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I met Caroline out in front of the bowling alley so I wouldn’t have to walk in by myself. She gave me a hug making me grimace and I waited on a vision to pop in my head. “What’s wrong?” I said, “Sorry, just had a little shiver, probably nerves.” Actually, I had a vision of Caroline standing in a fighting stance with a sword in her hand. I hated these visions because I never understood what they meant or if they would even going to happen. I tried to forget what I saw since the vision made no sense what so ever. We walked into the bowling alley together and I took a deep breath as we entered through the door. I followed Caroline over to the food court where all the tables were set up. We went to a table full of people our age and as we walked up, Caroline introduced me to everyone. Thank goodness, everyone smiled and waved so I dodged a bullet, no touching. One guy said, “Hey, glad to have a new face round here! Kinda getting tired of the old ones!” Some of the girls rolled their eyes and the guys all nodded in agreement with him. I sat next to Caroline and tried to act normal instead of a nervous wreck. The longer I sat listening to the conversations, the more comfortable I became. I actually enjoyed myself more than I thought possible. Caroline Simpson, Beth Lee, Melanie Stanley, Curt Pulliam, Kyle Grover, Kent Neal, and Pete (Tang) Ellis were the same age as me and we will all be seniors this year. Beth wore her brownish colored hair back off her face with a sparkly headband. She was quiet compared to the others. Melanie’s dark red hair made her complexion very pale but brought out her green eyes. She was probably the most feminine of all of us. The other girls were outdoorsy like me. Curt and Kyle played football, Kent loved fast cars and baseball, and Tang was a science type. Caroline said he lived in the lab in his basement most of the time and loved to blow stuff up! No wonder he and I hit it off so well! He got his nickname as a child because he always said he was an astronaut and drank Tang morning, noon and night. We decided to bowl a couple of games after sitting for over an hour talking and snacking. I’ve never bowled before so I had no clue what to do and was a little embarrassed to try in front of everyone. I watched bowling on TV before so I understood the game I just didn’t know how to play. We got our shoes and Caroline helped me pick out a ball to fit my hand. The ball I chose was very light which surprised me. I had expected it to be heavy like an anvil or something. Everyone had to show me how they bowled and of course, they all thought I should use their form. I threw a few balls to try and get the hang of it but I didn’t do very well. My first ball was a gutter ball and I nearly slipped down when I let go of the ball. The second ball was better, knocking down three pins but taking forever to get to the end of the lane. While sitting by Caroline at the score machine, my heart started beating faster and I began having labored breathing. I hadn’t touched anyone so that wasn’t the culprit. All of a sudden, the guy in my dreams, the most gorgeous guy ever, walked right by me. I think he was a bit older than I remembered but, oh my god, he was even more gorgeous in person. He glanced down at me as he walked by my seat, looking me straight in the eyes, and smiled. I couldn’t concentrate because my head was full of what do I do now scenarios. I could not believe this vision came true. I wished for it so many times and it actually came true. I tried to pay attention to my new friends and our game but my head kept turning to grab a glance at the dream guy. He had the face of a Greek God and along with his long brownish black hair, he was very tall. I guessed about 6’3. My dream boy wore faded jeans and a black button up shirt with the top 2 buttons undone. The two brothers were a little bigger and they weren’t bad looking either. The entire family had the same gorgeous golden eyes, like my mother and similar to a lion’s eye color. Why did I keep glancing over at them? I was embarrassing myself and couldn’t stop. They kept glancing over at me probably because they thought I was staring at them. Finally, Caroline leaned over and bumped me on the shoulder. She said, “Maddie, that’s the Weller’s. You know, the ones I was telling you about the other day, the ones living out by you.” Kent yelled at me, “Come on Maddie, it’s your turn.” While gathering up my ball, Caroline said, “This time, put some energy behind the ball. Don’t just roll the thing, throw it!” I took a deep breath and concentrated on my energy. I pushed as much energy as I could muster into the ball as I let go. The ball flew down the alley and busted all the pins sending them flying everywhere. Pins flew all over the other lanes making a horrendous noise. The entire place grew quiet and all eyes were on us. I bet my face turned three shades of red because of embarrassment. Curt said, “Damn Maddie?” I smiled a little and said, “Must be something wrong with the pins!” The Wellers were all looking at me and I tried to sense if they knew something was different about me but got nothing.” I bowed my head and hurriedly walked over to the chairs and sat down, hoping everyone would stop watching me. The boys were all stunned and the girls tried not snicker. I was so embarrassed; I wanted to run out and hide. Caroline came and sat by me. “You were awesome! You have got to teach me how to do that!” Still embarrassed with my head down and my hand on my forehead hiding my eyes, I said, “I don’t have a clue what I did. Something must be wrong with the pin thingy.” After the Wellers bowled a few games, they all got up to leave. Dr. Weller spoke to some of the local adults and they left as quietly as they came. As they left, “my dream guy” turned his head, glanced back over his shoulder, and grinned. I didn’t know if the grin was laughing at me or if it was an interested grin. If I had to guess, it would be laughing at me because of my stupid bowling accident. I turned to Caroline and said, “What are their names?” Caroline said, “The parents are Dr. and Mrs. Caderyn Weller. I think the wife’s name is Anna but don’t quote me on that. The kids are Cassie, Demetrius, Godric, and William.” I said, “William is very handsome...actually they all are.” Beth laughed and said, “Yep, he is definitely something to look at. Too bad they don’t come around much we would all like to get acquainted with those boys!” The guys at the table all rolled their eyes, shaking their heads. Obviously, they weren’t as impressed by the Weller boys as we were. Now that the Weller’s were gone, I tried to relax around my newfound friends. I was obviously done with bowling. As soon as William left, my heart rate seemed to return to normal and my breathing returned to normal. I was sitting with the others on the benches behind the score desk. Being more relaxed now, I carelessly and thoughtlessly pushed my hair behind my ears. Kent quickly asked me about my slightly pointed ears. Pulling my hair out from behind my ears, to cover them, I said, “I think I must get them from family because other kin folks have them too.” Kent grinned and said, “The better to hear you with my dear! Plus they are kind of cute!” Everyone laughed and no one said anything else about my ears. There wasn’t one single jab, mean comment, or whispering. I couldn’t believe it. Finally, I met people that accept the atypical. If only we had lived here all my life, I might not be so cynical and distrusting of humans.
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Chosen, Chapter 1, Pg. 3 |