Between Light and Shadows

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Subject: Between Light and Shadows Thu Sep 02, 2010 12:47 am

I've been working in this story for quite a good amount of months. I finally decided to start traducing it to English.

As this is a traduction from Spanish, please forgive me if its not pretty well done. If you see some errors, please let me know.

Just the prologue for now, but please enjoy.
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Prologue

It had been stupid of me to have wasted all my summer vacation making vague and I had just realized it when I was walking slowly towards the school that I knew for so many years. The first day of class is something we all look forward to, in joy to see our old friends and with inflated expectations. We are entering a new year and things should change now. But let's say my mentality was different. My spirits were around the basement level and continued to fall with enough power to penetrate the barriers of the planetary core. To simply enter that room, sit behind the bench and meet a teacher who I'll get to know, like it or not, leads me to an immediate state of melancholy. It is assumed that there is a scientific name for my feelings, but I didn’t thought it would be really necessary to memorize something I wouldn’t use for anything, so for the curious people out there, don’t use this story as a source of information. To remember the bad grades I got last year made it so that a little courage could arise within me, a courage that would convince me at some point to stay around until the time school ended. But, I'm sorry to say, the courage was not enough. In addition, there was a certain group of people that I have not seen in a long time and they were probably the only divine power that could make me go a step forward.

I would like to say that at least I have plans for this year. Seriously I'd like ... But I’m just thinking about surviving and moving on, leaving behind all these months of overwhelming power.

I arrived just a few seconds before they closed the big black gate of the entrance. I must admit I was disappointed in myself on the fact that I was running late, considering that I lived just two blocks away. Even if I had woken up ten minutes before so I could arrive early, we must admit how special can be those ten extra minutes in bed, so there was no force that could make me waste them.

The doorman told me that all students had to go to the unnecessarily large gymnasium to witness the memorial ceremony. I had to run this time so they didn’t shut the door on my face and I quickly placed myself in the seats occupied my old class. There were a lot of faces that did not recognize, probably new students. For a moment I forgot that with the arrival of the new the amount of people per class also increased.

I feel sorry for the teachers.

The director was standing on a platform in front of all students, and began to give a speech that after five seconds had us all with our eyelids down. I do not know if his intention was to bore us to death or to put us into an eternal sleep, but he was succeeding and with extra points.

Looking around, I took into my sight the large amount of male students that filled the gymnasium. This is a school of unique gender, unfortunately. They all wore the new school uniform that I had worked so hard to get, thanks to the lateness with which the ads seem to come from the mouth of our director to our ears. The last uniform, to make things short, was orderly and depressing. He made us look like typical students of high class. Yes, those that appear on TV programs, those that you start hating the same instant they appear on screen.

Instead of a tight gray suit we now had a red jacket with all the style that we, the students, like. To improve things, there was no single rule in that fat student conduct manual that prevented us to wear it as we wished. The pants were still gray, but no longer tight, and gave us complete freedom of movement. We also had a black shirt that necessarily stood beneath the jacket, with a red tie attacked. If the school logo had not been drawn in our right shoulder then we could go unnoticed by mere youth who are not trapped by the chains of study.

By the time the long speech ended, all I wanted was to be in my bed again. A stern-looking teacher made us line up and walk straight into our classrooms, which was on the first floor of a building of three (plus roof), with the advantage that a simple door could lead us directly to the backyard, and the view was relaxing and harmonious. That feeling ended when the teacher almost literally threatened us sp that we could have a respectable performance in class.

I swear I never in my life have seen a person with lungs that unusually large. She screamed as if she was a general in charge of the largest Nazi battalion in the Second World War.

Anyway, I never put too much attention to what this kind of teacher says. I felt free to do as I pleased, as long as it did not involve jumping out of my seat or getting ridiculed in front of the class.

Beside me sat one of my closest friends who we just called Alex (his real name is unimaginably long), apparently as distracted as I was. His height was a little lower than it should be for age, dark blonde hair and a small scar on his right cheek.

Another of them was almost asleep in the seat behind me. Marco, unlike Alex, was above the average height and his hair was black. His eyes narrowed in an attempt to stay focused on the words of the teacher, but ended up being an impossible job for him, and was forced to yield to the temptation of sleep. I'm not going to create a mental image of what would happen if he was discovered.

The only one who seemed to have his attention on the teacher was Dario Magnus, a blond-haired boy, average height, and with just a look the following sentence appeared in the mind of everything: "This one here has money. "And I, who knew him, felt obligated to respond:" Oh yes, he has a lot of money. "

And finally, probably the strangest of us all, Sheis. The boy of German origins had his head covered by a hood, but I tell those who are interested that his hair is of the darkest black one could imagine. His clothes were heavy and he even wore gloves on his hands, literally without any part of his body exposed. Do not worry, there is a fairly logical explanation for this strange choice of clothing.

Fortunately, the time seemed to go fast. A few hours later the bell that marked the end of the class schedule finally rang at the distance. A sound we all love and hate for equal. Students that are reading this probably know what I mean.
Me and the other four named above were the first to grab our stuff and get going toward the school entrance. Apparently they were so tired of being in there like me.

All the people that had piled up outside the black gate proved to be a demoralizing obstacle. When you think you have found a hole that can be used to move forward, someone else arrives and snatch it from you. As extra information, I mention that not only there were students but also teachers, parents, friends from other schools, acquaintances, people who were only passing through, among others. The list can go on like that forever.

With some effort we managed to cross the street in front. Our intention was to separate and go one to our own home, but something unexpected delayed our plans. A girl with an air of superiority around her went directly toward us. I thought her intention was to simply pass by, so I did not give her much importance.

—Hey, you.

She was watching us and was just a meter from our group, so there was no reason to think that she was not talking to us.

—Do you know where the nearest station is?

It seemed strange to hear a tone of annoyance in her words, so I did not answer immediately. I felt a little uneasy. My hooded friend Sheis imitated my gesture, but the energetic Alex could not help but jump with the response in anticipation of the two remaining individuals.

—It's about three blocks along this street. You’ll find it easily.

—Thanks.

I thought she would keep walking normally, but when I turned my eyes I realized something. The eyes of my friend, Marco, were glued on the face and figure of the girl. I knew him quite well, so I could deduce what it was this behavior ... As much as I would have liked to tell him not to make himself any ideas or not to venture, I knew I would get ignored.

—Hey... — My stupid friend said, approaching the girl—. Would you like us to accompany you? By the way we could…
It is clear to anyone with a conscience that his insinuation was not the best he could have used. Although this does not justify the way in which the girl replied.

—Do I seem to have time to talk to an idiot like you?

Marco was cold with the response. It was clear that no one had ever rejected him so quickly and with such cruelty, and that left him without words to say. Well, he asked for it. Someday, with all these experiences, he’ll learn that it is not so easy to do what you propose.

She kept walking and passed by my stupid friend, but not before a few more words.

"Next time please try to say something more ingenious and less desperate than that. Who would like to accept an offer like that? And don’t you see that I’m in a hurry? Did you think at least that would be my answer before you ask? For the sake of God...

As her head was not facing forward, she hit something. That something turned out to be me, not noticing that she was coming in my direction. I was too busy laughing at the stupid gesture that was left on Marco’s face after those words.
The girl turned her head and pulled back from me. She looked at me, not angrily, but with no expression on her face. I did the same, without really giving much importance. She was a little shorter than me and her face was composed of fine and beautiful lines. She had a long dark brown hair hanging down her back and eyes of the same color, that finally made her face to be unique. I had never seen a girl so beautiful in my life. But unfortunately, her eyebrows showed a new sign of anger and, after moving me out of the way with some abruptness, kept going with firm step. I, confused, saw her leave.

—Tough luck. —Dario said, half laughing.

—Shut up ... — replied Marco, clearly depressed.

A few minutes later I was walking in the normal way back to my house.

Now that I look at it from a further point of view I realize that this meeting was the first contact I had with what would soon change my life.

My God, if I had received some kind of clue at that time, it didn’t matter if it was minimal, maybe I could have avoided everything that was about to happen.

But when I think about it again, maybe there was no way. Maybe, no matter what I did, I would get dragged inside the same problem, and that is kind of depressing. For some reason, it makes me think that I’m the most unlucky bastard in the whole world, and probably universe.