The Abnormals: Book One

by Isabelle Sorrells

  The Abnormals

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2021 by Isabelle Sorrells

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.

  First paperback edition 2021

  Book cover design by Lance Buckley

  ISBN: 978-1-7366928-0-6

  Published by Amazon Direct Publishing

  The

  Abnormals

  BOOK

  ONE

  ISABELLE SORRELLS

  The adventure of a lifetime waits just beyond the horizon.

  All you have to do is go there.

  one

  Alex doesn’t live what you would call a “normal” life. Up until he was ten years old he had been living in Jacksonville, where he had friends, a life, and a loving family. That was as close to a normal life he’d ever had. But one day, a month before his tenth birthday, his family changed. The people he lived with for nearly a decade underwent a transformation over the span of just a few days.

  Parents that used to love him and treat him like the son he was started to treat him like an annoyance, a burden, a stranger they couldn’t get rid of. He wasn’t the only one who suffered. His family’s friends were pushed away, and his parents lost their jobs. Everything he used to know fell apart before his eyes. Nothing made his parents happy anymore, they were never satisfied. By the time he was eleven his family was moving from town to town, state to state, never staying in one place long enough to put down roots. It hasn’t changed since. So when Alex’s father said the plan was to stay in Orolson for a while, Alex’s normal response would be to roll his eyes and try to guess where they would end up next, placing bets with himself for how long they would last.

  Orolson is the second greatest city in Florida, the first being Orlando, of course. Placed right on the east coast, it is a town thriving on the sea, attracting thousands of tourists year-round. This is what Alex considered himself now. He’s never a resident, forever the tourist. Only staying in a place for as long as a tourist would. There and gone, never knowing anyone but those he lived with, never having a connection. It was a lonely existence, and Alex prayed to God every time they moved that his life would change. Perhaps that’s why he didn’t have his normal response this time. He had an unfamiliar feeling that his prayers had been answered, and that scared him.

  “Alex, mom said you need to go to school now,” Jessica said from the other side of the door.

  “Okay, I’ll go in a second,” Alex called back, rolling his eyes. He pulled his arms into the sleeves of his black leather jacket, and just as he reached for the doorknob his eyes drifted over to the sheathed sword that rested against the wall. Memories threatened to pull him into a reverie, memories of a better time and a better place, but Alex didn’t let them. He knew it would do no good to dwell on the past. Alex shook his thoughts away and grabbed the sword from its resting place, hiding it in his closet. Alex glanced at the few unpacked boxes that were filled with his belongings before turning back toward his bedroom door.

  Alex’s mother and father were yelling at him now, their shouts echoing through the walls of the house. Alex grabbed his backpack and ran out the door before his mother could scold him for taking forever to wake up.

  By the time Alex got to his new school, it was still early and the teachers were still getting prepared for their classes. Not a single kid was in sight. One teacher in the parking lot ran out of his car with his arms full of papers toward the building, tripped over the door, and dropped all of the papers in his arms. He had brown hair and blue eyes and dorky brown glasses. He was dressed in a wrinkled brown suit and a striped tie. One elbow on his suit had a lighter patch of brown while the other had a darker brown patch. Alex ran over to the teacher and started to help pick up his papers from the pile scattered across the floor.

  “Thank you very much, sir. I guess I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going,” the teacher hurriedly apologized as he quickly gathered the papers into a messy pile. Alex and the teacher finished picking up the papers and stood up. That’s when the teacher got a good look at the person who helped him pick up his papers.

  “You’re not an adult…are you a student?” The teacher asked as he adjusted his glasses.

  “Yes,” Alex replied. “Is there a problem?”

  “Uh…no. It’s…really early for you to be at school isn’t it?”

  “Maybe. It’s my first day and my mother didn’t give me much information about the school. I just decided to come when my old school usually starts.”

  “What grade will you be entering?”

  “Eighth.”

  “Hm.”

  The teacher cocked his head and stared for a moment, as if he was analyzing him. Suddenly his gaze shot toward the clock on the wall and he gasped. “Well, my name is Mr. Pandemonium. It was a pleasure meeting you, Alex. Thank you for your help, but I really must be going. The kids will be here in a few minutes, but I hope you have a great time here at Winston High!” The teacher shouted and waved as he ran down the hall and out of sight.

  Alex cocked an eyebrow as he recalled his moments with the teacher. When did he tell him his name? Alex straightened his backpack and looked up at the clock that rested against the wall just above his head. Only a few more minutes before the kids would come pilling through those large metal doors. Alex didn’t want to run out of time to explore so he took off in search of his locker.

  He found it in one of the courtyards along five more rows of lockers. The courtyard was a large square area outside in the open. A roof hung over a concrete sidewalk in front of the lockers. Beyond the concrete was a small grass field. In the middle of the grass field were a few tables for people to eat lunch or hang out. The school had a blue theme to it with a lot of large windows that allowed sunlight to seep in and flood the school in bright light. The building was much larger than any other school Alex had gone to. There were five floors above ground and he had no idea how many underground levels there were. Everything around him looked almost brand new. Although it was a public school, no one would be surprised to find it was an exclusive private school. Without all of the students to occupy the halls, it seemed almost ghostly.

  Alex slipped his headphones on to block out the uncomfortable and eerie silence of the empty building. He didn’t have much time to explore the top and bottom floors before he heard the first bell ring and then heard thousands of screaming voices and pounding footsteps over his music.

  Alex began walking in search of his homeroom but he didn’t get too far until he found a group of older kids picking on a younger one. One of the older boys was leaning up against a locker with the other, younger boy’s back up against it. He was cornering the younger one while the other boys were surrounding the two against the locker with a few spaces in between everyone in the surrounding circle.

  Alex started to walk past them until his plans changed when the boy cornering the one against the locker lifted his fist. The boy with his fist raised began to laugh in a mocking fashion. The boy was about to throw the punch until Alex leapt in front of him and caught his fist in his hand with a grim expression.

  “The strong are supposed to protect the weak, you know? Not beat them up,” said Alex.

  The boy stopped laughing and stared at his fist still clasped in Alex’s hand, stunned. The younger boy too
k one look at the boy with his fist in Alex’s hand before running away. Once the younger one disappeared around the corner, Alex let go of the boy’s fist and shoved his hands in his jean pockets, resuming his walk toward his homeroom.

  Meanwhile behind Alex, the older boy stood still with his fist hanging aimlessly in the air, waiting for a target that would never come. His eyes were opened wide, staring at his fist. His friends stood behind him motionless, as if they were stuck in time.

  TWO

  When Alex walked through his homeroom door, he was the fifth person to arrive. He walked over to the desk in the back corner closest to the windows, sat down, and stared out the window, waiting for the second bell to ring and the class to start. Alex watched in the reflection of the window as a group of four kids gathered around a desk in the middle of the room continued to talk about who knows what. One of the girls in the group glanced at Alex for a few seconds, and he quickly looked away. Alex could hear them but couldn’t understand them because the room was getting so loud he could barely even hear his own music.

  He had been trying so hard to focus on the music in his ears and tune out the noise in the room he didn’t notice when the room went quiet. When he finally did realize it, he quickly ripped his headphones off.

  “Good morning, everyone! I’m sorry I’m late. I had to run to the printer to retrieve a few things. Now, let’s get started with attendance,” Mrs. Greenberg announced.

  Alex looked around the room for the first time and noticed it was a mix of purple and gray with posters and quotes from mathematicians, such as, “Pure mathematics is, in its way, poetry of logical ideas,” by Albert Einstein, and, “All human evil comes from a single cause, man’s inability to sit in a room,” by Blaise Pascal.

  Mrs. Greenberg called out Alex’s name and Alex snapped his attention back to the teacher.

  “Alex Schaffer?”

  “Here,” Alex replied.

  “Oh, are you the new student?”

  “That’s right, ma’am,” Alex said calmly.

  A few kids snickered at how Alex addressed the teacher.

  “Well, welcome to Winston! I hope you learn to fit in just fine.” The teacher ignored the laughing students with a proud smile. The teens talked while Mrs. Greenberg finished work at her desk until it was time to say the pledge of allegiance. The class soon spun out of control. Even though some kids were simply sitting around and talking, other kids were running around the room and throwing paper airplanes and spitballs while pounding on desks and chanting.

  After the announcements, Mrs. Greenberg stood up and started to teach the class algebra. When the bell finally rang, Alex grabbed his backpack and walked out the door, down the hall toward the stairs.

  He was walking down the steps when suddenly loud and quick footsteps started pounding closer and closer. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two boys behind him speed down the stairs laughing.

  The boy in the lead had light, short brown hair in a classic cut and icy blue eyes. He was taller than Alex by more than a few inches and wore a blue short-sleeve shirt with the words—“I wish common sense was more common”—printed across. The boy behind him had short, wavy blond hair and jade green eyes. He wore a plain bright green hoodie underneath a dark green jean jacket and ripped jeans. Before the one in front could react, the one behind let out a loud yelp and tumbled down the steps head-first.

  Mark and David walked out of the classroom with Brooke and Nicole at their heels, discussing the previous lesson.

  “Hey guys, we’ll see you at lunch, all right?” asked Brooke as they stopped before having to go their separate ways.

  “Yeah! See you then!” David waved as Brooke and Nicole walked off down another hallway.

  “I’ll race you to our next class,” said Mark as a sly smile formed on his lips.

  “Yeah right, like you can beat me,” replied David.

  “See you there!” Mark exclaimed as he took off full speed toward the stairs.

  Mark bounded down the steps with David close behind.

  “Wait up! You’re going way too fast!” David cried out as his foot tripped and he started tumbling head-first down the steps.

  Just before he could hit the steps and tumble down, Alex leapt in front of him and caught him. He sat David down on the steps and asked if he was all right. David didn’t say anything, only breathed heavily. Alex asked him again if he was all right.

  “Yeah…. I’m fine. Thanks,” David finally managed to say.

  Mark had stopped running and was looking back at David and the strange kid that rescued him with his mouth agape.

  “How…? Did you do that?” asked Mark.

  “Do what?” Alex replied.

  “Catch him like that! I didn’t even see you move!” Mark said.

  “You were just too busy running down the steps to pay attention to your surroundings,” Alex told him.

  Mark stared at Alex wide eyed. Alex turned back to David.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Alex asked. His tone was flat but his eyes betrayed his concern. Alex knew this kid from somewhere. He recognized his face. But from where?

  “Are you in Mrs. Greenberg’s math class first period?” Alex asked.

  “Uh… yeah…. we both are,” Mark answered.

  “Well anyway, tie your shoe before you get up again,” Alex said to David before continuing to walk down the stairs without another word.

  Mark stared at the mysterious boy who had saved David. The boy wore a black leather jacket over a dark blue T-shirt. He had short, dark-brown, almost-black hair. He wore navy blue jeans and white and black Converse that went up to his ankles. The fabric of his shoes was dirty and torn as if he ran around all day to no end. His eyes were a mixed hazel color and slight bags could just barely be noticed under them. Around his neck rested a pair of old headphones that connected to a small Walkman attached to his belt. Strange, Mark thought, I’ve never seen one of those before. I thought everyone used the new stuff nowadays.

  As Alex stepped down the rest of the stairs, he recalled seeing the two boys from his first-period class. They were among the group that had arrived before him. Alex strode into his second-period class and found a seat next to the door. As the bell rang, Alex sat down and Mr. Sherlock stood up and began talking.

  After Mr. Sherlock gave the class a lecture on the Battle of Marathon and the bell rang, Alex was heading to english with Mrs. Antonio on the third floor for two periods. It took Alex a while to find his classroom, but he managed to find it before the bell rang. Her room was unusually colorful with books all over and covers of books pinned against the walls and windows.

  For two whole periods, Mrs. Antonio talked about the author’s purpose and text structure. She was probably one of the most boring teachers Alex had ever met. She had black hair and albino eyes, and she was wearing a white shirt and a gray pencil skirt. But there was something about Mrs. Antonio that separated her from the rest. Mrs. Antonio was expressionless. She never portrayed any emotion, and her facial expression barely changed. Her personality and looks certainly didn’t match her classroom.

  Finally, after four long periods of class, it was time for lunch. Alex went back to his locker and put his backpack inside. He brought nothing but his headphones to a loud and cramped cafeteria. Alex went outside to get away from the chaos and reclined on one of the hills in the school’s large yard. He pulled his headphones over his ears and turned on his music, staring up at the sky. After a while, Alex heard footsteps and voices over his music. Alex sat up and found the two boys that he saw running down the stairs earlier standing over him along with the two girls who were talking with them during first period.

  The first girl had long, wavy strawberry-blonde hair and sapphire eyes. She wore a gray sweater with a white shirt underneath. Her jeans were ripped, and she wore light brown military boots. Under her arm, she held a textbo
ok. Her hands were stained with splotches of black. Alex assumed it was oil. The taller one wore a gray, red, and yellow V-neck Minnesota t-shirt and jorts. Her jet-black hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and her eyes were a mix of green and brown. She threw a baseball up and down in her right hand.

  “Hey. My name is Marcus, but you can call me Mark,” said the boy in the blue shirt by way of introduction. “You saved my friend earlier, and I just wanted to thank you. This is David in the green, the one you saved. Brooklyn in the grey, but you can call her Brooke, and Nicole in the Minnesota shirt. What’s your name?”

  “It’s Alex.”

  “Are you new here?” Mark asked.

  “Yeah, the teacher said that during first period,” Alex replied.

  “Nice headphones,” said David.

  “Thanks? Is there a purpose for this visit or… just what do you want?” Alex demanded. He felt this situation was getting a bit more than awkward and he wanted more than anything to leave it.

  “Well…we just wanted to say thanks for catching David earlier. He could have gotten hurt if it weren’t for you,” explained Mark.

  “You’re welcome. But you shouldn’t be running down the stairs in the first place,” Alex replied, standing up.

  The four stood awkwardly and glanced around them anxiously at the other teenagers loitering around the yard. He was slightly confused for a moment until he looked around. A bunch of kids scattered in groups were staring at the group and giggling.

  “Oh, so that’s what this is. A joke,” Alex muttered to himself. He should have been angry. Furious even. But he was calm as he brushed by David and Nicole and walked off.

  “Have a good day!” Alex called bitterly.

  Alex pulled his headphones over his ears and clicked the cassette player on. He kept walking. Not turning back.

  “Hold up! Alex!” Mark called after him.