Realm Keepers 01 - Realm Keepers

My name is Sarah Preston, and I’m living a double life.
    It wasn’t always like this. I didn’t use to spend half my days here and half my days in Midrealm. There was a time—it seems so long ago—that I’d never even heard of Midrealm. If you had told me about it, I would have thought it was some ridiculous, geeky thing—the kind of thing my little cousin Calvin is always into. I would never have believed it was real—it, or Chaos.
    But I would have been wrong.
    I found out just how wrong on a normal day—or at least, a day that used to be normal before my life changed forever. Before I became something more than just another high school student. I lived in Rhode Island. I mean, I still do live in Rhode Island, but only half the time. I went to Roosevelt High, and as I came in to school that day, everything seemed perfect.
    I’d always had a pretty easy time of it in school. Not that I didn’t work hard. I did. I was the head of the debate team, assistant captain of the girl’s volleyball team, an honor roll student. I even tutored other kids on nights and weekends—kids who wanted to get into college and needed help with their studies.
    The only thing that was different about that day was that we were finally going to hear the results of the student election. I was running for student body president. I was so nervous. I wasn’t sure if I’d win.
    I think back to that time often. Back when the biggest problem I had was whether or not I’d win a student election. It seems so unimportant now. But back then I was a big ball of nerves.
    My mom dropped me off in the lot on the side of the high school like she did every day.
    “Kiss good-bye,” she said. “For luck.”
    I rolled my eyes, but I leaned over and gave her a kiss. Sometimes my mom can be embarrassing. I guess everyone’s mom can be like that. But she was a really good mom. Even back then, I knew how lucky I was. Not everyone had a family as good as mine. Even back then, I was grateful.
    “Thanks mom,” I said. “See you tonight.”
    “Have a good day!” she called as I got out.
    I walked around the corner of the building toward the huge front doors. There were some students here and there, but not too many. I usually got to school a lot earlier than most people. I never had problems waking up on time or getting there before the bell. Dad calls me his little over-achiever.
    As I got closer to the front doors, I smelled something. A strong, acid something. Someone was smoking, and I thought I knew who. I looked over and sighed.
    Raven was sitting in a tree along with three of her friends. No, Raven wasn’t her real name, it was Ester. Ester and I used to hang out a lot—she was my best friend. We hadn’t had a fight or anything, but a few years ago she had started hanging out with some other kids in the school. Goth kids. It wasn’t long before Ester went totally goth herself. That was when she started making everyone call her Raven. We sort of drifted apart after that. It made me sad, when I thought about it, which I tried not to. Raven was a really good person, and really smart. We just didn’t have that much in common any more.
    I walked to the tree. Raven looked down as I came over, her eyes covered with mascara and her hairstyle jutting out like a pixie’s: black with pink streaks. It would have been cute if it were a little longer. She raised her eyebrows in greeting.
    “Guys, you might not want to do that on the front lawn,” I said. Raven was eighteen, so it wasn’t illegal, but smoking was against the rules at school. I knew that her two friends weren’t eighteen, but didn’t say anything about it.
    “What, are you gonna tell on us, little miss valedictorian?” sneered one of her friends. I was pretty sure her name was Ember. Her goth name, anyway. That was one of the reasons Raven and I had drifted apart. Most of her new friends were really rude, seemingly for no reason.
    “No,” I said, trying to keep my voice pleasant. “I really don’t care, but the faculty will be showing up pretty soon. I just don’t want you guys getting in trouble.”
    “Life is trouble, princess,” sneered Raven’s other friend. I rolled my eyes.
    Raven surprised me by butting in. “Knock it off, guys,” she said, frowning at the other two before looking at me. “Thanks for the tip,” she said. “We’ll clear out in a few.”
    “Cool,” I said nonchalantly. “Good to see you, Est—Raven. Sorry.”
    “It’s cool,” she