Falling Fast 》ON HOLD《

Chapter 1

"I'm off to school, Grandma!" I shouted from the kitchen. I grabbed my toast slice off the table and headed for the front door when I heard an aged voice shout, "Catalyst Tanson! Where do you think you're going without giving me a hug!"

I rolled my eyes good heartedly and headed into the back room where my grandmother sat in her rocking chair by the television. I leaned down to hug her and she whacked me upside the head. I jumped back and rubbed my my temple. "What was that for!?"

"That's for thinking you're too big to give your gramms a hug!" She smiled, "Have a good day at school sweetie!" She leaned up and hugged me then patted my backpack. "Now get going! Don't wanna be late!" I smiled and waved goodbye as I left the room. I ran out the front door and down to the end our tree lined driveway where my best friend Tyler was sitting in his beat up old grey truck. I yanked open the rusted door and hopped into the passanger seat. Tyler grinnned at me and handed me a small box wrapped in notebook paper with a makeshift ribbon taped to the top. I stiffled a laugh and tore it open, revealing a small black box.

"Are you proposing, Mr. Donovan?" I laughed and looked up at Tyler. He grinned that little kid grin of his and nodded at the box.

"Just open it, Tanson!" He smiled, obviously more excited than I was. I opened the small box and pulled out small ring with an inscription on the side. Best Birthday Present 2k14. I erupted into a fit of breathless laughs and curled into a ball in my seat. When I finally composed myself, I sat up and grinned at Tyler.

"Thanks,Ty. My life would be boring without you," I smiled and nudged his arm lightly. He grinned at me and pulled a chain that had a ring attatched from around his neck.

"Consider them friendship rings or something girly like that," he snorted lightly.

"What does yours say on it?" I inquired.

"Womanizer 2kFOREVER," He stated matter-of-factly. My jaw dropped and I stared at him.

"It does not! I don't believe you," I said as I grabbed the chain and yanke it over Ty's head. I twisted in the sunlight and read the inscription. You're so predictable Tally. I snorted and pulled it back over his head. He shot me a sideways look and smirked.

"What? Don't like that I knew exactly what you would do and had the confidence to get it carved into metal?" He chuckled. I smacked him lightly on the arm and smiled. "One, I like to be unpredictable. And two, why the heck do you keep calling me 'Tally'? It's like, the worlds most abnoxious nickname! How do you even get Tally out of Catalyst!?" I threw my hands in the air for effect.

"You know what? Just for your birthday, I won't call you Tally. But no promises for tomorrow! Got it Cat?" He smirked and pulled into his parking spot at Ashtons High School. I glared at him playfully and swung down out of the truck. I shut the door and walked over to Ty. He stood a good head or two above me because of my staggering height of 5'2. His wavy dark brown hair had grown longer and had started to curl around his ears and his dark green eyes were almost cover by his shaggy bangs. When we were younger, you would have been able to mistake us for brother and sister but as we grew older, our physical similaries faded. My light brown hair fell in natural curls down to my elbows but my hazel eyes still beared a resemblence to Ty's dark green ones. I was taller than him as a child but he shot up like a beanstock in the sixth grade.

"Are you just gonna admire me or are you gonna get to class?" Ty said as he snapped his fingers in my face. I shook my head and glared at him.

"I was not 'admiring you' I just happened to space out in your general direction," I stated plainly. He smirked and grabbed my wrist, dragging me to our lockers which were conveniently placed beside each others. And by 'conveniently placed' I mean Ty payed some guy twenty bucks for his locker. I grabbed my Literature book and slammed my locker shut and leaned against it. Ty struggled to keep all the papers in his locker from erupting onto the floor like a homework volcano as I watched in amusement.

When he finally dug his way to his Chemistry book and shut his locker, we walked towards our classes which were across the hall from each other. The hallway was empty save for a few of the kids who show up late on purpose. A man in the corner instantly caught my attention and I stopped in my tracks. He was looking right at me like he could see me. I knew he was a spirit because of the faint, unearthly glow that radiated from him. I'd seen spirits since I was little but they never saw me.

Ty gave me a concerned look but I just continued to stare at the spirit. He had started walking closer to me and I could see him more clearly now. He was a plump, short, middle aged man with greying hair and grey eyes. (For some reason, evey spirit I had ever encountered had had grey eyes.) He was wearing a pressed white button down shirt and black work slacks. His shirt was splattered with blood and he had three bullet wounds in his chest. As he came closer I saw that the wounds were crawling with maggots. I swallowed back bile and stared at the man as he stopped right infront of me, a few inches from my face. I froze in place as the man's lips curled into a sinister smile and he reached out for me. He grabbed my wrist and I yelped as a burning sensation started where he touched me.

Ty grabbed my other hand and ran, dragging me behind him. I watched as the spirit stood and watched us go, his sinister smile growing so large, he could give the chesire cat a run for his money. Ty and I ran into the Men's restroom and he check to see if anyone was in the stalls then locked the door. He lifted me up and set me on the counter. I stared at my reflection in the mirror as Ty examined my wrist and pressed a wet paper towel to it. The pain pulled me from my daze and I started to prossess what had just happend.

I saw a spirit; Nothing new. The spirit saw me; Very new. The spirit touched me and left a hand shaped welp on my wrist. And now I was in the boys bathroom. I slowly looked up at Ty and watched him tend to my wrist. When he was finished, he leaned against the counter beside me and gave me a worried look.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine," I said quietly.

"Fine never means fine," he sighed. "Mind telling me what the heck happened back there?"

I took a shaky sigh and looked up at Ty. "I saw a spirit. And it could see me. It grabbed me." Ty stared at me in shock.

"What do you mean 'it saw you'?" He inquired.

I sighed, "I mean, It saw me. It looked right at me! That's never happend to me before." Suddenly the doorknob jiggled and Ty and I froze. Please don't let it be back, I prayed silently. There was a knock at the door and then a voice.

"Hello? Is anyone in there? I really have to pee bro!" cried the boy on the other side of the door. Ty visibly relaxed and I let out a sigh. Ty helped me down from the counter and unlocked the bathroom door. The boy walked in with a sigh an nodded to Ty. "Thanks dude, I though I was gonna have to-"

The boy stopped talking when he saw me. His eyes went from Ty to me then back to Ty.

"Uh... Am I.. err... interupting something?" The boy asked. I felt my face heat up and I opened my mouth to speak but Ty beat me to the punch.

"Nah, dude. She just cut her hand on her locker and I was helping her clean up," supplied Ty with a genuine smile. The boy looked back and me and I gave him a sheepish smile.

"I'm not very careful," I said and shrugged. The boy gave us a confused look then shook his head and headed to a stall. Once Ty and I were in the hallway, I let out a heavy sigh.

"This has been one heck of a sixteenth birthday," I muttered to myself. Ty looked down at me and gave me a goofy grin.

"I know how to brighten your day, Sunshine," Ty smile.

I smiled faintly and looked up at him. "Oh yeah? And how do you intend to do that?"

"We are gonna ditch and I'm gonna take you to the greasiest restaurant we can find," Ty grinned confidently.

I cracked a smile and laughed lightly. "You know me so well!"

____________________________________________________________________________________

So what do you think for a first chapter? The idea for this story just randomly popped into my head and I just had to write it! Tell me what you think and if I should write another chapter! Votes and comments help me out a lot so consider leaving one! I'd love you know what you think! Thanks for reading!