Stop and Stare

Chapter 3

School the next morning came earlier than I'd expected. Not because my alarm went off unexpectedly, but because my personal alarm - otherwise known as Cole - decided I should wake up twenty minutes earlier than usual.

"Marley, wake up." I hear him groan loudly. "I'm bored."

I roll over and pull my blankets over my head. "What time is it?"

"It's six thirty."

Now I'm the one to groan. "What the hell, Cole? My alarm isn't supposed to go off for another twenty minutes! Just because you don't sleep doesn't mean I can't, too."

I open my eyes now just enough to see Cole sprawled out across my woven chair, his arms hanging off the sides. He looks exhausted. Cole is dead, of course, so he doesn't need to sleep - but for some reason he still looks like he should. His eyes look dark and tired, and the way he's sitting looks effortlessly lazy.

"I'm really bored, Mar." he repeats. "You sleep for so long. There's nothing for me to do."

I finally sit up, stretching my arms out in front of me. I can feel my hair sitting on my head in a tousled mess. Cole is staring at me with the hints of a smile playing at his lips, but I ignore him. Instead, I get up and start to get ready.

I throw on a black quarter-sleeve with a pair of faded shorts, and brush my tangled mess of hair. Cole looks away while I change, reading a cheap comic book that I left sitting out. This is how our mornings usually go.

"I think we should walk today," I say as I pull my hair back into a tight braid. "Sound good?"

Cole nods absentmindedly, still scanning the comic. "I knew I woke you up for a reason," he says.

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School drags on slowly. All the excitement from my first day is gone, so I'm basically just running on fumes now. Cole wanders off during first period because he's "bored", and promises he'll be back to walk me home. I don't see him for the rest of the school day.

I sit with Noah and his friends again at lunch. I'm starting to really like them, I think. They joke around with me as though I've known them for years, when really it's only the second day. It's nice, though. I never felt like that at my old school. Nobody wanted to be near me. Sierra always made sure that people knew about my 'condition', so I could never really get around it. 

This really is a fresh start for me.

It's been weird going a whole day without Cole, though. At my old school he'd stick with me all day so that I wouldn't be alone, or in case I needed cheering up. But today he's been acting a little strange, so maybe he just needed the time alone. Or maybe he thought I did.

"Who are you waiting for, hmm?" I hear someone say. I turn around to see Noah walking up behind me, his jacket draped over his crossed arms. He's wearing his friendly smile, like usual.

"Nobody." I reply. "Just getting my stuff together before I go."

"You walking?" he asks. I nod in response. "Well, you're not anymore. I'll drive you home."

I smile thankfully, but I can feel a guilty pit in my stomach. Where's Cole? I look around quickly, hoping he'll be standing nearby. But he's not. I promised him I'd wait, but he's nowhere to be found.

"You okay?" Noah inquires, studying me up and down. "You look a little nervous. I don't have to give you a ride if you'd rather walk. I won't be offended."