Finally, it was THE day. The day where we, the juniors, got to step outside of the seniors' shadows and make a name for themselves. In thirty minutes, my class, the people I've known for over ten years, would be on a bus travelling to the macabre mansion on Mount Alixandria.
Rumors has it that this mansion is inhabited by the spirits of the deceased, and can only roam about while living beings lie within its threshold. Of course, for realistic people like me, that's all hogwash and one with any intelligence can't possible believe such folklore.
Naturally, I'm the only one with such thoughts. The next morning, I got to the school really early, with my bag of clothes and packed goods, waiting for the school doors to open. Before we were to depart, our professor would assign us a partner to stay with. This person would be our roommate per se, as well as the person who was supposed to know where you were at all times, blahblah. You know, the rules no one follows.. the "Buddy System".
Anyway, as I got there, there was only one other person there. God, was it so early? I looked at me watch, which read 4:25am. We were to depart at 5:30am. Peculiarly enough, I didn't recognize the shadowy figure that was standing just 10 feet away from me. As I got closer, I saw that the man had bags just like I did, as though he were a student. But that couldn't've been possible, for he looked to be well over six feet tall. If I didn't know better, I'd claim he were nearly seven feet tall!
It was in the middle of June, so he was dressed lightly. Blue and silver "Twill" shorts adorned his surprisingly muscular thighs, and they draped just barely over his knees. A thin, white wife beater hugged his torso tightly, but couldn't conceal the thick patch of hair that sprouted under his pits. Glancing down at his feet, I was surprised at how big they were. He was wearing black flip flops that miraculously fit, as well as a dark green ankle bracelet.
I approached him, and as I looked into his forest green eyes, I became entranced. It was so dark outside, being so early in the morning, that I could barely see him. I guess the fact that I was a foot shorter than him didn't help.
"Hi." I said meekly.
"Hey." he said, so deeply that I could swear I felt the ground shake. Okay, I'm exaggerating, but come on.
"You new here?" I asked. Of course he is. God, I'm so dumb sometimes.
"Yeah."
"Where you from?"
"New Zealand."
"So then, what's your name?"
"Aiden."
"Like the band?"
"Sorry?"
"Nevermind. My name's Kyle." I extended my hand. He grabbed it firmly and totally dwarfed mine. I swear I could feel my fingers breaking within his clutch. Or maybe I was just being silly.
"So you're going on the trip then?" I asked. He nodded.
"Cool. Do you believe it's actually haunted?"
"Yes."
"Aren't you scared? I thought it was fake but I don't know anymore, 'cause I read some stories on MySpace about actual hauntings and people getting hurt and I'm kind of scared now." I said in one breath.
"I don't get scared easily." he said.
"I can see why. So hey, how are you so uh, big?" I asked.
"I used to play rugby. I guess America isn't so big on the sport. I kickbox too, so that's my main sport now that I live here."
"Rugby is played in some high schools in America, but none that I've ever heard of it. Oh, and, hey, why'd you get here so early?"
"I wanted to make some friends before the trip."
"Well, mission accomplished!" I grinned. He looked down at me softly and gave a small smile. No matter how lightly he smiled, his dimples flared up. I could have died right there, except the voice of my friend, Maddie, brought me back from the brink of death.
In each high school, there is a social ladder. There're the popular girls & football players, who are at the top of the ladder. The non-popular, but cool people, such as Maddie and me, who make up the middle of the ladder, and the nerds and socially challenged people, like the three guys in the corner of the school courtyard, chortling like pigs over some comic book. who make up the very bottom of the ladder.
I didn't care if Maddie didn't get the liberty of wearing a 2inch cheerleading skirt like the girls at the top of the ladder; she was the epitome of beauty. Don't get me wrong, I'm not straight, but I can still admire her beauty, right? As a matter of fact, I'm gay. It's not really that big of a deal, though. I mean, our school may be a popularity contest in disguise, but we're not conservative rednecks. Because, hello, we're in the middle of Maine.
"Maddie! Hey!" I grinned. She had put her hair up today, presumably in fear that a ghoul would pull it if it were down. She IS that silly.
"Your girlfriend?" Aiden asked quietly.
"Oh, no. He's gay." Maddie giggled.
"Oh." Aiden said. 'Oh'? I was hoping for him to say, 'I'm gay too.' but as if that would happen. This guy is bigger than any of our team linebackers. I half expected him to snap my neck in two after that as thoughts of New Zealand prehistoric tribes ran through my mind.
Instead, he just introduced himself to Maddie. Before Maddie could introduce herself back, the captain of the cheerleading squad, Bridget, walked up to the three of us.
"Hey you." she smiled seductively, looking up at Aiden. "Haven't seen you around before."
"I'm new." he said, as if she didn't know.
"Let me give you a private tour, then." she smiled. I had to hand it to her, she was pretty AND seductive, but apparently she wasn't good enough.
"Sorry, I'm not interested."
"What do you mean?" No body had ever rejected her before.
"I mean, I would probably be more interested if you hadn't told your friend over there that I look like a troll." he said nonchalantly.
"How could you have heard that? Ugh, whatever." she flipped her hair and walked away from us.
"How DID you hear that?" I asked cluelessly. They were on the other side of the schoolyard.
"Lucky guess?" he said uninterested.
Our conversation was cut short by the megaphone-enhanced voice of our professor. "Everyone come here quickly, lest we be thrown off schedule. I will pair you up with the person who shall be your 'buddy' for the whole month. The mansion is gigantic; it is a good idea to be with someone at all times in case you get lost. Or worse.. attacked by the animated suits of armor which roam the halls!" I wasn't sure whether to laugh, or stare, petrified.
He began to read off a list of names and who would be partnered with who. The fact that it was random was intense, because suddenly the, for the lack of a better word, bitchy popular girls were being paired with guys who would rather be home playing video games, and the ripped football players were being stuck with nerdy girls who still thought boys were infested with cooties.
As fate would have it, I was paired with Aiden, and naturally this attracted even more attention to me.
"Hey new guy! I wouldn't sleep in the same room as him if I were-"
"Shut up." Aiden's deep voice overthrew the loser's insults. Everyone stared at the instigator, who was just some nobody, then at Aiden, who was relaxed. This confrontation fell on deaf ears as the professor came back from the large transportation bus and instructed us to put our stuff in the compartments above our seats.
I felt my face turn red hot as I struggled to lift the bags into the small compartments. "Want some help?" Aiden asked.
"Yeah, sure." I said, totally embarrassed as Aiden lifted both bags in one hand and placed them in the compartment. "Wow, thanks. Oh and, thanks a lot for sticking up for me back there. No one's ever done that for me." I stammered.
"I've always stood up for the little guy." he let on a little smile.
"You think I'm little?"
"You're not really bulging with muscle." he said somewhat sheepishly.
"It's not the dog in the fight that counts, it's the fight in the dog! But I'm not really a dog so I don't think that makes sense... whatever. By the way, how do you plan to protect us from ghosts? Are you going to stare intimidatingly at them?"
"Yeah, because THAT will work." Maddie's partner, and friend, Marissa, said. I could barely see her because Aiden had apparently positioned himself so close to me that his wide back obstructed my view somewhat.
I put my hand on Aiden's shoulder and lifted myself up so I could see the girls. I was surprised at how solid Aiden's deltoids were. I couldn't even fit my whole hand around his shoulder. Luckily for me, he didn't seem to mind me using him for leverage.
"I think it would!" I said to Marissa.
"I hope we don't actually see any ghosts." Maddie shivered uncomfortably.
"I think it'd be an interesting experience." Marissa said.
"You would. Anyway, even if there aren't any supernatural creatures, you KNOW the jocks will be at every corner trying to freak people out by surprising them." I said quietly.
"I don't even want to think about it." Maddie said.
"Don't, then. Let's get some sleep. We still have an hour or a little less till we get there." Marissa yawned.
I took my hand off of Aiden's shoulder and sat back down.
"It'll be so dark even after we get there." I shuddered.
"You sound scared." he said softly, looking into my blue eyes.
"I am! Aren't you afraid of the dark?!"
"No, why should I be? Besides, people aren't afraid of the dark; they are afraid of not knowing what lies within the darkness itself."
"So you're strong AND philosophical?"
"No, just reasonable." He suddenly sat up and looked over his shoulder. "I'll be right back."
He got up and walked down the bus, stopping at the seat where our school's soccer goalie and his girlfriend was. Suddenly, everyone got quiet, and the goalie, Travis, started shaking slightly.
"What's your deal-" he started, but Aiden interrupted.
"The next time you want to talk badly about me, do so to my face. Do you understand? I'm not gonna put up with your shit."
"O-ok man. I'm sorry!" Travis sputtered.
"How did you hear-" his girlfriend started.
"That's irrelevant. Enjoy the rest of the ride." Aiden winked at the couple and walked back to our seat. The bus's chatter started up again as if on cue, and I turned to Aiden.
"What were they saying?" I asked.
"Doesn't matter. They'll be quiet now." he said.
"It's sad.. I always thought Travis was one of the cooler guys at my school."
"Hey, don't worry about him. If a guy can't stand you being gay, he isn't worth the time of the day. Besides, if we're all gonna be living in the same house, or should I say, mansion, then we better get the air clear. And just so you know, no guy's allowed to mess with my partner. If anyone does, let me know. I can't let anything happen to my ghost fighting buddy." Aiden smiled at me.
As we finally arrived at the mansion, we all gathered in front of the large gates. It was still dark, but Aiden stayed close so I never lost sight of him.
"Aren't you cold?" I asked him.
"Not at all."
"How? It may be summer, but it's like 5 in the morning and we're in MAINE!" I shivered.
"I have a lot of hair in the right places. It keeps me warm."
"Yeah, whatever." I snickered.
I had been dreading getting stuck with some football jock the entire summer, but now that I was with my newly made friend, I decided that the stay wouldn't be so bad. Sure, the idea of being in the same mansion with 80 kids (small class, I know) without any adults for a month SOUNDS chaotic, but we're not barbarians. And now that I had a buff friend as my buddy for the stay, it might actually be fun.
I couldn't wait to get inside and check out the haunting interior of the structure.
END OF CHAPTER 1