• “Hey, everyone! We’re here!” Arri’s eyes snapped open. She woke sat up and looked out the car window. They were driving up to an old, big house. This is where we’re going to live!? I thought dad said that it was a GOOD house. Oh, I get it. Since dad got a new job, we’re poor. WHY DOES MY LIFE HAVE TO STINK!? Her last thought she mumbled aloud by accident.
    “What was that? Arri?”
    “Huh? Oh, sorry. What Dad?”
    “What did you just say?”
    “Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about how um, great the house looks.”
    “Well maybe you could think about it without the sarcasm?”
    “I said I’m sorry! Jeez!” Her dad rolled his eyes and walked up to the house. Gosh! Arri thought. This place doesn’t just look old. It IS old! Her little brother, Jimmy, ran out of the car and over to the front door.
    “Come ON, Dad! Open the door! I want to claim the good room before Arri!” Arri walked over and shoved her little brother out of the way.
    “Oh, no you don’t. I’m oldest so I get to choose first.”
    “No you don’t.”
    “Yes I do.”
    “No.”
    “Yes.”
    “No.”
    “Yes.”
    “N…
    “STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!” Their dad screamed. “Now, we’re going to do the number game to see who gets to pick first.” Arri rolled her eyes and muttered something about ‘lame game.’ Her father ignored it and said, “Alright. I’m thinking of a number between 1 and 100. You two have to guess a number and who ever guesses closest to that number gets to pick which room they want first. Jimmy, you get to go first.
    “O.K., um…. 31.”
    Arri sighed and said, “48, but this is still a lame game.”
    Their dad smiled and said, “Jimmy got it. I was thinking of 30 and so Jimmy was closest. Jimmy,” He opened the door. “Go pick your room.” Jimmy ran into the house and up the stairs. You could hear him running around on the top floor. He ran back down and said, “I got one!” They all went up to see which room he chose. It was the corner room, which had a view of the ocean and a window seat. “Dang it.” Arri said under her breath. “He got the best bedroom in the house.” She looked up from the floor and realized her dad was staring at her.
    “What?” Arri said with a frown.
    “That leaves the attic for your room. I’m sorry but I’m opening a home business and I need the other rooms. We’ll have your stuff moved up to the attic first.”
    “WHAT?!” Arri screamed in horror. “I have to live in the ATTIC!? You’ve got to be kidding!”
    “I’m not kidding.” Her dad looked like he was really sorry, too. Arri rolled her eyes and went up to the attic. The attic had stairs leading up to it and two doors on each end of the stairs. She opened the first door and slowly climbed the stairs. The second door was jammed and Arri couldn’t open it. She frowned slightly and jiggled the handle. “Dang it.” She said quietly. She jiggled the handle even harder.
    “DAD!!” She screamed down the stairs. “The door won’t open!”
    “Alright,” Her dad yelled from Jimmy’s room. “I’m coming!”
    Arri sighed and sat down on the stairs in front of the door. Her father walked up and tried the handle.
    “It doesn’t work.” Arri said, annoyed with her father. That’s why I called you up here.”
    “I get it.” Dad said. “I’ll be right back, I got to get a crow bar.”
    “Wait!” Arri said in surprise. “What are you going to do with a crow bar?”
    “I’ll be right back!” Her dad yelled up the stairs. “One second.”
    What in the world? Arri thought as her father came back with the crow bar. What is he going to do with that?
    “What are you doing?” She asked, a little freaked out.
    “I’m going to break off the door handle.” Her father said, as he got ready to swing. “Watch out.”
    “Um, ok?” Arri backed up a little bit and watched as he hacked away at the handle of the door. The handle finally gave away and fell down the stairs with a small crash. Some wood fell off with it. Audrey looked down at the handle and wood, sighing a little. Her dad waited for her to come up before he opened to the door. It opened onto a room full of toys, books, and other old things that would belong in a playroom.
    “Um,” Arri looked at her father in confusion. “Was there supposed to be a playroom up here, Dad?”
    “No,” Dad looked around the room. “The Agent who sold me the house said that the old owners family had cleaned out ever thing. I guess they forgot about the attic.”
    “I guess so.” Arri rolled her eyes. “That’s weird. The attic is kind of hard to miss.”
    “Well, we should clear this stuff out so we can put your stuff in here.” Her dad went over to the shelves full of books. He ran his finger across the top and made a face. “Yuck. This place hasn’t been cleaned for years. It’s filthy.”
    Arri walked over and inspected the shelf. “Wow.” Arri said with a disgusted look on her face. “That’s nasty. Why was this room forgotten?”
    “I don’t know.” Dad said. “I’ll go tell the movers to bring your stuff up here, ok?”
    “Alright. But I want to paint it before I put everything in place.” Arri put her back to her dad and smiled. “But for sticking me in the attic, I should be able to paint my room any way I want, right?”
    Her dad smiled and laughed a bit. “I guess so.”
    “Yes!” Arri ran down the stairs and into the garage. Her dad had already set aside some things for decoration so they could start decorating right when they came. She went over to the shelves full of paint. The paint’s organized by color, Arri thought. That’s so nerdy. She went over to the bottom of the shelves and found a can of black paint. This would be perfect since I’m trying to totally change my personality. She grabbed two can just to be sure that she could paint all the walls. She grabbed the paint and walked back up to her room. Then, she went back down to the garage, grabbed a paintbrush and went up to her room. Her dad was trying to move the dresser.
    “What are you doing?” Audrey said in surprise. “You shouldn’t be moving this thing without any help! And I don’t want to move anything in the room ever!” I want to leave it the same way.”
    “Oh, well next time tell me before I try to move something that is four times heavier than me!”
    “Sorry,” Arri went over to the paint cans and opened one of them.
    “What color are you doing?” Her dad asked.
    “Black.” Arri raised an eyebrow at him. “It’s my favorite color so I’m painting my room that color. And you said that I could paint my room anything I wanted.”
    “But black is so….” He stopped. He could tell that Arri was stubborn and there was no way to change her mind. He sighed and left her alone.
    Arri grabbed her paintbrush. She prided the first can open and dipped the brush inside the can. She waited as the extra paint dripped off into the can. It was torture. She walked over to the wall closest to her. She slowly started painting slow, steady strokes. She was an artist so she loved doing projects like this. It was nice. Her dad walked into the room, killing her concentration. Audrey gave him her best why-didn’t-you-stinking-knock look. He returned it with his own look. She sighed and put the paintbrush on the can.
    “You broke my concentration,” Arri said unhappily. “What do you want?”
    “Nothing,” He said. “Just open the window so we don’t have to smell the paint ever where we are in this house.”
    Arri walked over to the window and opened it with a bang. “Happy?” She said. “Now leave.”
    Her dad rolled his eyes a bit and walked out of the room. Arri went back to her painting. She was back into her art stuff when her little brother ran into the room with a bang of the door. She screamed when, in her surprise, splattered paint across her face and clothes.
    “JIMMMY!” She screamed at him. “WHY’D YOU DO THAT?!” She stopped and took a deep breath. “You know there’s this new talent that everyone’s learning. It’s called KNOCKING! Maybe you should learn it sometime. And then you can come into my room, now GET OUT!” She threw the paintbrush at him.
    “Hey!” Jimmy said, using the door as a shield. “Why are you getting so ticked off at me?”
    “Because I was CONSENTRATING!” Arri said, getting up and walking angrily over to him. “I was in the artist zone and you know how touchy I am when I am in the zone! So if you value your life you will get out of this room NOW!” Arri slammed the door in his face and smiled.
    “But I need to talk to you!” Jimmy said through the door.
    “About what?” Arri said, making sure to make her voice sound like she was annoyed.
    “Would you just let me in? Please? It’s kind of hard to talk through a door.” Jimmy nearly cried through the door. Arri rolled her eyes and sighed. She opened the door and looked her brother in the eyes.
    “What?” She said angrily. “You’ve ruined my concentration, got me splattered with paint, and nearly cracked my poor, old door. So, you better make it quick before you have paint all over you, too. So hurry it up.”
    “Alright.” Jimmy sighed and took in a big breath. “I wanted to ask if you know what’s wrong with Dad?”
    “What do you mean, ‘what’s wrong with dad?” Arri asked, in a tone that almost had a bit of fear in it.
    “I mean, what’s wrong with his job?” Jimmy asked. “Why do we have to keep moving? I had just adjusted I even had a few friends! But then we had to move again. Why?”
    “And you came in here and broke my zone to ask me this?” Arri walked over and grabbed him on the shoulders. She turned him around and pushed him out of the room, despite his protests.
    “But I need to know!” Jimmy said, panic in his voice. Audrey slammed the door in his face with a satisfying bang.
    “Leave me alone, Jimmy!” Arri screamed through the door.
    “But I need to know! Audrey, please!” Jimmy said. “Please!”
    “Leave me alone!” Arri was about to lock the door when she remembered that there was no handle.
    “Dang it.” Arri said angrily. “Why couldn’t there just be a key for the stinking door? Jeez.” She turned her attention back to Jimmy. “If I let you in will you leave me alone?”
    “Yes!” Jimmy said with happiness in his voice. “I promise, now pleas let me in.”
    “Fine.” Arri opened the door again and frowned. “The reason we keep moving around is because dad has to, to keep his job. If he doesn’t move to new locations, he’ll get fired. Now, for the last time, get out!”
    Jimmy turned and ran out of the room. Finally, Arri thought happily. They’re gone. Now, I just have to find a way to make sure that I get no more interruptions. She looked around the room, trying to find something to block the door with. She saw a cabinet that was near the wall. That will work, Arri thought. She grabbed the cabinet and moved it to the front of the door. That should do it, she thought happily. Now I can finally get some work done. She walked over to the wall she was painting and started again. Soon, she was nearly done with the room. She was on the last wall when there was a knock on the door.
    “Argh!” Arri screamed. “What?”
    Her father’s voice was coming from the other side of the door. “It’s me. Why is the door locked? You know that I don’t like you to lock the door.”
    “I was trying to do some work!” Arri grunted as she moved the cabinet away from the door. “But I couldn’t because everyone wouldn’t leave me alone! Jeez!”
    Her father came through the door. “Well, you don’t need to need to yell. It’s my turn to yell now.” He cleared his throat. “You shouldn’t EVER talk to me like that. And you need to change your attitude to your brother and me! Now hurry up and clean your room before I do it myself and then you really will be in trouble. So get cleaning and no locking your door.”
    He walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. Well FINE!!!!! Arri thought. She walked over to the unfinished wall and finished it. Then, she organized her things out of her boxes. It wasn’t hard because, since she was throwing away most things because of her new personality. Her dad had promised to take her and her brother out shopping to find new items for their rooms. She was planning to go into The Bleeding Rose, a store for teens who liked the color black, or Goths. She knew her dad would feel awkward. But, she didn’t care. She wanted the changed personality and this was what she wanted. So, she would live with it.
    She was broken out of her daydreams when she heard a knock on the door.
    “What?” Arri yelled. Her brother walked in the room, a look of excitement on his face. “Dad said to tell you that we get to go shopping ri….. Wow! What do you do to this room? It’s all black and creepy! What’s with that?”
    “It’s the color I wanted to paint it.” Arri grimaced. “If you don’t like black, then you shouldn’t paint your room black, but it’s my room so I don’t care what you think. Now, let’s go so I can get all the awesome things for my room.”
    “You mean all your awesome BLACK things, right?” Jimmy ducked as Arri tried to hit him. He ran out, screaming as he ran, “I CALL SHOTGUN!!!!!”
    “No you don’t!!!!!!!!!” Arri ran down after him and right past him. She hopped in the seat next to the driver. Her father hopped into the driver’s seat and Jimmy got in the back.
    “So, where are we going?” Audrey asked, trying as hard as she could to sound happy.
    “A shopping center off of Black Street. It’s supposed to be nice.” Her dad looked at her and smiled.
    “Is there a shop there called The Bleeding Rose, right?” Arri asked carefully.
    “I think so but, that’s a punk store, right?” Her dad looked at her.
    “Well, I guess so, but I don’t know what you call ‘punk’ so I don’t know.” Arri looked at him and shrugged. Dad just left it alone. Arri turned away and smiled. Everything was going as she had planned. She knew that her dad wouldn’t say anything else so she just slouched back in her seat and watched the country side rush past. A gust of wind blew through the car as she opened her window. It smelled like dust and corn; it was not the best smell in the world. She quickly shut the truck window and grimaced.
    “Dad?” Jimmy leaned forward and looked at his father. “How big is our backyard here?”
    “4 acres.” Dad looked at him. “Why?”
    “Just wondering.” Jimmy sat down and put on his seatbelt. Arri could tell her little brother was planning something that wouldn’t turn out very good.
    “Hey, Dad?” She asked him without looking away from the window.
    “Yeah?” He glanced at her and looked back at the road.
    “How much of the backyard are we aloud to go in?” She frowned slightly, hoping that they wouldn’t be able to go far enough out for her brother to do whatever he was planning.
    “After I look around a bit and I know it’s safe, anywhere.” He tuned out again and looked at the road.
    “Dang it,” Arri said under her breath. I have to know what my brother is doing. She stopped her thoughts, her mouth in a thin line. Then, something dawned on her. Why do I care? She thought in surprise. Why am I totally freaked out about what he’s doing? Whatever. I’m just going to forget about it… unless I find out dead on what he is doing. Then I’ll care. The car stopped a few minutes after everyone stopped talking. They got out in front of a small outlet mall thing, about ten stores in all. The Bleeding Rose was at the other end from where they were; the store right in front of them was called Football Fan’s Awesome Stuff, which Jimmy ran right into. What a stupid name! Arri thought with a grimace. Who would want to go in there other than Jimmy? Right when the thought popped into her mind, a group of about 12 high school jocks went into the store. Figures, Arri thought. She plopped down on a bench and frowned. After about 15 minutes, she got out her cell phone and started texting her best friend, William. They talked for around an hour before her dad and brother finally came out.
    “You’re not holding anything.” Arri said in surprise. “Where’s all your stuff?”
    “Dad knows the guy who owns this outlet,” Jimmy said as though it was the coolest thing in the world. “He said he’ll deliver all the stuff we buy today back to our house! Now we don’t have to carry all that stuff everywhere.”
    “That’s boring,” Arri looked up at her father and frowned. “Can we go to my store now?”
    “Yes we can,” Dad said. They walked across the parking lot and into the store. Everything in there was black, with a bit a red and blue every once and a while. Arri let her dad just stand there and stare as she went to the front counter.
    “Hello, welcome to the Bleeding Rose. Can I help you?” The clerk tried to smile at her but failed.
    “Yeah, you can.” Arri leaned against the glass and put on her best gothic look. “I’m gonna be buyin’ a lot of stuff from this store today so can I just carry around the scanner wand thing and ring up everything on the computer. That way I don’t have to carry everything to the counter at once and it will be easier for all of us.”
    “What ever.” The clerk said. He handed her the wand. She started walking around, scanning anything she thought would work. The store was much bigger than it looked because there was a floor under the first one. She scanned all the furniture she wanted on the first floor and then went down to the second floor to scan all the stuff she wanted. After she was done, she went back up and told her dad and the clerk that she was done. The clerk took the wand and her dad got out his credit card. They left the address that they wanted the stuff to be shipped to and left.
    “You’re not getting anything, Daddy?” Jimmy asked as they all got back into the car.
    “Nope,” He said. “After you two cleared out the stores you went into, I don’t want to get anything else.”
    * * * * *

    Arri flopped down on her new bed. She had just finished putting away everything she had got from the Bleeding Rose and her room looked pretty dark and creepy, especially with the old bookshelves and cabinets. She smiled at her work. It was really awesome. She was snapped out of her happiness when she heard the backdoor slam. She ran over to the window and looked down. Jimmy was running across the grass towards a patch of trees. Arri quickly shut the blinds and ran out to the backyard. She ran across the lawn and into the woods, following the same path that she saw her brother take. She quickly crouched down on the ground to look for his footprints. She pulled out a knife, stuck it in the ground and put her ear to the hilt, shutting her eyes so she could listen harder.
    “What are you doing?” A voice said to her from above. She jumped up, grabbing her knife as she rose. A boy stood above her, smiling.
    “What are you doing on our property?” Arri said, not looking away from the boy. “Who gave you permission to be in the forest…. Clump of trees…. Thing-y-ma-bob-er.”
    “I always hang out here,” He said. They both fell silent. “Wait,” The boy said. “You don’t mean that you’re living in that old house?”
    “Yeah,” Arri said. “Why do you care? It’s just a house.”
    “That’s not just a house,” He said. Then, he walked away shouting over his shoulder as he went, “If you ever need, um, ‘help’ with the house, just go across the street and ask for Jay.”
    “What ever.” Arri said under her breath. “You’re crazy so I highly doubt that will ever happen.” She went back to the house, forgetting why she was out there in the first place. She walked up to her room and lay back down on her bed. She slipped her hand under her mattress and pulled out her sketchbook. She opened it to the first blank page, grabbing a pencil that was holding up her bun; her black hair fell in soft curls around her shoulders. She reached over to the bedside table and opened the drawer. She pulled out a maroon ribbon and tied her hair up in a ponytail. She tried to think of a dark thing to draw but nothing worked. She shut her eyes and was soon asleep… and she dreamed the strangest dream ever.

    Arri walked through a dark tunnel towards a strange blue light. Everything around her was black. The only way she could go was forward for something was forcing her from behind to move forward. She was too confused to fight back so she let the weird force push her forward. The blue light soon began to get closer and closer. She shut her eyes for it was so bright to look at. But, it didn’t work because it was bright enough to shine through her closed eyelids. She opened her eyes and squinted. There was her house, but the blue light wasn’t coming from the house itself. The light was coming from some thing that was floating around the house. She suddenly felt the strange force leave her and walk away. A blue figure walked past her and joined the blue lights in front of Arri. She walked a little bit forward and looked closer. The figure that had just left Arri was the in the form of a young boy… the boy she had seen in the woods! But some how it didn’t seem like the same person. He was wearing old fashion clothes and he had darker hair. Arri pushed that thought away and turned her attention to the other three figures. Two of the figures she recognized. It was her brother and father. The third was the figure of a girl dressed in old fashion clothes. She looked almost like Arri except for the clothes. The scene changed around them and soon she saw them on an island across a dark bay. Under the water, Arri could see strange creatures that almost looked like sharks but a little more alien then a normal shark you see in a tank at the zoo. The figures on the island called to her, saying “Come on! It’s so much fun over here! We’re going to have a picnic! You must come explore and have fun with us, the people who love you!”
    “I can’t!” Arri shouted at them. “It’s too deep and those creatures might get me!”
    In unison, all the figures changed. They soon had the crude head of a vulture, black cloaks, and bones dripping with blood for the rest of their bodies.
    “You must join us!” They all flew into the air and started coming towards her. Arri screamed and ran back into the dark tunnel. It was too dark to see so she just ran. Arri could hear them following her and getting nearer so she ran until her legs burned. Suddenly, a person was running beside her; it was Jay.
    “We need to run faster if we want to get away from those things.” He shouted over the horrible screeches coming from behind.
    “I can’t run any faster!” Arri shouted in panic. “My legs are already burning.”
    “I know what to do!” Jay fished around in his pocket as they kept running. He pulled out a necklace that glowed in the darkness. “On three drop to the ground, O.K?”
    “Are you CRAZY?” Arri shouted. “If we slow down those things will have us for breakfast!”
    “Trust me!” Jay shouted. “On three, one! Two! Three!” Arri stopped and dropped to the ground… But Jay didn’t. He turned around and held up his necklace, shouting strange words in a language that Arri had never heard. The necklace glowed brighter and the creatures flew away at the sight of it, screeching as they went. The necklace went back to the normal glowing self and Arri got up.
    “How’d ya do that?” She asked, getting a closer look at the necklace.
    “Those things work for the Slimbotine himself.” He gave the necklace to Arri. “I have to go. I know you have questions but I have no time. If you want to find out more, meet me in the woods right when you wake up. This was not a dream, remember that.”
    “Wait!” Arri tried to say something but he had disappeared. Arri looked at the necklace and saw that it was a block of dark wood with a symbol engraved in it…


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    Arri raised an eyebrow at the necklace, thinking hard. She wondered if she should try to wake up or not. And if she did wake up, should she go to meet Jay or not. There were so many questions that she wanted answered, she couldn’t think straight. She finally tried to make herself wake up…
    Arri sat up with a start. She was lying in bed with her sketchbook on her head. She took it off and looked out the window. It was twilight. She jumped out of bed and ran down stairs. She ran it to her brother on the way down. She helped him up and ran out side. She was soon in the woods. Arri stopped to catch her breath. She sat down on a tree stump and looked around. Jay was nowhere in sight.
    “Dang it.” She said under her breath. “I knew it was just a dre…” She stopped herself. Slightly freaked out, she put her hand in her pocket. The necklace was still there.
    “Oh my gosh.” She said, dropping the necklace on the ground. “It wasn’t a dream. But if it wasn’t a dream, then where is Jay?” Arri picked up the necklace and put it back into her pocket. She sighed and rested her chin on her hand. Suddenly, a twig cracked behind her. She leapt up. When she turned around, she saw Jay coming through the trees.
    “Where have you been, you jerk?” Arri said angrily. “I’ve been waiting here fo…” Jay put a finger to her mouth, signaling that he wanted her to stop. Arri rolled her eyes and pulled his hand away. But, she didn’t keep going; she let him grab her hand and lead her away. They walked through the trees into a clearing in the center of the woods. There, he sat down on a rock right in the middle. Arri noticed that the rock looked a bit like the symbol on the necklace. She sat down next to him, but slightly a part. She sighed and tried to start talking again but Jay held up his hand. Arri sighed again and put her hand under chin. Then, Jay took a breath and started talking.
    “Alright.” He said. “I know you have a lot of questions but I think you’ll learn over time. Right now, I’ll answer anything I think you need to know.”
    “O.K.” Arri said. “First question; who in the world is Simbotine and why was he trying to kill me?”
    “Simbotine is the old ruler of the house you’re living in.” Jay sighed as though he was trying not to talk. “And, he wasn’t trying to kill you. He was trying to make sure that the prophecy didn’t happen.”
    “O.K.” Arri took a deep breath. “What prophecy?”
    Jay was starting to look a little uncomfortable. “Well, the prophecy was made as all prophecies are, by the Yority. One day, about three hundred years ago, a Yority took a very brave stand to speak his last prophecy. The prophecy was about a teenage girl moving into the house three hundred years in the future. The girl was said to have the power of immortality and the power to destroy the Simbotine family line. But she also had the power to save it; although that would end with the destruction of the world.” Jay stopped to catch his breath.
    “So, it’s been three hundred years and you just moved in. So, naturally, we all thought that you are that girl. Which explains why Simbotine wants to catch you. So, he could try to get you on his side before you destroy him.”
    “Wait,” Arri smiled sarcastically. “So, you’re saying that I’m the girl that will make the decision to destroy the world or not? That’s what that creepy vision thingy was all about! You’ve GOT to be kidding me! You’re insane! I’m leaving.” Arri got up and ran out of the woods. When she walked into the kitchen, she realized that she was late for dinner. Her dad and brother were already sitting at the table, eating some weird dish that she didn’t know.
    “What’s that?” She asked as she sat down at the table.
    “Hamburger casserole.” Dad said. “The neighbors across the street brought it over. I think it was very sweet of them.”
    “Sweet of them?” Arri made a face and dished herself some casserole. They ate in silence, which was weird for Jimmy. Arri decided to see if she could figure out what Jimmy was doing in the woods.
    “So, Jimmy.” Arri said with a fake happiness. “What did you do today? I realized you were gone most of the day so what were you doing?”
    “Nothing much. I just sat out on the lawn, being extremely bored.” Jimmy mumbled. “I walked around town a bit too.” He stuffed his face so he didn’t have to answer any more questions. They all stayed silent for the rest of the meal.

    “Arri?” Her dad walked in to the attic.
    “What?” Arri shut her sketchbook quickly and shoved it under her pillow. She had been doodling a border like thing around a drawing of the symbol. She had decided to wear it around her neck instead of worrying about the necklace falling out of her pocket. Her father walked over to her.
    “Are you ready for bed?” He asked. “It’s ten.”
    “O.K.” Arri said. “I’ll go to bed soon.”
    “Alright.” He walked out of the room. Arri pulled her sketchbook out from under the pillow. She finished the doodle that had quickly turned into a full-blown piece of art. She looked at her bedside clock. It was 11:30.
    “Holy cr.” She said to herself. “Where’d the time go? Jeesh.” She put the sketchbook under her mattress and turned out the light. She lay there for three hours until she finally fell asleep.

    Chapter 2

    Arri woke up to the sound of her dad banging on her door.
    “Arri,” He said as he walked in the door. “It’s time to get up for school. You don’t want to be on the first day, do you?”
    “Oh my god,” Arri said. “Why are you waking me up early.”
    “I need to go to work,” He said. “If you are late to school, you’ll be grounded for a week.”
    Arri grunted and nodded. She waited until she heard the car drive away. Then, she slowly rose and shut her door. Arri picked out a pair of blacked ripped jeans and a t-shirt with the band, Hades’s Angels, logo plastered on the front. She put them on and went over to her dresser to find some accessories that would look good. She found black fish netting gloves and put them on. She also put on a golden pendant but she hid that between her undershirt and her t-shirt. She went over to her shoebox and put on a pair of leather boots. When she went to see how she looked in the mirror, Arri saw that the necklace Jay had given her was still right were she had left it, on her dresser in a glass box. She went over and chose to wear that, too. She might as well humor Jay. Anyway, when she went down stairs, Jimmy looked up and nearly spewed cereal.
    “WHAT” He said loudly, after swallowing. “ARE YOU WEARING?” Arri shrugged and didn’t answer. She wasn’t in the mood to talk. She walked over the fridge and looked inside. OMG! She thought dramatically. You would think my dad could find some decent food in this stupid town. She slammed the door shut and went to the pantry. There was nothing there, either.
    “Hey, Jimmy.” She said. “I’m gonna go wait at the bus stop. See you after school.”
    Jimmy said something with his mouth full. It sounded like gibberish. Arri rolled her eyes and said, “See you, Dork.”
    She opened the front door and walked down the hill to the bus stop. On the way there, she stuffed her iPod headphones in her ears and started rocking out to the music. She wasn’t paying attention when she got to the bottom of the hill. The result was running right into Jay. “Ow,” Arri said softly. “Crap.” She got up and helped Jay to his feet. “Sorry ‘bout that, creepy prophecy dude.” She turned away and sat down on the bench. Sticking her headphones back into place, she waited for a day of torture to start.
    When the bus finally came, Jay had managed to inch himself right next to
    Arri. She jumped onto the bus and found a seat way in the back. She sat there while Jay tried to find a seat. But, it seemed impossible because, to Arri, it looked like he wasn’t that popular. Please don’t let him sit by me, please don’t let him sit by me. She thought over and over. To Arri’s dismay, he sat next to her.
    “What is your problem?” She asked angrily. “Are you stalking me or something?” Jay laughed.
    “No,” He said, still laughing. “I just figured that you might need someone to show you around, prophecy girl.” Arri’s face burned at the sound of his nickname. Sure, she thought, her cheeks burning. He had to get me back for calling him a name but did he have to bring up that stupid lie that I’m supposed to be part of? She slipped back into her music, praying that this was all a dream and Jay would leave soon.

    At school, Jay followed Arri around like a lost puppy. He showed her ever class and for some reason, had the exact classes that Arri had. She asked a few times if he had something to do with that but couldn’t get anything out of him. She eventually gave up.
    Her first period was advanced math. Her teacher was a bubbly woman who liked to be in charge of every little detail there was. Arri was placed right next to the door. Sadly, her teacher assigned Jay to be her helper and placed him in the seat right next to Arri. “Um, Mrs. Larniks?” Arri said when she found out that Jay was supposed to help her for the rest of the year. “I know you’re trying to help me out but I really don’t need help in this subject. You don’t have to make Jay move just to sit next to me.” Arri’s hopefulness melted when Mrs. Larniks shook her head.
    Arri’s second period was advanced art. She had sent in a painting to apply for the class before she came to the school. She liked her teacher, Ms. Jinx. She was down to Earth and simply told them what materials they were to use and left them alone. Today they were using a pencil, a piece of paper, and their imaginations. Ms. Jinx walked around and asked questions about their artwork. Arri secretly wondered if she was grading them in her head while she walked around. Arri started drawing a rose but when she was finished she realized that the rose had a pendant tied around it that looked strangely like the one Jay gave her. It wouldn’t have surprised her if she could remember drawing it. But she couldn’t and tried to forget it.
    Third was history. Arri’s teacher was a big, bald guy who was yelled a lot and loud. Mr. Arinesin was scary to Arri and she instantly hoped that he wouldn’t eat her or something creepy like that. Jay wasn’t much help.
    Fourth period was science and homeroom. Arri’s teacher, Mr. Briggs was quiet and let them talk the whole time. The class was an hour and a half long but it felt like four hours to Arri. Jay kept a long conversation the whole time. It seemed to Arri that all of the class was paying attention to her and only her. I guess a new face is an often thing here, Arri thought.
    At lunch, Jay lead Arri her over to a table full of his friends. She was sat between Jay and a kid named Jason who was dressed exactly like Arri. Jay kept asking her why she wasn’t eating and why she was so pale. But, she didn’t answer any questions. She just concentrated on staying alive for the rest of the day.