I hadn't fallen asleep when I heard Caleb's feet coming up the stairs. I grinned. Lover boy's back. I heard the footsteps turn down the hallway and hesitate outside my door. He was probably wondering if I was still up or not.
"I'm awake!" I called, getting up to flip on another light. My back was to the door when I heard it creak open.
"Hey!" I said, my back still to the door. "How'd it go?"
He didn't answer.
"Tired?" I asked.
He didn't answer.
Puzzled, I turned. "Holy crap!"
There, at the entrance to my room, the black hall surrounding him, was the darkling. He just stood there, watching me, and for the first time, I could really look at him—that is, when I wasn't blinking, trying to make sure I wasn't imagining things.
His skin was an abnormal white color, scaly and slimy, like an amphibian's. Apart from the skin, and the horrible, foggy blue eyes, he looked the same as he had in his human life. I remembered seeing him as a human once or twice, so I had an idea of what he'd looked like.
That was all I got to observe. The face stretched, twisted and disappeared before my eyes. When it was gone, I realized I was still clutching the neck of the floor lamp. I unclamped my fingers and shook them. I'd held onto the lamp so tightly they were cramping. Cautiously, never taking my eyes off of the door, I dashed towards it and slammed it shut, locking it feverishly. I knew I would do nothing to stop the darkling,
but something about it made me feel safer.
I picked up my phone and stared at it, debating on who to call. Caleb was with Sarah, Tyler was probably asleep, Reid couldn't answer his phone to safe his life, so I was left with Pogue.
He picked up on the third ring. "Yeah?"
"Pogue, it's Charlotte."
He could hear the panic in my voice. "Char? You okay?"
"Yes, I mean no. I mean, I'm okay, but I'm alone and freaked out."
"Did you see it again?"
"How did you know?"
"I just saw it, too."
"Damn. Like, just now?" I asked, getting up and pacing.
"Yeah."
I sat down on my bed, putting my head in my hands. "I don't like this."
"I don't either," he sighed. "You want me to come over?"
"No, it's okay, thanks. Caleb should be home soon."
"You sure?"
"Yeah…I hear my mom coming. Talk to you soon."
"Bye Char."
I ended the phone call just as my mom came in. "I thought I heard you scream. Are you okay?"
She hadn't been drinking, and she looked genuinely concerned. "Yeah, thanks."
"Why did you scream?"
"Uh…bad dream." I rolled my eyes internally at the lame excuse.
"Alright. Call me if you need anything."
"Kay, thanks, Mom."
I turned off all the lights except my bedside one. There was no way I was going to sleep in the dark.
A thunderstorm awakened me the next morning. I loved thunderstorms. There was something eerie and mysterious and fascinating about them. I dragged my blanket off of my bed and wrapped myself in it before sitting on my window seat to watch the downpour.
I sat there until my alarm rang, then I grudgingly got ready for school. Caleb was in a very happy mood this morning. He looks just like Charlie Brown when he's happy. He floats around, face upward, grinning nonstop. I wanted to laugh, like I usually do when he's that way, but I couldn't. I didn't want to.
At swim that day, we didn't have an official practice because our normal swim coach was absent so we had a substitute, who let us do what we wanted to, so we decided to have a free day.
Pogue, Reid, Tyler, Caleb and I decided to race each other. Tyler and I jumped in first and did the butterfly, my best stroke. I beat him easily, though we just barely tied when we swam freestyle.
Caleb raced Reid on the backstroke, and the two tied. Pogue and I raced breaststroke, and Pogue won. We'd just gotten out of the pool, laughing and pushing each other, when Chase came up to our group. Pogue's smile disappeared and he stiffened.
"That was good," Chase grinned. "You're really good at the butterfly, Charlotte."
"Thanks. Wanna race?"
"Sure," he smiled.
"What stroke?"
"Front crawl," he said.
"Sounds good." Front crawl was my second best stroke. We jumped into the deep end. A small crowd had gathered and I took a deep breath, adjusting my goggles into place before gripping the pool's edge.
"Ready?" Caleb asked.
We nodded.
"Go!"
The second the word was out of his mouth, I took off, swimming as hard as I've ever swam before. Chase was good, he was definitely stronger, but I was slimmer and quicker. It was very close.
Whenever I came up for air, I heard the boys cheering for me. It encouraged me, pushing me to go even faster.
We reached the other end, and I heard many voices.
"Come on, Char!" That was Caleb.
"Whoop his butt for me Charlotte!" yelled Reid. I nearly laughed, then remembered I was in a pool, which would me inhaling chlorinated water, which would not have been pretty.
"Almost there!" Wasn't sure who that was.
We were in the home stretch, neck to neck. I grabbed one last big gulp of oxygen, and threw myself into the stroke. My hand slapped the wall seconds before him and a round of applause came from everyone.
My head popped out of the water and I yanked my goggles off. Caleb and Pogue each held out a hand for me and pulled me up.
"Well done, Char!" Caleb said.
"That was justice, in my eyes," commented Reid.
"Well done," Chase grinned, coming over. "You really are good."
"Thanks," I said. "You did really well, too."
He extended his fist and I punched it.
"So you're swimming freestyle?" asked Caleb.
"That's what they tell me," said Chase.
"Let's see what you got."
The two of them dove in and took off. I felt that Caleb had an unfair advantage because Chase had just raced, but that didn't seem to be the case. They stayed right next to each other.
"Alright, Caleb!" I shouted. "Come on!"
"Push off!" suggested Tyler as they neared the other end.
"Come on, Caleb," Pogue said, clapping his hands.
They were on their way back now, still very close. Suddenly, Chase shot forward with what seemed to be a last burst of energy and his hand slapped the wall.
Caleb slammed into the wall and didn't come up.
"He's being a sore loser," Reid remarked.
He still didn't surface. He just seemed to be hovering down near the bottom of the fifteen-foot deep end.
"It's too long!" I said, worried now. "He's not moving!"
Pogue and Chase dove in while the Tyler, Reid and I leaned over the edge. Together, we managed to get him up. He was knocked out, but he wasn't too hurt. He began to come to after about five minutes.
We knelt over him, waiting for him to come around. He blinked and moaned a little and his eyes fluttered open.
"Caleb?" I asked.
His eyes seemed to focus.
"There you are," said Chase. "You had us going for a second."
"You whammed your head pretty hard," said Pogue.
"You okay, man?" asked Tyler. "Lucky for you we were all here to get you out before you sucked up the pool."
"He also whooped your butt," Reid informed.
"Yeah," Caleb groaned, sitting up. "I'm okay."
Practice was over by then, and almost everyone had gone to the showers. As I headed there, my mind kept wondering back to Caleb. He was an excellent swimmer…the incident in the pool surprised me, especially that he hadn't won. He'd been rested while Chase had just finished a race. He was the best at the front crawl, and the fact that he'd smacked his head was a little hard to believe for someone as cautious and careful as Caleb.
I sat with Tyler and Reid in next period. The class was long. I thought the lesson had something to do with the Constitution and the government but I wasn't really sure. Not that I really cared. Everyone passed that class, regardless of who actually paid attention and did the work.
Reid fell asleep ten minutes into class, draped over the back of the seat in front of us. His hand still held his pencil, and his mouth hung open. I put my feet up on the seat in front of me and doodled on my binder. Tyler was the only one of us who actually seemed to know what was being taught, but I caught him nodding off more than once.
There was a knock at the door that interrupted the teacher's lecture. A girl walked in and delivered a note.
"Twelve amendments were suggested, ten eventually ratified, called what, Miss Snider?" continued the teacher.
"The Bill of Rights," she replied smugly, never ceasing her irritating game of playing with Aaron's hair.
"Loser," I coughed from my seat above her.
She turned around and glared at me. I waved.
"Right you are," the teacher said, oblivious to our exchange. "Arguably the first being the most important, read it for us, Mr. Simms."
I pulled Tyler's hair and pointed to where we were before kicking Reid awake.
The teacher read the note and scanned the room until he found Chase. "Mr. Collins, you're wanted in the provost's office."
Chase looked surprised but began to gather his things. I caught Pogue and Caleb exchanging a look.
"Mr. Simms," the teacher said. "Please continue."
Tyler started reading the familiar dialogue, which I tuned out. Chase caught my eye and smiled. I grinned back, and he did the same to Caleb, who offered a hard smile in his direction before Chase left.
I saw a look in Caleb's eyes. He looked suspicious and a little jealous, though I had no idea why. Boys, I thought, shaking my head. They were bizarre.
Well, I decided to go ahead and upload a new chapter right away, to make up for being MIA for a month. Hope you enjoy…reviews are always welcome!