F.E.A.R

Chapter 1

Sweat dripped from my palms, the feeling was claggy as my hands stuck together. Walking to the front of the room, I could feel the eyes following my steps. My head pounded to the beat of my heart, while inside the CD of voices played on a loop;
                     "that's not good enough" "try better"   "work harder"

I felt stiff paralysed in my spot. My mouth opened to begin but my thoughts forced me to swallow the words straight back down. Glares attacked me from every corner of the room. Glancing down the words became blurs. I couldn't breathe. The oxygen had been ripped out of my lungs. Searching for the air was like swimming in a bath, not possible. My knees were the first to slide from underneath me, followed by my elbows, hands then face.

When I left the room I woke up in, embarrassment stung my cheeks. However, the feeling soon went away when I saw him. My rock, the person that keeps me going. He was pacing up and down the hall; his face overflowing with worry. Momentarily, his eyes glanced my way and caught site of me. He was next to me in an instant, but before my lips could curl into a smile, he already had me in an embrace. I felt safe in the comfort of his arms. Every memory I had of my childhood there was Zak. I was never alone.

A few moments later, we untangled ourselves. My best friend was now looking at me with deep concern. "Jules" he said in a questioning voice. I froze. "Come on. Don't kid yourself, you knew I couldn't do it. I just can't believe it got this worse. How embarrassing." I rolled my eyes and pointing down at the blue and white gown. He muffled something under his breath that I couldn't quite catch. "Hey" I shouted while giggling and using my hand to try and slap away his cockiness. "Shut-up" he winked. "Let's go get your stuff, I'm taking you home" we returned down the hall back to the room I woke up in, using our bodies to bump each other into the walls along the way.