Light In The Dark

CHAPTER ONE ::ELYSE::

THE ALARM BLARED IN MY EAR. I REACHED OVER HITTING the side table, where the clock was screaming at me, over and over until the noise stopped. I didn't want to get up. Brushing my curls back, that we're stuck to my face, I slowly sat up and stretched. Huffing, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. I had put this day off for as long as possible but, Sara and Jim wouldn't let me postpone it anymore. So, I stood, walking over to the bathroom to get ready for my first, first day of school in four years. I took my time in the shower, enjoying every second of the warm water cascading over my skin.

Wiping the steam from the mirror after my shower, I looked at myself. My hair was a tangled mess that I had let grow for nearly three years, refusing to cut it because it was my only feature that reminded me of my mother. My dark curls fell to my belly button when dry but, wet and straight, it was nearly past my butt. I brushed out the mess, covered myself with lotion, brushed on mascara, and applied chap stick before leaving the bathroom.

It had been hot all weekend so I dressed in a flowy purple tank top, cuffed jeans, and sandals. I walked down the stairs to the kitchen where Sara, my new foster mom, was cooking fried eggs in a skillet. I had lived with the Williamsons' and their two other foster children for three weeks now. They were a nice couple that lived in Fort Mill, a little over an hour outside of my home town. I had been with two other families this year; the Taylor's and the Lee's but, they couldn't "handle" my depression. Since being with the Williamsons' I was the happiest I could remember every being. They were kind and patient with me. Remembering to take me to all of my appointments and finally helping me get on medication. I had only been taking my pills for a week now, but I could already tell a difference in myself.

Sara was tall and skinny with pixie cut blonde hair. The only hint that she was older than 30 was the way her blue eyes crinkled around the edges when she smiled.

"Good morning sweetie," Sara said from the kitchen island.

"Good morning," I replied with a smile.

"Would you like some eggs?"

"Yes, please."

I sat down at the breakfast bar attached to the island while Sara made me a plate and set it in front of me. She rung her hands on a rag attached to the oven door before talking again.

"Jim is going to drive you and Jon to school in about 15 minutes. Jim said he'd take you in to make sure that all of your paperwork went through so that you're good to start and Jon said he'd walk you to your classes today if you wanted. I know you're a big girl but-"

"No," I stopped her, "I really appreciate it. I don't know what I'd do without y'all."

Sara was the worrying type and I could tell she was worrying because she was being overbearing. Before I would have rolled my eyes and walked away from someone fretting over me, but she didn't realize how much I had learned to appreciate her. She smiled at me and just nodded.

I ate my eggs in silence while I waited for Jim and Jon. My foster father, Jim, was tall with peppered hair and blue eyes. He had a muscular build unlike his slender wife but, when they stood side by side they looked like they belonged together.

Jon was their foster son. He had lived with the Williamsons' for 4 years and was in the process of being adopted by them. I had a foster sister as well. Her name was Jenny and she was 5. She had Sandy brown hair, grey eyes, and was cute as a button.

Jon finally came lumbering down the stairs, just as I was finishing my eggs, with his backpack over one shoulder.

"Hey mom," he greeted Sara.

"Good morning honey."

I smiled at him as he sat beside me at the bar. Their relationship made me jealous and made me miss my own mother, but I wouldn't ever tell them. Even though I would never be able to call Sara, or anyone else, mom, I was happy Jon had found someone he could.

Jim finally came around the corner from their bedroom and walked into the kitchen, leaning over to kiss Sara on the cheek before grabbing some toast and walking out the door. Their relationship was simple, and they never seemed to talk much but the way they looked at each other made it obvious that they knew what the other was thinking. They seemed to move together and were always aware of the other. I wondered if I would ever have that.

The four-door Range Rover that was the family car seemed small with the two large men in it, but I sat in the back seat with both mine and Jon's backpacks and Mr. Williamson's brief case without complaint. The ride was short, and I found myself wondering how long of a walk it would be. Before my accident, when life was normal, I walked to school every day. The walk was my favorite part of the day because I could think and didn't have to worry about interruptions from moms, steps dads, or siblings. It was my me time and the only time I seemed to have any peace and peace was something I hadn't had in over 3 years.

The high school was a lot larger than I had imagined it would be. The last school I had attended was a junior high school and it was much smaller. Now I was a senior in high school and had never set foot in one. My past two families had been homeschoolers, so this was a whole new world to me. Jim walked in front of me into the main office of the school. The woman sitting at the desk greeted him as soon as we walked in.

"Mr. Williamson! We've been expecting you."

As he explained my situation to Mrs. Jacobs, as her desk plate read, it seemed more and more like they were old friends. Their familiarity with each other set me at ease.

"Elyse, Mrs. Jacobs has printed out your class schedule and has informed me that all of your teachers know you are starting today so you shouldn't have any trouble."

I thanked both of them, told Jim I was good from there, and watched him walk out of the school after saying goodbye to Mrs. Jacobs.

Jon started down the hall to show me the commons area and then walk me to my first class, English. He talked while we walked but I didn't pay him much attention. I was lingering on the last thing Jim had said to me. I shouldn't have any trouble. I couldn't help but be a little upset by that, knowing that this would be a very difficult day for me. He didn't mean anything by it and I could be being over sensitive but still, the hurt was there. I silently hoped that he was right though.

I walked into Room 2102, Mr. Armstrong's 12th grade English class, and walked to the desk in the front corner of the room where a middle-aged man was sitting. Mr. Armstrong was the type of man that you knew used to be attractive, but age and a handlebar mustache had taken that away from him.

"Yes?" he asked, noticing someone was at his desk but, without looking up from the papers he was grading.

I cleared my throat, "um… My name is Elyse Carpenter. Today is my first day," I said quietly.

He finally looked up with wide eyes and a smile.

"Ah, yes. Elyse, right?"

I nodded.

"Yes, you can sit in any open desk. We will begin class after morning announcements and I will introduce you," he said too cheerfully.

"Thank you, you don't have to do that-"

"Nonsense! Have a seat."

I nodded my head and turned to find a seat. The room was mostly full, and everyone seemed to be talking in little groups around the room. One girl stood out to me. She was sitting in a group but instead of having her whole body turned in her chair to join in the conversation she was furiously drawing on a pad at her desk. There was an empty seat next to her, so I sat down but didn't say a word. I didn't want to break her concentration.

Once I had my notebook and pencil out on my desk and my backpack stored under my seat I peeked over at what she was drawing. The floral pattern was astonishing. I think my mouth fell open a bit as I stared at her masterpiece. Amongst the flora was a wolf, a fox, and an owl, all intricately incorporated. I was so engrossed that I didn't notice when she stopped and looked up at me.

"Hey," she said.

As I snapped out of it, I realized I had been starring.

"Hi, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to stare."

"No! It's fine. Do you like it?" she asked.

"I love it. It's amazing. How did you learn to draw like that?"

She laughed.

"Thanks. It's really not that great. Who are you? I don't think I've seen you before."

"That's because I'm new. My name is Elyse."

She stuck her hand out for me to shake and I took it. She smiled broadly.

"My name is Jerrica, but all my friends call me Jerr. You want to see some more of my stuff?"

"Of course!"

Jerrica and I made quick friends. She showed me every page of her notepad and I couldn't believe my eyes at how good her drawings were. When the morning announcements played she handed me the pad so that I could look through the rest of it.

After the Pledge of Allegiance, the principal all wished for us to have a good day and the speaker cut off. Mr. Armstrong embarrassingly made me stand up to introduce myself. Once all of the formalities were over he started class. They were in the middle of reading Into the Wild which I had already read fortunately and since today was my first day I didn't have to partake in the discussion. I finished looking through Jerrica's notepad. She had drawn everything from landscapes to random designs, but I kept coming back to one drawing. In the center of the page stood a stag made out of what looked like roots. Its antlers branched out like a tree and beautiful birds and flowers sat in the limbs. It was breathtaking.

"You can have that if you want?" Jerrica whispered to me.

"I couldn't"

"You should. You've looked at it 5 times now. It's yours. I won't take no for an answer."

She reached over and grabbed the pad from me, tore the page out, and handed it back. I nodded a thanks and slid the page into the front cover of my notebook.

When the bell rand Jerrica stood and waited for me to pack up my things. Once I was ready we started to walk out towards the commons area.

"What's your next class?"

I looked down at the paper Mrs. Jacobs had given me with my schedule scrawled in elegant handwriting across it.

"Pre-calculus in room 1205."

"Oh, that's too bad. I don't have that class, but I can walk you if you want!"

"Really? Thank you."

"No problem. I'll be just down the stairs from you, so I won't have to go far. Did anyone tell you how the room numbers work?"

"Um… I think Jon might have told me but, I don't remember."

"Jon?"

"He's my foster brother. Jon Williamson? Or maybe it's still Roland?"

"Oh! You're living with the Williamsons? That's awesome. They are such great people."

"I think so," I said with a smile.

We were finally at the end of the hall, entering the commons area. Jerrica pointed.

"You see the numbers at the top of each hall?"

I nodded.

"Those are the wing numbers obviously and the first number for each room. So, room 1205 would be in Wing 1 because the room begins with a 1. The second number is what level the room is on, so you'll be on the second floor."

I nodded again as we began walking to the stairs.

"We have an elevator but technically is only supposed to be used by faculty or anyone with a disability. Principal Brown caught Katie Hathaway and Samuel Smith in there once and they ruined it for everyone. Katie got sent to an all-girls Catholic school after that, but everyone says Sam still writes to her. I think it's romantic."

"That is very romantic. What were they doing in the elevator?"

"Not really sure. Everyone says something different but the story I hear the most is that Katie was wearing a dress that day and when the door opened Sam had her leaned against the wall and Principal Brown saw his hand come out from under her dress."

My eyes got wide.

"Yeah," she laughed.

We were at the top of the stairs now. Jerrica turned to the left towards Wing 1 and we started down the hall.

"So, the last number is the room number. The odd numbers are on the left side of the hall and the even numbers are on the right."

"That's a really smart system."

"Yeah, it's easy to figure out once you know what the numbers mean."

We were outside of the room 1205 now and I turned to Jerrica.

"Thanks so much. I guess I'll see you around."

"Sure thing. It was nice to meet you!"

"You too."

I watched as she made her way to the other end of the hall and turned to go down another set of stairs.

Pre-Calculus went by slowly. There weren't any Jerrica's in this class. Everyone was quiet and seemed very focused. I was glad when the bell rang. I looked at my schedule to see what was next. Agriculture II-Room 1108 was written as my next class, but Lunch was scribbled to the side with an arrow pointing in-between Pre-Calculus and Ag. I had no clue where the cafeteria was. I made my way to the end of the hall to look out over the commons from the balcony and searched for Jerrica or Jon. Neither of them were anywhere to be seen but a large group of students seemed to be going in the same general direction. I rushed down the stairs to follow, hoping they were going to the cafeteria.

I followed the group out of a pair of double doors to an outdoor corridor and then through another pair of double doors. Thank God, I thought to myself as we walked into a Cafeteria. I walked through the first line I saw. It was a sub sandwich line and as I waited my turn I looked around. Three other lines were forming, and it looked like there was also a salad, pizza, and fried chicken line.

Once through the line I walked into the open room with long tables lined up all the way across and looked for a familiar face that I knew I probably wouldn't find. Then I saw Jerrica and let out a sigh of relief thanking the gods that I wouldn't have to sit alone at lunch on my first day of school or in the bathroom stall like they do in all the movies. I walked to the table she was sitting at but did a double take as I looked at Jerrica and Jerrica… The first one looked up at me.

"Can I help you?"

My mouth fell open. I wasn't sure what to do.

"Oh, hey! Jess, this is Elyse. The girl I was telling you about!"

I looked back and forth between the two of them. They were the same person. Long blonde wavy hair, blue eyes that looked like the ocean, and they were even wearing the same color shirt. I knew they had to be twins but I couldn't even find words at the moment because of the shock that had overcome me.

"Oh, Elyse. I'm so sorry! It's nice to meet you. My name is Jessica, but all of my friends call me Jess."

"Jessica and Jerrica?" I finally managed to get words out.

"Yes," they said simultaneously, both laughing.

"Sit," Jerrica finally said pointing to a chair across from her.

I did as she said and a calmness washed over me and I thought how lucky I was to have made at least two friends on my first day.

The rest of the day was pretty boring. Jessica was in my Agriculture class, so it was nice to have another friend. My last class was Political Science and neither of the twins were in that one. Everyone was nice to me though and I was sure I'd make more friends as time went on. As the day came to an end I was relieved to have survived my first day. Jon met up with me in the commons but only to tell me he had football practice. He said Jim could come pick me up after work but that was 30 minutes from now and that I was welcome to come watch practice until then.

"Thanks, but I think I'll walk," I said.

"You shouldn't walk," he said.

"Why? Walking used to be my favorite thing. It helps clear my head."

"If you're sure," he said shrugging.

"I'm sure! Thanks."

I typed out a quick text to Jim telling him not to worry about picking me up and that I'd see him at home. I put my phone back in my pocket and walked out the door. I saw Jessica and Jerrica standing by a Jeep in the parking lot and waved to them as I walked by. The distance between home and school was short and it was an easy walk.

No one was home when I walked in, so I went straight upstairs and flopped onto my bed. I let out a deep sigh and stared at the ceiling.

"One day down," I said to myself.