The Division

5

Simone and I were eating breakfast in silence, only the clicking and clacking of our utensils and the early morning chirp of the birds could be heard. Aunt Cecilia  left for work earlier that day.

Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door, "Who's there?" Simone called getting up from her chair and walking to the front door.

"It's me." I heard a male voice reply, "Jay."

"Oh! Jay!"

My cousin opened the door, standing there was a dark-skinned boy around my age with curly hair and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a blue top with a black long sleeve shirt under it and jeans. I watched as he entered the apartment, "You ready?" He asked Simone, "Almost." She responded.

Simone glanced at me before turning back to Jay and pulling him to the dining table where I was nervously waiting, I had just finished eating my bowl of cereal.

"This is Gwen," She introduced putting on a small smile and pointing at me, "my cousin from Chicago."

Jay stared at me before smiling, "Hi. What happened to your face?"

"Jay!"

"What?"

"No, it's okay." I said getting up from my chair and tucking it in, "I got into an..accident."

"Oh." 

Simone grabbed her backpack that was previously hanging on the dining chair and then handed me mine, " Are you ready for your first day?" She asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be." I told her giving a small grin.

Jay, Simone and I went out, ready to go to school, we were about to leave the yard when I stopped, noticing an old lady sitting in a chair. Simone didn't tell me there were any elderly people living in Margaret apartments.

"Is there a problem?" Jay asked me and I shook my head, "No, I was just wondering who that is?"

Simone looked around, eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "Who?"

"The lady in the chair." I said making sure my voice wasn't too loud. Simone and Jay looked at the wooden chair I was talking about.

"Gwen, there is nobody in that chair." Jay said, "All our neighbours have either gone to work or the university."

"What do you mean?" I asked, with furrowed eyebrows "There is an old lady in that chair."

I looked at the lady and she waved, I smiled and pointed, "Can't you see? She's waving."

"Gwen are you okay?" Simone asked looking back at the chair again, I blushed in embarrassment.

I rubbed my eyes and looked again; the lady was still in the chair. "Yes," I said so quietly, as if I was talking to myself, trying to tell myself I wasn't crazy, "She's there."

Jay laughed, "Hmmm, maybe she can see ghosts now." He said playfully poking at Simone's cheeks, "Boo, boo I'm a ghost." The boy joked as my cousin grimaced.

"Stop it Jay." Simone smirked, pushing her friend away, "Ghosts aren't real, stop acting so childish."

Once again, I looked back at the chair and the moment my eyes met the woman's, I felt a cold shiver down my spine, I didn't like the feeling one bit. I paled as she waved to me.

I remember running out of the yard as fast as possible and Jay and Simone running after me.

We arrived at the bus stop just as the bus pulled up and the driver honked. A bunch of highschoolers were joking around and laughing, Simone and Jay got on the bus.

"You coming?" Jay queried, pointing inside. I looked at the bus driver, he had a frustrated expression plastered on his wrinkly face.

I wanted to move but couldn't, my body was stuck, and my legs refused to function, it was like my entire body had shut down. I took a deep breath in.

Simone noticed this and asked if I would prefer to ride a bike to school, all I could do was nod.

We went back to the apartment complex which wasn't too far from the bus stop, just about three blocks away. Jay got his blue bicycle and Simone got her shiny red one.

Simone gave me a black bicycle; it was old and rusty with flattened tires and needed lubrication. "This used to be my old bike." She said, "It's a bit rusty but you'll manage."

Jay helped me pump the flattened tires, and soon the bike was rideable. I didn't really want to go to school with an old, rusty bicycle on my first day, but I was already running late and didn't have time to fix it up.

"We're going to be so late." Simone frowned getting on her bike and adjusting her shoelaces that were caught in the pedal, "Let's go now."