I tune back into reality with the sound of rain pounding against the glass window. I don’t remember it raining, I tell myself. I guess I really must have been out of it. We drive on for another five minutes until we reach my high school, Hedgerow Hills High.

Hedgerow Hills, my hometown and current home, is located smack in the middle of Central Florida, nearby to Ocala and Orlando. You would think that we would get a ton of tourists around here, with Disney World being just twenty-five miles away. Well, you would be wrong…REALLY wrong. Hedgerow Hills is as empty as a desert. Well, not that empty, but you get the picture. We have a total population of 98, 918 people, which is less than half of the population of Orlando. Plus, we only get about 3,500 tourists here every year. I don’t really mind that we’re so small, but sometimes it can get really quiet...too quiet. The most exciting thing that’s ever happened here was when Mr. Jones caught a fish that weighed 107 pounds. Seriously, nothing more exciting has ever happened. I always think of moving away from this tiny place, but somehow, I can’t picture myself doing it. I’m too close with my family to just leave them behind.

I climb off the bus and enter the front hallway, running quickly inside because of the rain. As we’re walking in, the secretary, Ms. Brownstein, smiles up from her desk at me and the rest of the people on my bus. She’s super nice and always has a jar on her desk filled with candy.

“Good morning, everyone,” she says.

“Hi, Ms. B.” That’s what everybody calls her.

She waves to us as we continue walking down the hallway. I make a right and head towards my locker. The hallways aren’t completely filled with students chatting with their friends yet. When I get to my locker, I open it and grab my textbooks. Just when I close it, my best friend, Taylor, walks up to me.

“Hey, T.,” she says.

Yes, my best friend is a girl. We’ve gone to the same school since we were four and we’ve been best friends since we were ten. You might be wondering if we secretly like each other. NO!!!!!!! Every year, at least ten people tell us we would make a cute couple. Well you know what I say: keep your big, fat butts out of our business. You think it wouldn’t be annoying, but after five years of the same thing, I would say that I’m starting to get REALLY annoyed.

“Hey, sis,” I respond.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that she’s my sister. Well, not literally, but we’ve been friends for so long so why not? I trust her with my life, and I always tell her my deep, dark secrets, even though I don’t have any. She does the same to me, and it makes me feel important. It feels nice to be wanted and needed by someone, even though I think popularity is way overrated.

“So what are you doing after school today?” she asks.

“I don’t know…probably some saxophone practice, get some homework done…the usual,” I tell her.

“Oh. Ok,” she says.

“Why, did you want to do something?”

“No no, just curious.”

“Ok. Have you seen Natalie or Ethan anywhere? They usually come by here in the morning…”

“No, I haven’t. I was thinking the same thing… Weird, huh…”

Ethan and Natalie are two of our really good friends who happen to be dating. They always pass by here before class, so it’s weird that they haven’t shown up.

“Oh well, we’ll see them in third period.”

“I guess…”

“Anyway, something really weird happened to me this morning.”

“What?!?!” She can barely hold down her anxiety.

“Never mind, you’ll think I’m crazy…”

“Tell me!!!!!” She puts on her famous pouty face to get me to tell her.

“Fine, I’ll tell you. Just enough with that face!!!”

“Yay!!!” Her pout quickly turns into a smile.

“Wait until I finish the whole story before you talk.” I look around to make sure no one else is close enough to hear. “Ok…I was walking to the bus this morning right? Well, I forgot my jacket at home, and it was really windy. And I said in my head, ‘I wish this wind would slow down!!!’, and right after I thought that, it stopped. It was really weird. I thought I was going crazy!!! Then to try it again, I said in my head, ‘I wish the wind would speed up!!!’, and it did!!! I was really freaked out. I thought I was hallucinating or something… I just passed it off as lack of food. What do you think?”

Her facial expression is somewhere between surprised, confused, and convinced that I’m joking. After a minute or so, she says, “I think you’re right. It was probably lack of food. I mean, wind can change really fast. Plus, controlling wind? That’s crazy.”

“That’s what I said!!!” That’s why Taylor’s my best friend: she understands.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it,” she says. “Just see it as a one-time-only-weird-freak-show spectacular.”

I take that in and burst out laughing. I don’t know why, though. Maybe because of what she said, or maybe because of the ridiculousness of what I thought had happened in the morning. One to laugh with the crowd, Taylor starts to laugh too. We laugh there in the hallway until our sides ache.

Two minutes later the bell rings. We stop laughing and try to breathe. It takes us a couple minutes to get back to normal, but we manage.

“What a great way to start the day,” Taylor says, trying to hold down the laughter. “Well bye, bro. See you in third period,” she calls out to me as she walks down the hall.

“You too, sis.” I walk down the hallway packed with students speed-walking to their classes, until I reach my first period classroom. I think about this morning’s event before I go in. Yeah… Taylor’s probably right. It was just a hallucination…lack of food… Before I walk in, I also wonder what happened with Ethan and Natalie today. Maybe they wanted to hang out alone today? Have some alone time together? I can’t really think of anything else… With those two thoughts racing through my mind, I enter the classroom, the sound of the start bell ringing in my ears.

I enter the classroom and take a seat at my desk. Once everyone else in the class is seated and quiet, Mrs. Robinson, our World History teacher, stands up from her desk.

“Good morning, class,” she greets us.

“Good morning, Mrs. Robinson,” we all chime at the same time. The sound of our voices bounces of the walls like an echo.

“Let me just take quick attendance and then we’ll get started.” She calls out everybody’s name and everyone’s here. “Ok, class. Today, we will be discussing the belief systems of many ancient civilizations. Now, who can name me some of the significant civilizations?”

Everyone seated in the front row raises their hands. Like every classroom in the world, all the nerds sit towards the front, while the slackers and bums sit all the way in the back. I usually sit in the second or third row, this class being in the second. I like to be close to the front of the class, but not too close. If I sit in the front row, it makes me feel like I’m being watched by the teacher. It just makes me feel weird.

“Yes, Angela,” Mrs. Robinson calls out.

“Well, there’s Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Indus River Valley. And following those are Nubia, the Olmec, and Early Chinese civilization.” Angela smiles as she takes a breath. She’s the smartest kid in our grade, keeping up a 4.0 average every year. I get straight A’s, but I can take a B. She can’t.

“Very good, Angela. Many of these early civilizations believed in the same things. Can anyone tell me what they are?”

Again, everyone in the front row raises their hand.

“Let’s see… How about you, Anthony?”

It takes me a second to realize she called on me. Wait a second, I tell myself. She called on ME??? I didn’t raise my hand!!! I try to remember what I read about them… I think something about elements? Nature? I don’t really know, but I’ll give it a shot.

I respond, “Well, I’m not sure, but I think it had something to do with nature. Like the elements or something?”

“You’re on the right track. Keep thinking,” she tells me.

“Ummm… I think they believed elements were sacred or something. Like they believed earth, wind, fire, and water were sacred, and they had to be kept pure and clean?”

“Very good, Anthony.”

Yes!!! Thank God I got that right! It would have been really embarrassing if I got it wrong. That’s probably my only fear: public speaking. I can handle everything else: snakes, spiders, heights, etc., but public speaking kills me. I hate that feeling you get when everyone is just staring at you. It sends a shiver down my spine and gives me goose bumps.

“Yes, as Anthony said, many early civilizations believed the elements of earth, wind, fire, and water were sacred and should be kept pure. For example, they would only burn certain trees and wood that they thought were sacred, and they didn’t bury their dead because they thought it would pollute the earth. Now, I want you to get into groups and design a poster for the element I assign to your group. Make sure to include what each element symbolizes and how these ancient civilizations ensured the element's cleanliness and purity.”

Once she says that, everyone gets into a group. Usually, the nerds get with the nerds and the slackers with the slackers. Everyone else just gets split up into two. I’m always a part of that middle group. I get into a group, and we put our desks in a circle so we can discuss the poster.

In my group, I have Michael, Jeanine, Cynthia, Jason, and Nathan. We usually get in the same group because we all can work together really well.

“Ok class, listen up before you begin,” Mrs. Robinson says. “Does everyone have a group?”

Everyone says yes so she continues by saying, “Ok. Now I will assign the element to your group. Angela’s group, you will have fire.” When she says that, you can immediately hear Angela excitedly whispering with her group, thinking of different ideas. “Anthony’s group will have wind.” Alright, I think. I’m good with that. “Emily’s group will have earth.” Emily is part of the other middle group of leftover kids. “And Bryan’s group will have water.” Bryan is part of the slackers. I bet he didn’t even hear what she said. Once she finishes, she goes to her desk and picks up poster boards. She hands one to each group and says, “Alright everyone. You have forty-five minutes.” She sits down at her desk, and the work begins.

“Ok, group. We have wind. Does anyone know what these people did to keep the air clean?” That’s Nathan, the leader of the group. He usually takes over right from the beginning, and no one seems to mind, so he’s always the group leader.

“Well,” Cynthia begins. She’s very good at solving problems and is a great critical thinker. Last year, she helped Ashley Smith and Catherine Lopez, two girls in our grade, become best friends again, after fighting over some guy who didn’t even like either of them. “Well… Like Mrs. Robinson said they only burned certain trees or woods to keep the fire clean. Maybe that had something to do with the air? Like the smoke maybe?”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” I say. “Like maybe certain woods emitted certain colors or smells. Then they would only burn those specific woods.”

“That sounds good,” Nathan says. “Jeanine, can you right this stuff down, so we can have an idea of what the poster is going to look like?”

“No problem,” Jeanine replies. “Let me just get my binder and a sheet of paper.” Jeanine’s a really good planner. When we were in seventh grade, she planned, all by herself, a Thanksgiving food drive to help our local food pantry. From what I heard, it took a lot of work to get it done.

“Ok,” Nathan says. “Does anyone have any other ideas?”

“Well,” Jason begins. “Wind provided refreshment from the heat of the sun. Maybe they thought that gods controlled the winds, so they made temples to make the gods happy? What’s another word for that… Appease! There we go… To appease their wind gods.” Jason finishes with a smile.

“Nice!” Nathan tells Jason. “Those two are really good. Now I think one more and then we can start on the poster.”

“Sounds good,” I say. “Did you get that Jeanine?”

“Yup,” she says.

“Ok,” Nathan begins. “One more…”

Completely out of the blue, I get a shiver down my spine. The room seems to have gotten ten degrees colder, and there’s a wind blowing through, even though the windows are closed, making it seem almost freezing. Goosebumps the size of marbles appear up and down my arms and legs. And suddenly, I hear a strange, cold, raspy voice.

“Come, Anthony…,” the voice says in a mysterious whisper. “Come to me… Your help is greatly needed… COME!!!”

Suddenly, the room returns to its original state.

“That’s great everyone!” Nathan tells the group, as if nothing had happened. I am completely confused. Didn’t they feel the room get colder? Didn’t they hear that creepy, cold voice?

“Did you guys hear that?” I ask, looking at each person in my group.

“Hear what?” they say in unison, puzzled looks on each of their faces.

“That voice… You know what, never mind,” I tell them. “I’ve just been having a weird day…”

“Are you sure?” Michael asks me. “You look kind of pale…”

“Do you need to go to the nurse’s office?” Cynthia asks me, her eyebrows knit together in a confused expression.

“No, I’m fine,” I tell them. “Nothing to worry about.”

“Ok…” Nathan says, taking one last glance at me. “We should get started on the poster. Jason, go ask Mrs. Robinson for markers. Jeanine, start working on the poster. Cynthia, you can help Jeanine since you have the best handwriting. Anthony, do you feel good enough to present or should it just be me and Michael?”

I look at him with a scared look in my eyes and he says, “Never mind. Michael and I will present. You can hold the poster.”

I sigh with relief as that sinks in. Phew, I say to myself. At least I don’t have to present. We have thirty minutes left for the poster. While the rest of my group is working on it, I think back to that horrifying voice I had just heard. Where did it come from? How come I was the only one to hear it? I’m so confused by it all that when it’s time for my group to present the poster, I can barely hold the poster upright. I don’t hear a single word Michael or Nathan say, and when the bell rings for the end of first period, I trip over the leg of a desk as I walk out of the classroom door and into the hallway.

Students rush around me, hurrying to get to second period. Although countless noises and conversations are going on around me, I hear none of them. The only voice I hear is the raspy voice of the old woman in my head: help me, HELP ME! Suddenly, everyone around me turns to look at me. Did I say that out loud, I ask myself… Oops… I continue walking through the halls as if nothing had happened. Eventually, everyone returns to their conversations.

The tardy bell rings just as I walk into my math class. Taylor and I have this class together, but I don’t see her in her seat. Weird… She never misses class…

“Alright, class,” Ms. Garcia says. “Today, we will be discussing geometric shapes and special polyhedrons.”

A sarcastic “yay” runs through the class.

“I know it sounds boring, but I’ll try to make it as painless as possible. Let me take attendance, and then we’ll get started.” She takes attendance, but when she calls Taylor’s name, I say she’s not here. At that moment, Taylor walks in through the door and walks up to Ms. Garcia. She whispers something into Ms. Garcia’s ear and takes her seat.

When she sits down, I ask her, “Hey, what happened? Is everything okay?”

Taylor mouths the word “LATER” and faces forward.

“Alright, class,” Ms. Garcia says. “Turn your books to page 193. Like I already explained, we will be discussing special polyhedrons. Now can anyone tell me who came up with these special polyhedrons?”

A girl named Alexa raises her hand. “His name was Plato.”

“Very good, Alexa,” Ms. Garcia responds. “Now can anyone name me the five regular polyhedrons he came up with?”

This time a boy raises his hand; his name is Mitch. “Tetrahedron, hexahedron, octahedron, icosahedron, and dodecahedron.”

“Good job, Mitch. Plato was a very famous Greek philosopher and mathematician. He used these regular polyhedrons, called Platonic solids, after Plato himself, to represent the five elements of the universe: fire, earth, air, water, and the cosmos.”

At the mention of elements, I snap back to the classroom. My mind had been daydreaming on that raspy, old voice until Ms. Garcia mentioned the elements. What was with it today and these elements?! I look to my right, and Taylor looks just as shocked as me. We take a quick glance at each other, and we seem to communicate the same thing in our minds: something is going on.

“Excuse me,” Ms. Garcia calls. “Anthony and Taylor, please face forward.”

With that, Taylor and I snap back into our previous positions, facing the front of the class.

After another half-hour of Ms. Garcia droning on and on about polyhedrons, the bell rings. I quickly gather my things and exit as fast as possible. I wait for Taylor to walk out. Once she joins me, we say what we were simultaneously thinking half an hour ago at the mention of the elements: “Something is going on?”

We look at each other with complete surprise on our faces. We both say, “What—How—Can you…”

I stop myself and say, “You first.”

But Taylor retaliates saying, “No, you.”

“Ok,” I say, “but you’re going to think I’m crazy.”

“I highly doubt that,” she says, with sarcasm in her voice.

“Well, during Mrs. Robinson’s class, we had to make a poster of the elements. And I was like, ‘Oh ok, that’s cool,’ but all of a sudden, everything got cold and dark, and I heard this horrible, raspy voice saying, ‘Help me, help me!’ and I started freaking out ‘cause no one else heard it but me.”

Taylor stares back at me with a look of surprise and horror. After a long pause, she says, “Well, to tell you the truth, the same thing happened to me.”

My mouth literally drops to the floor once those words are out of her mouth. “Are you kidding me?!”

Taylor looks at me and says, “Not at all. After Mr. Ramirez explained the ancient civilizations and the elements, I heard the exact same voice, I’m guessing, ‘cause everything you described happened to me in the exact same way.”

I look at her and say with a bit of hysteria, “Can this day get any weirder?!”

Taylor laughs and says, “Don’t jinx it. You always jinx things.”

I smile and knock on the locker next to me, even though it’s not made of wood. The warning bell then rings and we say goodbye.

“We’ll talk later. At lunch,” she says.

“Agreed.” I smile and wave goodbye as I walk towards by biology class, hoping and praying that the elements don’t turn up in this class.