They Came From Nkozi

3.

ROSEMARY'S POV

We had some time to chat before the first bell rang. Shelby and I sat on a bench together and we talked and looked at some videos on our phones. She showed me a video of her little brother, Dean, who was playing a song on the piano, but then the first bell rang and we had to get to class.

I walked to my math class and I saw my friend Mason standing in the hallway with a friend of his.

He waved, "Hey Rosemary!"

"Hi Mason," I said back.

I went into the classroom and sat at my desk and got my binder and pencil out. Mason walked in with his friend a few minutes later and sat down, and then the bell rang.

"Alrighty then." Mr. Collins said as he headed to the front of the room. "We're working in our textbooks on page 249, it is review so if you were not here yesterday, please come up to me and get the assignment we worked on." He shuffled some papers around on his desk. "You may work with a partner."

I looked at Mason, he looked at me, and we both nodded. I did not know anyone else in the class really, so I was relieved that we were able to work together. We pulled two desks together and started working on the assignment.

I've known Mason for a while now. He's pretty chill. I've known him ever since my mom married Jack. He was Ash's friend growing up. Before my mom and Jack were married, Jack and Ash lived in Arizona. So now that I'm part of Jack's family, Ash, Mason, and I have become friends.

He said, "You goin' to Shelby's party?"

"Yeah, are you?"

"Nah," he paused and erased something on his paper. "Im working all day."

"Still trying get money for the Camaro?"

"Yeah, I'm so close! I saw one on Craigslist the other day. I need another $200 and I can buy it."

"Can't you ask your parents?" I looked at him.

"Yeah, I could. But they said they only would help me if I passed all my semester 2 finals. And we won't take those for another 3 months almost. I don't want to wait for a car, I want it as soon as I possibly can!"

"Oh, well, I guess it's good to work all day then. I hope you get it soon."

"Yeah, me too," he wrote some things on his paper and then he asked if he did it right. I told him it was right and then we worked on the assignment for the rest of the hour.

Mason laid back in his chair after a while. "No homework in math!"

I put my pencil down, "Yay!" I had finished too.

I looked at the clock. We had about five minutes until class was done. So Mason and I started to pack up as quietly as we could so we wouldn't get in trouble for packing up early.

I put everything away in my backpack and I looked at my phone real quick. No text messages or calls from anyone, so I put my phone in my pocket and the bell rang.

Mason was in a hurry to get to his next class, so I didn't bother him. I just walked silently to English. I was walking down the row to my desk when I was tripped by a girl named Jasmine. She has been kind of mean to me ever since I came to this school. On my second day, she threw a paper at me that said, this year is going to be fun with you.

I thought it was strange. I didn't know her. I've never like talked to her before. She always stared at me during lunch with her friends. She was kinda "gothic" (I don't know how else to put it). She wore black clothes with chains every where. She had dark exaggerated make up on, her hair was black and purple, and she wore black leather boots. She doesn't like to talk to people unless she is with her other gothic friends. But, the school year is over in 3 months and i wont have to deal with this then.

After I fell, she said sorry and held her hand out to help, but then she took it away when I reached for it. Then, she started laughing quietly. I got up with a grunt, and sat in my assigned seat behind her.

I don't get it. Why was she so mean to me? Did I do something that hurt her? No! I've never done anything to her. She just started picking on me. Whatever. I'll just deal with it. I'll be nice to her. "Treat others how you wanna be treated," right?

Class ended a while later and then I went to my next class. Then another class after another, and then it was time for lunch.

After I put my backpack and purse down at my seat, I stood in the lunch line to get some turkey and mashed potatoes. I was hungry because I forgot to eat this morning... oops...

I saw Mason come in the cafeteria door with a friend of his who I recognized as Jake. He was a mellow kind of guy. He had blonde hair in a long braid down his back. He also always wore bright colored clothing and sandals. I guess you could call him a hippee because he always said, "peace" and "man."

Jake and Mason went to go stand in the line for pizza and salad. I got my turkey and mashed potatoes and went to go sit at my table. Shelby was waiting for me.

Shelby and I talked for a while and then Jake and Mason came and sat by us. Jake had a crush on Shelby. (Mason told me) Jake did not want her to know and he asked that no one would tell her. I really, really, really, really wanted to tell her but I promised that I would not tell.

Anyways, we ate our food and we chatted about some memes, vines, and just some stupid crap that we found on the internet. After we finished our meals and stopped talking, we decided to go outside in the courtyard.

I saw some guys throwing footballs around, some girls were sitting down at the benches doing whatever, some people were on their phones taking selfies. I was looking around the courtyard and about 20 feet away from our group, I saw Jasmine just glaring at me, her friends doing the same.

I turned to my group and asked, "Hey, what's the deal with Jasmine?" I looked at them. Mason had a weird look on his face. Jake was expressionless, and Shelby wondered the same. "Like she is always staring at me and she trips me and shoves me in the hallways. What's her deal?"

Mason got out his phone and started texting someone.

Shelby said, "I don't know. Maybe she doesn't like you."

"Thanks captain obvious," Jake blurted. He looked down at his feet. "Sorry."

I looked back at Jasmine and her group, but they weren't there. I looked around and asked my friends to help me find them. I felt a vibration from my phone in my pocket and I reached to take it out.

Shelby pointed and screamed, "BEHIND YOU!"

I turned around on my heels as quickly as I could. Mason and Jake rushed forward and tried to stop what was coming.

But it was too late.

I was hit on the head with a glass wine bottle and I blacked out.