Nightshade: A SimLit | Chapter 1: The New Kid

“Amelia, wake up! We gotta leave for school in ten minutes!”

Amelia opened her eyes with a groan, annoyed that her brother, Alexander, had awoken her. “What do you want…?”

“Do you want to be late for school? We’ve only got ten minutes, I said!” Alexander exclaimed. “C’mon, get your lazy butt out of bed!”

The realization set in and Amelia jolted up out of bed. “Ten minutes!? I don’t have enough time! I can’t go to school in my pajamas! What about breakfast!?”

Alexander frowned. “Well, you shouldn’t’ve slept in. I tried to wake you up half an hour ago and you threw your teddy bear at me and told me to go away. Change out of your pajamas and meet me downstairs, okay? Maybe you’ll have time to stop by the cafeteria and grab a snack before class!” He turned and walked briskly out of the room. ‘I can’t believe we might be late for school because you’re being lazy. What about my straight A’s?’ he thought to himself.

Amelia hurriedly got herself dressed and rushed downstairs, where Alexander was waiting by the front door.

“Took you long enough!” He complained. “C’mon! Hurry up, the bus is here!”

His sister frowned. “I’m going as fast as I can, Alexander!” 

They both ran outside to the bus, barely arriving before it drove away, and it wasn’t long before the bus arrived at its destination. They got off the bus and headed toward the classroom. Alexander disappeared past the classroom door, but a commotion in the hall caught Amelia’s attention, and she stopped walking.

One of Amelia’s classmates and infamous school bully, Vance, and his lackey were taunting a boy she didn’t recognize. “So you’re the new kid in school? Hah! What a freak!”

“U-um…” the unfamiliar boy stuttered. “I’m… sorry… did I say something wrong…?”

“What kinda clothes are those anyway? They’re so stupid! Even my grandma wears better clothes than that!” Vance laughed. “You look like a total creep. I’ve never seen a kid with red eyes before.”

“Yeah!” Vance’s buddy exclaimed. “You look evil or somethin’!”

Their victim’s voice was barely above a whisper. “S-stop…”

Vance grinned and roughly shoved him to the ground. “You want me to stop, yeah? Then make me, wimp!”

The boy toppled helplessly to the ground. “I… I don’t want to fight, okay…?” 

“You don’t wanna fight ‘cause you know you’d just lose!” Vance snapped. “But you don’t have a choice, ‘cause I’m gonna beat you to a pulp either way!”

Amelia had seen enough. “Hey, leave that boy alone!” She yelled, approaching the fighting kids. 

Vance’s friend ran off; having dealt with Amelia before, he knew better than to stick around. The new kid took his chance to rise to his feet while she was telling Vance off.

“All you ever do is cause trouble! If you wanna start a fight with somebody, then start it with me!” Amelia yelled. “Or are you too chicken!?”

“Chicken? You’re just a wimpy little girl! You can’t do nothin’ to me!” Vance retorted. “I’ll beat you BOTH to a pulp!” 

“Yeah!? I’d like to see you try!” Amelia yelled.

Vance had enough, and slapped Amelia as hard as he could, which is all it took for a huge fight to break out. 

The black-haired boy backed away, terrified and unsure of what to do. “H-Hey… stop… leave her alone!” 

His pleas fell on deaf ears.

Amelia emerged victorious. “It’s about time you got a taste of your own medicine!” She yelled at Vance, placing her hands on her hips. “Now get outta here!”

Vance didn’t need any more convincing and ran off to class. Amelia turned to face the boy standing behind her, cautiously approaching him. 

“Hey, are you okay?” she asked, her voice much softer than before. “I’m sorry he was bullying you like that.”

“Um…I’m…” the boy stuttered, and glanced down at his feet. “Thank you…”

“Hey, no need to thank me! I’m not gonna sit around and let someone be treated like that.” Amelia flashed him a toothy grin. “I’m Amelia. Amelia Wesley. What’s your name?”

He looked up at her shyly. “Onyx… Nightshade.”

“Onyx. It’s nice to meet you!” she grinned wider. “So you’re new here, aren’t you?”

Onyx nodded. “My mom and I… just moved here to Newcrest y-yesterday… actually…”

Amelia remembered seeing a moving van at the vacant house across the street a couple of days ago. “Hey, are you the one that moved into the little red house? It’s across the street from me!”

Onyx nodded. “Y-Yeah.”

“Then that means we’re neighbors!” she exclaimed. “Wait, does that count as neighbors? Aren’t they supposed to be beside you, or do the people in front of you count too?” she shrugged. “I dunno, but I’m gonna say we’re neighbors!”

Onyx frowned. “Hey, um… I’m… really sorry you got caught up in all that. I don’t… I don’t understand what I did wrong? I was trying to be nice to them, but they…” He sniffled. “I think they just… don’t like me because I’m different than they are…”

Amelia placed her hands on his arms, rubbing them reassuringly. “You didn’t do anything wrong. They’re just a couple of meanies is all. I think you’re really nice!” she said. “Besides, there’s nothing wrong with being different, y’know?”

Onyx looked up at the girl and smiled. “Thank you.”

Amelia frowned a little. “Um, we’re late for class, so we should get going! I’ll walk with you to class, alright?”

Onyx nodded, and they headed off towards the class room.

Amelia glanced over at Onyx. “Oh, and by the way, Onyx…”

“Yeah?” he replied.

She gave him another toothy grin. “If I ever see him bullying you like that again, I’ll whoop his butt a second time!”