Hallucination
Shafted into the last seat left. Wouldn't you just know it was coming- the story of my life. The dude I was stuck next to this semester honestly didn't look half bad. Then again, anyone sitting by themselves can't be completely normal. Something about them seemed familiar... Well I had bigger fish to fry at the moment then the strangely recognizable nobody I was planted next to for my forty-five minute English class. Like, what Lilith was doing. Or what crap they served for lunch here. What ever it was, I was glad I'd decided to bring my own lunch.
Oh who am I kidding. The only thing in the forefront of my mind at the moment was my miraculous arrival to first period.
The boy next to me was staring at me out of the corner of his eye. I heaved a sigh and moved my gaze away from subliminally counting the dots on the white cork-board style ceiling, illuminated to its fullest primer by the fluorescent lights mortared over our desk. Only a whack job notices stuff like that, totally beside the point. The boy looked just as bored as I did.
"I would say I could have bet my life I've seen you before, but I get the impression you'd take that as some sort of bad pick-up line from a wannabe country fool. Not as literally as I mean. Am I right, or am I right?" He gave a sideways smile as he spoke.
"And I would respond that I was thinking the same thing only I hope you wouldn't think I was hitting on you," I raised my eyebrows to the occasion and actually got a chuckle from my sorry truth. Maybe English at least wouldn't be so bad. And maybe pigs fly.
"Damien Wellborn," He said eyes drifting around to the front of the class, pretending to pay attention as he held out his hand for me to shake.
"Eve Plainsong," I humored him and shook his hand.
Remember I said things were going to get weirder? Well they did. And will continue to.
"Holy Moly," I said under my breath as a flood of images, memories collated in my minds eye.
"I know you. I do," I stuttered. "You drove me home from the grocery store on Saturday. My bike broke. And, and, there was that light. I can hardly remember. It seems so... foggy."
"Yea," He said slowly. "Yea, I think I remember that! And the car got all hot and the corn exploded. And there was some freak girl dancing on your lawn with a steel pole."
There was a pause. A long, awkward pause.
"What happened?" I asked in a skeptical voice.
"You're guess is as good as mine. Can't remember a doggone thing." He shook his head.
The teach had failed to notice our epic discussion in the forty-five minute period. I guess there were some plusses to a seat in the back of the class. The bell rang out in the hall and the clatter of chairs, books, and mindlessly trivial conversation rose like flood waters to the room as numb butt high schoolers streamed into the halls.
"I guess I'll see you...later then?" Damien asked, setting up for an answer. I think he was still in about the level of shock I was.
"Yea," I said. "Yea I think I'll take you up on that and walked the other way to my own next class, determined to be early before the next period started.
Trig ticked by slow as molasses in January. At the time, nothing seemed more interesting than the dust particles floating around the holes of my squishy pink pencil eraser. Mrs. Doris blabbered on and on with the ironic optimism that characterized Lilith's shallow mind as well. I hated this windbag just as much as that ignoramus sadly attempting to learn us in the last period. I hated the less than competent nobodies who sat around me. I hated this school. I hated this town. I hated the little squishy pink eraser on the end of my pencil. I bit it off and spat it at the overly smiley barbie doll sitting in front of me in a blue and yellow cheer uniform. She didn't even notice.
Let's face the cold hard facts. People, I hate the world.
Bring! Another waited 45 minutes gone with the wind. I strode away from that cage as paced as I could. I walked along the edge of the campus and stopped on the green between the wood and the school. Some nimrod boy obviously wanted to be my superhero and walk me to my next class. I gave him a dirty look and he spun on his heels before you could say "unfriendly much?"
I flipped off the world with a mirror practiced head toss when something in the woods caught my eye. Standing there at the edge of the wood in a bloodied outfit and brown hair like a rag of a hay stack on her head was a little girl. Young. About 13. I couldn't put my finger on it but she gave the ominous vibe of surrealism. I got a cold chill down my spine when she slowly rotated her head to the side to reveal a gaping wound in her temple. She looked back at me with the most demonic black eyes, giggling with malice, most likely at the blatant look of disbelieve on my face. She high-tailed it back into the woods, stumbling and making the most belligerent of racket as she went. Which honestly, completely ruled out my theory of ghost.
Swallowing, I ran as fast as my feet would carry me to my next class, praying I could make it to lunch without puking up a gut of coffee.