Hood Rider

                “Hey babydoll,” Tomolius whispered into my ear, his hot breath huffing down my neck.

                “Shut up, Tom,” I hissed back at him, glaring.

                “Ah-ah-ah, be nice a nice kitty!” he replied, putting his hands up with his palms facing me, trying to look innocent.

                “Piss. Off.” I said slowly and deliberately, trying to get my message through his thick skull.

                “Alright, doll. I’m just supposed to pass on a message. But since you don’t want to hear it, I won’t tell you.” He winked, then pulled his hood over his head and snaked through the hallway, sliding through tiny gaps in the wall of people. I sniffed in a dignified manner, and then merged to the left of the corridor, to where my locker was.

The hallways of Fleetwood High are dark and crowded, and the lights are always flickering. There’s a weird smell wafting through the air wherever you go, and mind you, it doesn’t smell very nice.

I sighed and began twisting in my combination, first stopping at thirty-eight, then six, and finally twenty-eight. I pulled up the trigger handle, and the flimsy, rusty metal door swung open. I chucked my backpack in, and grabbed the binders I needed for class, my textbooks, and my journal. I slammed the door closed, and then joined the sea of students rushing to their homerooms before the bell rang.

I heard running footsteps behind me, and jumped when I felt a hand grab my shoulder. I whipped my head around to see who it was, and laughed to find my best friend Katrina fall in step beside me. She had just come back from the Second Land, where she was conducting a resource revival system. Her skin was tawny from long days in the sun, and her russet colored hair was scraped back into a high-ponytail, with wispy bits sticking out near her forehead. She beamed at me and shoved something into my hand. I looked down at it and saw that it was a wad of rolled up paper, with crusty dirt and grains of sand covering it.

                “Read it in homeroom” Kat whispered, her bright gaze darkening. I saw storm clouds swirling in her eyes, and although she was wearing a smile, she seemed in pain.

                “Okay… Kat is there, uh, anything wrong?” I hesitantly asked, dreading the answer.

                “No, no… no, nothing’s wrong!” she said a little bit too quickly. I gave her a hard look, but she ignored my stare, and turned her head the other way, ending out conversation.

                “See you later, Kat.” I said, turning into my homeroom class. Kat totally ignored my statement. Instead, she just shuddered and kept walking, her legs stiff and her shoulders pulled back.

                ***************************

In homeroom, I couldn’t stop thinking about Kat’s weird behavior. She didn’t even seem like the same person! But I shook my head of worrying thoughts, and switched gears into studying for my math final.

                “Hey, Val.” I heard a voice from behind me, and turned around to see Mutt, smiling sheepishly with his backpack hanging over one shoulder.

                “Uh, hi, Mutt.” I choked out, my mind giving me a delayed reaction.

                “Did you hear Tom’s message? He told me that you didn’t listen to him.”

 Ugh. It was not unusual for Tom to ruin the strengthening friendship between me and the guy I like.

                “No, I didn’t hear his message, but he was more interested in flirting with me than letting me know about something important.” I replied, attempting to set the story straight.