Marked for Trouble

As I walked in, the feeling of anxiety rushed over me. All eyes were on me, as I felt their judgmental minds initiate immediate action. I looked around to find a row of empty seats in the back. Ambling alongside the desks, I suddenly found myself stumbling over a foot. Toppling towards the floor, I carelessly let the books fly out of my hands. 

“Ha! What a loser!” he chuckled. The class joined in the laugh, as I recollected myself in the midst of the humiliation. My first day at this new school, and it is already starting to become a haunting nightmare. I noticed five guys in the back wearing snake jackets. They glanced at me, and began whispering to each other.

“You can sit by me if you want,” I swiveled around to see a boy waving from across the room. He patted the seat beside him. “You coming?” he asked.

“Ummm . . . yeah. I’ll be right there.” The bell rang in my ears as I made my way over. He was around six foot four, with dark brown hair, and radiant blue eyes. He had the most perfect smile; that of which I almost fainted. He began introducing himself in a quiet manner as to not interrupt the teacher.

“Don’t think I’ve ever seen you around here. I’m Chance. Nice to meet you.” he murmured

“It’s nice to meet you too Chance. I’m Emily.” I said shaking his hand.

“So? Emily, what grade are you in?”

“I’m a Sophomore. You?”

“Junior.” he whispered. “Also, don’t get involved with those snake guys. They mean a lot of trouble, so just stay out of their way okay?” I nodded. We sensed a strong friendship blossom between us. We looked at each other, and giggled. The bell rang, signaling the end of the first period. Waving goodbye to my new friend, I headed for my next class, Chemistry. As I walked, I noticed the hallways were filled with strange markings. It took the image of a green snake with red devil horns. It looked awfully familiar. I noticed a snake member on the other side of the hallway. He gave me an intense gaze and licked his lips as I walked past him. I turned my face to the ground in fear. 

“Hello Emily! You must be the new sophomore! I’m Stephanie. It is so nice to finally meet you!” The girl was five foot three, blonde hair like the shining sun, and eyes as blue as the ocean itself. She had one of those snake jackets on too. I instantly became nervous. She handed me a two layered cake. “This cake is just for you! I had my dad get the best baker in town to make it!”

“Oh? You didn’t have to..” I hesitated to accept the cake. Chance said these snake guys were bad news! What do I do? I can’t just run away.

“Don’t worry about it! It’s a school tradition. Take it!” My hands trembled as I accepted the cake. Now, I’m gonna need a picture of you. Say Cheese!”

“Cheese.” Out of the corner of my eye I saw a bike riding down the hall. On it, was the kid who tripped me before. This time, I noticed a tattoo on his arm. It was the same snake!

“Say Cheese, Emily!” he yelled zooming past me at such speed, it knocked me to the ground.  I glanced up to see the cake soaring through the air. For crying out loud, someone get that cake! My conscience screamed. I leaped in the air in hopes of catching the cake, but it was too late. The cake tumbled and turned as I watched it go down. A darkness began to cover my eyes. My vision began to get gray and blurry.

“I think I hit my head on the floo…..” I began to say as I fell unconscious. 

“Aaaaaahhhh!!” I heard a high-pitched scream. I opened my eyes to find Stephanie towering over me. “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! You had one job! Do you have any idea how much that cake cost?!” she hissed. 

“I’m sorry.” I whimpered. I managed to get back on my feet. I suddenly realized what had happened. The cake had landed on Stephanie’s head! Oh no, no, no, no, no! This can’t be happening! I thought.

“What do you mean, you’re sorry? Can you fix this mess?! You will pay for this dearly, Miss Emily!” She stormed off into the bathroom, and the crowd dispersed. I felt a hand on my shoulder. The touch gave a sense of reassurance. 

“Hey. You okay?” 

“I think so. Thanks Chance. What happened?”

“I thought I told you to stay away from those guys!”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know what to do! She just seemed so nice, I had to accept the cake.”

“YOU. DID. WHAT?!You accepted the cake? Do you realize how much trouble you're in?! Don’t answer that!” The bell rang, and the hallway was empty. We both heard footsteps and voices coming from down the hall.

“Dude! You were so great!”

“No he wasn’t! The cake landed on MY head!”

“We gotta go.” Chance whispered. I could sense the fear in his tone. He grabbed my arm. “Be quiet okay?” We ran as fast as we could with pin drop silence. We came across the janitor’s closet. Quietly, he opened the door. “After you, Milady.” he whispered. I began to resist, but he pushed me in, and locked the door behind us. The room was dark, but I could hear the voices getting closer. My heart was racing. 

“I’m going to make sure Emily regrets ever humiliating me!”

“I knew Emily would be our next victim the minute she walked in the first period.”

“Well you guessed right Henry!” she sneered.

“Calm down Stephanie.”

“She will pay dearly for messing with me” her cold tone made me shutter inside. The voices began to get distant. Chance held my hand tight as he slowly peeked out the door. 

“Coast clear. Emily, the snakes don’t hiss when you’re in class. What class are you going to?”

“Chemistry.”

“Okay then. I’ll walk you there, but just be careful.”

For the entirety of the second period I couldn’t help but feel awful for Stephanie. Intentional or not, I contributed to her embarrassment in front of the whole school. It was just terrible of how it all took place. I sighed. I was desperate. Something terrible was going to happen if I didn’t do anything. 

At the end of chemistry, I found a note in my book. It read:

Dear Emily,

I had fun in English today! I love spending time with you! You are so funny and talented. I was hoping we could get to know each other a little more. If you think so too, meet me at the stairwell during the passing period to the third period. I have a nice surprise for you, and I’m sure you’re going to love it!

-Chance

The bell rang, ending chemistry right as I finished reading the note. I caught sight of something in my notebook. It was the snake’s mark. I began to breathe rapidly. How? How did this get in my notebook? I froze in fear. This was definitely not Chance. The bell rang for the third period. After many  trials and errors, I managed to get out of my seat. I was almost done with my day. After this, I can go as far away from here as possible.

I returned to my locker to gather my books for my next class, Algebra II. A snake, once again, was drawn on my locker. I gulped. I felt the presence of someone standing behind me.

“Hello Emily. Looks like you decided to ignore my note.” the voice threatened. I spun around ready to throw a punch. “Trying to hit me? I don’t think so.” She caught my fist as if it were a ball. 

“Stephanie? That note was from you? Gosh, you scared me,” retrieving my hand, I turned back to gather the rest of my books. Maybe if I acted fearless they would leave me alone, I thought.

“Scared you? Good. You should be scared for what’s coming next.” The tone in her voice made me shutter. The bell rang. I suddenly noticed I was all alone. Everyone had gone to class. Nervously I said.

“I really need to get to class, but I just wanted to say . . .”

“No need.” She took out a spray bottle. “I’m just getting my revenge. Goodnight Emily.” she smirked as she sprayed a substance in my face. The world began spinning in circles. In seconds my vision became dark as I fell to the floor. 

“Hello Emily.” Five guys with snake jackets towered over me. Stephanie too. They all smirked at me.

“Wh...at’s happe...ning?” I babbled 

“Shhhh.” One of the snake guys placed his finger on my lips. “Don’t worry. We’ll take good care of you.” He held my face in his hand. “Now just go to sleep.” The darkness crept over me as I closed my eyes for I knew I was marked for trouble.