Young Writers Society

AN- There is a prologue before this (I think it's titled as chapter 3 in my portfolio), so this isn't technically the start of the novel. Also, this is several drafts in so do be critical but do let me know what's good as well just for future reference. Thank you for reading. 

Late again

“Hey, Willow, what are you writing?” said Leah. She stood in the doorway, looking at my room in disgust. “Your mum let us in, by the way.”

I looked up from what I was writing in my diary and tried to rub away the dreaminess in my eyes. I’d been asleep, absentmindedly staring at my diary as my mind drifted to other places. Looking across my room, I noticed Uri stood next to a pile of dirty clothing and a gargantuan stack of cups.

Leah was by the door looking flustered, glancing at the time on her watch. I took that as a hint and started to get myself ready for school.

“Bye mum, bye dad,” I said through a mouthful of toast, rushing out the door to catch up with Uri and Leah.

“Come on, we are going to be late!” exclaimed Leah.

I sighed. I hate school I thought and I retreated into my head as we boarded the train, to stand huddled by a pole next to the door.

“So I was like OMG you are totally not wearing that!” A high pitched voice sounded behind me. Glancing back, I saw a group of popular girls from my school. The one who had spoken, Emma, was a girl that I have an almost uncontrollable desired to punch in the face.

“And then he was like I can dress up like a lobster if I want. He is the weirdest guy, I just wish he would die already.”

“Uh, look it’s that weird group from school,” One of the other girls said in what she thought was a whisper. It was clear they were talking about us, we were the only others wearing school uniform.

They called us that all the time, Leah was the teacher’s pet, I was the lazy daydreamer, and Uri was…well…different.

He wasn’t your average teenage boy, put it that way. He looked much like a normal boy from the neck down, it’s was the colour of his eyes and hair that gave him an otherworldly appearance. Red just like blood. His eyes held an unnatural move to them, eyes ablaze with flames.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t look like the freak is with them. Maybe they gained some common sense and ditched the demon boy.” Another murmured.

Idiots, Uri was stood right next to… me.

Apart from the fact that he wasn’t, nor was he anywhere for that matter.

At some point Uri had disappeared from sight... feck.

“Oh my goodness, Leah, where’s Uri?”

“Hmm…oh, I didn’t notice he'd gone.” She said before looking back down at her phone.

“Hey!” I yelled, snatching the phone from her hands. “This is serious, something could have happened to him.”

“Like what?” she smirked.

“Well… he could have been pulled into an alley by a serial killer and is being chopped up as we speak. Or maybe… he was abducted by aliens!” I rambled as I squeezed my hands tightly together and Leah rolled her eyes.

“Aliens, really Willow? What are you, five?” If the train hadn’t been so jarring, she would have been crossing her arms.

“I’ll have you know there have been accounts of such things happening. If you weren’t so close-minded then maybe you would see how truthful they are.”

Bong!

“This is Warwick Avenue, the next stop is Maida Vale. Please mind the gap between the train and the platform.”

The doors opened and we pushed off the train and through the gate by a wave of bleary-eyed commuters. Not once did I see Uri’s distinct colours amongst the crowd. My heart squeezed tightly as I fought hopelessly against Leah iron grip.

“He’s probably already at school and if we wait around for him we’ll be late. I’m not getting told off for your wildly vivid imagination. He most likely went ahead after going to the toilet or something.”

“See,” she said a few minutes later. She pointed off into the distance.

I let out a sigh of relief. Uri was leaning against the main school building. I tried to catch his eye, trying to understand why he ditched us, but he seemed too concerned about his surrounding to even notice me.

Gazing around, I noticed how people were gawking at him, muttering to each other. Most likely about the way he looked. His appearance never failed to unnerve them.

As I continued to look around I noticed a boy parading in Uri's direction. My pace sped up. A meeting between these two never ended well. Hell, it never started well!

The guy's voice rung across the street.

"Oi, freakface, how's Satan?" The guy yelled, still a distance away but closing further in.

Uri's head swept up as his eyes focused on the approaching boy. His eyes narrowed and his fists clenched. "Ask him yourself, you'll be joining him soon." He hissed.

"Oh, so scared! Is the big bad orphan boy going to punch me?”

"Get lost, Markus," I said, glaring at him as I finally reached Uri's side.

Markus gave me a look of pure disgust before turning away. 

"I'll tell mum on," I shouted. "Yeah, you walk away!" 

I turned back to my friends, both of who were giving me a strange look. 

"What? My asserting my dominance," I said, walking into the school building. 

"Remind me again," Leah said, quickly changing the subject, as we walked pass Markus, gesturing between me and Markus’ group, "how you two are twins?"

"Urgh, don't remind me. It's bad enough living in the same home as him, let alone remembering we shared a womb together," I groaned.

As me and Uri settled ourselves into form, I noticed something seemed off. At first, I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Form rolled into lessons, maths and history, and lesson slowly became break. It was then that I realised what was different. Me and Leah slumped down onto the benches, grateful for the break in lessons. Uri, on the other hand, stayed where he was. He seemed different today, remote and tense. His back was facing us, his arms held tightly to his sides as his fists slowly turned white. I looked over at Leah to find her staring at Uri as well, frown lines creasing her forehead.

I leant forward and whispered, "Do you think he's okay?"

"I don't know," she whispered back, sneaking another look at him. "It looks like he worried about something. Really worried."

I straightened back up and, with the most casual voice I could muster, said, "Uri, why don't you come sit down?"

His head snapped around. He looked down at me with wide eyes before taking a deep breath and dropping down onto the bench. He sat with his back against the table, glaring at the people who walked by.

“Uri, are you okay today? You haven’t got a fever have you?” I blurted.

As I tried to lay my palm on his forehead, I felt pain bloom in my hand as it was flung back onto the table. Uri had smacked my hand away, and it defiantly hadn’t been gentle “I’m feeling great, okay?” He growled.

Leah gawked at him. “Uri, you could have hurt her!”

Uri sat in silence for a moment, looking conflicted. He mumbled something I couldn’t quite hear before getting up and walking off.

His mood proceeded into lunch two hours later. I had finally managed to convince him to sit with us. He might have hurt me but he was still my best friends and something was bothering him. We relaxed in the cafeteria, me and Leah wolfing down a microscopic mound of spaghetti Bolognese. Uri, however, wasn't eating any of his. He kept staring out the cafeteria’s grimy windows, moving his fork absentmindedly around the plate.

"Are you gonna eat that?" I said with a mouthful of food.

Uri didn't move this time, in fact, he didn't seem to have heard me. Finishing off the last mouthfuls of food, I swapped our plates and dug in. Waste not, want not. In between eating, I peered up at him, hoping to see something of the friend I knew in this distant person. I continued to stare at him until a ringing filled the room. Lunch was over and the final hour of school had begun.

Thirty minutes later, my pencil still hovered over my sketch paper. I hadn't made a single mark on its textured surface, my mind too preoccupied to contemplate anything worth drawing. All I could think about was Uri. It didn’t that I had Leah’s words running amok in my mind.

"It looks like he worried about something. Really worried."

But what could he be worried about? We always confined in each other. For him not to say anything meant that whatever it was, it was really serious...

I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about it so I decided to take action. It was the end of the school day and Uri was stood outside of the main gates. Even from this distance, I could tell his mood hadn't changed. I shuffled hesitantly over to him. Tapping him gently on the shoulder, I waited for him to turn around.

“Uri, are you okay?”

“How many times do I have to say this? I’m fine, feeling perky, never better. Choose whichever one will work inside that head of yours.”

“Well, you don’t look fine. You’ve been glaring at everyone, completely unfocused when I talk to you and you hurt me at break. You would never do that if you were feeling normal.” I reached my hand out to touch him, hoping to get through to him better.

He shrugged me off. “I’m fine,” he snapped, making me choke on my voice. He glared at me, his chest rising and falling in jagged motions. Several seconds went by before I found the courage to speak.

“Uri, what is up with you today?” I said my voice raising a few octaves higher. “I think I have the right to know why if something's bothering. It not fair to make me worry like this!”

“You don’t have screech, okay. Now leave me alone, Willow. It’s none of your business.” He said, his arms folded tightly across his chest as he refused to look me in the eye.

"Well, it is! Because you’re my best friend and we tell each other everything." Tears began to prick at my eyes, threatening to spill over. I coughed in the hope that it would make the thick, suffocating feeling in my throat go away.

"Well, you clearly don't know me very well then, do you? You think I tell you everything? Please, you only know what I want you to know. Now, leave, you’re annoying me."

“Fine... be a douche!” I sobbed as I stormed off.