Enlightened

Prologue I was walking down a familiar sidewalk, the one with trees lining either side, where the sun always seemed to shine, and that always seemed too perfect for my world. I took this path every day on my way home from school. I hated my school. I truly and utterly HATED my school. I must have told my mom a hundred times a day that I didn’t belong there. I didn’t belong in any school—period. What could someone like me get out of school? I guess sitting in class and walking through the halls was good practice for controlling my anger, but it was way too risky for me to be that close to regular people—or “Normals,” as I like to call them—for long periods of time. I had begged my mom to homeschool me, but she always said that I’d be happier in school and around people my own age instead of isolating myself. HA! I did that anyway! Did she really think I had anything to do with Normals, even in school? NO WAY! I kept as far away from them as possible. I didn’t even talk to the kids at my school, let alone hang out with them! People there didn’t seem to notice me, and if they did, they certainly didn’t make an effort to get to know me. I liked to keep it that way. I knew that if I got too cozy around Normals, I would forget how fragile they are to me, and if I were to lose control—get too angry—and they were too close to me, I might…. I couldn’t even finish that thought. It never failed to send a shiver of fear down my spine. The faint sound of a loud, obnoxious car slowly brought me back to reality. The sound seemed to be coming from behind me—and was getting closer. In a minute, a red Mustang convertible pulled alongside me, revving its engine. Of course, it was none other than the awful, nauseating, repellent Cindy Wafer. She was the prettiest and most popular girl in my entire high school. She was a sophomore, like me, and was determined to make my life miserable—which wasn’t too hard, seeing as it wasn’t all that great to begin with. “Hey, chatty Kathy!” she called from her car. Ha. Ha. Chatty Kathy… because I don’t talk to anyone… she’s so freaking clever. Just an FYI, my name is actually Alexis. I rolled my eyes and avoided hers. “You need a lift?” she asked. I kept walking, trying to breathe evenly. “Come on, aren’t those old, worn sneakers killing your poor little feet?” She really wasn’t making this easy for me. “I won’t bite,” Cindy said with a smirk. Maybe she wouldn’t, but I knew I could do a lot worse to her. “All right, be that way. But before I go, you look like you’re kind of hot… I’ll take care of that.” She hit the gas pedal and ran through a puddle on the side of the road, spraying me with dirty leftover rainwater. I stood still for a moment, shocked at what Cindy had done. A second later, my arms and legs started to go numb. Adrenaline pulsed hot through my veins as my hands curled into violent fists. I managed to control my anger until Cindy’s convertible was out of sight and I could destroy something. Without thinking, I yelled and kicked a fire hydrant on the sidewalk. With one swing of my leg, the hydrant went flying, and water spewed immediately from the ground. Now instead of a girl with a few splatters on her pants, I looked like I had taken a shower with all of my clothes on. Yeah, that was much better. As my anger subsided, I realized that I needed to haul you-know-what back home before someone saw me. I began jogging down the sidewalk in the direction of the forest. Once I got under the cover of the trees, I could run at full speed. I would be home—and somewhat dry—in less than a minute or so if I ran fast enough. I pretty much beat myself up most of the way, but what I was really worried about was what Mom would have to say once she found out what I did this time.