I woke up the next morning all groggy. I couldn't sleep at all last night. I kept thinking of the previous day's events.
I mean, a wolf? In a local forest? And when the wolf suddenly disappeared, out steps Derek? And after, I was seeing invisible murders?
It was official. I was crazy.
I got up and looked at myself in the mirror. I had dark, purplish-gray circles underneath my eyes. I got dressed and tried to tame my mess of a hair. I didn't bother eating breakfast, I'd just grab something from the café.
I drove my car to the café, and picked up a bagel and a large coffee. 'It'll have to do for now.' I thought to myself.
I drove into school moments before the bell was about to ring.
I saw Simon, Derek, and Tori across the lot, standing by their car, quietly arguing about something. I got out of my car, and looked at them. They saw me, and instantly stopped talking. They were practically staring at me to the point where it got kind of uncomfortable.
Derek broke away from them and started making his way towards me. I ducked my head down, and turned the other way.
"Chloe!" He yelled. I pretended not to hear him and walked faster.
He caught up to me within seconds. "Chloe." He said again. "Can we talk?"
"What for? There's nothing to talk about."
"Just let me explain. Can you meet me in the library at lunch? There's something I need to tell you." He said.
"I'm not meeting you anywhere, just leave it at that."
A flash of anger passed his eyes for a split-second. "Whatever." He grunted.
I walked past him, and stopped dead in my tracks. Across the lot, there was a drunk group of boys ganging up on another boy. They had sharp pieces of broken beer bottles in their hands. The leader of them advanced on the other boy, and began slashing him with the bottle. There was a lot of blood and screaming involved.
"No." I moaned. "No no no no no.."
"Chloe what is it? What's wrong?" Derek said sounding alarmed.
"This isn't HAPPENING!" I said.
The small boy tried to fight back, but that just made the leader madder. He pushed the small boy to the ground, and I heard a loud crack as the boy's skull hit the concrete. A pool of blood started pooling around his head, and his eyes were staring up at nothing.
I couldn't breathe. Everything was becoming fuzzy.
"Chloe, what's the matter?" His words sounded slurred.
I tried to take a step forward to help the boy, but my knees caved out underneath me. Dereks strong arms held me up. I looked up at him
"Didn't you see those boys kill that other boy?" I said, but it came out more like 'Dint you see thuse bays keel that uther bay?'
I looked up again to see Derek's eyes come to final realization.
His eyes were the last thing I saw before I was welcomed into a world of darkness.
I woke up in an unfamiliar car.
I then started to panic.
"You awake?" I heard a familiar voice say.
It was….. Derek?
'Wha…. What am I doing here?" I said.
"You passed out. I told the nurse I would take you home." He said simply.
"But….. my car!" I said.
"Already taken care of. Simon will drive it to your house tonight." He said.
"What did you tell the nurse?" I asked.
"I told her you fell down on your head." He replied.
Speaking of bumping heads, I remembered the now dead boy from across the lot.
"Did you see those boys?" I said quietly and urgently.
"Listen, I have to tell you somethi—" He started.
"Just. Answer. Me." I said.
"No. No one was there." He said, pretending to stare at the road.
There was a few minutes of silence. I took a deep breath and said, in a fresher tone, "So, is this your car?"
"Ya. I was the first to get my driver's license, so it was originally mine, but now Simon and Tori share it with me." I could tell from his voice that he was trying to lighten the mood as much as possible.
"Oh." I said. "Um, you're going the wrong way."
"I thought we should stop at the café to get you something to drink. Because you fainted we need to let the blood flow back to your head." He said.
"Ok." I said in a small voice.
We drove the rest of the way there just making light conversation. I found out that Derek isn't much of a talker, but he did manage to say some things at the right time.
We pulled in the café's parking lot. It was when I undid my seatbelt, opened the car door and took a step out that the dizziness came back to me.
Once again, my knees started to buckle from underneath me, but Derek held me up.
"Careful." He grunted.
I continued walking, but slower this time. Derek held the café door open for me, and I was instantly hit with the smell of hot, sweetened drinks. And let me tell you, it had never smelt that good. I sat down at one of the tables while Derek ordered me a drink.
"Can I get a medium coffee?" Derek asked the lady at the front.
She gave Derek a once-over, grimaced, and said, "For here or to go."
"For here." He replied with a scowl on his face.
Once it was ready and paid for, he came back over and placed it on our table.
I took a small sip first, and then began guzzling the burning hot liquid down my throat. Derek raised his eyebrows at this, making me feel self-conscious.
He watched me for a few minutes while I took smaller sips.
Once I was finished, I said, "I should probably get home. I'm beat."
"Ya." He replied.
We made our way back to his car, and got in silently. In fact, we drove the whole ride home in silence, except for when I told him where to go.
"This is me." I said, pointing to our building.
He drove into the lot and walked with me into the lobby.
"Hey Chlo, why are you home from school so early?" Zach (our doorman) said.
"I'm not feeling well." I said.
"And who is this gentleman you have here?" He said, looking at Derek.
"Oh! Um, this is Derek, my…. friend. Derek, this is Zach, our doorman.
"Nice to meet you." Said Zach, holding out his hand to shake Derek's. Derek shook his hand, grunting a hello.
"See ya later!" Said Zach.
We rode the elevator up, and got off on my floor.
"Um, where are all the apartments?" Derek asked.
"We, uh, own the whole floor." I said.
His eyes grew wide, and then just said, "Oh."
I got out my key and unlocked the door, never having felt so good to be home.
"Well, I'll see you around, I guess." He said.
"Ok." I said.
He took only a few steps away when I yelled, "Derek?".
He turned around. "Ya?"
"Thanks. For everything."
He grunted a 'No problem', and turned around quickly, but I swear I could have saw his cheeks go red.
I closed the door, changed into some sweats and a t-shirt, and crawled into bed while the events of the day played in my mind. Within moments, I was fast asleep.