Chapter 2
New POV~
I sat silently, listening only to the sound of my breathing. There was that and the constant tapping as I swiped my fingers across my touch phone. I didn't take notice of my dark, warm room and concentrated only on the seemingly blinding light that my mobile produced, squinting as my eyes grew tiresome. This is what happens when you get some nights of not being able to sleep, and can only occupy yourself with playing mindless games on your phone since your computer is away for repair. Okay, that's not the top of everyone's worry list, but it was certainly somewhere high up on mine.
Yawning, I set the phone down beside me, locking it. A few seconds passed as I was plunged into further darkness, all until I had fumbled around enough to switch on my beside lamp. Leaning awkwardly across my bed in a frozen position, I was face to face with my little white clock, and was subsequently forced to read its only offering. It was exactly 02:22. I had to be up for college in about three and a half hours, and I knew that task would be excruciating for me. I was never one for early waker. With a groan, I turned my lamp back off and threw myself against my bed.
I yawned again, this time stretching until satisfied and curling against my mattress, and then I yanked my quilt over me so it reached up to my chin. Closing my eyes, I tried as hard as I possibly could to fall into some form of sleep, but I knew my efforts would fail, like it has done for a few times within a couple of weeks. I knew I was tired, I could feel it, but the sleep itself wouldn't come.
After a few twists and turns under my covers, I fell to the dismay that I had not only gotten myself tangled into my covers, but I had managed to get my pyjama bottoms twisted in the process. Needless to say, I was both cramped and uncomfortable. Just as I started to sort out myself, the light on my phone burst to life, vibrating suddenly and sending me into a state of shock. I laid there silently for a few seconds until the light on my phone died, before dragging my body into a sitting position and groping the bedside table until I found my phone.
It was just the stupid app on my phone telling me to come and play, and as exciting as that sounded, I really wanted to sleep. I grunted and flung my phone down onto my carpet, before twisting to face the wall my bed was pushed against and forcing myself into a troubled sleep.
"You look tired, bad sleep?" My mother commented, seeing me sway groggily into the kitchen and attempt to pull a chair out from under the kitchen table. I squinted up at her, grimacing as the early morning light seared into my eyes from the window behind my parent. I blinked awkwardly before managing to sit down, finally.
"I guess you could say that," I said in a slow response, wiping sleep from my eyes and stretching my arms, "it's getting worse, I swear,"
My mother laughed, "Just that age, I suppose. All this getting up early for school compares nothing to my early morning shifts at work though… Boy, getting up at 4am just to work for ten hours isn't something you want to endure, but believe me, it's brings the money in…"
I obediently listened to my mother waffle on about the deadly sin of working and how the hours have affected her complexion. To be honest, I didn't give two shits about what she was talking about, I just wanted to shove some food down my throat and get the day over with. At least it was Friday, and I had no assignments due in just yet. I had a good reason to be looking forward to my weekend; relaxed and care-free.
Shoving jam on toast into my mouth, I chewed slowly as I sauntered back up to my room to get ready. I tamed my dyed black hair and straightened it accordingly; styling it so it puffs slightly to get rid of the fact I have thin hair. Which I hate. It's annoying and stupid.
After I had gotten ready and shoved the needed items into my bag, I slung my red, patterned rucksack over one shoulder and moved towards the hallway. I heard my mother's voice echo from the kitchen, where she continued to make a much rather nicer breakfast for my older brother; the lazy no-job, bearded man who should have moved out years ago.
"You back after college, Sammie?" I heard her call,
"Probably, depends!" I yelled back, "I'll text you!"
Halfway out the door, I barely heard her response before I had closed it and left it behind me. I started walking towards my bus stop. Luckily, it was only a short walk away, so my laziness didn't get the better of me.
Putting my earphones in, I started to listen to some dubstep. Always my favourite choice of music, the drops make my skin tingle, and some of the synths just make my hair stand on end; I really don't understand how some people can dismiss it so readily. Turning the volume up nearly all the way, I stood silently with my hands in the pockets of my overly sized grey hoodie, and awaited my school buses arrival. I hated that thing, with all my heart. Sadly though, it was my only means of getting to college on time and therefore my only choice.
I raised my head and I watched it pull into my stop. I climbed on board and flashed my bus pass to the driver, who merely glanced at it and nodded with a smile. He knew who I was anyway.
"Good shift so far?" I asked politely, as I was putting my pass away,
"Good? Its early morning Hun, nothing's good in the morning,"
"Fair play," I laughed, giving him a small smile before wandering down the bus isle and looked for a spare seat. I felt the eyes of other college members bore into me as I walked past, choosing a seat which was completely empty, free for me to put my bag beside me, I sat down.
"Tryin' to make conversation with the driver, eh?" I heard a voice call. I turned solemnly to see a girl sitting on the seat oppose to mine on the other side of the isle, chewing gum, "That's a tadge bit lame."
"Shut up," I scowled as I put my headphones back in and turned to look out of the window.
Confused? Well, I simply refuse to talk to the bimbo sluts that like to badger me. They aren't necessarily mean, they are just annoying. I didn't hate them personally, I just hated the fact they lived up to their stereotype. Skirts that showed more arse than material, hair that was scraped up into a bun, and enough makeup to evenly cover the faces of ten other people. It was really horrible, and I refused to bend like they have been. It's something that really gets to me.
I stared out of the window during the bus journey. For the whole of the 45 minutes. Yeah. See why I have to catch the bus? It's a necessity if I wanted to ensure I actually wanted to continue my education. Which I did, sort of. Not my fault I slack.
As I stared gloomily out of the window, resting my head against the straining glass, I watched as the scenery changed. From bustling town, to more bustling town, to forest, to my college.
God knows why the people who designed this place wanted to chuck it so far out into the middle of nowhere, but they did. It was annoying. Ten minutes before we were due to arrive, I pulled a notebook and pen from my bag, and began to doodle. Recently, I'd been reading into scary stories and silly little things that'd scare me, since that's what I'm like, a thrill seeker. At the moment my little craze was about Slenderman, a lanky suit-wearing dude who snatches kids when they know too much, and kills them and stuff. It's awesome to read about.
After stopping my drawing antics and shoving the pad back into my bag, the bus arrived. I begrudgingly stepped off the stuffy vehicle and started the trudge up the steps to the main entrance. I heard a slight call, male voice, from somewhere to my left. I turned and looked, only to see one of my best friends. Infact, the one that actually gave me this big baggy grey jacket.
"Samantha!" He cooed, holding his arms open wide.
"Ross!" I called happily, running over to him and embracing him tightly, "I've missed you!"
"Likewise honey," he smiled broadly. He must have only just arrived on his own bus which left from a different part of our town, not the same one which took my route, "Got a busy day?"
I smiled, "Not really, I end early since its Friday."
He nodded and smiled again, before motioning for us to enter into the building. I looked up at the old Victorian style architecture and sighed in annoyance, before following one of my closest friends up into the building.
By the end of our first set of lessons, Ross and I had gotten side-tracked. I was too busy getting him into Slenderman for either of us to be concentrating on work and lucky for us, our college was laid back and the lesson we were in was purely self-work, so we could talk as much as we liked as long as a fraction of our coursework was completed.
"Takes kids and kills them," Ross smiled, running a hand through his short blonde hair, "seems a little like this dude needs to take a break from liking children," he joked.
"Good thing we're not kids then eh?" I responded, "Or we'd be next!" I wiggled my fingers in an attempt to be creepy, but ended up laughing it off. "Never mind. Well, want to chill with me for lunch?"
He nodded, just as our lecturer looked up from behind her laptop and stared the whole class down from behind her thin rimmed spectacles. Her extremely thin black hair pressed tight against her face,
"Lunch, guys," she said tiredly, looking us all over, "back at half past one, please,"
I looked down at my watch, it was twelve. Great! That meant we had a whole hour and a half to find somewhere quieter and continue our Slenderman discussion. When everyone had left the room, me and Ross sauntered our way down a few corridors and sat at the bottom of some disused stairs. Not many people passed through here, so we tended to use it to chill out and sit at when we were bunking or had any free time.
"Tell me more about this guy," Ross insisted, putting his bag down and reaching in to get some food, "He sounds pretty creepy."
"Well, it's a myth, apparently. He's not meant to exist, but between you and me, he seems perfectly real enough. I've read loads about him, it's so interesting,"
"Well then," Ross urged, "Tell me more, missy,"
I laughed,
"Alright, alright, give me a chance!" I inhaled, then continued, "… also, it's said, that the more you know about him, the more likely it is that he'll try to take you!"
"Good thing we're not little kids then eh," he said with a cheesy wink, "What minors would want to find out more about this guy anyway, unless they were looking for an excuse to die,"
I shrugged, watching as Ross shrugged in return and took a bite from a chocolate bar he had concealed in his bag. He handed me a piece and I took it heartily.
The rest of the day went slow. Lessons were more focused so I actually had to work, and my last lessons weren't the same as Ross', so I didn't actually get the chance to say goodbye. As I wandered away from the entrance to my school, I decided today I'd make a change.
From looking up at the sky, I could clearly see there were no clouds, not one in sight. The sun was beating down and was actually quite close to making me take off my beloved jacket. For a second I paused, looked at my bus which was pulling up at the stop, then turned my head and stared towards the green forest. There was a clearly paved footpath, which headed dead through the middle, that I knew for sure came out a few roads down from me.
For once I beat back the lazy cow inside me and wandered off down the path.
Boy, was that a bad idea.