FICTION: “5 Marks”

AUTHOR’S NOTE: “5 MARKS” IS A FICTIONAL SERIES ABOUT A TEENAGE GIRL NAMED AMANDA MCCONNELL WHO IS EXPERIENCING SOME COMPLICATED AND UNEXPLAINED SITUATIONS. SHE IS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHY SHE KEEPS “DYING” AND WAKING UP REPEATEDLY. THIS IS THE SECOND INSTALLMENT OF THE SERIES. A NEW INSTALLMENT WILL BE PUBLISHED EVERY WEEK.

Part 2

“Finally, you’re here! You came 2 minutes earlier than yesterday,” said Michelle.

“What is this? A record to see if I can make it to the Olympics?” I snapped.

“No! I’m just joking around,” she replied. “Let’s hurry up and get to class before we both get in trouble!”

We both speed-walked to our first class, which was math. Math, a subject where we all lost our hope in. A foreign language no one could understand, made by a creature who decided to ruin everyone’s life. In other words, math was just one of the subjects I wasn’t fond of. I wish we had art, the number one subject in the whole entire world. A subject where there was no right answer, and we can make anything we want, well based on what we have though, of course.

“Heads up!” my friend shouted in surprise. 

“What is this?” I questioned. 

 “A water bottle, duh. You look like you’re going to die any minute, drink up!” she teased me, as she was getting her books out. I glanced at her for a minute and gave a confused look as I was getting my books out.  

“Thank you?” I said, perplexed.

“Sure, hurry up and open your textbook to page 39”.

As our teacher was lecturing us, I zoned out for a minute and thought about the marks on my arm, and those dreams I’ve had. Were they actually a dream? I kept thinking about it as I was doodling on my notebook with cat drawings. I just love cats, they are so furry and calm, unlike most animals; which are too loud. I like peace and quiet. 

“Miss Amanda, are you done dozing off from your imagination?!” clipped Ms. Markwell.

“Uh… Sorry, Miss!” I exclaimed, “ I didn’t mean to-” 

“Well don’t do it again, or you’ll start slacking off in class,” she interjected. The students started laughing. Well, that was embarrassing. After a whole hour of boring talk, class was finally over, and I was ready to leave. Suddenly, I heard the voices of the students from my class. They were running fast down the hallways. Ouch! My head! What was that feeling a second ago? Why does it look like they are running like the flash? I start seeing a girl with sea-blue eyes and perfect black braids, heading my way, Michelle? What is she doing here?

Running towards me with sweat all over her face, she started yelling, “Hey, Amanda! What’s going!”

Her face was slowly dissolving into small shreds. All there was, was black, nothing but pitch darkness. The school, gone, everything. All around me, there was absolutely nothing to look at. I felt like I was going blind. Where am I? Things have been going really strange lately, is this some “weird dream” that I’m having again? My body started trembling, my hands were all sweaty, yet I couldn’t move one bit. I closed my eyes and stopped thinking about all of it. All of a sudden, I felt something fluffy and soft. My body was all relaxed as I was laying down in the most comfortable position.

As I opened my eyes, I saw the same thing as always, my white dressing table, empty walls and of course, my frilly white bed. Here I was again, laying down on my bed. Where was I a second ago? Wasn’t I doing something? Oh well, I must be imagining things again.

I got out of my bed and stared at the mirror for a while. I looked at my long red hair, which was looking like a big mess, and then I gazed into my own large hazel eyes. I next looked at my golden medium skin, with tiny freckles, blotched over my cheekbones, aligned with my delicate small nose. Everything was perfectly the same, my hair, eyes and skin. Then why do I feel so strange?

Ouch! I yelped, as I tightly squeezed my arm. My right arm felt like a dog just scratched me. Don’t tell me… I slowly uncovered the spot where I felt the pain, and there it was. Why does this have to happen to me? Was I still in my dream? There were now four marks on my right arm. What are these marks even supposed to mean?

After thinking about them for a while,  I’ve come to a conclusion, what I knew so far was that every time I’d wake up, I would get one of these marks, the reason why I’d wake up so randomly is when I experience something dangerous. This only mean’t one thing, that I’ve become immortal. No! That just makes no sense, no one can be immortal, that’s all fiction, but, if I wasn’t, then how was I still alive? There was only one way to find the answer, I may have to try dying again, but how? Should I try killing myself? No, I’m going crazy, I really need to see a therapist, but I’m broke.

I decided to check around my normal-sized room to see if I had anything that can help me with my “craziness”, there was nothing. I then decided to go to the rooftop of the baronial apartment. As I got up the stairs, my heart kept beating faster than the previous beat, I was in no good condition and was anxious. As I opened the door to the balcony, the strong wind hit my fair-face, and my wavy, red hair was all over my face.

Here, I was on the rooftop of the building. I could see so many things going on in the city just standing here. I could hear the sounds of horns honking, and people chattering. I saw several tall buildings scattered everywhere, some were the same height as this building. The streets were jammed with vehicles, and the sidewalks were crowded. I, Amanda Mcconnell, here, on top of this old apartment building, in the middle of New York, was trying to solve this complex puzzle in my mind, about the things that have happened recently. I had no clue what to do at this point. What do I do?

Part 3 Coming Soon

Author