Chapter 1: The Break of Dawn! A New Beginning

"Amy?"

Her eyes flew open to find herself face to face with her nurse, Zyra, who was standing beside her bed. She sat up,breathing heavily 

"What are you doing here?" she asked her.

 "You were shouting in your sleep, so I decided to check up on you," the nurse replied, drewing the curtains to reveal the break of dawn from outside the balcony. " Another nightmare, isn't it?" she asked. 

Amy nodded and looked away. It happened to be true. Ever since they moved there (it had only been a week since they did), she'd been having some nightmares quite lately,mostly about her old home. When she consulted her about this, Zyra had told her that she was just going through a "phase". Leaving her childhood home, it was more or less expected that it would take her some time to get used to the change. 

"You seemed to be worried about something," Zyra said, studying her troublesome face. "What's the matter?" 

Amy shook her head. "It's nothing "But she knew it wasn't nothing Zyra put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. Then, in a less louder tone, she said, "Is this about her again?" 

Amy stared blankly at her, not wanting to answer her. But she knew she couldn't escape the conversation once it started.

 "I thought we were over this ??"

"Well, your the only one who did," she said under her breath, but Zyra clearly heard her. 

"Are you still blaming yourself? After what happened?" 

"Who wouldn't? She died in front of me!" She swallowed hard, trying to stop her tears.

"If you were in my situation, with wouldn't you do the same?" 

Zyra fell silent. 

"Well, that's what I thought. I don't wont to talk about this anymore." 

With that, she burried her face in her pillow. Zyra sighed helplessly, watching her, speechless. After a long silence, she finally said, "Well, you only have 15 minutes before you start preparing for school. Just call me if you need anything."She walked the door and gave her one last leek concerned look before leaving the room.Sure that she was finally gone, Amy sat up. From under her bed she took a huge cardboard box full of picture frames. She took one and hid the box back under the bed. The frame she took held a picture of a girl her age with a bright smile and glittering blue eyes, her brown hair shining brightly in the sun. She stared emotionally at the picture girl, the memory flashing back in her head....

 ********

Jenna was laughing so hard she almost couldn't breath. "I can't believe we actually did it," she said happily.

 Amy grinned back at her. "So did I!"

 The two of them had barely escaped the chaotic dog park they had accidentally snuck into and, after a long chase, they managed to find themselves their way back home. Despite being exhausted, they quickly hurried back since it was almost getting dark by then and they knew that they would get into a lot of trouble if they didn't.

"I have a feeling it's going to rain," Amy said, looking at the greyish clouds, proving her to be right.

"Well, that's why we have to hurry," Jenna said, looking worried, but she tried to hide it.

They were only a block away when they were suddenly interrupted by a car, which sped quickly towards them and stopped just in time, barely avoiding them.They stopped short, surprised by the sudden break."What in the..." Jenna began, when a few men barged out of the car. At the sight of them, she knew they were in trouble. The men began to surround them, leaving them no chance to escape. Jenna drew closer to Amy, who looked doubtfully at them. She secretly held onto her hand, just in case something happened."What do you want?" She asked them, but she received no answer. Instead one of the men, who seemed like their leader, said, "Do it!"It was already too late when they realized that he was gesturing to the man behind them, who was attempting to ambush Amy when Jenna noticed it in time. Without a second thought, she threw herself in front of her and got stabbed in the chest in stead of her.Amy turned in shock as she saw her best friend falling onto the ground. When the guy realized he got the wrong person, he was about to make a second attempt for Amy. But, just then, they heard somebody screaming from the corner of the street. They all turned and Amy saw Jenna's father running towards them in a police uniform. Seeing him, the leader ordered them to get inside the car and in a moment, the car sped quickly back on the road.When Jenna's father finally reached them, he found Amy kneeling before his daughter who was lying on the ground unconscious. Just then, the dark sky was split by lightning, which was followed by the defeaning thunder. Then, rain began to fall, as if also grieving for Jenna. Amy gently placed the frame on top of the night table beside her digital clock.It was already 6:00. She stood up.I have to get ready now, she thought, looking out the balcony. *10 minutes later, she was back from taking a bath. On her bed, she found her school uniform neatly ironed and waiting to be worn. Not till today did she remember that it was going to be her first day back to school. She studied the uniform, especially the school logo. She didn't even know which school she was going to. "Green Hall Academy, eh?" she said after reading the logo. She started getting dressed, remembering what her mother had told her about the school." Your father and I used to go here when we were your age," she had told her on the day she was to be enrolled. "It's a wonderful school," she had concluded, looking nostalgic.Amy looked at herself in the mirror and carefully scanned the uniform. The uniform consisted of a black blazer with a white blouse underneath along with a red necktie. At the right most of the blazer, the school logo was sewn. For the bottom, it included a black skirt with a brass-colored belt with the school logo engraved at the middle."Hmm," she said thoughtfully after inspecting the uniform. Then, she turned on her laptop and, as soon as it turned on, she began looking into the school's background. "Green Hall Academy is Birmingham's current most prestigious High School," she read aloud from an article on the web. "Founded back in 1995 by Mr. Robert Gertrud, who now has left his only child, Mrs. Allison Gertrud as Head of the School after he died in 2009. Since November, 02, 2009- Present, she has--""Amy!!" She heard her mom call her from downstairs. "Time to go!"She turned off the laptop and ran quickly downstairs, making a short stop in the living room to get her things. Then, she quickly ran outside where her mom was waiting impatiently in their car. As soon as she hopped inside, Mrs. Jones immediately started the engines.

"I hope you won't get yourself into any trouble, especially not today," Mrs. Jones remarked, looking at her daughter from the rear view mirror. 

"I assure you, I won't," said Amy, leaning against the seat.

"I hope not," Mrs. Jones mumbled under her breath. "Looking at you now, I could still remember my first day of high school."

"Is the school really that good?"

"Back in the day, it was. I don't know about now. But the headmistress is still the same, so--"

"You mean that Mrs. Gertrud?"

"Yea. How'd you know?" Mrs. Jones asked, sounding surprised.

"I've done some research. Do you know each other?"

"Sort of."

"What do you mean 'sort of'?" Amy raised an eyebrow.

"It's a long story," Mrs. Jones answered, looking quite hesitant. "Anyway, just remember: today will be the start of a new beginning. If...if the past still bothers you, you can just talk to us. I hear you're still having nightmares."

" Yeah," she said faintly.