Deaths first kiss book 1.., p.1
Death's First Kiss: Book 1: My High School Odyssey, page 1
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
1: Catalyst
2: Study Session
3: The Sister
4: The Dream
5: The Kiss
6: Near-Death Experiences
7: Just Desserts
8: Ghost Stories
9: Maturity
10: Old Friends
11: Revelations
12: Misunderstandings
13: Soul Searching
14: Death Incarnate
15: New Beginning
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
DEATH’S FIRST KISS
My High School Odyssey: Book 1
William Butler
DEATH'S FIRST KISS: BOOK 1 OF MY HIGH SCHOOL ODYSSEY
Copyright © 2022 William Butler
Written by William Butler
Edited by Will Horner & Tiana Povenmire-Kirk
Copy-edited and proofread by Mallory McLain (Critical Hit Proofreading)
Cover art by Jeff Langevin
Separator art by Aeron Universe
Insert art by Sarah Diaz (@Threadwing)
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental. Some of the characters and stories in this book are inspired by ancient Greek legends and lore. They are not intended as a faithful representation of those tales or culture.
Followed Dreams Publishing
PO Box 1391, 400 NW Gilman Blvd, Issaquah, WA 98027
EBook ISBN: 979-8-9863218-0-6
https://williambutlerauthor.com/
To my mother, Judy, who showed me what a strong woman was and laid the foundation for all my successes in life.
Chapter 1
Catalyst
Evan slammed the door shut as he raced out of the apartment, not bothering to lock it behind him. Using the guardrail for stability, he hurtled down the stairs from his second-floor landing, jumping the last half and sprinting toward his locked bicycle.
Crap! Of all the days to wake up late, why did it have to be this one? He thought to himself as he frantically freed his bike, throwing his leg over the seat and pedaling away as fast as he could.
In less than a minute, he was out of the apartment complex and racing past the convenience store at the corner. A glance at his father’s old watch told him he had less than fifteen minutes to get to school or miss the morning’s English exam.
It was only four weeks into his third year of high school, but today was his second major exam of the year. His English teacher, Mr. Hanson, was one of the strictest teachers on campus, and if he were late, he’d be locked out of the class, further damaging his already tenuous grade. If it hadn’t been for a phone call from his friends, Oliver and Katie, a few minutes earlier, he would still be home, blissfully sleeping and screwing up his chances for college.
As he rounded the last corner to school, he glanced at his watch again, the hands reading 8:08.
“Shit!” he hissed under his labored breath.
The irony of the situation—that he’d stayed up late last night studying for this very test—was not lost on him, though at the moment, he couldn’t remember a single thing he’d crammed into his head.
His thoughts briefly floated to the results of his first test two weeks prior, where he had initially earned himself a respectable 81% but was marked down two points to a 79% because of poor penmanship. To add insult to injury, a less than encouraging note of “You can do better than this” had been scrawled across the top in bright red ink.
Evan pumped his legs as hard as he could, ignoring the growing stitch in his side and his aching muscles. The school was finally in sight, and for a moment, he felt a surge of hope that he might make it when he heard the early bell ring. The bell meant that he only had five minutes to get to class.
Evan lowered his head and pushed himself even harder, arriving on campus a few minutes later. With athleticism born of desperation, he jumped from his bicycle and sprinted toward class, cringing at the sound of metal crashing into metal as his bike careened into the chain-link fence behind him.
As he sprinted around the last corner to his English class, he didn’t dare slow down, taking it at full speed, leaning in heavily to maintain as much momentum as possible. Then, CRASH!
Pain exploded across his shoulder as he struck something hard, throwing him to the ground as a numbing sensation spread across his chest and down his left arm.
As he stumbled, he was lightheaded and confused, unable to fully grasp what had just happened. The only clear thought was that he still had time to get to class. Scrambling desperately, he steadied himself and sprinted away.
As he ran, Evan glanced over his shoulder to see what he’d hit. He got a brief glimpse of a girl with bright-silvery hair and a long dark skirt on the ground, having been thrown to her knees.
“Sorry!” he called out over his shoulder as he bolted toward the door to his English class which was finally in sight.
As he ran the last few feet, the numbness retreated, leaving in its wake a sharp, stinging pain that helped to clear his addled mind. As the pain intensified, he was ashamed that he hadn’t stopped to check on her, hating himself for not ensuring that she was all right after such a violent impact. But there simply wasn’t time.
The bell signaling the start of class began to ring as Evan arrived, throwing his foot into the doorway just as the teacher pulled it closed.
Mr. Hanson glared at Evan as he panted heavily, sweat pouring off him.
“You’re late, Mr. Morgan,” the teacher said before opening the door just wide enough for Evan to enter.
“Thank you, sir,” Evan said as he slithered in, relief surging through him as he walked to his desk, flopping into his seat a moment later.
“That was close,” Oliver chuckled quietly as Evan mopped the sweat from his forehead and ran his fingers through his light-brown hair.
With the door closed and locked, Mr. Hanson walked to the far side of the room to his desk, where a small stack of test packets sat.
“With Mr. Morgan’s dramatic entrance behind us, we can get started,” he said. “Everyone clear your desks. Miss Lopez, will you please hand these out?” He held out the packets toward the brunette, who sat directly in front of the teacher’s desk.
As Maria began handing out stacks of tests to each row, Katie glanced back at Evan, scowling over her glasses at him.
Katie had been Evan’s first friend in Riverview, having met in elementary school when he’d moved to town in the middle of his third grade. He still remembered her long, braided chestnut hair and oversized round glasses from back then. They had become immediate friends and had remained close ever since, though she had cut her hair much shorter in their freshman year. Evan loved her caring, sensible personality and the flashes of fiery passion that leaked out when he or Oliver did something moronic, which they occasionally did just to annoy her.
As Evan smiled back with a thumbs-up, Katie grimaced as she shook her head before turning her attention back to the impending test.
As the last remnants of the numbness fled, Evan’s chest and arm pulsed in vibrant pain. He looked back at the door, wondering who he had run into and why she was carrying a backpack full of bricks. Was she okay? Did she need help?
An unexpected knock at the door caused him to jump as a sense of dread shot through him. Had someone witnessed what had happened? Was he about to get in trouble for assaulting someone? Or worse, had she been seriously hurt?
With a loud grumble, Mr. Hanson crossed the room again, glancing briefly around and easily identifying the one missing student.
“You know the rules, Mr. Simmons,” he said loudly enough to be heard through the door. “If you’re late on test day, you must wait until the exam is over. You can make it up after—” he said as he pulled the door open, stopping mid-sentence.
Evan’s heart sank when, instead of a lanky, blonde boy, stood a young woman with bright-silver hair and a dark skirt—the very person he’d crashed into moments earlier. Her arrival and Mr. Hanson’s stunned silence drew the attention of everyone in the class.
After a brief pause, Mr. Hanson regained his composure. “Yes? I’m in the middle of class,” he said brusquely.
Without a word, the girl handed him one of the crumpled pieces of paper from the disheveled pile in her hands. Mr. Hanson hesitated, pausing another moment before grabbing the offered paper and taking a step back. As Mr. Hanson read, it seemed to Evan that the girl’s arrival had momentarily frightened the teacher, though the thought seemed ridiculous.
She was undoubtedly one of the most striking-looking girls Evan had ever seen, and he couldn’t help but stare at her while she waited for Mr. Hanson’s response. Her hair was surprisingly long, sweeping behind her and reaching well past her waist, flowing around her in a cascade of bright silver. Her skin was a pale, creamy color with soft, rounded cheeks and steel-colored eyebrows. At first, he thought she had pale-green eyes, but as the teacher shifted, Evan realized they were silver, with the green color reflecting Mr. Hanson’s shirt.
Beyond her unusual appearance, there was a mysterious, intriguing quality to her that called to him, though perhaps he
When he’d finished reading, Mr. Hanson grunted as he opened the door for the newcomer. “Very well, Miss Blackmore, come in. Everyone else, turn your tests face down and do not begin until I tell you to do so.”
The room remained unusually muted as Mr. Hanson walked the new student to the front of the class.
“Attention, everyone!” Mr. Hanson said unnecessarily, as every eye was already glued to the pair of them. “We have a new student joining our class today. She recently moved to Riverview, and I expect everyone to help her get settled. Miss Blackmore, would you please introduce yourself?”
Evan appreciated the apparent fascination the class had with the newcomer. He, himself, was burning with curiosity as to who she was and why she had come to his little corner of the world.
A low level of murmuring slowly spread among the other students though the mood was strangely antagonistic, with a few whispers reaching his ears of “What’s wrong with her?” and “Why did she have to join our class?” and “He better not put her back here.” A chill breeze ran through the room as if the cold reactions had become tangible.
He couldn’t understand everyone’s apparent revulsion and took a closer look to see what could generate such immediate animosity. He briefly considered her volumes of bright, silver hair but quickly dismissed it. While it was unquestionably unique, it wasn’t unusual for students around campus to dye their hair unnatural colors. There were plenty of girls and a few boys sporting bright red, green, or blue hair. Her choice of clothing didn’t present any reason to object either. Fall had arrived, and while it wasn’t freezing yet, her blue turtleneck sweater and long-black skirt were similar to many other students’ clothing choices.
It was true that she was oddly pale, but not to the point that it should freak everyone out. Her colorless eyes gave her a vaguely ethereal look that he would have thought others would have found intriguing rather than disturbing. The combination of skin tone, pale eyes, and silver hair gave her an oddly monochrome appearance. Evan briefly wondered if she had been sick recently, perhaps explaining why she was starting school four weeks into the semester.
After a few moments, he gave up trying to guess why everyone seemed so ready to reject her and contemplated mass insanity.
As the seconds stretched out, the girl remained perfectly still, hands folded in front of her. Her head was down, avoiding eye contact with everyone. Slowly, the murmuring grew in volume as another chill swept through the room, and she took a wary half-step back. Evan felt something stir. He wanted to come to her defense and had the crazy notion of standing up and putting himself between the uncomfortable, vulnerable girl and the strangely threatening class.
“Quiet down,” Mr. Hanson said tersely. “Go ahead, Miss Blackmore,” he said as he reached over and gave her a light, encouraging push forward.
After a quick intake of breath, she quietly addressed the class. “My name is Hana,” she said. “Hana Blackmore. I, um, hope we can all get along.”
The mood of the room continued to darken with a student from the back calling out, “Yeah, right!” accompanied by several quiet chuckles.
“Enough of that!” Mr. Hanson said, eyes searching for the culprit as Evan looked around.
The class immediately quieted, and after a moment, Mr. Hanson motioned to an empty desk at the front of the room.
“You may take that seat, Miss Blackmore.”
As she sat down in the chair, it heartened Evan to see his friend Katie lean across and quietly introduce herself to the newcomer. It relieved him that not everyone in the class had it out for Hana, and he was unsurprised that it was Katie who was the first person to greet her with a smile. With Hana’s back turned to the others, the murmuring quieted as Mr. Hanson retrieved several papers from a desk drawer and deposited them on her desk.
“We are taking an exam this morning on the themes and significance of foundational U.S. documents and historical literature. You can sit and review the class syllabus during its duration,” he said. “I do not tolerate interruptions during tests, so please remain quiet, and if you have questions, keep them to yourself until the test is complete.”
Hana nodded, picked up the syllabus, and began reading.
Relieved that the drama around Hana was over, Evan turned his attention to the test as Mr. Hanson announced they could begin.
As he took the test, Evan felt optimistic as the answers came easily and readily. When he arrived at the end of the test, the clock told him he had nearly ten minutes to spare—enough time to check his answers and rewrite anything that was too sloppy.
A few minutes later, Mr. Hanson spoke up. “All right, class: pencils down and packets closed.”
The clock on the wall said they had only a couple of minutes before the end of the period, so the rest of the students gathered their belongings in anticipation.
“Before you leave,” Mr. Hanson said, bringing the class to order again, “I need a volunteer to show Miss Blackmore around school today.”
Considering the negative reception Hana had received earlier, Evan wasn’t surprised when only a single hand went up. Despite being bewildered over their reaction, he decided he wasn’t about to let this opportunity slip by and raised his hand. He still felt awful about crashing into her and hoped that Mr. Hanson would pick him so he could apologize. It would also give him an opportunity to show her that not everyone in class was an idiot and that at least someone was glad that she’d come to Riverview.
With the faintest of glances in his direction, the teacher turned back to Katie, who had been the first to volunteer. “Miss Pascal, you have Mrs. Roberts next, correct?”
“Yes, sir!” Katie said with barely contained enthusiasm.
“Good. Will you please show Miss Blackmore around?”
“Yes, sir!” Katie beamed.
The bell rang, and the class became a flurry of noise and motion as the other students packed up and headed to their next class. Evan shoved his things into his backpack and made his way out of the classroom, disappointed to have missed his chance to apologize. A moment later, Oliver joined him, and they headed toward history.
Oliver was Evan’s best friend and had been since middle school. The two of them had conspired at the end of last year to pick most of the same courses for the semester and had sat next to each other for each of their morning classes.
“Why didn’t you raise your hand to show the new girl around?” Evan asked as they walked. “You never miss a chance to make a good first impression before a girl has the chance to get to know you.”
“Meh, she’s not really my type,” Oliver shrugged.
“I didn’t know you had a type. I always thought that if she was breathing and willing to give you the time of day, that you were game.”
“That offends me, sir!” Oliver said with mock indignation. “I happen to have very particular tastes, my good man.” He laughed at his own joke.
Evan laughed along with his friend, surprised at Oliver’s lack of interest. He had never known them to disagree when it came to girls and couldn’t fathom why anyone wouldn’t be entranced by Hana Blackmore.
As he settled into his history desk, Evan wondered if Hana would appear in any of his other classes. However, when lunch arrived several hours later, he walked alongside Oliver to their usual lunch spot behind the science building, disappointed at not having seen her again. Oliver was quick to pick up on Evan’s diminished mood.
“Hey, man, what’s wrong?” he asked as they settled down on the small strip of grass under their favorite tree. “Forgot to bring a lunch?”
“As a matter of fact, yes. I didn’t have time to grab anything.” Evan groaned as he flopped down on the grass, lying on his back and stretching, causing the soreness in his shoulder to flare up and begin throbbing again.
“I figured.” Oliver smiled while pushing over half of his tuna salad sandwich and a little bag of carrot sticks.
