I suffer from acute paranoia.
Well, not technically, but I'm paranoid all the same. I bless the large mirror hanging on the wall in my basement, because it is so big that it gives me a full view of the room as I'm coming down the stairs. My house is old, so it creaks during the night, and trees cast shadows across my windows. There's one bathroom that, every time I go in there, I check behind the shower curtain, because I'm always nervous I'll find something there. I live kind of in the middle of nowhere, in my grandparents' house. I have neighbors, of course, but there's a stretch of trees blocking them from making contact, and they don't bother to.
Of course, the fact that I live practically alone, with no neighbors, and no contact except from my Golden Retriever, James, and my Border Collie, Hugo, topped by the fact that I live in a huge house, does not really help my cause.
But I'm happy, despite my paranoia. Mostly, I spend my time playing my guitar, painting, and writing. Occasionally, I'll go horse-back riding. I deer-hunt in the woods behind my house, too, with James and Hugo.
But I am only eighteen. I can't be expected to give up my teenage obsessions just yet, namely the Harry Potter books, and Newsies, a musical about the newsboys' strike against The World in 1899.
This is where my story starts: a chilly Tuesday evening in November, watching Newsies with my dogs. I expect they get sick of watching Newsies over and over again, but neither of them seemed to care. We sat as we always did, kind of a tradition. I was sitting cross-legged on the couch. Hugo was in my lap, and James was curled up in my side, his head resting on Hugo's back.
We hadn't been watching it for very long. Kid Blink was complaining about the price increase, one of my favorite Kid Blink lines. "They jacked up the price! Can you believe that? Ten cents a hundred!" I exclaimed to James, who just looked at me like I was an idiot. I rolled my eyes. "Oh, shut up."
I paused the movie and pushed the two dogs off of me, ignoring their whines in protest, and headed for the bathroom. It was the one that I always checked behind the shower curtain in, and this time was no different. But I suddenly felt like this time was different, and boy, was I right!
Hesitantly, I drew back the curtain, and gave a yelp of surprise when I saw a pair of brown eyes staring back at me. I jumped back, slamming into the door, and began fumbling with the doorknob, but it was locked. I could hear Hugo and James barking, and I could tell they were right by the door.
"Hey! HEY! Calm down!"
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" I shrieked, as he stepped out of the shower (fully clothed, thankfully).
"I'm Racetrack."
