She seemed more so happy about what I just said then I would think she would be but I just figured since she got an answer out of me that wasn’t vague she was happy. “Lets get you some nice big wings and a silver tiara to go on top of that head.”

Once we got into the store we looked at all the costumes that go all the way to the floor with wings and after trying some on I picked the costume. It was purple with a shimmer of blue in it. The dress went all the way to the floor as well as really puffy bottom like I wanted and had a pair of beautiful butterfly looking wings. The sleeves were tight fitting then pillowed out into bells. It even came with a pretty chocker that was black band and a silver design with a purple jewel in the center. I could wear my hair up and put on the veil that went down the back as well as a silver tiara that had some fake white jewels in it. With that we also found a mask that is purple mask with silver glitter design around it with a blue accent around the eye holds. It really did make my eyes pop like Mary said.

“So now I can show my brother want you are wearing but I really don’t know how he is going match your awesomeness.” She got her smartphone out and took a picture to send to her brother. I didn’t know how fair it was that he was able to see me but I never saw a picture of him. But I understood that Mary was just trying to planning ahead so I could match and not look weird standing next to him. “I think you and I will have some fun.”

“Yea I am still a little leery on the whole idea but I can’t back out now so let’s party.” I actually had been starting to get excited for the dance but something in the back of my head was trying to tell me that something bad was going to happen. I didn’t know if he meant at the dance or on the way home. I didn’t like whatever it was so I tried to push it out of my head but it was always there.

We made it back to the mall to get on the bus to head home for dinner with plenty of time left over. That’s when my heart started to sink again thinking I would get on the bus in this weather and head back on the winding icy gravel roads back to the school. We got the same seats that we came to town this morning and put our bags by our feet for safe keeping.

“I excited for next week.” Mary was trying her hardest to try and take my mind off of the weather outside. As we got closer to the school the snow started up again.

“Yea its going to be a long fun week.” I just kept looking out the window noticing the snowflakes were getting bigger as we got closer to the school. “I kind of wish we had a bath in the school bathrooms for days like this.”

“Well maybe after we get out of here you and I could get a place that has one of those jucuzzi bathtubs.” She put her arm around my shoulders trying to get my attention from the window to her. “You know one of those huge ones that not only fills up so much it covers everything and has jets.”

“Getting out of that school wont be happening for a couple of years.” I turned to see that she was staring out the window with a look of concern. She shook it off when she noticed me looking at her.

“It might be sooner than you think.” She said it so low that I think she didn’t mean for me to hear but I did. I didn’t say anything since she would probably avoid the conversation. “Well I lets just look forward to the dance on Saturday then after that we can figure our future after that.”

Marys grip around my shoulder suddenly tightened and I knew something was wrong or about to. Just as I was about to ask her what was wrong the one thing I worried would happen but wished would never come true happened. The bus suddenly started sliding bringing the back of the bus forward making the bus sliding sideways down the road. I started crying and thinking I would be seeing my parents soon to make me feel better that I might die in that bus on this evening. Then the front started to correct and bring itself forward and I thought we made it out safe. When the bus overcorrected and started to go towards the deep ditch on the side of the street.

I closed my eyes waiting for the bus to crash into the ditch and throw everyone around. I knew this wouldn’t end happily so I just grabbed my knees and pulled them to my chest. Marys arm never left my shoulder as she held on tightly. I knew my mind was playing tricks on me since through my closed eyelids I could see a green glow coming from where Mary was sitting.

“I love you mom and dad.” It didn’t matter how loud I said it with everyone screaming no one said anything. I kept my eyes closed and tears started streaming down my cheeks. “Hopefully now I can be in that beautiful meadow from my dreams. I hope you can help me figure out what they mean.”

“What dreams?” Mary seemed concerned with what I had just said.
Before I could tell her about the dreams I heard a loud crunch as everyone flew out of their seats. Somehow Marys arms never left my shoulder as we went towards the side of the bus that landed in the ditch. Just then my entire side landed with a hard blow before everything went black.