Souls Of The Innocent

Chapter Seven: Making new friends

The hallway was filled with Seniors chatting loudly, laughing, snapping selfies, and taking a few seconds to fill each other in on the latest gossips. Amber couldn't believe her luck, she had stepped into the school hallway just when the bell had rung for the students to change classes. Perfect timing, she thought as she rolled her eyes. She didn't have a choice but to navigate her way through the chaos. With her hoodie pulled over her head she hoped that no one would recognize her so that she would make her way to the library without someone bothering her. She was surely not in the mood to put up with any of that usual nonsense from anyone today. She checked her watch, she should have been walking towards her History class at that precise moment but Famous Americans and war issues had to wait because she had her battle to fight.

Amber walked into the library and walked straight towards the archives where all the old newspapers were kept. She glanced around and was glad that the library looked quite empty which meant total privacy. She didn't want anyone to see her going through the newspapers looking for the article about a missing teenage girl, one could easily think about what lie they could make up about her looking for such information. 

" What was the date... I remember it was a Monday, that dreadful day ...", she softly whispered as she looked through the pile of newspapers.

Amber found the newspaper that she was looking for and pulled it out, she quickly turned the pages and stopped when she saw the article that she was looking for. She looked around the library if no one was watching, she took out her phone and took a picture of the article, she needed to take her time to read it carefully. She stood up from where she was sitting on the floor and placed the newspaper back in its place. She glanced at her watch and sighed, she will be spending time in detention class again, but she didn't care. What was important for her was that she managed to find something, maybe it could be a clue that could link this disappearance with that of her little sister.

" Amber Jones", someone whispered behind her and she turned to see two girls, they were both a year younger than her. She knew them quite well because they were like her, the unpopular girls, or like some of the seniors will call them "the outcasts".They would often be sitting two tables away from her in the cafeteria and they had never once exchanged even a hello. That's why she was surprised to see those two girls standing there looking at her with a smile on their face. 

" Yes", she replied in the same whispering tone as she put her phone back inside her bag. 

" I'm Stacy, she's Debra...", Stacy said.

" Well Deb for short", Debra added. 

Amber looked from one girl to the other and then she softly smiled at them as she swung her backpack over her shoulder.

"We just wanted to ask how you are... I mean after everything that had been going on", the girl who introduced herself as Stacy said softly and Amber looked at them with a surprised expression on her face. Stacy's voice was soft and she sounded sincere like she cared about her and what she was going through, for Amber it was unusual for someone from this school to be speaking to her in that tone and offering her kindness.

Stacy had blonde hair cut in a short pixie style and she wore a big pair of glasses which hides her hazel eyes. Deb was a bit chubby with round cheeks, she noticed her tiny dimples at the corner of her mouth as she stood there smiling at her.

" Well .. I'm trying to survive.. thanks for asking", she said smiling at them and as she was about to walk away, Stacy's words stopped her in her track.

" If you need a friend or two, you can count on us. We don't believe in all of those lies that those other kids are spreading about you " Amber turned and smiled at them and she whispered " Thanks". 

For a few seconds, happiness filled her heart. Something she had not felt in a long time. For a few minutes, Amber had forgotten about all the nasty things that the other students had said to her because she had learned today that among them, some believed in her and wanted to be her friend. It didn't matter if there were only two of them, for her it meant a lot. As she reached the exit door of the library, she turned and waved goodbye at them before making her way outside. Amber walked down the hallway to grab her books for her class with a bright smile on her face. 

She checked her watch she was already 25 minutes late, even if Mrs. Martin will scold her after class she had no choice. She slowly opened the door and noticed the class was dark and the sound of guns and shouting erupted on the projector screen. Unnoticed, she slid inside the room and grabbed the first empty seat that she could find. She was half-listening to what was going on in the movie, the other half she was thinking about all those missing girls' pictures back at the police station. A part of her was telling her to go back and take a picture of that notice board. If she researched all of those girls, she might come across something that could help her in her investigation. Lost in thoughts, she stared straight at the front of the class instead of the projector screen. A dark shadow standing next to the whiteboard brought her back to reality, she quickly composed herself thinking that it was Mrs. Martin. As the figure moved, Amber noticed it was a woman, and it was not Mrs. Martin. Her history teacher was a short plump woman, with curly hair cut shoulder length but that particular woman standing there was tall and thin, and she had long hair. She squeezed her eyes shut, silently praying that it wasn't one of those nightmares that come to life and when she opened them the figure had disappeared. She exhaled slowly as she tried to keep her concentration on the movie. A pencil rolled to her side of the desk and she looked down at it, she picked it up and turned to hand it back to its owner when she noticed the seat next to her was empty. She felt someone breathing down her neck and her heart started to race, she thought it was Mrs. Martin, she felt a coldness taking over her body and as she slowly turned around she gave a startled squeal and nearly fell off her chair. 

Amber quickly composed herself as the lights in the classroom were switched on. She glanced around the class and that thing was no longer there, instead, she saw  Mrs. Martin standing in front of the class looking at all of the students with an angry frown on her face. 

" Now who thinks it's funny to squeal like that in my class!?", she asked angrily.

No one answered as everyone looked at each other. Amber bent her head and remained quiet hoping that they wouldn't suspect it was her. Her palms were sweating and she rubbed them on her jeans. 

" Miss Jones.. happy to see you have joined us. I will see you after class. Now since someone interrupted the movie, there will be a test tomorrow", Mrs. Martin said just as the bell rang and a loud groan erupted in the class, no one liked to take a test on Fridays.

As everyone made their way out of the classroom, they glared at her, making her feel uncomfortable.

" I bet it was her! Heard she did that in detention as well!", one of the girls said directly to her face and she just bent her head down and stared at her hands. 

" Miss.Jones, do you realize that it is your final year. Arriving late in the class will only give you an F. I'm sorry for what happened to Nora .. but life goes on..", Mrs. Martin said and Amber looked at her trying not to let her emotions show.

How dare she say something like that to me!? How can she say life goes on, Amber thought as she clenched her fists in anger on her laps. 

" I hope tomorrow you will be ready for the test", Mrs. Martin said walking past her and she didn't say a single word to her History teacher, even if there were loads of things which she would have loved to say to her, but she rather remained calm. Those who haven't walked in her shoes will never understand what she was going through. 

As she was alone, she breathed a sigh of relief, she put a hand to her chest and exhaled slowly.She couldn't believe that she was now being persecuted by that thing she saw in her dream in broad daylight. With the thought of that woman, Amber hurried out of the class and made her way to the school cafeteria. As she walked in, she saw her new-made friends waving at her, she grabbed her lunch and walked towards them. As soon as she sat down, another girl sat down next to her and she heard the others in the cafeteria whispering the word "witches". 

That was because the girl who was sitting with them was none other than Logan Parker, she was the same age  as Stacy and Debra. Everyone said that she was a witch because her mother was well known to be a tarot card reader. Logan was someone who couldn't be bothered by their remarks.

" The coven is getting bigger", a boy shouted and everyone laughed. 

Amber looked around the cafeteria and her eyes fell on Nathan who was staring at her weirdly, but she couldn't be bothered with what he could be  thinking about her. 

" Hey ladies... I think you all know who I am. Logan the witch..", she said the last word out loud.

" Hey.. why are you sitting with us?", Deb asked.

" Do you want me to move to another table?", Logan asked.

" No... it's not that .. you always by yourself so we find it weird that you know..", Deb continued.

" Well Lil' Miss.Jones here is always by herself as well. So since I saw you guys together, I thought I'll join this group. Pretty interesting group", Logan said taking a sip of her juice.

" I don't see anything wrong with that. Nice to meet you, Logan... I'm Stacy and this is Deb and you already know Amber", Stacy said with a broad smile as she introduced herself and the others, they all smiled at each other.

At first, she felt a bit awkward, she was not used to be sitting and eating in the company of other people. But little by little, Amber felt relaxed as she spoke to her new friends, though they had been together for a few minutes she already liked them. They were all unique in their own way. Stacy had a bright and bubbly character and she kinda had a snort when she laughs. Deb was quieter, especially when she was eating and she will often cover her mouth when she will laugh and Logan she was loud, she could see why the other kids called her a witch, she was always dressed in black, from head to toe, her black nail polish gave out a  don't mess with me look. As she looked at them she wondered if she could trust them to tell them what she was going through.

Maybe I should wait, regardless of how I want to get this off my chest... I have to get to know them and trust them...she thought. 

She heard Logan mentioning her name and she quickly came back to reality and she noticed the three girls were staring at her.

" Sorry, what did you say?", she turned her attention towards Logan.

" I said, what happened between you and your friend?... Miss Popular over there", Logan said glancing towards the table which was a few meters away from theirs. 

The table where Nathan was sitting with those considered as the untouchables, the popular ones. Those that the other students considered as the most attractive, "not boring" and the wealthiest. But some of them will do anything to get in that little group, even betraying their own best friend and with that thought, her gaze landed on Lara Grey. 

" You use to be friends with Lara Grey?!", Debra exclaimed.

Amber didn't want to go into details about what happened between her and Lara. She glanced at the table again and at the same time, Lara turned and looked at her. Amber quickly looked away, she glanced at Logan who looked like she was still waiting for her answer with much interest. 

" I don't want to talk about this... maybe one day I'll tell you what happened", Amber said and though she could see disappointment written on her new friend's face, they didn't insist instead they changed the conversation to the Spring break dance which was in two weeks. 

Amber smiled as she looked at her newly-made friends. They looked as if they had known each other for a long time as they sat there talking and laughing. She realized that Logan was friendly and down to earth compared to the picture that the others had painted about her. Another lesson learned of the famous saying “do not  judge a book by its cover”.From now on, she would have something to look forward to when coming to school. She had new friends, friends maybe who could help her solve the mysteries and the paranormal things that she was experiencing.