Chapter two
"wow , Jack that's amazing" I said , leaning to the side and looking down at jacks drawing. We'd been told to sketch some observational drawings of the potted plants that were kept both inside and outside the large windows and Jack had sketched the beautiful , vivid green leaves of the rubber tree plant.
"Thanks Trix , your's is coming along well too…" he replied quietly , concentrating on the dark rims of the leaves. I looked at my own , I'd gone for the dying spiderplant on the teachers window , the shrivelled leaves were an interesting shade of brown.
"Hee hee , thanks" I replied, then the bell rang and I groaned in annoyance " I hate it when I just get round to finishing and the bell goes…."
He chuckled and we left our work , I took my bag and noticed that he didn't have one.
"Don't you bring a drink or lunch or anything?" I asked , he looked at me surprised.
"No…. I have a big breakfast then eat when I get home , and I don't drink a lot…" he replied " and my buss pass fits in my pocket…"
I shrugged and we walked up the school driveway together . I felt someone catching my heels with their foot and I scowled.
"Hey Trixie , who's your new friend" a nasally voice asked me , I turned to face a bleach blond girl with obvious fake tan and eye shadow that was caked onto her eyes She was called Gabby and her expression was always that of someone who'd just stepped in something unpleasant… Unless she'd found something that caught her interest.
"Jack , now go bother someone else" I snapped back , continuing to walk forwards. My outburst surprised Jack , but Gabby was used to it and I could feel her malicious smirk on my back.
"Oh , new is he?" she asked , I ignored her and she turned her attention to Jack " So Jack , why are you hanging around with the weirdo's? Did she only show you the library? There's always loads of fun people behind the gym"
I half expected Jack to be polite with his answer , and for his part he was. But his tone was very harsh and would've left me a bit lost for words if he'd been using it with me.
"I prefer quiet places and I would appreciate it if you didn't call her a weirdo , she seems to look a lot more normal than you" he replied coldly " for one , she hasn't coated herself in paint and make-up.."
I bit my lip to stop myself laughing and I heard Gabby go silent. I saw her barge past whoever was beside Jack and in a flash of pink and orange , she was speeding her way up the drive. After she was a good distance away , I looked at Jack who was calm again.
"Thank's for that , most would've ignored her" I replied , he shrugged.
"I've never liked people judging others like that , or making assumptions…" he replied casually " Although from her expression , I can tell that she isn't a friendly type is she?"
"Not really , she always gossips and spreads stuff about her friends behind their backs…" I replied " I usually keep away from her so that she doesn't spread anything about my friends"
He looked at me with an eyebrow raised.
"Shouldn't that be " anything about me"?"
I shook my head " Nah , most people know that I don't sleep with everybody and do drugs" I replied "which are the only rumours her little mind knows how to stir up , if she's really motivated enough…"
He laughed and I smiled. When we got to the gates I noticed that the sky was starting to cloud , I nudged Jack in the arm and pointed to the road on the right.
"C'mon , if we hurry we can get to the bus station before it rains" I said , pulling him with me as I sprinted up the road. He ran faster than I did and thankfully the bus was already waiting so we didn't have to spend ten minutes waiting for it. He got on first while I pulled out my pass and sat down beside him at the front. As the driver began to take the route to my house I noticed how Jack stared out of the window , he looked like he was in deep thought , similar to when I got the seat by the window and daydreamed. I left him to it until the bus was ten minutes away from my house , I thought hard for a minute or two before I poked him in the arm. Snapping him out of his own thoughts.
"Hey Jack , want to come over to my house for a couple of hours?" I asked , smiling " I can show you more of my drawings and stuff if you want?"
" Yeah, I'd love to" he replied , copying my smile.
"Sweet , you don't mind cats do you?"
"No , why"?
"I have a cat called Gary and sometimes he likes to jump on peoples laps and fall asleep" I replied , grinning " He also digs his claws in a bit"
He chuckled and I pressed the bell as the bus neared my house. We both got off and went inside , just as the rain started to fall. Jack stared at my living walls.
"You really like gothic scenery huh?"
I blushed , he meant the canvas's I had on the walls. I'd bought them at a local arts and craft shop when I'd visited a village a long time ago , they were edited photographs of woods and fields that had been giving blue , red or orange tints to make them look surreal.
"heh , yeah.." I admitted " they remind me of all the fantasy films I used to watch when I was little"
He smiled and I pointed to the stack of paper that was on the small coffee table , between my sofa and T.V.
"I do loads of sketch's and stuff at home , I can never get hold of proper cartridge paper so I have to settle for copy paper…" I sighed " not that I really colour in stuff anyway , I mess the colours up"
He chuckled and looked through my drawings. " These are pretty good though , and your paintings at school looked good" he said , I put my bag on the floor.
"Meh , yours looked a lot better than mine" I glanced at the kitchen " Do you want a sandwich or anything?"
"Only if you're having one , I'd hate to trouble you" he said shyly , finishing through my artwork. I shook my head.
"nah it's not trouble , I've got a shedload of chicken in the fridge" I replied , smiling. He put my drawings back and followed me , I was a but unused to having someone follow me around like this , but I guess he didn't want to be all by himself so I wasn't too bothered. While I made our sandwiches , I noticed how Jack looked out of the window at the woods.
"So , did you see him through this side?" he asked me , making me face him properly " The trees might've made it seem like a humanoid shape…"
"Yes and no , it was either him or…." I paused , thinking whilst handing him his sandwich " or some guy dressed in a morphsuit and business suit , if it's a normal guy I'll kick his butt if I find out who he was"
Jack almost choked as he chuckled and I glanced out the window.
"Fucking telling you , I don't see the point in freaking people out for no reason" I said , making him giggle " scared me shitless , and he didn't even have the balls to come tell me he was pranking me… whoever it was"
"Maybe he was scared of you " he replied with a grin , I nodded in agreement.
"Yeah , you're probably right" I smirked " I bet when I screamed he was like "oh my god she died ahh" and ran off or something"
We both laughed and spent the rest of the afternoon watching comedy panel shows , we were both dying on one of them.
"what colour does a smurf go when we choke it" I laughed , the topic had been rejected exam questions " my god he's random…"
Jack smiled and glanced out the window.
"Wow its dark , I think I should probably head home now Trixie" he said , a tone of regret in his voice " aw… I had fun though , thanks for inviting me over"
I smiled , but then saw how dark it was outside , it had stopped raining but…
"Well , Jack… would you like me to walk with you?" I asked , worry showing in my voice " the bus doesn't really do rounds at this time of night and I'd hate to see you walk alone in this…"
He smirked.
"I don't think I'll get raped Trixie " he joked , sounding like Keira "it this scene were to be reversed, it would be me worrying about you…." He snickered "hopefully I won't run into Slenderman…"
I scowled and gave him a light punch in the arm.
"Hey , I was just surprised that day" I grumbled " If he showed up again I probably wouldn't panic as much…."
He chuckled and smiled gently.
"Well , really , thank you for letting me come over" he moved closer to me and gave me a light hug , I turned my face and looked to the side with a goofy smile on my face. I loved this guy , he was both funny and sensitive , so I hugged back.
"Aw , it's okay Jack" I replied , pulling away slowly. He looked down at me and smiled gratefully.
"I do mean it though , you'll have to come over to my house sometime"
I nodded and walked him to my front door.
"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?" I asked , it was cold outside…
"Nope , I prefer to walk alone when I go on long walks.." he replied , I could relate to that I guess , because I was the same " I think a lot when I'm by myself , especially when it's a quiet evening like this…"
He stepped out the door and waved as he walked up the small dirt path by the side of the road , until I couldn't see him anymore. I shut the door and went upstairs to change into my pyjamas , I didn't feel like wearing my proper ones so I slipped on a shirt that was way too big for me and a small pair of black night shorts. My grandma had gotten me the shirt a while ago , it was a soft kitty shirt , with the small white and purple kitty and the lullaby's lyrics around it. It always smelled faintly of her perfume even though I'd washed it many times since , but I didn't mind. She lived near the beach , and that was over two hundred miles away from here so I could only see her and my granddad once or twice a year. I wasn't too bothered though , she sent me the odd hello in my emails.
I got into bed and started to read for a bit , until I remembered that tomorrow I only had two lessons and they were at the end of the school day. That meant I could stay up! I jumped out and ran giddily down the stairs and into the kitchen again , grabbing anything I could snack on whilst I watched a film called Paranormal activity 2 that Keira had told me about. She'd told me not to watch the first one… I wasn't sure why , but if it gave me something to do for a couple of hours I didn't mind. I later found out that this was a jumpy film.. But it went so slow I wasn't too bothered the first time but the second time , all the pans in the peoples kitchen banged suddenly and made me scream. I gripped Lupin to myself and watched as the woman on the film panicked , this film sucked but it was better than nothing… As the film ended , a crazy lady came into the house and started to kill off the main characters , making me gasp curses and narrow my brows. When it finally finished I closed my laptop and got up , I wasn't left terrified of the film… But I did want to peek out the window to make sure that no one was out there before I went to sleep , heck I felt dumb for even checking. Sure enough , no one was out there. I sighed with relief and flicked my bedroom light off , I felt like such a baby , being scared of a myth… I started to get comfy when I heard a tap at my window , making me jump. I scowled and ignored it , I wasn't going to get up again to see nothing at the window. I buried my head under the covers and tried to sleep , until I heard it again , this time the tapping sounded more impatient.
I stupidly decided to get up , and I shakily walked to my window. I peeked through the closed curtains to see him in the distance again…. Just standing there , menacingly. This time I didn't scream and run away , I decided to just look at him until one of us moved. He wasn't very close to my house , but he was closer than he had been yesterday and I was surprised that I noticed. I opened my window slightly and kept my eyes on his motionless form as I did so .
"What do you want?" I yelled at him , my voice cracked at the last word as I watched his head tilt. Shit , he'd know I was scared. His head stayed in that puzzled position for a few more minutes , until he straightened it and turned slowly , walking towards the thick woodlands until I couldn't see him anymore. I breathed deeply and closed my window. My stomach hurt. I considered the possibility of Slender sickness , but that made you more scared and gave you headaches the more you saw him and that wasn't happening to me. But I ran to my bathroom and threw up. I'd stared down Slenderman. That sentence repeated itself in my mind. Slenderman had looked at me and hadn't made my head hurt or my heart race. But I felt really sick now and I thought it was probably from all the junk I ate… I'd have to call school and say I was sick…