Darkest Fears

Chapter Four

(cover by jjackieeex - thank you :D)

Chapter Four:

I had been sitting on edge all day. I knew it was because today I had to go to Jayden’s house.

What would it take to get out of doing this?

I had been unusually snappy with everyone today, even for so much as standing five feet away from me. They still felt too close. At least nobody could tell I was in a bad mood at least, because I always acted like this.

I sighed knowing that there was no way that I could get out of doing this ‘catch up’ session with Jayden. Even if the thought scared the hell out of me, I knew he needed me to do this.

Don’t be so cowardly.

I wanted to close my eyes and lean my forehead on the cool wood of the table in front of me, but I just kept my posture rigid and straight, too afraid that if I did that I would lose my sense of sight.

I needed to be alert.

I drummed my fingers on the table in front of me. I was in detention right now, and I didn’t want it to end. Once it ended it meant that Jayden would come to find me.

I wanted to laugh at the absurdness of the situation. Technically I was being invited over to a really cute boys house (even if it was just to work on our project), and I wanted to stay in detention to avoid going.

I watched the seconds trickle away on the large clock hung above the black board at the front of the classroom.

A watched clock never ticks.

What a load of bullshit that was, because I could literally see the seconds ticking by, the minutes waste away, the time closing in on to four o’clock. Sure the time wasn’t exactly speeding away, but the wait when knowing it was going to end was torture.

 Five minutes left.

My throat was quickly drying up on me.

There were only three other people in the detention room. Two boys – who I assume got detention together as they were sat side by side playing silently on their phones under the desk – and the teacher sat at the front of the classroom, who looked like she would rather be anywhere but here.

I wanted to run. Move. Do something. But I couldn’t. I unclenched one of my hands, tapping my fingers silently on my thigh. It wasn’t much but it helped a little.

The teacher soon stood up from her position behind her desk, looking exhausted and bored, and announced the end of our detention.

I wasn’t entirely sure if I was happy or not. It felt good to move out of my seat though. I waited as long as I possibly could, until the classroom was completely empty before I left.

I stiffly walked towards the school exit, the strap of my school bag clenched tightly in my fist, to stop it from sliding down my shoulder.

When I reached the car park at the front of the school it wasn’t hard to spot Jayden, seeming as the place was practically deserted. He was leant against a sleek looking black car.

He was hunched over, his blonde hair falling into his eyes as he looked down intently at something in his hand. As I got closer I realised it was a cell phone. There was a small frown wrinkled into his forehead as he punched the buttons.

As if sensing me his head snapped up, his eyes meeting mine.

I wished he hadn’t, because I had managed to keep myself remotely calm as I walked towards him, but as soon as he looked at me my heart started to hammer, and my palms began to sweat.