Page 74 of Chaos
I shake my head, not wanting to talk about it in school. “After. Let’s just finish up the last period of the day.”
Evie looks like she wants to argue with me, but when she sees my frightened expression, she drops it for now. But not before giving me a look that screams “We are going to be discussing this later, whether I want to or not”.
The bell rings, and the start of class is beginning. Evie wraps her arm around my shoulders and leads me down the hall to class. I didn’t even get a chance to grab any books that I might need, but I don’t care. I won’t be able to pay attention anyway.
We walk into class. Mr. Labeau is sitting behind his desk, and the rest of the class is talking amongst themselves. A TV sits at the front of the room with some random movie playing. I stare at the screen, knowing I should recognize whatever action movie is playing, but the name isn’t coming to me.
We take our seats at the back of the class. I place my water bottle on the corner of my desk, but don’t bother taking anything else out of my bag. We won’t be doing any work in the class today.
Evie grabs my hand. Holding me into reality so I don’t slip into the horrors that would play in my mind. I give her hand a squeeze, thankful for her being there for me.
I stare out the window and watch as the clouds pass by. I can feel eyes on me every once in a while, but every time I attempt to find whoever it is, the feeling disappears.
I take my phone out of my bag and open the text messages from Dante.
Me: Something weird happened today
Dante: What?
Me: The stalker strikes again.
There was a wedding dress in my locker.
Dante: Where is the dress now?
Me: Evie threw it in the trash by
my locker. Why?
Dante: Michael is coming to get it.
Maybe the moron left some sort of
evidence on it.
I didn’t even think that there could be some DNA or something on it that would be able to point us to who is doing this. I place my phone on my lap and continue to stare out the window.
Fifteen minutes later, Dante texts me again to tell me that Michael got the box, dress, and note and is taking it in to have someone examine it. They are hopeful that there will be some small clue, but the more I think about it, I know there won’t be. I highly doubt that whoever this is would be dumb enough to leave a trace of anything on there.
Maybe I am becoming too cynical, but it’s hard not to.
Class continues around me. People talk about their winter break activities, what they want for Christmas, and more. Everyone walks around the class to be able to talk to their friends. Assigned seating wasn’t mandatory today, so everyone is constantly moving around.
The words all sound so jumbled to me. I can’t decipher who said what to whom, but there is one voice I could hear clearly—little one.I whipped my head around, trying to figure out who that came from, but it was so faint I don’t know who said it.
I have to be going crazy. There is no way that my stalker is in the room right now. My mind is playing tricks on me. The anxiety of the situation is making me delirious. Maybe if I say that a few more times to myself, I will believe it.
I take a deep sip of my water bottle. Hoping the cool water will help rest my overactive nerves. I focus on the cooling feeling down my throat and into my stomach. Weirdly enough, it seems to be helping relax my entire body. The nerves and anxiety I was feeling seemed to slowly melt away the more I drank.
I didn’t even notice the bell ring until I looked around and saw everyone getting up from their seats and exiting the room. When the room was empty, I languidly stood from my chair and walked towards the door. I said goodbye to Mr. Labeau and wished him a merry Christmas, and left the room.
The hallway is busy with everyone grabbing their things from their lockers. It all passed me in a blur. I couldn’t see a single face that passed me or hear the noise that was billowing around.
I stagger to my locker. I don’t know how I got there, it must have just been muscle memory. I open the door, expecting another package to be inside, but thankfully it is empty. I make sure to grab my personal belongings before slamming them shut and walking outside.
People rush past me. Running to the buses or their cars. Wanting to leave as fast as possible. Not that I blame them. I do too, but my body suddenly feels like it is made of lead. Each step felt like I was running a marathon.
I looked around, hoping to see someone who could help me, but my eyes wouldn’t focus enough. I couldn’t make out anyone. I opened my mouth to ask someone for help, but no sound came out.
