Part 1

Laura was always a strange girl. During recess, when she was in primary school, Laura would talk to her shadow. She talked in whispers and in another language. Everybody around believed it was a language she had made up. But she was not the only one with this specific quirk.

Amara, a girl from England; Milo, a boy from Brazil; Leah, a girl from the west coast; and Tate, a boy from Texas. All these children just turned 17 and had the same quirk as Laura.

The alarm clock was deafening. She may be just turning 17 but she didn’t feel a single second older. It took a few slams on her night table before she properly hit the snooze button. Within a few minutes Jared ran up the steps and pounded on Laura’s door. “Come on Laura! Get up! Mum has made us breakfast!” Laura groaned as she turned over in her bed. She sat up and froze for a few seconds. She whispered something in another language before moving again. She threw a black shirt on and her favorite pair of jeans. As she put on her converse Jared pounded on Laura’s door again. “I’m coming, dude!” Laura sighed and opened her door. The hallway was dark, the stairs were dark. Laura rubbed her eyes hoping she was asleep. There wasn’t a sound to be heard. She turned around and stepped back into her room shutting the door and shouting angrily, again in the same mysterious language. She opened the door and the hallway was brightly lit. “Thank you,” Laura muttered under her breath. “I don’t get you Laura, you’re always talking to yourself.” Jared was leaning on the wall next to the staircase, Laura just shook her head and walked past him to go eat breakfast.