Footprints In The Sand - Michelle Horst Page 0,15

get a pain in my side, my breaths burning a path of fire up my throat. But I don’t stop, I run until I see the school building. I stop and suck in desperate breaths of air, trying to calm myself before I walk through the gates. I shove a pair of glasses onto my face, just another thing I can hide behind.

I cross the parking area and a loud noise startles me. I stand frozen to the spot, right in front of a car. The person presses the horn again, the sound is deafening and I cover my ears as my heart starts to beat rapidly.

Someone grabs hold of my arm and pulls me to the side so the car can pass. My breaths are racing, making a whooshing sound in my ears. I’m not even in class yet and I feel totally overwhelmed!

“Hey, it’s okay.” I’m relieved to see Natalie. The familiar sight of her is comforting. Her blonde hair hangs neatly over her shoulders. Her grey eyes filled with worry. She’s a few inches taller than me, but skinny as hell. The longer I stare at her, the weirder things become. I can feel how things are changing between us as every second ticks by, and I hate it! I hate that Mr. Brody took everything from me, even my best friend!

“I’m fine.” I’m lying. Sweat is beading on the back of my neck. I reach up to gather my hair, but stop when I realize people will be able to see me then. I slump my shoulders and cross my arms over my chest, trying to make myself smaller. “I’m fine,” I whisper again and then walk fast towards the main building.

~*~

I take the seat closest to the door. I sit flush with the wall, needing to feel something solid. The class fills and the steady hum of voices grates against my ears. I fold my arms around my body and try to make myself as small as possible in the chair.

I don’t look around to see who’s in class with me. My eyes are glued to the floor just on the other side of the door. When the teacher comes in and closes the door, panic squeezes my chest. I don’t want to be closed in. I wish I could open the door! All the noise in the class fades to the background, and my eyes start to water from staring at the door for so long.

A hand settles on my shoulder and I jump up with a shriek. There’s a man in front of me. I don’t recognize him and it sends my heart into a frantic race. I don’t think and just react. I shove him hard and when he stumbles backwards, I run. My feet slap loudly against the tiles. My breaths are desperate gasps, tearing through my throat. It feels as if a terrifying darkness is closing in on me.

I run until I can’t anymore. I drop to my knees and my fingers dig deep into sand. The steady sound of waves crashing to shore starts to break through all the noise around me. I ran all the way to the beach!

I concentrate hard on the sound. I sit back on my haunches and drag my fingers through the cool sand. I look out over the ocean. The blue goes on forever, into a wide open space. The sight is a calming one. A breeze picks up and gently plays with my hair.

I’m so tired it feels like I haven’t slept in ages. I can’t bring myself to move from the spot. I can’t tear my eyes from the wide expanse of blue. I match my breathing to the sound of the waves.

~*~

Chapter Sixteen

Seth~

I take out the trash for Aunt Janice every morning. I’ve just disposed of the bag when I look up and see a girl with long brown hair, whipping wildly as she runs. There is something so familiar about her. It takes me a few precious seconds to realize that the girl is Lacey. I’ve never seen her with her hair down. I didn’t expect to see Lacey, and stand rooted to the ground as my eyes follow her until I can’t see her anymore.

Life returns to me with a bang. It’s as if I’ve been living in a thick fog since it all happened, but seeing Lacey again clears it all up for me. I have to talk to her. I have to tell her how sorry