People gave me the most irritating looks as I walked into the supply store. Some kid behind the counter tried giving me crap for not having any shoes, but I pulled out my wallet and flashed my money in his face and he shut up. I was a paying customer and I had socks on, I didn't need his bullshit right now.

I walked to the back of the store and grabbed a few sets of paint. Making sure I had everything, I returned to the register and glared at him as he rang me up. I could hear the other customers whispering and giggling behind my back, but I was actually too annoyed to do anything about it. I just wanted to leave.

So with my bags of stuff in tow, I pushed the door open to leave, only to be greeted by a loud grunting noise. I stepped back and saw a kid with his hand over his face and figured I probably nailed him with the door. Fucking great.

"Sorry about that. You O.K.?"

He nodded his head and I was satisfied. But, of course, just as I was about to walk away - and I mean the split second I was turning on my heel to leave - the kid removes his hand and I recognize him. Why did I always seem to run into him when I least wanted to see him. Well, I guess it wasn't really him, more like I just got tired of the familiarity. He always talked to me and I felt as if I was slightly obligated to respond to him.

"Oh, it's you, Devi."

The kid was usually semi-upbeat whenever we spoke, but he sounded pretty upset. He didn't look like he'd been crying or anything, but there was just something sad about his voice that wouldn't let me walk away from him. I wasn't going to ask him about it, but I also wasn't going to ignore it if he talked about it. This guy had some nerve about him, making me feel like I had to be nice to him or something. I'll get him back for that one day.

"What are you doing here?"

I flashed my bags in front of his face and he nodded again. There was this damn awkward silence that lingered in the air and I actually coughed in an attempt to clear it up. He would look at me and then look away, and the fact that I could tell he wanted to say something, but refused to, really irritated the shit out of me. I held my temper for a few more seconds before I spat out my frustration.

"If you've got something to say, could you say it already?"

He took a few steps back, startled by my forwardness and probably the venomous tone in my voice.

"Um, well... It's kind of dumb..."

"I don't care. You want to say something and apparently you want to say it to me. Spit it out."

He twiddled his thumbs and took a few deep breaths. Did he think I was going to rip his head off and say he was wasting my time or something? 'Cause the only thing wasting my time is him not saying a damn thing.

"I lost Shmee the other day."

"Who?"

"We were in the basement. I got scared and dropped him."

"So go get him back?"

"No, I can't! I-"

He put his hands on his face and started shaking his head back and forth. Whatever was in his basement must have been pretty scary. Either that or he was just really that much of a coward. It was hard to tell anymore. But I decided that I'd rather not discuss the matter of whoever this Shmee was with him and voted to change the subject instead.

"What are you doing here?"

Glancing back up at me, he let his arms fall and his head drop, as well.

"I'm coming home from school."

"I guess it was another exciting day."

"It's hard to be at school without Shmee. People have been teasing me a lot more and the bullying has gotten worse. I don't have any confidence without him."

Man, he's full of weird problems, isn't he?

"Look: if this "Shmee" means that much to you and you can't get him back, then why not have your parents go down and get him for you?"

"Oh, no, no... they wouldn't do that. Dad's too busy and mom's always asleep. I can't bother them."

Raising my eyebrows, I gave up. I didn't know what he was babbling about anyway. It's not like I was helping him or anything. I scratched the back of my neck and shuffled my feet, somehow subtly telling him that I was leaving. And as I turned and walked away, I heard him yell after me.

"I'm sorry if I upset you last time. I wasn't trying to."

I knew he wasn't trying to be an asshole when he said that, but he still didn't have the right. I was too preoccupied with other things to be bothered by it, though. I waved my hand back at him and kept walking, concerning myself with the condition of my apartment when I got back. I knew Tenna wasn't destroying it, but what else did she throw away while I was gone?

And that moment of truth came when I got back. The living room was still perfect and the kitchen was empty and clean. That damn stereo was playing again, though not quite as obnoxiously as before. She was zoned in on my room. Fuck.

Taking out my fresh supplies, I got all my stuff ready to work through the night. I knew I wasn't going to enjoy this, so I just pushed aside my thoughts and started painting. And I managed to stay at a steady pace for a few hours. It was dark outside. Wanna know how I knew that? 'Cause Tenna always opens my blinds, and this time, I'm too focused to fix them. I was about a quarter of the way done when I heard this odd sound coming from in the kitchen. Tenna hadn't left my room since I got home. She probably fell asleep or something.

I tried to ignore it and keep working, but it got louder. I knew no one had broken in, there wasn't some creeper wandering around my apartment, but the sound was eerie. The sound finally registered to me as a cackle and I knew that Sickness had decided to rear her ugly head again.

"Well wasn't that fun?"

"Wasn't what fun?"

"Running into him again? He's taken a liking to you, despite your bitchy attitude."

"Whatever you say."

"What, got no more fighting spirit in you?"

"No, I've got too much work to do to play games with you."

"Oh, right. Your boss really fucked you over with this one, eh?"

"Do you have anything important to say?"

"Well, I suppose, if you really want to get to the point like that."

"Oh, I do."

"I was just going to inform you that the boy's trauma sponge has gone missing. I have a feeling you two will be getting much closer."

"What's that supposed to mean? And what the Hell is a trauma sponge?"

"You told me to get to the point. That was it."

I tried to get more information out of her, but she went back into hiding. I was beyond tired of her mind games and her little tricks. Speaking in riddles and trying to be a clever pain-in-my-ass was only aggravating me further. But on the bright side, it was now eleven o'clock and I was halfway done.

"A/N: I really just wanted to update this. School starts again on the 20th and with my hours at work staying steady, I won't have as much free time to write. I'm going to try and get at least one more chapter in before that happens, though, and hopefully the story will be finished sometime before I get my degree. Review?"