) Fifteen (
Chapter One – Only the Beginning


August 15-


  To say the least, today was a nice and pleasant day to start school again. The move across the country had been a long one and had taken a large chunk out of my summer plans. However, the sights were astounding. We have just moved into this little town called Appleton, located in a valley between two mountains in the Appalachians. The rolling hillsides and constant supply of fresh air truly made up for the travel distance.
  The school bell abruptly awakens me from my daydreaming on the front steps of my new school. The air is soon flooded with the voices of a few hundred high-schoolers rushing in the front doors to be the first to see the class lineup. It personally meant nothing to me what classes I had, or who I got to be in a class with, because I didn’t know anyone here. After the crowd passed, I decided to just check anyway, so I would know where to go. I read down the list until I saw where it read, “Mathew Hares”.
  The bell rang again, signaling that I should hurry up to get to class on time. I walked down the long hallway, lined with lockers and doors, until I saw my room and I hurried inside and took a seat near the back. There was a lot of disorder in the room as everyone got settled. About twenty-one were in this class, a small number compared to my old school.
  The teacher finally brought order to the class and began a roll call to make sure everyone was there. Just before she started to talk, I glanced beside me and it was almost as if time just froze. Sitting beside me was the most beautiful girl I have ever laid eyes on. The first thing I noticed was her stunning blue eyes, and her slightly curly, blonde colored hair. I was snapped out of my ‘trance’ as the teacher called my name for the second time. She sounded kind of irritated.
  I listened carefully for the name of the girl sitting next to me. “Jenny Plimpton” the teacher called as the girl raised her hand. I felt a smile form on my face after hearing her name, and for the rest of that day, she was all I could think about. As I walked home, I felt bad about not talking to her, introducing myself, or something. I couldn’t sleep all night, because she was the only thing on my mind.
  The next day, I got to school early, coincidently at the same time as Jenny. As I walked toward the front of the school, I noticed her struggling to get the door open with all the books in her hands. While I was walking over to help her, she dropped her books and some of them fell down the front steps. I sat mine on the ground and ran over and started picking up her books. This was my chance. I handed her the books and opened the door and we both walked in.
  “Thank you so much”, she said as we walked down the hallway. “I’m Jenny, you?”
  “Mathew, and you’re welcome” I replied. I did already know her name, but I liked the formal invitation. She gave one last smile before walking down the hallway to her locker.
  When lunchtime came, I noticed Jenny sitting by herself, so I though I would give her some company.
“Mind if I sit here?” I asked
“Not at all, I was kind of lonely.”
“So are you new here?” she asked me.
“Yeah”
“So am I, it’s a nice place. I’ve been home schooled my whole life, so I’m new to all this.”
  I paused as I thought about what was happening. We actually carried on a conversation the whole lunch time. In fact, for the next few days we had pretty much become friends. I couldn’t be happier.
  Jenny and I formed a strong friendship over the next month. We would hang out together every day after school. Jenny was a great girl, at first meeting her, she is kind of shy, but it doesn’t take long for her to warm up to you. She also loves to have fun; we did some of the craziest things together. Jenny was someone I could trust. Jenny was someone I wanted to spend my whole life with.

  I remember that day very well, it was the first day of October. School had just let out, and Jenny was out of school that day. I called her first thing after school to check on her and there was no answer. I was in the gymnasium at the time, and I heard her phone ring near the girl’s locker room. Needless to say, I was a little worried, so I walked over to see if she left her phone at school, or if that was her in the locker room.
  I walked around the corner and my heart almost skipped a beat. From a distance I could see Jenny on the other side of the locker room, but this wasn’t the Jenny I knew. She had four arms at her shoulders. She was wearing nothing but a bra, so I could clearly see all four arms attached to her spine. Just when I thought things couldn’t get stranger, She reached over with one of her left arms and pulled her lower right arm completely off. I let out a loud breath because of what I was seeing, and she turned towards me with a look of shock frozen on her face. Her other lower arm dropped off from her body and she grabbed her shirt off of the bench and ran out of the locker room.
  I called her name and told her to come back, but she didn’t. The last I saw of her, she was running out of the gym crying. I tried to follow her, but I had no clue where she went. The only thing I could do was fall on my knees and scream her name.
  Still in shock, I walked back into the locker room and sure enough, two perfectly severed arms were lying on the ground. I cautiously walked over and picked one up to examine it. I couldn’t believe what I was holding in my hands, this was an actual human arm, detached in a seemingly impossible manner. There was, however, no blood or exposed flesh, the part that was attached to her body had a layer of skin over it.
  I sat down on the bench and put my head in my hands. I had to be dreaming. How was this possible? I just saw Jenny with four arms, and then she has two arms and runs away. I didn’t know what to do about the arms she left. I couldn’t just leave them. I picked the warm, practically living arms and put them in my backpack. The only thing I could think to do was run home.
  I locked myself in my room and sat on my bed. I wanted to open my backpack to make sure this wasn’t a dream. As I unzipped it, a hand slid out of the side of the bag. This was real. I sat for hours holding the arms, thinking about what to do. The arms stayed alive, blood was still pulsing through the veins and they were warm to the touch. I sat them under my bed and lay down. I fell asleep thinking again about all this. It finally came to me, I had to find Jenny and find my answers.

To be continued…

© 2008 Stray-Pixel