A/N: It might take a while before I make the second chapter of "New Memories" so I decided to make this story first. The night was dark and the clouds loomed over the old building. It creaked, but there wasn’t the slightest hint of wind. No one heard the abandoned building. No one. But it didn’t matter whatsoever. It was already abandoned. Completely abandoned. “You hungry behind there, hon?” my father asked, turning his head to look at me. I was snuggled beside the window of our light van. I had a new book and I was reading it. It was a scary story, but all the while I found it interesting. My parents, like most parents, found reading educational, so it was fine with them. “Nah,” I replied back. “And drive safely.” I was scarcely hungry right now. Especially when I was indulged in a good chapter. We had woken up early for the long ride and I had a very light breakfast. But with a good book, I felt fine. I wasn’t even sleepy. My family and me were moving to a medium-sized town called Grimmsville in Western U.S. It was a better place to live, and no one minded the eerie town name. We had already rented a house on Green Avenue and we were on our way there. I was completely fine with it. It wasn’t like there were any friends I was leaving behind, anyway. Well, my name is Sherrie Tamer. I am twelve years old, have straight, dark hair and have bangs parted at the left side. My eyes are silvery blue. Our light van soon arrived in Green Avenue. And I tell you, for the ‘green’ in its name, it wasn’t looking too verdant. Sure, there was grass here and there, but there wasn’t to many plants or trees or flowers or anything like that. Our house was medium sized and kind of old, but still durable in several places. When I got in my room, I decided that it needed some brushing up. It was really dusty, but somewhat bigger than my former one. After cleaning up and having lunch, I got outside into the garden and told my mother that I’d go for a walk. She agreed. So I began walking down the avenue. I began to go further down the boulevard and as I got off the path, I saw a large building. In big, bronze letters, the sign read, “Blackwood School”. That's the school mom said I was going to, I thought as I stared up at the building. The school was okay. It was fine and it looked distinguished. But I wondered, why was this school the only the School in Grimmsville? I entered its premises to get a closer look. The wind swept my jet-black hair as I looked up at it, a queasy feeling reaching down to my knees. The building seemed to get higher, and it made me dizzy. But was that even possible? For some odd reason I didn’t know, my head turned to the left and there, I saw hidden in the shadow of my new school’s building, was another structure, only more tattered and worn. My natural curiosity, which always got me scolded, led me closer to the building. I looked it up and down. The sight was sort of blurry, since it was hiding in the shadows. Looking down at it, I found that there was an entrance. I was just about to approach it when a hand grabbed my wrist. “Whoa, girl,” said a slender, colored woman dressed in janitor’s clothing. She had a friendly voice. “What are you doing here?” “Just curious,” I calmly replied. “Well you aren’t supposed to be here, little girl,” she said. “What’s your name?” “Sherrie. Sherrie Tamer.” “Tamer, eh?” said the woman, who I assumed to be the janitress. “My name’s Kelly Green. Are you a new student here?” “Yes.” “I see… well, I don’t blame you for being curious… but try to ask someone when you get curious again, okay?” she gave me knowing smile, and at that moment it seemed that she knew all about me and my curious nature, and she would expect to see me again soon. “People like you aren’t supposed to be here.” “Why not?” Kelly gave a frown. “Look, I can’t explain now, and you have to leave. Come on.” and with that, she placed a tight grip on my arm and dragged me to the outside of the school’s premises. I stumbled forward after she had abruptly let me go. When I managed to straighten myself, I saw that the sky was getting dark. I had no more time to visit other places. I had to go home. I looked back at the school, checking on what Kelly might be doing. But she was no longer there. “So how was your walk?” my father asked me during supper. “Fine,” I replied. “I saw the school.” “Oh, you mean Blackwood School?” my mom asked interestedly. “You saw it? How is it like?” “It’s okay,” I said. Knowing what else was on their mind, I added, “It looks distinguished enough.” “That’s good.” My mother seemed relieved. “I bought your uniform already. I ordered your size, but it pays to be cautious. Would you like to try it on?” “Okay,” I replied. “Good. It’s hanging on a peg in the living room.” I went there and took a look at my uniform. A black and white uniform, I should’ve known, not that I cared. After changing, I went back to the kitchen. “It fits perfectly,” said my mother, delighted. My father nodded. “Very good,” he said. None of them remarked if I looked pretty in it or anything. I noticed it, but I wasn’t offended. The black and white uniform probably made me look wraithlike or something. I didn’t say anything. “Well, I think you’ll go through it without too many problems. You’re a very bright girl,” said my father. “Yes. Make friends,” smiled my mother. I nodded. But I had a strange premonition. Mom told me to take the school bus. It wasn’t too far, but it wasn’t too near either. I would probably be late already if I walked anyway. So I took the bus. The bus was light green. It looked like a normal bus. But as I climbed on, I saw something—or rather someone that made my eyes go wide. “Kelly!” I cried. “You’re the school bus driver?!” She wasn’t wearing the janitress’ gray suit anymore. In fact, she was wearing something even wackier. She had on a bright yellow jumpsuit with red sneakers. She also had a beanie pulled over her braided, dark hair. The woman who I was gaping so much at just gave me friendly grin. “Hello, Sherrie. Welcome to Blackwood School’s school bus!” As I gaped, she wagged her finger at me and said, “Aw now, Sherrie. Don’t be so sur-prised. I’m Blackwood School’s bus driver, there’s nothing wrong with that. I was only wearing the janitor’s suit yesterday for the fun of it. Now why don’t you take a seat?” It dawned upon me that Kelly probably was the kind of people who collected wacky costumes such as jumpsuits, janitor’s clothing and maybe even clown gear, as well. Just for fun. I sat down beside the window and ignored my different classmates messing around the bus. Some boys were climbing over the chairs and jumping over. They ran around and acted very rowdy. Some talked and talked. One girl had long, blond hair and green eyes. She was tall and had a pink and white complexion. She was fixing her makeup. Some were quiet, such as the shy girl who seated herself beside me. She had her golden-brown hair in two braids and had a few pink freckles. She held her books close to her body. When she finally noticed me, she blinked and looked sort of surprised. Then after a few seconds she turned away and said in a soft, little girl voice, and “Uh…h-hi.” “Hi,” I answered. “My name’s Sherrie Tamer. What’s yours?” “Mary Patterson. I haven’t seen you around before. Are you… new?” “Yes,” I replied. Duh. She probably didn’t know too many people and was incredibly quiet, but I liked her. “Hey, did you say you were new?” a husky voice said from behind me. I turned and saw a boy with messy, auburn hair and tiny freckles leaning over from the seat behind me. He had hyper blue eyes—well, eye actually. His other eye was covered by his incredibly messy bangs. On his head was a red cap, which gave me the idea that it was probably the reason of his messy hair. “Yes. I did,” I said calmly. Mary started ducking a bit. The boy started calling other kids. “Hey, check it out,” he called. “A new kid.” Several children came over. Others lifted their heads. “New kid?” “Oh, wow!” “Huh, it’s a girl.” I remained calm. But what was with these kids? They were making a seriously big deal about new kids. Or maybe it was because I didn’t come from this town. “So new kid,” the boy had placed his foot on the top of my chair. “You’ve just met Justin Kilburn. What’s your name?” “Well, obviously I haven’t met anyone by the name Justin Kilburn, so I can’t see why I should state my name.” He didn’t say that it was his name, so why should I be so sure? Some kids giggled. Justin blushed with anger. “MY name is Justin Kilburn!” he yelled. “And don’t you think you can just make fun of me and get away with it, New Kid!” Sheesh. What a baby. The bus screeched to a stop and we began to get off the bus. Justin kind of shoved me a little to go ahead. He glared at me. Wow. I had made an enemy before I even arrived at school. Not that I cared. But Mary sure did care. Mary rushed beside me. “I can’t believe you messed with Justin!” she gasped. “He’s po-pular, but that’s because he’s a bully! And with his company, he may be the biggest one in the whole school! Maybe even the whole town!” “I can handle him,” I replied. But Mary didn’t seem convinced. As we neared the school, the blond makeup-fixer came up to me. “Hey, nice work,” she said. “Somebody’s got to teach that bully a lesson.” She gave a little wave before she left. Mary seemed to be in awe. She looked at me in shock. “I don’t believe it!” she said. “Carrie Gardner actually spoke to you!” “So?” Carrie Gardner. Hm. “She’s totally popular,” Mary explained. “She rarely talks to anybody.” “Oh.” “So this means,” Mary went on, “you could be a popular kid! Oh my gosh! I can’t believe I’m talking to you!” “I’m not interested in being popular,” I said as I continued walking. Mary did, too. Well, okay. Maybe I was a little interested; being cooler than Justin was so unequivocal-ly rock. Nevertheless, not having Mary as a friend, or having her awkward around me was even worse than being unpopular. She was my first friend, and I liked her a lot, despite her… weaknesses. “Yeah, but still…” her voice trailed off as we entered the school. It kind of looked nor-mal, but I felt a sort of eerie feeling. Was it just me or was the hallway sort of…dim? I made my way to my light green locker and placed a few of my notebooks in. Just as I was making my way to my class (I didn’t have anything else to do), I heard a voice. “Cough up your pocket money!” I turned and saw Justin with a couple of other boys holding a helpless looking kid by the collar. But Justin wasn’t the one holding up the kid by the collar. But in a way he did, cause it was obvious that he had ordered the big thug to do it. I stared at him. This humanlike monster had styled his black hair into a crew cut, and was bodily gigantic. “B-but,” the glasses-wearing boy stuttered, “I’ll be broke.” These kids probably bullied him every day. “Look,” said Justin, facing the kid, “do you want to be out of money or really be broke? Broken, I mean?” Wow. How corny. The trembling kid, however, was greatly affected. He strugglingly fumbled around his clothes. He couldn’t find anything. “I-I don’t have any money with me,” the boy said. Justin’s frown went deeper. “All right kid, you’ve just used our patience.” He snapped his fingers. “Phil, do your thing.” “My pleasure, Justin,” said the thug, holding back his elbow in potential energy to pre-pare for the strike. “Leave him alone.” The boys turned their heads to look at me. I was wearing a stern face with my fists placed on my sides. They burst into laughter. “And what’re you going to do if we don’t?” Phil asked. “You’ll be sorry.” Phil was just about to approach me, punching his palms in anticipation when a boy in the group stopped him. He had jet-black hair—almost darker than mine. Wait—was it? That would mean my hair wasn’t truly black then. Okay, never mind. He had a fair complexion, and his hair was, like Justin’s, messy and had a cap turned around. It must be a trend. His hair was a bit bobbed, though, and didn’t cover one of his eyes. “Nah, just leave her alone, Phil,” he said. “She’s just a girl.” Justin smirked. “Yeah, Marc, just a girl,” he said mockingly. “A poor, witty defenseless girl who—” Clout! I cuffed him across the face, leaving a pink spot on his cheek. He froze in that position to absorb the shock, and when he finally came to his senses, he faced me with a frown on his injured face. “How dare you…” He was about to punch me, but I dodged. As I went to give him another punch, he clutched me arm and grabbed my hair. I was going to get a bald spot in my head if the bell hadn’t rung. We were all so completely shocked for a moment that Justin dropped my hair. That gave me a chance to kick him in the leg. And as he was so preoccupied with the pain, I began to take off. Justin and his group came to their senses as well and soon the whole student body was running down the halls. The building shook. Justin and his group caught up with me. I ignored them because like, we all had the same matters here! I expected him to ignore me, too, but he didn’t. He really didn’t. In fact, he went in level with me and tripped me. Then he and his friends went off in full speed, pushing me down. And as I lay on my stomach, the whole student body ahead of me, my eyes blazing, I thought, All right, Justin Kilburn. This means war. I entered my classroom while the teacher was giving attendance. Justin snickered, his arms folded behind his head and his feet on his table as I went by his desk, making way to get to mine. “Carrie Gardner?” the brunette teacher looked at the list and then lifted her head to see who would either stand or raise her hand. “Here.” “Marc Andrews?” “Huh? Oh, here.” The boy with the messy black hair and cap from earlier gave the teacher a small wave, like he was swatting a fly. It was probably his way of raising his hand. “…Chrissie Geller?” “Here.” A straight, brunette haired girl stood up. She had brown skin and eyes. After calling a couple of other names, the teacher started the class. I learned that her name was Mrs. Barker. She was okay, and the class was, too. Except for the dagger-throw-ing glances Justin shot at me. I tried to ignore him, and for a while it worked. But Justin, however, decided to get physical. “OW!” Mrs. Barker looked up, eyebrow raised. She wasn’t angry yet, and I could tell she had to be patient if her students usually acted like this. She looked at me. “What is it, Sherrie?” she wanted to know. “Um, nothing, Mrs. Barker,” I said. I shot Justin a sharp look, which meant, “If you do that again, I am so telling.” He didn’t seem affected, however. In fact, he smirked confidently and waved his straw in the air, the one he probably used to throw spitballs at me with. That was the oldest mischief making activity in the book, but it sure hurt. Much more painful than I thought a ball of wet paper would be. “All right, Sherrie,” Mrs. Barker said falteringly. “But next time this happens, I can count on you for a reason, all right, Sherrie?” “Yes, Mrs. Barker,” I replied, then continued listening to her as she went on with the lesson, thinking Justin was, too. But I was so wrong. “AGH!” I was so wrong. Mrs. Barker looked up expectantly, her eyes already on me. “What is it, Sherrie?” she wanted to know. I had warned him. Now was the time to carry out my threat. I pointed at the one I so dreadfully hated, the one I had made an enemy of on my first day of school, not that I cared. “Justin threw a spitball at me, Mrs. Barker.” Almost immediately, the class started to react. Some giggled, some gasped, others scowled. I was confused. Mrs. Barker frowned, not like she was angry, but more like she didn’t believe me, not one bit. “Sherrie,” she said firmly, “Are you sure about this?” “Yes, Ma’am.” Why was it so hard to believe? She looked at both Justin and me. “Meet me after school,” was all she said. After class, Mary joined me for recess. She was very uneasy with me, knowing that I had just gotten detention with Justin Kilburn. “Look,” I told her. “It’s not a big deal.” She didn’t look like she believed me one bit. “B-but… it’s Justin… and…” “Mary, I don’t stand for bullying and just keeping quiet, letting them. I thought that this morning you realized that.” Mary turned red and didn’t speak as we continued down the hall. Suddenly, the glasses-wearing boy approached me. Mary looked surprised, but I didn’t. I was pretty sure I knew why he was there. “T-thank you for earlier,” he said. “You saved my life!” he added, which made Mary look even more surprised. She looked at me. “Sherrie?” I immediately knew that Mary did not see anything I did in the hall. He turned to leave, but he abruptly stopped himself. “Oh, and by the way, my name’s Erick Carlson. You’re name’s Sherrie T-Tamer, right?” I nodded. He gave me a smile. “Okay. Bye.” When he had gone, Mary looked at me disbelievingly. “What was all that about?” she asked. “Well, I kind of saved him from Justin and this guy they called Phil and a few others,” I answered as we walked outside the school. Some others were outside, too. I eyed the old building behind the school. Why was it there? “Well, continue,” said Mary. “How did you save Erick from them? Did you um, call a teacher? Did you interrupt and run away?” “Neither,” I replied. “I told them to stop it, and while we kind of, um, fought, and Erick escaped.” “Oh my gosh, I don’t believe this.” Mary covered almost her whole face with her hands. “You did that? And fought with Philippian Jones?” Philippian Jones? What kind of name was that? “No, I didn’t really physically fight him,” I said, “but Justin—” “Oof!” me and another girl said at the same time as we both collided.