**NOTE: This has been revised. I’ve added and change quite a bit of content to make it more rich and descriptive.**
Chapter One
Darlene gasped as she sat up in bed, her eyes wide as she looked around the comfort of her bedroom. The alarm clock continued to scream at her until she reached over slapping it into silence. Her heart hammered in her chest as she realized she had only been dreaming. Flopping back onto her pillow, she let out a sigh of relief. Her cat, Butters, an orange and white tabby slinked up rubbing his face along Darlene’s cheek with a soft purr. Butters had been her pet since she was eight years old, got him as a kitten for her birthday. She stroked his fur absentmindedly as she tried to wake up.
“Dar, you awake?” The voice of Darlene’s mother floated up from downstairs accompanied by the smell of bacon.
A smile tugged at the corners of Darlene’s lips. “Yes, I’m up.” Kinda.
Darlene’s bedroom was an average size room. The walls were painted lavender, her favorite color, with white trim along the top and bottom as well as the window sills. Her room was on the second floor and had two windows that faced the street out front. They were framed with white lacey drapes, dotted with lavender flowers. Beyond the drapes were white blinds that allowed the morning sun to filter in through the slats. However, no sun peeked through on this morning.
A chest of drawers and a small desk sat along the inner wall. Plush linens blanketed a twin sized bed that jutted out from the wall opposite of her door. She had a closet along that wall and an array of shelves that held stuffed animals, pictures and other various personal items. Needless to say, Darlene never went without basic necessities.
Slinking out from between the warm cocoon of sheets and blankets that her bed offered, Darlene padded down the hall to use the restroom and brush her teeth. Today was the first day back to school and Darlene was eager to get started.
Fifteen minutes later, standing in front of the full length mirror that hung from the back of her bedroom door, Darlene admired her, rather slimming, purple jeans that complimented her 5’5” height. She matched it up with a white tee and covered with a long sleeve black button up shirt. Rolling up the sleeves to just below her elbows, she added a few bangle bracelets and topped off the look with a black beret. The beret looked great with her long wavy light brown hair and her emerald green eyes. She had what most considered an average build for her age and a creamy complexion that luckily wasn’t riddled with the ever plaguing teenage pimple-faced stage.
Grabbing her backpack, she bounced down the stairs to find her mother serving up pancakes and bacon. Her mother was about the same height as Darlene with a shade darker brown hair that fell down around her shoulders. She was still in her fuzzy pink full length robe with a sash that tied around her slim waist. On her feet were faded pink slippers that could stand replacing.
Darlene’s stomach growled as if on cue at the sight of her piping hot breakfast. Slipping into a chair, she dropped her backpack onto the floor beside her and began to eat breakfast.
“Ready for your first day?” Her mother asked as she set a glass of milk in front of Darlene’s plate.
“Yes! Can’t wait to get to school,” she said as she took another bite of her pancakes, chewing quickly then washed it down with a swig of her milk. “Shane and I are walking to school together so I need to hurry up. He’ll be here soon.” Shane Wolf was a good friend of Darlene’s since the sixth grade when he moved into the neighborhood. Darlene had taken it upon herself to show him around the middle school and they quickly became friends.
“Dar, rinse your plate and put it in the sink before you leave,” her mother said as she bent down to drop a quick kiss on Darlene’s forehead. “Have a great day, sweetie.”
“You, too, Mom.”
With that, Darlene’s mother, Carol headed upstairs to get ready for work. Darlene’s father, Jim was already gone for work. He started the early morning shift at five o’clock in the morning making small parts at the only factory in town. Carol worked as the manager of the local grocery store.
Finishing up her breakfast, Darlene took her plate and glass to the kitchen sink, rinsed both then grabbed her backpack and headed for the front door.
* * *
The early morning fog floated across the front lawn like clouds that beckoned to be laid upon as if they were nature’s pillows. Summer break was over, and Darlene Harris couldn’t wait for it all to begin. This was her sophomore year at Trinity High and she had high hopes that this year would be another memorable year. Unlike many high school students, Darlene actually enjoyed school, both the social aspects as well as the academic responsibilities.
The air smelled of fresh rain and everything was wet. It was a gloomy morning, but at least it had stopped raining. Certainly, not the way Darlene had wanted her first day to be, but with any luck, the sun would shine later. She lived in a small town called Roscommon that was centralized in the state of Michigan where the weather was forever changing. The old saying was, if you didn’t like the weather, just wait about fifteen minutes and it would change.
Shane was just arriving out front of Darlene’s small two-story home that she shared with her parents and her pet cat, Butters. Shane was 5’7” with a medium build. He had short black hair and deep brown eyes. Puppy dog eyes as Darlene liked to call them. Many people thought that Shane and Darlene liked each other as more than friends, it was that whole “boys and girls can’t be just friends” thing, but that idea was squashed when Darlene started going out with Matt Walker at the beginning of ninth grade.
“Hey, early bird.” Darlene said to Shane as she quickly walked over to him, a bit surprised at his promptness. Not that Shane was always late, but more often than not, he did like to drag his feet.
He was wearing a pair of new blue jeans, white sneakers, and a black and grey stripped shirt.
“Don’t get used to it, just didn’t want to be late for the first day back,” Shane replied as they set forth in their walk to school.
The school was only four blocks from Darlene’s house. Shane only lived on the next block over which was another reason Darlene and Shane spent much of their time together.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” She said, a giggle erupting in her throat.
The streets were lined with large oak trees that appeared to meet in the middle making a sort of cover to the street below. It was only the beginning of September so the leaves hadn’t fully changed just yet, but it was only a matter of weeks before the full foliage would cover the trees making the town look like something you would find on a postcard. Autumn was Darlene’s favorite season.
The rest of their walk to the school was filled with Darlene’s excited chatter about how the new school year might go and the different events that she was looking forward to such as the homecoming football game and the dance on the following night. Shane wasn’t much into sports, but he always enjoyed attending the games with Darlene when she wanted to go. Having a best friend that had a lot of school spirit meant doing many after school activities. She wrote a column for the school newspaper and was also on the yearbook committee and spent a bit of time taking pictures for it.
As they turned the corner, the school came into view. It was a single story brick building the color of mocha. Windows covered much of the outside walls allowing every classroom to have a good view of the lawns. Centered in the front of the lawn was a large brick sign that held the name of the school as well as the school’s mascot, a raven. Under the bold name of the school was a message area that could be changed when new events were happening.
They headed up the sidewalk toward the school’s front entrance where many other students were entering. Darlene unzipped a small front pocket on her backpack and pulled out the schedule for her first semester. She and Shane only had two classes together, first hour and fourth hour, meaning they would see each other at the start of each day and right after lunch. Luckily they both had the same lunch period.
The school was buzzing with the excitement of its first day. The ninth graders, more accurately known as freshmen were pretty easy to spot because they were the kids that had that look of confusion and trepidation splattered across their faces. Darlene knew exactly how it felt to be in that situation, as it had only been the year before that she, too, had felt those same feelings. She also knew that it didn’t take long for the newness to wear off and by the third or fourth day, the new students would feel like they had been there all along.
Heading down the northern corridor, the walls were lined with navy blue lockers. All students were assigned, two students per locker. While this seemed annoying to most students, they were allowed to select their partners. Those who didn’t select a partner were paired up by last names in alphabetical order.
Shane and Darlene approached the one that they were assigned to, 215 was the number on the small metal square near the top of the locker. Shane worked the built-in combination lock while Darlene gazed around, giving a smile or wave to friends as they passed by. The first day of school was always exciting for Darlene. Most everyone looked all decked out in their new school clothes. Of course there were a select few who would still be wearing summer T’s and old faded blue jeans, but not everyone was able to afford new clothes. Some didn’t even like buying new clothes. Darlene and her mother would always go school clothes shopping a week or two before school started. Her parents were middle class, blue collar workers, so while their budget wasn’t high, it wasn’t low either. This made it possible for Darlene to have a little room when selecting clothing. She wasn’t a big fashion guru or the most stylish by any means. In fact, she actually enjoyed trying to buy only two or three outfits that could be paired with each other in ways that would make it look like she had six or seven outfits.
Shane got what he needed out of the locker then Darlene put her backpack in and took out only what she needed for her first few classes. She wasn’t sure she would have time for locker stops between a few of her classes that were further away from her locker. First up was Algebra. Not exactly the kind of class that she wanted to start her day off with, but luckily for her, she was pretty good with math. Shane led the way just up the hall to their first class. A few students mingled just outside the door and before Darlene had time to enter her class, she was tapped on the shoulder. Turning to look, the corners of her eyes crinkled up as she smiled brightly at the boy who stood before her. He was already measuring in at five-ten and had an athletic build. His dark brown hair sported the bed-head do and the blue t-shirt he wore brought out the brilliant blue in his eyes. His skin was tanned with the summer sun. The sharpness of his facial features made him look stunning.
“Hey, Matt! I thought your first hour was on the other side of the school?” Darlene said playfully as she held her notebooks up to her chest. She and Matt had talked on the phone last night after dinner and they’d planned to meet up after her second hour because their classes were close, so she was pleasantly surprised to see him so soon.
“It is, but I had to see you before the chaos of classes hits.”
Matt Walker and Darlene had been dating exclusively for almost a year now. As a class Junior, he had seen Darlene last year only a week into classes and worked quickly to show her he was interested and for Darlene it was like love at first sight, so he didn’t have to work too hard. She did try to play a little hard to get, but he could tell she was into him. She didn’t hide it very well, not that she really wanted to. Since then, they were head over heels for each other and everyone knew it. Matt was into sports and played on the boys varsity football team as well as the boys varsity baseball team in the spring. Darlene always tried to attend his home games and usually dragged Shane along with her.
“Gotta run, beautiful.” Matt said quickly as the bell began to ring indicating that the first period had officially begun. Dropping a quick kiss on her lips, he dashed off. A warmth filled her belly and she almost thought she could feel the swell of her heart as she watched him run off.
Speechless Chatter 