Staring into the street, with my eyes blurred from tears, my body went rigid. My hands clasped my mouth to muffle my screams.

“Why, why, WHY!” I thought to myself.

My sleeves had been coved in my black mascara by the time I heard sirens wail off in the distance, getting louder each minute. Pedestrians crowded around the accident, all with horrified expressions. Pedestrians crowded around the accident, all with horrified expressions… and I had seen it all before it even happened.

I remember the first time I had a vision. I was two – my cat had jumped up on the table and knocked over my juice box, creating a giant, crimson stain on the pristine, white carpet. I had seen it only moments before it happened. The vision, of course, shocked me and caused me to wail and ball my eyes out – keep in mind I was two – but, this did little to prevent the cat from knocking my juice over, which simply resulted in another cascade of tears and ear splitting cries. Ever since then, I’ve had the ability to see into the future, at first it was only second, but as time progressed, it became minutes, then hours, then days, then months, and sometimes even years. Those who did know my secret found no explanation for it; they all thought it was a gift from god – that I had been put on this earth for some special purpose, like I was some marvelous prophet. Unfortunately, it was more like a gift from Satan. My ability was a curse. I alone would know when my loved ones would die, and even when I would die. Having that information is a major burden, especially when every part of you wants to save them. But I learned early on not to mess with the fabric of time. When someone is meant to die, no matter how many times you try to prevent it, death will always come.

My mom kissed my forehead as I was getting ready to leave for school. “Good luck on your first day of twelfth grade. And try not to have any visions ok.” She was beautiful and, although well into her late forties, she still looked youthful. Her eyes were an emerald green, which suited her pale skin and dirty blonde hair.

“Mom, you know I can’t control when I get my visions.” I said. It’s been five years since my dad died, and she was just now starting to smile like she used to. I remember the funeral. She kept claiming it was my fault that he had died. That I could’ve stop it, because I could see things others couldn’t. But it was never that simple, changing the course of someone’s life can have serious effects. Death is inevitable and unavoidable. But, of course, I could never convince her of that fact. Our house was silent after that day, we didn’t talk much – she still blamed me for my father’s death, and I still blamed her for not understanding. It wasn’t until last year that we started reconnecting, and now she’s the most over-protective parent I’ve ever met. I didn’t mind though, I was just glad to see her smile again.

   “I know, I’m just worried is all. Now, hurry along or you’re going to be late.” I ran out the door. “I love you, Bea.” I heard her call, as I was half way to the bus stop.

“Yo Bea, I saved you a spot!”

I looked up. My best friend, Claire, was three seats away indicating to the empty spot next to her. I maneuvered towards her graciously, taking the empty spot. “How was your summer,” she asked.

“You know, the usual: read a couple new books, did my summer assignments, and watched T.V.”

“Geese you’re so boring.”

“Ok then, what did you do?”

“Well, does anything look different about me?”

“I don’t know, you finally hit puberty? … no, wait, did you cut your hair?”

“Wow, you’re oblivious. I dyed my hair can’t you tell its blonde now.”

“Really? That’s it? And you call me boring.”

“Oh, well, there’s one more thing, but it’s not that exciting” she paused to build suspense, “I got a boyfriend.” She tried to sound casual, like it was no big deal, but you could tell she wanted to scream it from the rooftop.

“Really? No way! How old is he? Does he go to our school?”

“He’s a freshman in college, so no, he doesn’t go to our school.”

“Wait, what? And your parents are ok with this? What if he wants…things from you?”

“Well, I haven’t exactly told my parents yet. I thought it was just going to be a summer fling, but then I really started developing feelings for him. And as for your second question, he’s not like that. He’s considerate about my feelings and knows I want to save myself for marriage.”

“Ok, good luck with that. All I’m saying is, it’s not going to end well for you.”

“How would you know? You’re not physic. And you haven’t even been on a date with a guy before, so I don’t think you’re one to talk.”

“How would you know? Maybe I am physic,” I said jokingly, but if only she knew the truth about my power. “And hey, I’ve accepted the fact that I’ll be forever alone.”

The bus rolled to a squeaking halt, and students piled out the bus door.

“Hey Claire, hey Bea, wait up!”

We turned around and saw our other friend, Lilly, getting off her bus. We waited for her to catch up as students pushed past us. “Did you guys hear there’s a new transfer student?”

“Really? We never get new students,” Claire said. “Is it a guy or girl?”

“I think it’s a guy,” Lilly responded.

“Is he hot?” Claire asked

“I thought you had a boyfriend,” I said teasingly.

“Wait, what? Since when?” Lily asked, dumfounded.

“I’ll tell you about it at lunch,” Claire replied. “I wonder if one of us will have a class with him,” she said changing the subject.

“Probably, our senior class is so small, at least one of us will have a class with him,” I added

“I can’t wait to see what he looks like,” Lilly sighed.

“Really, you too!? Am I the only one here who’s not completely superficial?” I teased.

“You’re not the least bit curious?” asked Claire.

“Well, kinda, but not enough to start a fan club,” I joked as the five minute bell rang. We scurried off to our classes. I walked down the hallway, looking at my schedule. Clearly not paying attention, I bumped into something hard, yet warm. I looked up. Standing about five inches above me was a chestnut haired boy who seemed unfamiliar. “Oh, sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going,” I said.

“It’s fine. Oh, by the way, do you know where room 2218 is?”

“That’s the same class I’m going to. You can follow me if you want.” He gave a grateful nod and walked along side me quietly. “I wondered if he was the new kid, but I would feel awkward asking him, because what if he turned out not to be? He might be offended and say something like, “I was in your AP chemistry class last year.” Wouldn’t that be an awesome way to start a new school year?” I thought to myself.

Finally, we reached our destination and took our seats once inside the class. The teacher began with calling out names in a monotone voice. When he reached the bottom, he looked up from the roster. “Ok, now, who would like to escort the new student, Mr. Conrad, around the school?” No one raised their hand, so he looked back at the roster and randomly called out a name. “Ms. Aureole, could you please show Mr. Conrad around the school.” He motioned for the young man to stand up from his seat; I noticed that he was the same person I had run into in the hall. “So I guess that is the new student,” I thought to myself.

“Um me?” I said hesitantly.

“Yes, you,” The teacher said, irritated. I got up from my seat and walked over to the door, waiting for the young man to follow me out.

“So, where are you from?” I asked, breaking the silence as we walked.

“Ohio.”

“Why move to Colorado? If you don’t mind my asking.”

“My dad lost his job in the recession, and when he finally got an offer in Colorado, we ended up moving. I didn’t catch your name, by the way.”

“Oh sorry, I guess I forgot that small detail. I’m Bea and you are…?”

“Will.”

“Ok, so here’s the library,” I said, motioning towards the room. “If you show me your schedule I can show you where all of your classes are.”

“Um… ok.” He said as he handed me his schedule.

“Ok, onwards to Narnia,” I said, making the most cliché reference ever. I walked him through his schedule in order. Then, finally, we got to the cafeteria. “Ok, so this is where you will eat lunch every day. I suggest bringing a lunch from home, because the food sucks.”

“Thanks, um, do u think that maybe we could eat together…at least for today? I just don’t want to be ‘that loner kid’.”

“Sure, I guess, but just to warn you, I eat with my friends, and they’re a little crazy.”

“I like crazy, normal is boring.”

“I agree.”

We went our separate ways once the bell rang, he went to calculus and I went to AP lit. As I walked into the classroom, I practically got mauled down by Lilly when she saw me.

“Yay, we have a class together!” She said, hugging me so tightly I could barely reply

“Yup… is this gonna be a daily thing? Cause I might have to go on a respirator from a collapsed lung.”

“Oh, sorry,” she said, releasing her death hold.

We both found our seats. Lilly sat beside me, which I figured would probably get changed, since we always talk when we’re together.

“You still haven’t told me about your summer,” she said.

“Well, you know, the usual: I read some books, did the summer assignments, and watched TV. What about you?”

“Same, but I went and visited some colleges. I think I wanna go to California Tech.”

“Why? It’s so far away.”

“Well, its closer than MIT or Harvard, and it’s a good school for engineering.”

“Now, no talking while I take role,” the teacher said, deliberately staring me and Lilly down.

The day continued on in the same, monotonous way: the bell would ring and everyone would get up and scamper to their next class, only to repeat the same thing they had done in the previous class- take role and spend an entire 50 minutes going over the syllabus. But, at noon the lunch bell rang, and students rushed from their mundane classrooms. The repulsive smell of school food wafted into my nose once I stepped through the double doors of the cafeteria. It smelt like a mixture of grass and moldy bread; I had almost forgotten what the food smelt like over the summer. My stomach instantly stopped growling, even my starving belly didn’t want to eat that slop. Instead, I went to a vending machine, bought a sandwich and some chips, and sat down with Claire and Lilly.

“Ugh, lucky… you had money to get vending machine food.” Lilly said.

“Yup, it’s still not that great, but at least it’s edible.” I said. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a chestnut haired boy walk by. I swung my neck around and motioned to the boy, “Will, over here.”

He turned around, and our eyes met. His forest green eyes lit up grateful not to have to be “that loner kid” at a new school. He sat down at our table, and my friends stared at me with wide eyes, dumfounded that I just invited a boy to sit with us.

“You were right, this food really does suck,” he said laughing.

“Oh, by the way, this is Lilly and Claire,” I motioned towards the two girls still with shocked looks on their faces. “And this is Will, he’s the new student.”

“OMG you’re the new student!” Claire asked, “So, how do you know our amazingly beautiful friend, Bea?”

I looked at her and mouthed the words, “What are you doing.”

“He’s cute. I’m helping you out so you won’t be forever alone,” she mouthed the words in return. I rolled my eyes at her until I noticed Will staring at us.

“Oh god, did he just see that?” I thought to myself.

Over the next few months Will ate with us every day, and we all became good friends, hanging out almost every weekend.

It was just like every other ordinary day: Will sat down with us at lunch and we would all talk and laugh at the stupidity of school or the new trend of that week. All ordinary things… I liked ordinary; it made my out of ordinary self feel, well… normal. I guess I should’ve known right then and there that ordinary was simply a fleeting thought, like trying to grasp onto air- futile in all attempts.

“Hey, you alright Bea?” Claire asked, drawing me from my daze.

“Yeah, sorry, I just zoned out for a minute. I’m fine.”

“Hey guys, do you wanna hangout today? We can walk around the park. Maybe get some ice-cream?” Lilly asked.

“Yeah, I’m free.” I said.

“Same,” Will and Claire both agreed.

“Then it’s settled. Meet me out side in the school parking lot, and we’ll walk over to the park.” Lilly said, clasping her hands together, pleased to have made a plan.

After the final bell rang, kids rushed from their classes, almost at an Olympic pace – they couldn’t get away from the prison of school fast enough. I waved to Lilly as I met up with her in the parking lot. Will was next to arrive, and last – as always – was Claire.

“Claire, what on earth were you doing? We’ve been waiting for five minutes now!” Lilly said, irritated.

“Sorry, I was fixing my hair. It takes work to be this perfect,” Claire said in a joking tone.

“Ok, well, now that Miss Universe is here, can we please go get ice cream? I’m starving,” I said.

We walked along the sidewalk to the park. The park was a good five minute walk from the high school, so a lot of high school students would go there after school to hangout. Will and I walked side by side. Lilly was in the front, leading the pack, and Claire, who decided to wear heels, was trailing behind, complaining about how her feet hurt.

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t be wearing heels. You’re only in high school, after all,” I retorted back.

“But they make my legs look great,” Claire said

“Fine, but just remember that you decided to wear them. No one was holding a gun to your head,” I said

After a good five minutes of listening to Claire’s bothersome complaining, we finally reached the park.

“Hey guys, I’m gonna go to the bathroom. Can you guys go ahead and get me some ice cream?” I asked.

“Sure, what flavor?” Will asked

“Just vanilla, thanks. I’ll be back in a sec,” I said, “and get mine with a cone too.”

Right as I had turned around, I saw everything flash before my eyes. All three of them would walk into the street. A delivery truck would come barreling down the road, and before either the driver or Will, Claire, and Lilly could move out of the way, they would collide. Will would get the worst of the injuries, and later die in the ICU from a traumatic brain injury. Claire would get a concussion and stay in a coma for two weeks before waking up to a room filled with family and friends. Lilly would be paralyzed from the waist down and be confined to a wheel chair. As I turned around to stop them from entering the road, I saw it happen just as it had in my vision.

Staring into the street, with my eyes blurred from tears, my body went rigid. My hands clasped my mouth to muffle my screams.

“Why, why, WHY!” I thought to myself.

My sleeves had been coved in my black mascara by the time I heard sirens wail off in the distance, getting louder each minute. Pedestrians crowded around the accident, all with horrified expressions. I collapsed to the ground, as I saw my three closest friends being carried off in an ambulance.

“Why couldn’t I stop this? What good is this goddamn power if I can’t save them? This isn’t fair. Take it away, I don’t want this anymore. Take my life instead – not theirs.”

I pleaded to an imaginary being that I hoped was listening. But, of course, it was like trying to grasp onto air – futile in all attempts.