Leo Strander

It was cold out; freezing, in fact, but Leo Strander, a tall, awkward, freckled teenager, was determined to finish eating his lunch outside, and anyone who suggested otherwise would be deemed absurd, thank you very much. The chilly October wind shot down at Leo’s face like spears; however, instead of giving up and retreating to the indoor heater, he simply pulled his hood over his fluffy, mouse-brown hair and opened the brown paper sack he brought to school.
'Ninth Grade and still packing your lunch in a bag,' he thought to himself. 'Maybe there’s a reason most the kids at this school hate me.'
You see, inside Narrow Ridge High School, the cafeteria was filled with average high school students, who just happened to think Leo Strander was the biggest loser in the whole world. Leo didn’t mind though; he liked the alone time, although if he got too lonely, he did have two friends at this school: Lucy Nelson and Jared Withers.
C-c-craack! roared a dart of thunder, giving Leo a five-second-warning for massive rainfall. It was too late to dodge it; The buckets of rain had already soaked Leo and his bag containing a turkey sandwich. He sighed and shuffled into the school, heading over to the back table where his only friends sat.
“Hi guys,” he greeted with a melancholy demeanor.
“Hey. Something wrong?” Lucy, a redhead who dressed as if she came straight out of a Manga comic book, asked omnisciently.
“Nah.” Leo shook his head. “My sandwich is just dripping with rain,” he complained, flinging the soggy sack onto the table
“Here,” Jared, a broad-shouldered, dark brown-haired, band geek, offered, handing him a chicken tender.
Leo muttered his thanks and started nibbling on the warm, tender chicken. After a few awkward minutes, conversation heated up, leaping from a history exam, to newly found indie bands, to odd habits of Lucy’s cat.
“Oh, hey, did you finish the extra credit assignment in Biology?” Jared asked.
“No, I didn’t have time. You?” Leo replied. But Leo didn’t get a response. In fact, he didn’t hear anyone talking anymore because no one was in the cafeteria. Everyone had disappeared. Panicking, Leo frantically jumped up and felt around the room. No one was there but him.
“Jared? Jared!” Leo shouted. Still, there was no response. No one was there. While he wiped the sweat off his head, he dashed outside the cafeteria into the hallway, popping in and out of classrooms. “JARED? LUCY? ANYONE?” he shouted, running outside the school. Cars were stopped in the middle of the road with no drivers. It appeared as if Leo were the only person on earth-but that notion didn’t last long. A figure appeared across the road. Then, he wasn’t outside his school anymore.
Leo was in a vast throne room with black marble floor and a giant silver throne in front of him. There was a figure on the throne: It was a beautiful, but significantly pale, girl with sparkling blue eyes and- No, it couldn’t be. She had white feathers for hair. She stood up, revealing that she had long, white wings for arms and pale yellow bird claws for feet. She walked toward Leo, her feet clicking and clacking on the marble floor.
“Leo Strander,” she chirped.
“Who are you? Why am I here? What do you want?” Leo shouted in retort, unsure if he was furious or terrified for his life.
“Shush, my child. You must be calm. You have a purpose here, my child,” the bird-woman cooed.