Chapter 1:

Enter The New Girl

A Second Chance At New Memories


Night, rain is pounding against the windshield as the wipers work overtime. Thunder makes a crack across the night sky as the black car zooms down the Interstate. Amira rests her head against the window. As she glances out the reflection of the night lights race past her face. She tries to zone out and imagine she was somewhere else instead of stuck in this prison of a car being suffocated by tension so thick a knife would be needed to cut through it. Tension continues to rise as the two adults in the front seat continue to argue. This is a scene that Amira has become accustomed to seeing over the past few months.

“You know if you did a better job raising her, we wouldn't have to go to teacher conferences like this,” Amira's dad tensely said while continuing to drive.

Amira’s mom scoffed at his audacity, “Maybe if you were home more instead of spending all your time at work you would know the things that are happening in your daughter's life,” Amira’s mom annoyingly replied.

“I bust my butt every day to make sure you have a roof over your head but all you are worried about is how much money you have to spend for nights out. So don't you dare try to pin all the blame on me,” countered Amira’s dad.

Rinse and repeat, nothing changes from this scene no matter how many times it plays. The anger, the raised voices, the yelling but never listening it never changes. Amira lets out a deep sigh and closed her eyes, wishing she could have a moment of stillness and quiet. The voices outmatched the thundering of the heavy rain pounding against the car. One voice trying to beat out the other, getting louder and louder. Suddenly the car jerked to the left and Amira’s eyes snapped open. The car begins to swerve before Amira’s dad regained control. Amira thought that that would be enough to cease the arguing, but she was sadly mistaken because the arguing continued. What was surprising was the acknowledgment of the incident went unmentioned as if it didn't happen. Arguing continued in the front seat as the car resumed down the road. As the voices got louder the control of the car worsened. Through the sounds of anger and thunder, Amira heard a horn, but the sound seemed to go unnoticed by the adults. As the car continued so did the horn. Amira was deeply concerned at this point, why was she the only one hearing this she thought to herself. As the voices in the car grew in volume so did a horn it wasn't until white blinding headlights penetrated the car that the stillness Amira desperately wanted finally came.

Amira woke up with a deep gasp. Heavy breathing could be heard throughout the room as Amira’s eyes jerked rapidly around the room. Sweat trickled down her face and seeped into her sheets as her clammy hands grasped her comforter in a death grip. The dark cloud of memories slowly lifts from her mind and recedes into the dark abyss. Those memories are the memories that she wished she had forgotten like the rest of them. After getting her breathing under control she glances at her bedside table for her alarm clock. The big numbers confirmed that she once again woke up before her alarm. Well, no point in lying in bed Amira thought to herself and began her morning routine for school. As Amira stood in front of her mirror doing her last look over at her uniform, she caught the reflection of a pair of worn black fighting gloves that looked like they have seen some better days. As she continued to look at them through the mirror she was suddenly hit with a blinding headache. Suddenly fragments of memories started to invade her head. Memories of unknown kids laughing, crying, and hanging out but as soon as one memory cleared up for her it quickly was replaced by another segment.

The pain only intensified for Amira until they suddenly stopped. Amira found herself leaning against her desk which she was able to use to catch herself before she collapsed. She was once again heavy breathing, trying to gather her bearing. While trying to get her breathing under control her grandmother called her down for breakfast. Not wanting to worry her she quickly made herself decent and headed downstairs.

“Amira, don't you look precious,” greeted Amira’s grandmother as Amira entered the kitchen. Amira shyly smiled while thanking her before greeting her grandfather who was reading the morning newspaper.

“How has school been,” asked Amira’s grandfather, while taking a sip of his morning coffee. “School is school I guess. Nothing is any different from what I can remember,” Amira answered as her grandmother sat a plate in front of her before taking her seat.

“We know how hard it has been for you after the incident of losing your parents and then finding out you have lost some time in your memories. No one could have foreseen this. We just want to make sure you are not under a lot of pressure,” Amira’s grandmother warmly said.

“I am fine. You guys have already done so much for me and if by some chance I do need something else which, I doubt is the case, I will ask you OK,” Amira reassured her grandmother, who was tearing up a little. Before the water show started Amira made an excuse about wanting to arrive at school early because of morning duties so she hurriedly chugged her glass of milk and headed out the door.

Arriving At School

As Amira approached the entry gates to her school, she started to fill the heated stares along her skin. This has been going on for a week now since she returned to school. The judgmental stares from the other students. Some students look afraid of her while others look at her in disgust. Amira has given up finding the reason behind it. Every time she walks up to someone, they either run away or try to offer her their wallet while pleading not to hurt them. To say the least, Amira was curious about who she was before the accident. Amira released a long sigh and continued her path inside the school.

Amira glanced out of the window from her seat using her arm as a stand for her head while she was waiting for the teacher to arrive. As the morning bell rung, on cue, the teacher walked in just like any other day but what made this scene different from the other days was that a small girl trailing behind her. If the girl wasn't wearing the school uniform Amira would have assumed she was in middle school with how short she was. The lights reflected brightly off her blonde hair, and she had big pink round eyes, that to Amira at least, looked like they twinkled as if it was Christmas morning, every morning. After analyzing her Amira concluded that the new student was indeed cute and from the excited whispers from her classmates Amira guessed she wasn't the only one. From her arm perch, Amira waited as the teacher wrote the new student’s name on the board and asked the girl to introduce herself. In the sweetest and cutest voice, the new student began her introduction, “Hello my name is Sacilia. My family just moved here due to my dad’s job transfer. I hope to make new friends here with all of you.”

After that, the swooning of the class was unanimous well she already won over the class Amira thought to herself. Once the introduction was done class pressed on like normal and lunch finally came. Sacilia was immediately surrounded by the class, who were firing off questions so quickly one after the other that she didn't have time to properly answer the question fully. Amira, being tired of the little circus she was witnessing, decided to leave for some fresh air. After Amira left the atmosphere of the class shifted.

“Finally, now I feel like I can breathe,” one of the girls in the class exhaled.

“I know what you mean. I hate that she came back. The class was so much better while she was away,” one of the guys added while the rest of the classmates nodded their heads in affirmation of that statement.

Sacilia was deeply confused: “Who are we talking about?” she asked the class at large.

After asking the classroom went silent and her new classmates looked scared. They began looking around daring one another to step up and talk. One girl finally got the courage and spoke up, “You saw the girl who just left right?” she asked. Sacilia nodded her head in affirmation. “Well,” the girl paused to look around as if expecting someone else to begin and take her place, but the rest of the class still looked as if someone was going to beat them up or something, “Well,” she began again, “that girl's name is Amira and she isn't someone you should be friends with.” the class nodded their head in agreement.

“And why is that?” Sacilia questioned.

The girl continued, “She has a bad reputation around school for getting into fights.”

Sacilia looked at the girl and the rest of the class skeptically before asking, “OK so the reason I shouldn't be friends with her is that she gets into fights?” Sacilia asked wanting to make sure she was understanding her classmate right.

“No, it's not just that.” this time a male classmate chimed in, “she always starts them and in one of them she sent the people she was fighting to the hospital. Also, she is a leader of the gang and they are always hanging out under the bridge next to the river bank. She and the rest of her group are all bad news.”

Soon it seemed the whole class found their courage and was trying to add something, “But she doesn't seem that way to me.” Sacilia muttered not really believing her fellow classmates.

“That's because she just came back.” replied a classmate.

“Back?” Sacilia questioned.

“Yeah, she and the rest of her family were in a car accident. Amira was the only survivor but she was hurt badly so she was in the hospital for a while. she may seem innocent but trust me soon she'll be back to her old ways.” the student finished while the rest of the class murmured their agreement.

“Really,” Sacilia wondered out loud lost in thought before the students changed the subject back to her.

Sacilia walked out of the bathroom while drying her hands with a handkerchief and letting out a deep sigh. She was relieved to finally get away from all the questions her new classmates were throwing at her. As she turned the corner, she was too focused on her thoughts and completely forgot about the stairs. She missed her footing and suddenly found all her weight shifting forward beginning to freefall. Not believing her stupidity at this moment her eyes widened feeling everything begin to slow down before the hurtful impact but before her brain could catch up with reality Sacilia feels her blazer being pulled in the opposite direction than she was falling. The next second arms were being wrapped around her bracing her for the backward fall. Sacilia opened her eyes after realizing she closed them to brace for the fall. She did a mental once over to make sure all her limbs were still functioning.

“This is the part where the person usually gets off and says thank you instead of squishing them even more into the ground,” Sacilia heard a female voice say from beneath her. Realizing that she was still in the embrace of her savior Sicilia let out a little squeak and quickly stood up.

“I am so sorry. Thank you, really thank you so much,” Sacilia rushed to proclaim her gratitude to her savior. Once her savior stood up and began dusting herself off Sacilia eyes widened. It was her classmate, Amira.

After straightening out her uniform Amira looked up and realized it was the new girl she just saved, “It's OK, just next time try to pay attention to the stairs because I can't promise I will be there again, Amira said jokingly. Seeing that the new girl hasn’t said anything else she assumed the conversation was over, “Well see you around,” Amira concluded as she began to turn around to leave.

Sacilia realized that she had just been staring at Amira and not actually talking like an idiot and immediately tried to stop Amira from leaving, “I… I am Sacilia,” Sacilia rushed out to say after Amira. Sacilia blushed slightly upon realizing how loud she was when she saw Amira jump and quickly turn around to her. Even through her embarrassment, Sacilia charged on with her introduction in a softer and quieter tone, “Umm sorry about that let me try again. I am Sacilia, your new classmate.”

Now it was Amira’s turn the stare at Sacilia with big eyes like an owl blinking slowly trying to process what just happened. Sacilia was holding her breath in anticipation of how Amira would respond. If she would hate her now due to that very awkward greeting.

Amira finally caught up to reality and began to chuckle, “Um yeah, I know who you are. I was there when you made your class introduction but anyway, hi I'm Amira,” Amira responded amused.

Still blushing, “Yes…yes you were. I just didn't know if you remembered or something like that because you said that you would see me around instead of in class and I just wanted to make sure…,” Sacilia trailed off getting quieter as she continued.

“And the reason you wanted to make sure is because…,” questioned Amira leaving the question open for Sacilia to finish it.

Timidly looking between Amira and the ground Sacilia responded, “because I want to become friends with you,” Sacilia ended while glancing up at Amira to see her reaction which was a good choice because the expression on Amira’s face was a combination of shock and disbelief.

Amira being caught off guard with what Sacilia just said, took a second to collect her thoughts. “I don't think that is a good idea, especially if you want to make other friends, Amira replied sullenly.

Getting  more comfortable, Sacilia looked straight at Amira before asking, “Why do you think I want to make a lot of friends?”

Amira skeptically replied, “Because you're new here. What person wouldn’t want to be included in a group and feel like they belong.”

“But you're not in a group, surrounded by people,” counter Sacilia.

“That is because I enjoy my alone time,” Amira responded.

“Exactly!” Sacilia said excitedly.

“What?” Amira responded confusedly.

“You said what person wouldn't want a group of their own, but you also just said that you like your alone time therefore not liking to be in a group and therefore negating your statement of a person has to be in a group!” Sacilia excitedly explained while jumping around as if she just solved the biggest mystery in the world.

Amira’s eyes followed the hyper girl jumping around her in bewilderment. Feeling like she wasn't going to get through to this girl Amira shook her head, “Listen you're new and you probably haven't heard of the rumors about me, but I advise you to stay away from me for your own good here at the school,” Amira finished her thought before turning to walk away.

Sacilia called after Amira, “That doesn't sound like you reject my friendship,” Amira didn’t respond and continued her way down the hall, “just you wait. You will accept my friendship, Amira!” Sacilia continued yelling after Amira. The only acknowledgment that Sacilia received to let her know Amira heard her was the dismissive wave Amira gave as she continued down the hall. Sacilia smiled at that and continued her way back to the classroom before the lunch break was over but unbeknownst to them both, a fellow student witnessed their interaction with annoyance in her eyes. She did not like what she just saw at all.