Hero Mark :.Chapter 1.:

Chapter one: //
Air swelled into my lungs as electric shocks pulsed through me. Arching, an agonizing pain built in my lower back as my torso raised me. I was blind, my senses not fully functioning. However, I knew I was screaming. This was made obvious only by the excruciating, scratchy feeling in my throat. An intense burning of awareness and shock jolted through my body as it interrupted my slumber. An indescribable rush of emotion cascaded down inside my body, from my chest down to my finger tips.
Finally, I could hear a faint cry of terror fade into reality. My eyes begun to open and then, at last, “reality” made sense. My screams hushed as my wandering eyes begun to recognize where I was. My body was tangled with the brown blanket on my bed. The window, overlooking my mattress, let in pouring sunlight that lit the room. My gaze shifted outside. The sky was a perfect blue, not a single cloud strayed in the sea above. At the end of my quiet, dead-end street I spotted two, tiny children chasing each other happily, like every Saturday morning.
They were adorable kids, no older than eight. Both the children had round pale faces framed with blond locks of children’s hair and a smile reaching both ears. I wasn’t quite sure of their names, but their faces were something my mind could never forget.
Adoration aside, I shook my head, pulling away the mocha colored covers from my body. My cotton pajamas rubbed against my pale legs as I stood from my bed and made my way to the living room. Hunger stirred inside me. It was decided to skip turning on the television and make my way directly to the kitchen of my modern-style home. On most of my Saturday mornings, once I was recovered from my reoccurring wake-up from hell, a bowl of chocolaty cereal would be made along with a quick swig of soda. So, I bent down and peered into the fridge, pushing aside a jug of water and the liter of cola, in search. To my surprise, there was no milk in this house. My back straightened, my fingertips touching my temples in frustration. How could I forget to go to the store? How idiotic of me.
Just then, electric pulses of shock ran up my spine the doorbell made me jump. Oh, how idiotic. My head shook with a smile on my lips. My legs carried me through the living room and down the short hall to the front door, my hands flicking on the lights on my way. Then, suddenly, I heard her.
“Theresa!” she called in a shrill, cute-y voice. “It’s Lacey,”
I waited, curious as to how long it’d take before she was pounding on the door. My long time friend, Lacey was always paying surprise visits like this. She never wanted anything, most of the time, but to be a guest was one of her many desires. However, her impatient nature always got the best of her if her teasing didn’t.
But, instead, I heard shuffling of…bags? And then she cried out again. “I have breakfast! Please, my hands are full.”
That, of course, was a red flag. How’d she know I was starving? Swiftly, I opened the door with a look of seriousness. “Come in,” I greeted in a most unwelcoming voice.
Lacey was holding a bag with a fast food restaurant label in one hand and a trey of drinks in the other. Delicately, the aroma of hot food doused in salt hugged my senses intoxicatingly. This juggling woman didn’t seem like the fast food kind of person, and she wasn’t, as you could tell by her flawless complexion and nice, slim figure. My mind kept a note reminding me that I wasn’t ugly, instead rather pretty, but it was hard to feel that way with gorgeous Lacey beside me. The fact that she was dressed in skinny jeans and a tight shirt complimented in high heels while I sported sweat pants and a dirty shirt didn’t help much, either. However, the beauty’s welcoming smile reminded me we were friends as she scurried inside. “Thanks, Theresa. I hope you haven’t eaten yet, but I’m in desperate need of a girl friend right now, and I thought you’d let me in if I had food.”
I flinched, recoiling from her explanation. “Are you calling me fat?”
The tall woman in front of me set the bags of food down on the coffee table and sat down on my couch, kicking off her shoes and reaching in the bag. “You know I don’t mean it like that! You’re pretty, and you know that.”
My body sat me down next to Lacey, my eyes rolling with a smile on my pink lips. “Yeah, I guess. So, what did you need?”
“Well, you remember that party tonight?” How could I forget? Eager, she passed me a hash brown and a piece of chicken in a biscuit and dug out her own egg muffin and hash brown. I accepted, taking a bite of my steamy food. “Well, I invited this really hot guy from my apartment complex. He said he’s from Tokyo or something. But, he’s gorgeous! His name is Fuyuki.”
I took a bite of my morning chicken. A look of confusion came across my face. “Do you think he’s into you? Wait, do you even know anything else about this guy?”
Lacey bit into her egg muffin, a look of amazement flashed on her face. “Wow, this is amazing. I should eat out more. But, anyways,” she started, sitting up and leaning closer to me. “Yeah, I talk to him sometimes when I see him getting his mail. He’s got amazing eyes, a snowy grey! But he doesn’t talk much and it’s usually just short answers. Still, I’d love to get some of that. He’s so cold, though.”
I chuckled a bit, swallowing my food. “Um, girl, he doesn’t seem like your type. Are you looking for an actual relationship or just a onetime thing, again?”
Her thin shoulders shrugged. “I don’t really know,” she answered, taking another bite of her meal.
“I see,” I replied quickly, reaching to the drinks. I grabbed one and brought the straw to my mouth.
“Oh yeah,” she commented, grabbing her drink as well. “He has a really weird tattoo on his bicep. It’s kind of like the one on your ankle, but the lines are straight.”
I flinched again. On my ankle was a rather peculiar birthmark made up of four curvy lines, the aqua colors of the four lines were a perfect match to my eyes, oddly enough. No one exactly knows how it got there, but it’s been there ever since I was born. My mother and father never had such strange marks, which baffled people even more. However, I don’t exactly know what possessed Lacey to belief it was a tattoo after she’s been informed of the story countless times. “That’s weird…Did you ever ask him about it?”
She nodded, fervor widened her brown eyes. “I told him about your tattoo on your ankle, and he just said, ‘I bet that’s fun,’ and walked away! It was the weirdest thing!”
The empty hash brown paper crumpled in my fist as I tossed it in the bag. “What a character,” I chuckled. The image of a gorgeous man came to my mind. But of course, the image came of him alone. There wasn’t anyone around him, rather, just him by himself. I gave him a pale face and black hair, complimented with bright, stunning grey eyes. Another chuckle shook me as the curiosity to see this young man grew.
“So, I was thinking, since he’s going, I should wear something even more sexy than this.” She reminded me of her beauty. She was already drop-dead gorgeous, but of course she already knew that. “What do you think?”
A huff of air brushed against my lips. “Lacey, you’re fine as you are. Maybe a shirt with a lower cut, and perhaps some more flattering lipstick, but otherwise you’re ready.”
The panicked young woman through her hands up in the air. “I want to get some of that sexy Asian boy!”
I rolled my eyes. “And as if I don’t? But of course, my outfit won’t make me look like a prostitute.”
Her jaw dropped. I could tell that, deep down inside of this young woman, a fuse had been lit. It was only a matter of time before she would go up in flames about how she wasn’t a prostitute and that I shouldn’t say such things because I was jealous. Regardless, she was a bit wild in the boyfriend department. However, to my surprise, the explosion never came. “You’re just jealous because you aren’t getting any,” she teased with a smile, biting into her mini sandwich thing.
Another roll of the eyes was made before I rested the rest of my breakfast down on the coffee table in the wrapper. “I’m going to change clothes,” I announced. “Don’t touch my food or I’ll cut off your fingers,” was my only warning before my body pulled away from the couch and my legs carried me into my room and I shut the door behind me.
I rummaged through my dresser, pushing aside shirts and bottoms of many kinds. A tight, black tank top caught my eye, but I tossed it aside, regardless. Then, a striking pair of black skinny jeans caught my attention. I pondered it, and came to a quick decision.
Carefully, my pajamas were tugged down to my ankles. They were kicked off, landing in a pile of dirty clothes. With a slight struggle, my hands tugged on the pair of deathly tight jeans. Lacey says I’m skinny enough to wear them, but in reality I’m just really petite. Nineteen years old and only five foot five. Luckily, my metabolism was incredible and I didn’t have to eat like a model to remain in perfect figure. Yay me, I guess?
Then, it was also decided a tight, black, long-sleeved shirt would join my outfit. Still, I felt bare and unready. What was left…what was left…Oh! My fingers snapped as I spotted wrist bands and bracelets atop my dresser. I quickly tugged them on my wrists and smiled a small smile. All that was left was my hair. A brush was tugged through my blond locks and adorned with a small clip-on bow. That was good enough for now; the small amount of make-up was something to be applied later.
“Somebody’s looking adorable!” Lacey said, standing in the doorway with a large smile stretched on her face.
Jolts of shock ran through me. “Lacey! How long have you been watching me?” I hollered, wagging a long, thin finger at her.
Laughter shook her as she clapped her hands together. “Long enough to see your breasts, they’ve gotten bigger!”
A puff of hair brushed my pink lips. Oh Lacey…
“But, whatever,” she continued, her face composed with abrupt seriousness. “I’m going to go home. Don’t forget the party tonight; it’s going to be huge! If you miss it, I’m going to sneak into your house and punch your growing boobs back to B-cups!”
Her threat made me jump. I haven’t worn B-cups since eighth grade…Oh how proud! But that wasn’t the point. “I’m going, Lacey. Don’t worry. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” And that was the truth. It felt like an eternity since I’ve been out to a party, so of course I’d go. Though, I knew how it’d go down. Lacey would find a cute boy and go after him and I’d just hang around and talk to the other party-goers. But hey, it beat sitting at home and eating a pizza alone.
“Good,” she folded her arms across her chest. Her muddy eyes reflected her bossy, rather prissy personality, but the repressed smile on her face shown through that, expressing her joking friendliness. Lacey’s curvaceous frame turned around, the young beauty taking a step into the living room. “I got to go,” she called, doing what looked like grabbing her drink off the coffee table.
I looked out of my room, holding onto the doorknob. “Oh, why’s that?”
Flipping her tight, blond curls and looked at me. Her green eyes were unfocused and inattentive as she answered. “My boss called me, said he needed me for a while at the shop,”
“Oh,” I said, looking down. “Well, be safe. See you tonight,”
“Yeah,” Lacey waved and walked out the door carefully. “Bye!”
…And then I was alone again.
I sat down, quietly at the desk in my room. A notebook sat open, next to the small collection of books and other notebooks. My pencil twiddled on the paper pointlessly, creating a gathering of lines and tones. My mind wondered as I sketched.
I thought about things, random things. The majority of my thoughts were captivated by the thought of my exhaustion. Oh how I was tired. Despite my many hours of sleeping, my body never seemed to be satisfied, always so tired and wore out. Whenever I tried to come to a solution, I’d always end up with the dreams. Even Lacey said it was my dreams, keeping my heart pounding like a jackhammer all through the night. My finger touched my face, brushing against the purple bags under my eyes.
My thoughts shifted elsewhere. They began to be captivated by the books that rested on my desk. Sometimes, I wished my life was like a book. What if there actually was a prince charming, coming to my rescue? But no, I’m just a normal girl with crazy dreams, everything paid by their wealthy parents.
Mom and Dad…How were they? I didn’t talk to them too often, nor did I ever really want to. Yeah, they took care of the money I don’t have, but deep down inside, I hated their company. Just something about them made me feel so…it was hard to describe, and I surely wasn’t up for trying.
My pencil fell from my hands, my eyes and thoughts focusing on my doodle. Toned and sketched in my notebook was a drawing of a beautiful woman’s face. She had long, flowing hair and deep eyes that, if drawn with more detail, could be stared into for hours. Her lips were full, in a firm frown. Who did I just draw, anyways?
A sigh brushed my lips as my body pushed away from the desk, grabbing a green book and leaving the room. Why waste time on a useless question?