Sham

Chapter 2

When I woke up, it was still dark out. It's no surprise considering I woke up much before my alarm. Repeatedly dying and coming back to life kinda messes up your sleep schedule.

Feeling disheartened by my lack of sleep, I began to prepare for my first day of senior year.

Unlike any other year of grade school, the last one is different. You either care about every little detail, or you drop everything and brush it off. The latter seems more appealing in my opinion.

Faintly, I can pick out my sister actions from down the hall as I make my lunch. I can take a wild guess and say she's getting dolled up for all the attention she won't be receiving. Why? That's below me and out of my concern.

I glance down at my watch. Guess I could go now and leave Jimi so that-

"Hey Elie, could you make me a parfait?"

Ugh. The she-devil has spoken, and her bidding must be completed before she descends from her throne atop the piles of misused boys and toys.

"You're making your own lunch. And I'm leaving soon," I call back while getting out two cups of yogurt.

"What? Oh my god like when? 20 minutes? Can you like, stop by Taylor's house? I left my bow there." Jimi frantically requests, no doubt trying to find the 'perfect' outfit.

"Can you like, pay me gas money?" I mock. Honestly, the girl expects me to drive her everywhere and I don't get a single penny for it.

"Elie that's not fair! I don't have money to pay you with," she protests. "Besides, I'm your sister."

"I don't have time to drive you to her house. It's in the opposite direction of the school. You better be ready in ten minutes; these parfaits and I are waiting."

"Hey Elinoah!"

"Elinoah! Did you get a hair cut?"

"Elinoah, where's your hot sister?"

I smiled at my group of friends and their array of greetings.

"Hey guys. No hair cut, and my 'hot sister' is currently walking down the hall with her little posse."

She's way over her head...

"I have so much to tell you about summer during lunch, dude. You won't believe what happened!"

I smiled at Alexa's excited tone, "Do I usually believe you?"

"No, but this will blow you out of the water."

"Hm, I didn't know Elinoah was in the water. Say, can I join?" Pike waggled his eyebrows at me, humor practically seeping from his dark eyes.

"Join if you want," I watched a silly grin spring onto Pike's face, "I'll drown you if you touch me, you pervert."

His expression dropped and everyone else in our group laughed. The bell for homeroom sounded above us.

"I'll tell you all the details at lunch okay? Don't forget it!" Alexa called over her shoulder, Pike at her heels.

"Shall we?" spoke Ria, the quietest of our group.

I glance over who was left to walk with me and smile.

"We shall."

"Elinoah, wanna hang out this weekend?"

I turn my head away from Alexa's unbelievable story to find the owner of the unknown voice. Who do I find? Mac Hototo.

Mac's the golden boy. Star pitcher for our baseball team, movie star charms, the whole gift basket wrapped up with a perfect bow on top. We've never spoken before outside of school. In fact, now that I think about it, the closest we've ever been associated with each other is when our father's would run into each other and we would just so happen to be there.

"Um... Maybe? If I'm not too busy then we'll see," I say with as much assurance possible for me. Mac's hazel eyes sparkle upon my shaky response.

"Sounds like a yes to me. I can give you a lift too if we end up going out."

"That'd be nice," I smile up at him and try not to laugh at the blush appearing on his light copper skin tone.

"Here, uh, put your number in my phone. I'll call you sometime." I gingerly pick up his phone, type in what's needed, and hand it back to him.

"If I don't answer then don't worry too much. I probably just died or something. No big deal," I joke. Mac laughs, of course being oblivious to my double life.

Well, double life that's actually death..?

Whatever.

Once Mac leaves I continue to listen in to Alexa's story.

"It was really weird though, guys! I'm alone in my house and I hear someone walking around the doorway by the inside garden. When I go take a peak, all the plants are dead. Shriveled. They were perfectly fine 10 minutes before that."

Pike let out a huge yawn and scratched his blonde head. After smacking his lips even louder, he spoke.

"I think I know what happened."

One of Alexa's perfectly shaped eyebrows raised upon this claim, and tossed her black hair back with a porcelain hand.

"What do you think happened, Peterson?"

"I think... Don't get too scared, but I think the plants actually died because you looked at them. Not because some invisible person waltzed through."

I, along with a few others, snickered at his reasoning, but an annoyed glint appears in Alexa's icy eyes.

"I'm being serious, you dunce! You're not helping," Alexa threw an aluminum foil ball at Pike's humored face.

"Aw c'mon, Alexa," Wade, Pike's best friend started, "the plants are dead now anyway. Why do they matter? It's not like you took care of them."

He has a point. Alexa frequently complained about the plants and didn't like them in the first place. I personally don't see the big deal, but the girl can get riled up over anything.

It wasn't long until the last bell of the day rang. The hallways swarmed with students, just like every school day. Fighting my way, I finally got to the parking lot and called Jimena.

No answer. Go figure. Well... I guess I can just leave her here. She knows I hate waiting on her to finish socializing with everything that moves.

Getting into the Camry, I turn up the AC and rev the engine. No Jimena, no problem. Well, no problem until I start to pull away and a pink fuzzy binder flies at my window. Classic Jimena obviously can't find any other way to make a car stop without trying to damage it. I roll my eyes as she daintily enters the vehicle and swiftly hit the roads home.

"I'll be in my room," Jimena immediately informs me when I pull into the driveway. I don't bother to respond, but instead make my way to the lounge table to start homework.

"And that's how Emma got that necklace, making her the thief in the plot..." I mumble while typing up a book analysis. Of course I have homework on the first day; teachers are crazy. I glance out of the sliding glass doors to our spacious backyard. The trees swayed in the breeze, a few leaves swirling around.

That's strange... Fall hasn't exactly started yet.

Intrigued now, I walk closer to the doors just as the wind started to pick up, causing the leaves to now make a vortex.

Someone's inside of it. A black figure at least?

I squeeze my eyes shut and look again. Luckily, nothing is there now.

"No creepy leaf-man outside is a good thing for me," I claim, chuckling to myself.

Just as I'm about to sit back down, I see something worse. I thought it was the man outside again, but no. I study the image more and see the notice he's next to orchids my mother keeps.

Inside.

Oh gosh no. Reflection.

I whip around, ready to face the intruder only to discover he's not there. And those lovely orchids? Yeah, they're dead.

I guess Alexa's not too crazy after all.