Psychic chapter two

I collapsed in the hallway, a mess of tears and snot. What had I ever done to deserve this? "Oh, Lord, WHY?" I whispered to to myself. Then I heard a boy's voice. "Hey, are you alright?" It asked. I looked up. The boy sat down next to me. He had brown hair, like mine, but a lighter shade, and his eyes were an unusual shade of green. He was tall. "I saw what happened. After you ran off, your friends beat Daniel up. They're all in the principal's office now." I sniffed. "Really?" "Uh huh. I'm David Evers by the way." He said. What's your name?"

"Charlotte Grand." I answered. "Pretty name." He told me. I blushed. "Thank you." I said. "I don't usually cry like this. I'm just having a bad day, is all."

"Yeah" David said. "I was having a bad day, too. Then I met you."

After meeting David, my day took a turn for the better. John and Cassie were both suspended for fighting, but so was Daniel. When John's dad got to school, he was proud of his son for standing up for me, so he took him to the zoo. It turned out David and I had a lot of classes together, which gave me the chance to get to know him a bit.

I found out he liked soccer a lot and was planning to try out for the team. David also had a little eight year old sister, Sara. His favorite color was blue, and his favorite ice cream flavor was Rocky Road. So was mine. We also shared a favorite TV show: The Good Doctor. I was thrilled that we had so much in common.

When I got home from school that day, I told my mom everything, leaving out nothing. She was ecstatic that I had a crush. She seemed to think this meant my life was turning around. But I wasn't sure if David really liked me. Sure, he said his day got better when he saw me, but maybe I just imagined he was flirting with me when he said that. Or maybe he was but would hate me when  he found out what a freak I was.

I was so confused.

Later that night, after doing my homework, I walked across the street to babysit the Panarna twins, Joseph and Josephine. Personally, I think it's stupid to give you twins matching names, but I don't want to be fired, so I keep my mouth shut.

When I got there, the kids were coloring in their coloring books.When Josephine saw mejumped up and ran to me."CHARLOTTE! " She shouted gleefully. "What'd you bring us?!" "Josephine Panarna!" Her mother scolded her. I just laughed. "Actually  Julie, I did bring them gifts." I told her."Char, you shouldn't, they are spoiled enough already." "Oh, but I just have to! They're like the little siblings I never had! Now, JoJo, for you, I have an artist's berret." She squealed in delight. "And for you Joseph, I have some farm animals."

He examined them, looking pleased. "Thank you, Charlotte. My friend Toby has a donkey like this one." I was about to ask him if Toby lived on a farm, when I noticed the twins parents looked uncomfortable. "Josephine, Joseph, why don't you go play. We need to talk to Charlotte." They did, and I could here them chattering in their playroom. "Peter." Said Julie to her husband. "Why don't you explain. I'm going to talk to the kids about it again." She walked off, and Peter turned to me.

"Joseph's been going through a bit of a violent stage." He said to me. "How so?" I asked. "Toby is his imaginary friend, but not like you would expect." He continued. "According to Joseph, Toby is dead." My blood ran cold. "He says that one night, Toby got out of bed to play with his donkey, Jorge. Jorge didn't recognize him in the dark though, and he kicked him in the head, killing him."

For the rest of the night, even after I left the Panarna's house, I was on edge. I knew what  Toby must really be. I just couldn't believe there might be another psychic living right across the street from me.

The next day, when I woke up, I immediately got dressed. Usually  I would have stalled, but today I had something to look forward to. Seeing David. I was a bit nervous since Cassie and John wouldn't be there, but David didn't seem like the kind of guywho would let people pick on me.

I chose jeans and a peasant blouse, both embroidered with flowers. Then I braided my hair and I thought I actually looked pretty cute. I wondered if the kids at school would like it, though.

It was then that I began thinking about John and Cassie. I don't exactly know why, but I was thinking  that we were all outcasts. John was an outcast because one of his eyes was brown and the other was blue. Cassie didn't have anything wrong with her eyes, but she was black. This was a primarily white community, and people weren't very accepting of negros.

With these thoughts in my head, I set off to school. It was then that I remembered David and I had the same homeroom. When I got there, he was sitting in the desk next to me. "You look nice today." He told me. I blushed, and touched my hair. "I like the braids." David told me. "Thanks." I said.

Just then, the teacher stood up. "Alright, everybody. I have an announcement to make." Mr. Darter said. "I've decided what your second trimester project will be. A partners project! You and your partner will be given a photograph from this box. No backsies. Then you'll be tasked with writing an original story for yours. They have to be meaningful, by the way. That means no more pugerilla stories, Noah. You can pick your partners now."

The class laughed.

I looked at David at the same time he looked at me. " Yeah." I said. "Let's do it." He grinned, and I noticed he had a great smile. 

A shoebox was passed around the class and people began taking pictures. David handed it to me. "Do you want to do the honers?" He asked. "Sure." I told him, and I pulled out a picture of a little girl who appeared to be playing with a rattlesnake. I groaned.

As Mr. Darter passed papers on our project, I had one thought on my mind: How were David and I ever going to write a little girl trying to be BFFs with the most deadly snake in all of America?