The Secret

By: Faye Stockmal

Prologue

I leapt at the nearest tree, protecting myself from the bright light that suddenly started hitting my eyes like a laser. When the lights and sound stopped, I peeked through a small hole in the tree and I was stunned by what I saw.

Chapter 1

First Day

As I woke up that morning, the warm sun sank through my eyes. Downstairs, I heard my mum cooking in the kitchen. I yawned as I dragged myself down the stairs. It was the first day of 6th grade. I was finally going into middle school. Riverdale Middle. “Good morning Danny!” Mum said. My real name is Danielle, but everyone, including my mum, calls me Danny. I don’t mind though. I actually like it. “Morning mum.” I said with a tired look on my face. My mum seemed excited for my first day. Probably because of her annual pictures, I thought, as I finished up my breakfast. My mum takes pictures every year on the first day of school. It's sometimes annoying, but I don't mind. I looked at the clock to see what time it was, 7:30! I was going to miss my bus! I quickly gathered all my stuff, said goodbye to my mum, and set out to the land of middle schoolers. I sat on the bus. Constantly telling myself that it would be okay. But in my heart I knew that this would be a hard first day.

Chapter 2

History

The bus ride felt long. Time seemed to slow down as the bus moved closer to the school. Finally, the bus stopped in front of the school. Everyone got their stuff and piled out of the bus. I followed along, still reading an old article on my computer about the school.

It said that this school had a lot of history. The article read, “It started out in 1830 before girls were allowed to go to school. The school was an all boys school that was in the middle of a village that now, was destroyed due to weather and time. *Or so we think.” I read along about how in the early 1900’s, the school allowed girls to come too. Then the grades changed from 1st-7th to 6th-8th. I reread the first part, and I noticed a little Asterisk in the corner of the last sentence. “Or so we think.” it read. I looked around and found at the bottom corner, another section called The Secret Legend.

I was curious so I read it. Shocked, I read it again, and again. “*But a legend not many people know is that this school, way before time, was surrounded by woods, where it was said that there were magical creatures like dwarves, elves, fairies, gnomes, sprites, and many others. Apparently humans did exist during that time. It is said that a group of people came from their old village to build a new one. They completely destroyed the forest. And the creatures wanted revenge. So without warning, they snuck up from behind and attacked. But the humans fought back. And in the end, the humans won. It is said that spirits of the creatures roam the school. As spirits or in disguise.”

I shook my head in disbelief. No way, I thought. This couldn’t be true. I shut my computer and I was about to put it in my bag when I felt like something was trying to sneak up from behind me.

Chapter 3

A New Friend

I quickly turned around, nothing. This creeped me out, but I took a deep breath and started to make my way into the school. I was known as a quiet girl that loves to read. I didn’t have many friends but I promised myself that I would try and make some new friends. I looked around the hallway, it looked like a normal school. But something about it, something about the hallway, something about the classrooms, something about the article was just not right. I shook the feeling off and pulled a book out from my bag and started to read. My teachers had warned me not to read and walk at the same time, but truthfully, I ignored them. But I guess they were right because literally 10 seconds later, I bumped into someone. “Ow!” we both said. I fell down and dropped my book in the process. Before even looking at the figure I said, “I’m so sorry! Ugh my teachers were right.” I looked up and saw a girl with pitch black hair and big green eyes rubbing her head. “No, it's ok!” She exclaimed. “I get lost in my books too.” She held out her hand. She was wearing a black hoodie and shorts. As she helped me up I thought, could she be my friend? And I guess I was right because after I dusted off my book she said, “I’m Ella. What's your name?” “I’m Dani.” I responded. “Do you wanna be friends?” I almost jumped through the roof! I was so excited to make a new friend! “I’d love to! What's your homeroom?” “I’m room 96, Mr. Fitzz.” she said back. No way! She was in my homeroom! I almost screamed as I told her that we were in the same homeroom. And just like that, I made a new friend.

I walked to my homeroom with her. A smile on my face.

Chapter 4

Schedule

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Lucky enough, me and Ella happened to be in almost all of the same classes! During Homeroom we looked at our schedules. Mine went like this;

And Ella’s was basically the same, except Period 5 she had Band and Period 8 she had Art. I was relieved that we were in 8 out of 10 classes together. But she looked a bit worried. “What's wrong?” I asked. “Oh nothing…” she said, as she shook her head. Almost as if she were shaking off the feeling. “Just a little nervous that's all.” I couldn’t blame her. This was our first day! No wonder she was nervous. I was too.

Chapter 5

Waiting

At the end of the day we went to our dismissal class and then went our separate ways. As I stepped onto the bus, I saw her waiting for someone. Maybe her parents will get her. Or maybe she walked home. But my thoughts didn’t last long before being pushed by another kid telling me to move. Even when I got on the bus, she was still there. She was there until no one was there. I know that because our bus was last to leave. And…She just stood there, waiting for someone. Or something. The bus finally started to move and I looked away for a second and she seemed to disappear. I felt a weird feeling, like I just saw a ghost. Or something bigger. The feeling followed me home. I still felt it in bed, as I was falling asleep. She was just trying to scare me, I know it! I thought. But a little voice inside me said No. You saw it. You know it. The voices seemed to argue in my head. I got no sleep that night. I was just waiting, and hoping morning would come.