Love, War, and Flight

Chapter 1 - A Secret Revealed

I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t fall asleep. It was just an urge, a voice in my head telling me to stay up all night. But the problem was, I had a history test tomorrow. I couldn’t fall asleep during the test. I groaned and extended my arm to turn on the clock light. It read 11:48 P.M.

“Ugh…” I groaned as I tossed to the other side of my old, worn-out bed. I shut my eyes and breathed slowly, just trying to drift away. Even two hours of sleep will last me through my first period class.

And finally I did.

~~~~~~~~~~

My alarm clocked beeped at six-thirty, as it did every morning from Monday through Friday. I reached out and turned it off and sat up slowly. I couldn’t figure out why the last two weeks I’ve been getting less and less sleep. I groaned tiredly, deciding not to think about it. I slowly stood up and walked to my dresser, opening a couple drawers and pulled out clothes, slipping into jeans and a red T-shirt. I walked quietly to the bathroom and brushed out my long, dark-brown hair, followed by slipping on some socks and shoes and crept down the stairs.

“Morning, Calia!” I heard my Mom exclaim as I approached the kitchen. “Another bad night?”

“Yeah.” I yawned wearily, placing a hand in front of my mouth.

“Well, you have a test today, so don’t fall asleep. You don’t want to fail another core class.” She ordered as she placed the pancakes in front of me. I rolled my eyes at the comment. Okay, I was failing two classes; Biology and Geometry. They’re my least favorite classes.

“You can’t really expect me to understand Math. It exceedingly hard.” I argued with her, grabbing breakfast and waiting for my Dad to come downstairs so he could take me to school.

“Sure it is. Now, come on, I’m taking you to school today.” Mom informed, grabbing car keys.

I stood still with a confused look on my face. “You never take me to school. Ever.”

“Oh, your Dad isn’t feeling well, but he’ll be okay. Come on.” She waved me along, and I did as I was told and got in the car. The drive was kind of awkward, but I could tell something was going on. When we pulled up, I decided not to question and got out of the car, and waved to her as she drove away.

That was the one day I was happy to get to Ridgeland High School.

I was heading toward my Advisory class when someone ran up to me, arms flailing everywhere.

“Calia!” I saw Nicole Newman, my best friend, scream to everyone in Sacury, our hometown, could hear. Students started glancing at us freakishly, mostly because of her straight, blonde hair flying wildly. Nicole grabbed my arm and dragged us aside so we weren’t in the middle of the hallway. “There’s a huge rumor that Drake is going to ask you out today!”

“Oh my God, really?” I exclaimed happily, my hands shaking wildly. Drake Thorne was the cutest, sweetest guy, not to mention my crush, in the entire school, maybe even in the little town in Northern California.

“But…” Nicole lowered her voice to a whisper. “You didn’t hear it from me.”

“My lips are sealed.” I whispered back, my hand motioning zipping my lips shut. The minute bell rang, so we both ran to Advisory. We arrived about five seconds before the tardy bell rang. When we arrived at Mrs. Tilson’s Advisory, we looked like they just fought off wild tigers.

“You guys look good this morning.” Mrs. Tilson laughed sarcastically. “Why don’t you two go to the restroom and fix yourselves. I won’t count you late if you’re back in five minutes.”