THE PORTAL
Chapter 1:Kayla
From the moment I walked towards that shining light, I felt as if I was walking towards heaven. The light was a light blue, like the colour of the sky when it's really sunny out. As I walked towards the beautiful light, heard laughing and talking. As I touched the light, it surrounded me. I felt happy, but soon ended up in a dark alleyway. "Hey, look who's just in time for our celebration!" an over-friendly voice called to me. I started to turn, but stopped. For there was a pool of blood that I was standing in. I saw a boy, about as old as I was. He had long black hair, which was combed so much to one side that it formed bangs that almost covered his eyebrows. His eyes were closed, but when he opened them to look at me, I realized that they were black, full of fear and sensitivity. And at the bottom of my soul, I knew that he was the most beautiful boy I'd ever seen, besides all the cuts and bruises on his face and arms. Wait a minute. My mind told me. Then I realized he was bleeding so heavily that I almost fainted by the sight of all the blood. I rushed over to him and sat beside him on my heels. "Johnny! Are you okay? Are you okay?" I asked him. I was confused for a moment because I didn't know who this boy was, I didn't even know where I was. His eyes went wide. "Kayla! You need to get out of here.!" He wheezed. "I'm not leaving here without you. Who did it? Was it the Socs?" My mind raced. Say something random. I told myself. Not this lovey-dovey stuff. Johnny nodded his head slowly. "Yeah, it was." He said quietly. "Soda! Pony! Anybody! Help!" I screamed into the night. Was this some kind of joke?I didn't know. Johnny's eyes went wide. "Kayla! Behind you!" I turned and saw a Soc holding a gun. He was pointing it at us. As I heard the gun click, I turned back to Johnny and held his hand. I tried to smile, knowing that we would be together when we died, but as my eyes filled with tears, I realized he was aiming the gun at Johnny, not me. "No." I whispered. I couldn't live without Johnny, and I was prepared to go down with him. As I sat defensively in front of him, ready to take the bullet, a car roared into the alley with it's horns blaring. A bunch of people got out of it. For a second, I thought it was more Socs, but breathed a sighed a breath of relief when I saw it was our car, the old ford was packed with the gang, Soda, Darry, Two-bit, Ponyboy, Steve and even Dally hopped out of the car and rushed over to us. The Soc dropped his gun and sprinted away. I took the gun and chucked it into a nearby trash can. As Soda helped Johnny stand up, I asked: "Is he going to be okay, Soda?" "Yeah, probably." He reassured me. Once we were all in the car, I felt really tired. As to not hurt him anymore, I gently laid my head on Johnny's shoulder and drifted to sleep. He probably didn't mind, he was asleep too.
Ω
"Kayla!? Kayla Fraleigh?" A voice screeched as I opened my eyes and lifted my head drowsily. "Yes, Miss King?" I asked with a yawn. " It has been three months since that you haven't been paying attention in class! If this continues, you will have to work in the hallway. Now, what is the equivalent of 'j' in this equation?". I looked at the board. It said: (3+8)x j=111. "The equivalent of 'j' is ten, Miss King." I mumbled sleepily. "Correct, now I suggest you stop drooling on your homework and start working." The class laughed. Normal people would have blushed at that point, but apparently I'm not. But the anger rose in my chest at the thought that Miss King would have made a comment like that. I didn't mean to say it out loud but it kinda slipped out of my mouth. "And you should be paying attention to what subject you're teaching. We aren't learning fractions, and even if we were, there are people that can't keep up." I then realized that I was standing up. As I just told you, I'm not normal. I sat down slowly and almost bursted out laughing. Miss King's face was contorted with anger so much that it gave her the look of a red, dried up prune. "Kayla," She said in a voice that shook with anger. "Please keep your comments. And if another incident like this happens, I will call your mother." I opened my mouth to tell her that I didn't have a mother, or a father. I lived with my stepmother, Lauren, who my father foolishly put me into her care before he died. Lauren is a tall blond woman who's puts on too much eye makeup and blush. She smokes in the house, is always getting drunk and then throws up a lot and when she's done, treats me like I was the cause. She's never at the apartment (gone to the bar to get wasted and to get picked up by some creepy old guy who thinks it's funny to sleep with women 20, 30 even 40 years younger that him and does it for kicks.) but I somehow manage. After all, she does leave her credit card at home and has the easiest password (1,2,3,4). Miss King turned back to the blackboard and began talking about the environment. I wanted to correct her, but she hates it when people do that. I slowly let my mind wander, and as Miss King's voice faded away, I put all my focus on the blue light, Johnny and how to find them...
Chapter 2:Johnny
I strolled down the alley way, it was night. That is, until I heard a soft moan coming from somewhere. "Not this dream again." I thought. I wanted it to stop but unfortunately, it didn't. I turned the corner and she was there, the girl I'd been having dreams about since I turned sixteen. She had long blond hair that flowed to her waist. I stepped forwards and saw that her hair had a red-ish tinge to it,but not in a natural or salon-coloured way. Blood. My mind was in a frenzy. I sat down slowly beside her. I shook her gently. "Kayla,can you hear me?" I whispered. Wait a minute. Do I know her? She stirred gently, as if she were asleep. She opened her eyes to look up at me. "Johnny?" she asked in disbelief. "Yeah, it's me." I felt like crying but I didn't know why. Maybe she was supposed to be pretty.(As she was covered in blood, bruises and cuts.) Or maybe it was the state of her. (Again, with the cuts and bruises.)Or maybe she was about to die. I didn't know. I picked her up gently, like a child. I guess she was one because she looked no older than twelve. As I helped her stand up, she warned me."Careful of my arm Johnny." "Which one?" I asked. She showed me her right arm. It had a long, deep cut from her shoulder to her elbow. She would probably have a scar there. I patted her on the back and was startled when a few teardrops rolled down her cheek. I was scared for her because she was so little. I pulled her close and she started sobbing. She kept on crying until I asked her what happened. "The Socs.". Was all she said. She sobbed even harder. She shook as if each second cause an explosion inside of her. I couldn't help her and it hurt that I couldn't. "Well , well" said voice coming from the corner. The Soc stepped closer. The girl held on to me, keeping a death grip on my jacket and eyes locked on the Soc. She wasn't crying anymore, probably to not show her fear to the Soc. "Can't you jump someone your own size Bob, or should I say, Robert?" She had a cruel, mocking smile on her face. She almost looked a Soc herself. I wanted to stand right beside her. I hesitated when 'Bob' pulled out a gun. I wasn't afraid of the gun, I was scared when more Socs stepped out of the shadows. She made a small noise in the back of her throat. I hoped that the Socs didn't hear it. It would make us look like wimps. I wanted to call for Soda or Dally, but nothing came out. I just stood there with my mouth open. I closed it. The Socs started to swarm around us, surrounding. The girl,Kayla, screamed as one of them picked her up and flung her over their shoulder. I don't really think it would be hard. But they were circling me. One of them clubbed me on the back and I fell to the ground. The Socs started kicking me, pushing me around the circle and cussing me out when I hit their feet if I could get close enough. If I listened closely, I could hear Kayla screaming: "Put me down! Who do you think you are? When I get my hands on you you'll wish you were never born, you hear me?!" I almost smirked to myself, Kayla seemed pretty cute when she was ranting and mad. But I had more important things to think about, like how we were going to get out of here. My eyes were slowly closing. Every inch of me ached. I wanted the pain to end until I heard the sound of a gun being loaded. In the distance, I could hear Kayla yelling: "NO! JOHNNY! NOOOOOOOO!" I didn't know what was coming until the gun fired.
***
I sat up, sweating and shaking. I whispered the girl's name a few times before I realized that Ponyboy was sitting on the dinner table, staring at me. "It's about that girl, wuss-her-face, again?" I sighed. Why is it that I told him about my dreams?my first guess was that Ponyboy understood them. After all, Pony had nightmares too. "Her name's Kayla and I did have another dream." he raised his eyebrows. "Just about her?" "No, the Socs too." I said as I started pacing the room. Many questions ran through my mind. Who is she? How do I know her? Why am I having these dreams? What do my dreams mean? I couldn't answer any of them, which frustrated me. I felt tired,even though I had been sleeping for a while. If I looked tired, it showed. "You look tired Johnny, you should get some sleep." Ponyboy suggested. Sure, I said with a yawn as I jumped back on the couch and turned over. And for some strange reason, I thought about Kayla. I wanted to be with her, even though I don't think about girls, usually. What was wrong with me???
Ω
"Kayla!? Kayla Fraleigh?" A voice screeched as I opened my eyes and lifted my head drowsily. "Yes, Miss King?" I asked with a yawn. " It has been three months since that you haven't been paying attention in class! If this continues, you will have to work in the hallway. Now, what is the equivalent of 'j' in this equation?". I looked at the board. It said: (3+8)x j=111. "The equivalent of 'j' is ten, Miss King." I mumbled sleepily. "Correct, now I suggest you stop drooling on your homework and start working." The class laughed. Normal people would have blushed at that point, but apparently I'm not. But the anger rose in my chest at the thought that Miss King would have made a comment like that. I didn't mean to say it out loud but it kinda slipped out of my mouth. "And you should be paying attention to what subject you're teaching. We aren't learning fractions, and even if we were, there are people that can't keep up." I then realized that I was standing up. As I just told you, I'm not normal. I sat down slowly and almost bursted out laughing. Miss King's face was contorted with anger so much that it gave her the look of a red, dried up prune. "Kayla," She said in a voice that shook with anger. "Please keep your comments. And if another incident like this happens, I will call your mother." I opened my mouth to tell her that I didn't have a mother, or a father. I lived with my stepmother, Lauren, who my father foolishly put me into her care before he died. Lauren is a tall blond woman who's puts on too much eye makeup and blush. She smokes in the house, is always getting drunk and then throws up a lot and when she's done, treats me like I was the cause. She's never at the apartment (gone to the bar to get wasted and to get picked up by some creepy old guy who thinks it's funny to sleep with women 20, 30 even 40 years younger that him and does it for kicks.) but I somehow manage. After all, she does leave her credit card at home and has the easiest password (1,2,3,4). Miss King turned back to the blackboard and began talking about the environment. I wanted to correct her, but she hates it when people do that. I slowly let my mind wander, and as Miss King's voice faded away, I put all my focus on the blue light, Johnny and how to find them...
Chapter 2:Johnny
I strolled down the alley way, it was night. That is, until I heard a soft moan coming from somewhere. "Not this dream again." I thought. I wanted it to stop but unfortunately, it didn't. I turned the corner and she was there, the girl I'd been having dreams about since I turned sixteen. She had long blond hair that flowed to her waist. I stepped forwards and saw that her hair had a red-ish tinge to it,but not in a natural or salon-coloured way. Blood. My mind was in a frenzy. I sat down slowly beside her. I shook her gently. "Kayla,can you hear me?" I whispered. Wait a minute. Do I know her? She stirred gently, as if she were asleep. She opened her eyes to look up at me. "Johnny?" she asked in disbelief. "Yeah, it's me." I felt like crying but I didn't know why. Maybe she was supposed to be pretty.(As she was covered in blood, bruises and cuts.) Or maybe it was the state of her. (Again, with the cuts and bruises.)Or maybe she was about to die. I didn't know. I picked her up gently, like a child. I guess she was one because she looked no older than twelve. As I helped her stand up, she warned me."Careful of my arm Johnny." "Which one?" I asked. She showed me her right arm. It had a long, deep cut from her shoulder to her elbow. She would probably have a scar there. I patted her on the back and was startled when a few teardrops rolled down her cheek. I was scared for her because she was so little. I pulled her close and she started sobbing. She kept on crying until I asked her what happened. "The Socs.". Was all she said. She sobbed even harder. She shook as if each second cause an explosion inside of her. I couldn't help her and it hurt that I couldn't. "Well , well" said voice coming from the corner. The Soc stepped closer. The girl held on to me, keeping a death grip on my jacket and eyes locked on the Soc. She wasn't crying anymore, probably to not show her fear to the Soc. "Can't you jump someone your own size Bob, or should I say, Robert?" She had a cruel, mocking smile on her face. She almost looked a Soc herself. I wanted to stand right beside her. I hesitated when 'Bob' pulled out a gun. I wasn't afraid of the gun, I was scared when more Socs stepped out of the shadows. She made a small noise in the back of her throat. I hoped that the Socs didn't hear it. It would make us look like wimps. I wanted to call for Soda or Dally, but nothing came out. I just stood there with my mouth open. I closed it. The Socs started to swarm around us, surrounding. The girl,Kayla, screamed as one of them picked her up and flung her over their shoulder. I don't really think it would be hard. But they were circling me. One of them clubbed me on the back and I fell to the ground. The Socs started kicking me, pushing me around the circle and cussing me out when I hit their feet if I could get close enough. If I listened closely, I could hear Kayla screaming: "Put me down! Who do you think you are? When I get my hands on you you'll wish you were never born, you hear me?!" I almost smirked to myself, Kayla seemed pretty cute when she was ranting and mad. But I had more important things to think about, like how we were going to get out of here. My eyes were slowly closing. Every inch of me ached. I wanted the pain to end until I heard the sound of a gun being loaded. In the distance, I could hear Kayla yelling: "NO! JOHNNY! NOOOOOOOO!" I didn't know what was coming until the gun fired.
***
I sat up, sweating and shaking. I whispered the girl's name a few times before I realized that Ponyboy was sitting on the dinner table, staring at me. "It's about that girl, wuss-her-face, again?" I sighed. Why is it that I told him about my dreams?my first guess was that Ponyboy understood them. After all, Pony had nightmares too. "Her name's Kayla and I did have another dream." he raised his eyebrows. "Just about her?" "No, the Socs too." I said as I started pacing the room. Many questions ran through my mind. Who is she? How do I know her? Why am I having these dreams? What do my dreams mean? I couldn't answer any of them, which frustrated me. I felt tired,even though I had been sleeping for a while. If I looked tired, it showed. "You look tired Johnny, you should get some sleep." Ponyboy suggested. Sure, I said with a yawn as I jumped back on the couch and turned over. And for some strange reason, I thought about Kayla. I wanted to be with her, even though I don't think about girls, usually. What was wrong with me???
