Chapter 2

I look around, study my surroundings, and easily determine that I'm in the forest sector. It's my favorite sector, and finally, someplace familiar. This world has a virtual look to it, kind of like a video game. But I know, somehow, that it's the real deal, not a game at all. A tower glowing red is just barely in my line of sight.

That mechanical noise meets my ears, and I quickly spin around. It's one of those block-looking monsters. This is when I always wonder to myself why I don't have any weapons. I turn and push my legs as fast as they go towards the tower. Sharp pain shoots into my back as its laser jabs me in the center of my back, knocking me to the ground. I attempt to get up as fast as I possibly can, but more monsters appear, one in particular. I feel my eyes widen and fear pulse through my veins. One of the crabs has shown up to get rid of me. It stands tall directly above me, aims at me, and powers up. I curl my body tightly into a ball, and clench my eyes close, bracing myself. I feel the immense pain, but can't scream. My vocal cords don't seem to work anymore. My mind starts going blank and my body goes numb.

I sit straight up in bed, gasping, trying to force air back into my lungs. My hands quickly goes to my heart, making sure it is still beating and I'm still alive. Once I'm sure I'm still breathing, I let my head fall back on my pillow. Ouch. I can still feel where the block hit me. I turn to look at the clock again, and see that it's almost 7 A.M. I get up to get shower items out of my bag, then grab a change of clothes as well. I run my hand through my hair, and I'm out the door.

When I get to the bathrooms, I'm grateful to see there isn't a line. I rush inside and slip silently into an empty shower stall. Once I'm in the shower, I close my eyes and focus on the warm water drenching my entire body. It feels a lot better than I thought it would. After I wash my hair and body, I'm finished, so I turn off the water and dry off. I dress quickly, and comb through my tangled hair. I towel-dry it once more and throw the towel back in my bag. Without noticing or looking at anyone, I'm out of the bathroom in a flash.

I run back to my room and put my things back. I hang my towel up on my door so it can dry, grab my school bag, and touch the knob on the door. A soft knock comes through the wood, and I wonder whom it would be. Turning the handle, I swing the door open to meet the curious person.

Standing before me is the boy in purple that I noticed the day before. He offers his hand out to me. "Hi, I'm Odd. I noticed you're new here, and wanted to ask if you would like to join me with my friends at breakfast," he says politely. I smile at his honest courtesy, and take his hand with mine.

"I'm Andra. And thanks, I'd really like that." My voice was soft, more than usual. It does that automatically when I meet someone new. Odd's face broke into a grin.

"Great! So are you ready to go?" His eyes examined me, noticing my snug sky blue tank top, and flare blue jeans. My bag was slung over my shoulder, ready to head out the door.

"Yeah, I am," I said, just in case he wasn't sure. He smiled again, and his face turned a little pink in embarrassment. Odd asks me to come with him, and begins to walk down the hall. I follow him, walking faster to catch up with him. He leads me outside, and across to another building, in which he opens the door for me. I smile and thank him, and look around what must be the cafeteria. I see his group of friends and, unfortunately, Sissi. Luckily, she doesn't bother me, seeing whom I'm with. Odd leads me to the line.

There seems to be scrambled eggs for breakfast. I receive some from the woman serving, and go to the end to pay. After both Odd and I pay (I can see plainly he got a large amount of food), we go to sit down with his friends.

"Hey, Odd!" a pink-haired girl says to him. She sees me and smiles genuinely.

"Guys, this is Andra. Today's her first day here," Odd explains. I smile shyly at the four other kids at the table.

"Hi, Andra, I'm Aelita," the girl who had spoken up first says. I smile and manage a "hello" back.

"I'm Jeremie," a blonde boy with glasses sitting across from Aelita says. I wave at him, still smiling.

"Yumi." She's a girl with short, black hair sitting next to Odd. She smiles sweetly at me.

"And I'm Ulrich." It's the boy sitting next to me who had been quiet this whole time. "I'm Odd's roommate."

"Nice to meet you all," I say to them, smiling. I'm actually really excited that I found a group of kids who are exceptionally nice.

I listen to them chatter, eating scrambled eggs, watching their faces. The cafeteria starts to empty, and I take a glance at the clock to find it reads 7:45 A.M. I look back to the table to see Jeremie push his blue sleeve back and glance at his watch. "Hey, it's 7:45, guys. We'd better start going," he says over another person talking. Agreements are made and I stand to dump my tray. Afterwards, I take my schedule out of my bag and take a look at it. Odd comes up beside me as I do this.

"What do you have first hour, Andra?" Odd asks me, looking over my shoulder, and leaning awfully close to me. I feel my face heat up. He looks intently at the paper in my hand. "Oh, cool! That's my first class, too. Here, come with me, and I'll show you where it is." His voice is kind, and when I turn to look at him, he smiles, making me smile too.

"Alright, sounds great," I say to him. He smiles wider. I walk with Odd across campus, and he asks me all sorts of questions. Basic things, really: what my parents do, where I moved from, what my favorite color is. "Well, my mom's a photographer, so we move around a lot. My dad left us when I was little and we haven't heard from him since."

Odd interjects at my pause. "I'm so sorry. That's horrible." I wave him off with a flick of my wrist.

"Don't worry about it. It isn't your fault, or anyone else's." I smile at him, hiding the small cringe of pain at the mention of my father's leave. It's strange how quickly I've grown comfortable with Odd. The other answers to his questions are "Canada" and "rainbow". I can never decide on my favorite color.

Once we enter the classroom, Odd goes to speak with the teacher about something I can't hear. He comes back to me and leads me to a table near the middle of the room, which he sits with me at. He shoots me another grin, one that is so big, his eyes squint shut. This makes me laugh. It takes me a minute or two to realize that there are other students in the room; I've been so caught up with talking to Odd that I didn't even notice. I attempt to pull myself away, and it works for the time being.

"Alright, class, let's begin," the teacher says after all the students have piled into the room and the bell has rung. I learn that sitting through my first few classes isn't the end of the world. All my first classes until lunch are with Odd. Speaking of lunch, I spend that time with him too. The last classes are more boring, as I don't have any of them with any of my new friends; except my last class, I have with Ulrich. After school gets to be more interesting and relaxed. Ulrich invites me to hang out with him and his friends after classes, and I agree.

Ulrich and I walk together out to the courtyard. He doesn't ask me as many questions as Odd did before; in fact, Ulrich keeps to cool air silent, as do I. Though we both keep to ourselves, the muteness isn't awkward. I believe he and I will get along very easily.

Once we near the metal picnic table, we can see that Ulrich's entire group is already there. With smiles, they call out greetings to both of us and wave us over faster. As Ulrich takes his place next to Yumi, I go to sit on the table next to Odd. The six of us talk and laugh about the teachers and kids we go to school with with Odd cracking jokes every now and then; just the way it should be between friends. I feel as if everyone belongs, even me, and it is the best feeling I've felt in the longest time.

After a couple hours, Yumi pipes up after calming down from a fit of laughter. "Hey, you guys, I should probably get going. My parents are going to start wondering where I am." The laughter from everyone else dies, and smiles diminish. She gets up and begins to walk towards the school gates. Ulrich immediately stands and runs to catch up with her. My lips pull up into a smile and I feel a small pang of jealousy for Yumi.

"He's really crazy for her, isn't he?" I ask rhetorically. Odd chuckles.

"If only you knew." His voice is teasing.

"It's not one sided, either," Aelita adds with a smile. I giggle, and Jeremie proceeds to stand.

"I'm going to go, uh, back to my room," he explains. Aelita stands instantly .

"I'll go with you," she offers. He nods, and off they go; leaving Odd and me alone. He gives me a sweet smile.

"Wanna go for a walk?" he asks me. I smile back, and nod.

The two of us stand, and start across the courtyard, side by side, our arms brushing now and then. We stay quiet for the most part, just like Ulrich and I did; maybe I come off as unapproachable. Odd's cell phone starts ringing, causing him to claw it out of his purple pocket and answer swiftly. "Jeremie? … Okay, be there in a sec." Shoving the cell back to its place, he turns to me, stopping our walk. "Hey, I'm really sorry, but I gotta go, okay? I'll see you later." He turns to run towards to forest, but my voice proves faster.

"Wait, Odd, where are you going?"

He seems to ponder his answer to this briefly. "I, uh, I'll explain later!" he yells, then takes off. Feeling confused and a bit dejected, I continue my walk. I decide to head to my dorm and decorate my room. A rumbling above my head shivers down my neck, and I look to the sky to see sudden dark clouds. My azure eyes trail to the telephone wires to see a strange darkness swirling them. Fear streaks through my blood and adrenaline pushes my body lightning quick to my room. I close my door and sit curled in a ball against the side of my bed. My eyes clamp shut and I attempt to focus only on the raindrops. After what feels like an eternity, the rain finally stops. My eyes crack open the same time I creep up onto my bed. I then find myself even more confused than before. It was true, the rain had stopped -- only not the way I thought.

The raindrops have frozen in place. A lightning bolt laced with the darkness striking the ground had also pulled up short, mid-strike. My mind is coming to realize that the impossible has become possible.

Time has come to a complete halt.