The Barn out Back

Claire finds out where the music is coming from.

Every school has its trademark. Some schools are said to be for smart aleck or base their school on trades. Some are more visual like a big gym or weird building structure. My school is quite unique in the sense we have a huge barn in the back field of our school. Our school is on the outskirts of a small town though so with all the land the school has, a barn only makes sense. The barn is farther from the school but I get to pass it every day while walking to school.

My family lives a fair distance away from the school but it is the closest school to the house. Sometimes I wonder why we live in this place where there is only one high school to pick from. I would love the opportunity to pick the school I want to go to. I hate living in the country sometimes. There are so many things that I want to do to help out but it is hard when there are not a lot of people like me in this town and that there is not a lot in this town to begin with let alone help make it better. My goal is to one day make a change in this world for the better. Yeah I won’t be able to stop world hunger or save some countries from going to war but I am positive that I will make my own contribution to the lives of others.

I am getting off topic now. What was I talking about again … Oh yeah the barn in the back of the school. The town as two roads that are mostly used, one being the main road and the other the back road. My mom uses the back road to get to work in the mornings and often drops me off at school on her way to town. The road is close to the barn and when being drove to school I will pass it on my way to the main building.

I am one of the few people who ever go near the building. I may have to pass it in order to get to school but it is not like I am scared of it like the others. Everybody at school says it’s haunted just because they hear weird noises coming from inside the building. The barn is mostly used as a storage space for the groundskeeper though in my opinion they do not need that much space for storage. I hear noises for it every so often but at least I know it’s Ren just cleaning up. Apparently people also hear echoes coming from the barn. Sometimes I find people a bit clueless. People only realize the truth about the echoes when they entered the barn and find that there is a bathroom before the door into the storage area. A bathroom is pretty echoey after all.

I have always found it funny that there was a bathroom in the barn but it is one thing that makes the barn at our school unique. It is nice though. Nobody dares to enter the barn so if the line up at school is to long or if it has become destroyed, the bathroom in the barn is always clean and empty.

At least it is unusually empty. I have gone to this school for longer than a year and I can say I have never heard more than a lawn mower go off in that barn. That day one month into the school year was the day of change that only happened once in a lifetime. The change that triggered my change, for today the usual emptiness of the barn was filled with music.

It was quiet as if someone was playing it from their the speaker in the ipod so only someone who was walking past it would be able to hear it. I wasn’t even able to make out the words but the rhythm of the song was so recognizable that the lyrics didn’t need to be audible to recognize it. It was that song that lured me in to find a beginning that I needed.

“You can’t stand me now, you can’t stand me.” As I opened the first door that lead to the hallway with three door, two for the bathroom and one to the main shed I was able to make out the lyrics completely and along with them a voice singing along to them. “Have we enough to keep it together?” That voice gave off a rough sound. It was obvious that this person could not sing at all but the way it was sung had the same passion. This guy's voice was what pushed me into taking more and more steps that should not be taken.

The music stopped playing all too suddenly once the door was opened. A loud creak echoed across the room notifying anyone in there that someone was coming in. The room was dark to begin with but with only a few lights on it was hard to make out what was happening. All I saw in that moment was a teenage boy slouched on the couch in the corner Ren used for his breaks. I was only able to see the top of his head before he adjusted himself up so he could turn around and see who was at the door.

“What are you doing here?” S**t, I mean damn, if that’s any better. That mysterious teenage boy with the horrible singing voice was Aidan Cross. I am officially dead.

“W-what are you doing here?” I tried adding a bit of sass but it was as if my fears were coming out into the words I spoke. “You being the so called principles son doesn’t mean you have access to the groundskeepers storage space either.”

“The so called? I really am the principal's son and at least that gives me more permission to be here than it does for you to. Who are you?”

Strangely enough I did not know how to answer that question. Silence fell in the room and with that so was the tension. What would he even gain from knowing my name? All me would gain is information. Information about me that he could tell his father. I was good girl. There is no way I would ever get in trouble with the principal.

“Well are you at least going to tell me your name.” He looked more than just mad. He was furious which made sense after all I probably ruined his morning.

I am not the kind of person to confront others. In other words his high and mighty power over the kids at this school scared me. High school is the time of year that is suppose to define who we are. May grades and perfect attendance were the things that were suppose to help me go to university out of this town and make the change I planned for. He was not ruining it for me. I only had one option at this point. Good thing I stayed close to the door the entire time because in that moment I ran.

It didn’t take long for the air around me to become heavy in my lungs as they heated up like fire. I was not made to be athletic. Thankfully enough I did not let the fire stop me from run across the field. My body only came to that sudden halt when the main building was within arms length.

The lungs in my body no longer moved at a fast pace but have began to slow down as it tried to calm my body. I wanted nothing more in that moment then to fall down to the ground and relax for a couple of minutes but that was no option. For all that I knew Aidan could be fast on my trail trying to get his answer. But most important it was the beginning of the day and school was about to start.

Even with the burn still running in my lungs I began to run once more to make it to class on time. Unfortunately I was still late and as I slipped into class and took my seat in the back, Mr. Leang stopped his lecture to turn around to my seat to place the assignment on my desk.

“If you expect me not to waste your time, do not waste my,” he began spewing to the class. He was about to return to his lecture when another late body entered through the front door as if it was fine for him to be late. “The same goes to you Cross. No matters one’s position I am the teacher. Be on time or drop my class. With that said Cross, Townsend, both of you get detention after school where you will be listening to my wonderful spiel about what you missed in class today and about never being late again understood.”

“Understood Mr. Leang.” I was able to make out while all Aidan did was give him a nod before taking his assignment and running back to his desk.

I have been in this class with him for a month now and he didn’t even know I was here until today. Great. Now I have to spend my time after class with him. Could this day get any better.