River of Dreams

River of Dreams: Chapter 4 [Part 2]

Dedicated to Ctyolene because she gave me amazing pointers on how to improve this story! :) And if I could dedicate this to another person, it would be Canse12, author of "Dinner Withe A Vampire, Did I Mention I'm Vegetarian?" which is an amazing story that I strongly encourage everyone who likes fantasy, vampire, mystery, or romance to check out. It was the inspiration for this chapter :)

Chapter 4 (Part 2)

"Let's kill tonight! Kill tonight! Show them all you're not the ordinary type."—Panic! at the Disco, "Let's Kill Tonight"

Let me clear something up: I do not indulge in naughty behavior on a regular basis. It's not my fault I was most definitely going to be late for school this morning. My alarm didn't go off—or maybe I hit the snooze button one too many times. I can't remember exactly. Whatever the reason, when I woke up, the bus had just rounded the corner and had disappeared into the early morning sun like a giant yellow Twinkie. I couldn't hitch a ride from Mom because she had an emergency at work. Go figure. It was for those reasons that I was charging down the sidewalk at this precise moment—shoving my way around all the stupid people who wouldn't bother getting out of my way— in a pathetic attempt to make it to FHS before second period began.

I glanced at my watch. Thirty minutes. I had thirty minutes to get to school before the late bell for my second class rang. I had thirty minutes to get around all these people and figure out where the hell I was going. Panic and anger clawed their way into my stomach as I came to a tentative halt. A herd of people transversed the street, a crowd too thick for me to worm my way through.

"Hey!" I panted, bringing my arms over my head and waving them like an airplane flagger. "Can't you see . . . that I'm late . . . for school?!"

I received a few irritated glares and a few people "accidentally" stepped on my feet but no one budged. Not really.

Get in there, Amy! Be a man! I told myself. Ugh; the thought of acting like a member of the opposite sex really didn't appeal to me, so my endeavor to tackle the next person who even thought about stepping on my foot only got me flipped off. By several people.

With an exasperated growl, I flung myself into the throng of people and fought my way through the crowd, using my backpack as a weapon. "Get out of my way!" I snarled. "You people are adults! Use your freakin' cars to get to work!"

"It's like none of these people have ever heard of personal space," somebody murmured—seemingly to himself by the sounds of it—shoving me with enough force to propel me back several steps.

"Hey, watch it, jer—" My words dissolved into the air as my enraged gaze landed on a boy that didn't look much older than me. He wasn't dressed in the typical FHS uniform, causing me to wonder if he was from this area. Because if he was, he should be at school right now, like me. Instead, he was wearing jeans and a black shirt that said "F*ck Me, I'm Amazing!" The star was there and everything.

He appeared to have forgotten about me already but I couldn't seem to rip my eyes off him. His complexion was paler than was probably healthy, but was he attractive! Dark eyes as black as charcoal. Fluffy dark hair that looked about as feathery as the insides of a down pillow. He looked really tense too, as if the proximity of so many people was making him uncomfortable. His eyes flicked to me for a second before he scowled and vanished into the crowd.

I stood gawking at his retreating form. 

"Sweetheart, was he bothering you?" an old man asked me. Standing besides a newspaper kiosk, he offered me a kind smile. Since he was so old, I told myself "Stranger Danger" didn't apply here and said, "No. I'm just a little ticked, that's all. I missed the bus and now I have to walk all the way to school. There's too many people out today, him included."