Leaving the small, cramped room, I headed out back into the main room. The hallways was pretty crowded. Some people where going back towards the rooms, a few carried a bag or suitcase, others where heading back out into the open. The floor was pretty wet with puddles here and there where the floor dipped down or near an old clogged drain. By the sounds of it, the storm had really picked up. The rain kept up a constant clatter on the roof. I assumed it was rain, though I had never heard anything like it before. It sounded as if the sky was dumping buckets and buckets of marbles over my head, dumping them so fast that you could hardly pick out individual patters, just one big hum.
There were even more people milling about out in the common area than there where when I got here. There was actually a line at the registration table now and I could hardly see the tables set up at the front of the room because of the crowd around them. I saw an empty bench and loped over to it. I looked around, really scrutinizing the church for the first time. It seemed that there were more windows than wall, though all the windows were boarded up. The benches were plain, dark wood, and very hard. For some reason, when I sat down, my mind whirled me back to a different time.
I was back at the old vacation home sitting on a bench right at the edge of a lake. The sun was slowly sinking into the dark lake. The sunset changed the color of everything, making it seem as though it was a whole different world. Sitting next to me was Bella, beautiful Bella. She was staring at our intertwined hands, running her fingers over mine. He mahogany hair blew in the slight breeze, dancing in the colors of the sun.
The chatter that filled the church hurled me back into reality. I shook my head, trying to clear the memory. She was like a drug to me. It was extremely difficult to get through the day without thinking about her, and attempting to do so caused a horrible headache. When I did think about her though, it felt like I was weightless, lying about on a cloud of joy. The second the memory was gone, I could feel the side effects. My head hurt and I could hardly think straight for a while.
I stood up, thinking that maybe a walk would help to clear my brain. I wandered aimlessly for bit, realizing that I really had no where to go, before deciding on going back to my room. Surely with the surge of new people here I would have a roommate by now. I hoped that he would be interesting and could keep my mind off of Bella for how ever long we were stuck in here.
I walked into my room, expecting to find at least some sign of my roommate, but it was empty and looked just as I had left it. I sighed. Someone to talk to would be very welcome. I walked over to my cot and unzipped my bag, rifling through it for something to do. I was just about to give up when the door opened. I jerked my head up and quickly glanced at him. He was still wet from the storm and was very ragged in an old t-shirt and jeans. I would guess that he hadn't had a good nights sleep in a while. I grimaced a little at the expression on his face. Not wanting to be unpolite, I stuck my hand out.
"I take it you're stranded here for the evening also." I smiled, but I had a nagging feeling in the back of my head that this guy and I were not going to become life-long friends. He ignorned my hand and turned towards the other cot.
"Yeah," he said, rifling through his bag. I stuck my hand into my pocket as I watched him. He was obviously not from the same background as I was, though there was nothing wrong with that. Bella wasn't either. I mentally slapped myself for that thought. I pushed Bella out of my mind and focused again on the stranger. I realized that I didn't even know his name.
"I'm Edward, Edward Masen." I almost didn't expect him to respond, or if he did, to just blow me off with something like "No one gives a shit," or "Big whoop." Instead, he surprised me.
"My name's Matt." He went back to going through his bag. "And I don't give a shit." I chuckled inwardly to myself. I was close.
Through our exchange, he had made a small pile of clothes and toiletries on the cot. With his last comment, he grabbed his stuff and walked out of the room.
Well, he was interesting, just as I had hoped. Hopefully trying to figure out exactly what was with him would keep this stay interesting enough. Realizing that there was nothing left to do in the room now that I had met my roommate, I shuffled back out into the main area. There was only one person at the registration desk now and by the sounds of the storm outside, not many more people would be coming.
I walked over to the table of food, realizing that it had been a while since I had eaten. There were some veggies, crackers and cheese, and a basket of fruit. Nothing that would sustain anyone for very long. I hoped that for actual meals they gave us food that had a little more substance. I grabbed and apple and spun it around in my hands before taking a bite. I noticed a paper taped up to the wall right behind the table. There was a little bit of type at the top and then lines of handwritten words. I walked over, curious as to what it was.
Signup list to Volunteer in the Kitchen read the top of the paper. The rest of the paper had times and then three or four lines underneath where people could write their names in. I looked over the list thinking I might see someone I actually knew, since talking to Matt didn't seem to go so well. Of course, there was no one that I knew. No one from my social circle would ever serve food to others unless it was going to make the front page of the newspaper. I grabbed the pencil taped to the wall and wrote my name for a lunch slot tomorrow. It wasn't like I had anything better to do.
I turned around and leaned against the wall, looking around at all of the people. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I had the distinct feeling that someone was watching me. I glanced around, but seeing no one staring back, decided that it was nothing. There were quite a few people here and someone was bound to look at me one time or another.
I took one last bite of my apple and tossed it into a trash can that was close by, before making my back to the room. There was nothing left to do, and after driving all day, I was beat. I was planning on taking a shower and then hitting the sack early. As I was walking down the hall to my room, though, I realized something had happened.
The hallway was full of people and I was pushed against the wall as a stretcher was wheeled past me. A few people were following it, whispering amongst themselves, while a few others were milling about in the hallway talking.
I was about to go ask a small group of two guys and a girl what had happened when the one guy pulled out a knife. I looked closer and realized that it was Matt, my roommate. The big man standing opposite him flinched a little, but didn't back down. I headed over, afraid this would get ugly. As I got closer, the girl stepped between the two men and Matt switched the knife from the big guy to the girl.
Wait, is that…
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Cliffy, I know. I'm just so rude, huh? Honestly though, I think you can guess who it is. Just another reminder, this is a six POV story and here who's writing the other POV's:
Jasper played by Book2romantic
Emmett played by Sierra Echo Bravo
Alice played by Shaps
Rosalie played by Eevy Angel
Bella played by CarribbeanLady
Edward played by luvvampluvdog
If you don't feel like finding them all separately, then all of these stories are in a community called "Morehead City. NC"
Remember to drop a review, and as usual, if you have nothing to say about the chapter, then why don't you tell me the weirdest thing about yourself. Maybe you love eating pickles with cottage cheese, or are a really good opera singer. Let me know!