If I Die Young

18. Kitty

The bell rang and I picked myself up off of my desk, part of the drawing I'd inked into my sketchbook with pen having been imprinted on my hand. I blinked a few times, attempting to clear the sleep from my eyes that had eluded me the night before. Someone poked me with the end of a pencil and I looked up, finding that Ethan was staring at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Someone stay up a little too late?"

"Fuck off." I mumbled quietly as I packed up my things and slung my backpack over my shoulder, cradling my books against my chest.

"I was just asking, geez." He said snobbishly, and I just looked over at him with my dead irises and that seemed to get him to clam up.

It had been a few weeks since the first time we'd met, and he was still just as much of a nuisance as he was that day. We'd had our friendly conversations here and there, but he seemed to enjoy bullying me with lighthearted insults more than he did actually talking.

"Look dude, if you've got nothing else to do but bug me, I suggest you start a hobby of not pissing me off every time you open your mouth." I said evenly as I opened the door to fourth period, slipping inside and finding it moderately busy today.

"Not my fault you take everything so seriously." He grumbled. "Not to mention you're so hostile."

I just rolled my eyes over to him again, the amusement clear in its lack of presence. He turned away and shoved his nose in the book, pretending like he'd been paying attention to it the whole time. I just looked down at the words on the paper and watched as they all jittered and fell to my feet. My exhaustion was finally catching up to me and I thought I'd close my eyes and rest my head for just a moment, if just to get some momentary amount of sleep. Flashes of blood caused me to intake sharply, my breath like a knife in my chest as I bolted upright. I just couldn't catch a break.

Aurelia shifted in her seat to look at me for a short period of time, worry gleaming in her eyes, "Are you okay?"

I nodded, feigning a smile to the best of my ability. Silent reading just wasn't going to work for me today so I slipped my earbud in, knowing full well that we weren't supposed to be listening to music or even have an electronic device out during class. I disregarded the rules completely for the sake of my mental health and proceeded to read while I listened to an old rock band.

A voice crackled over the intercom suddenly, distracting everyone: "Could we please have Sable Snow down to the office?"

"What'd I do now?" I rolled my eyes as I hissed to myself, packing everything into my backpack just so someone wouldn't snoop through it. The teacher nodded for me to go and I grabbed a hall pass, slinging it over my neck while I walked down the empty halls.

Once the door to the office came within sight I shoved my hands in my pockets, readying myself for whatever was coming my way. Maybe the police had shown up to arrest me, maybe I was getting relocated again. Whatever I thought it could've been was certainly far from what I'd imagined to be the last thing I'd ever expect to see standing at the front desk.

There was a woman there, maybe an inch taller than myself with dishwater blonde hair and a pink painted smile. That smile was sharp though, her eyes even sharper as she stared the office assistant down. The moment their grayish hue met my dead gaze they brightened significantly, and she raised her sunglasses to sit atop her head.

"I have been searching up and down the east coast for you." She said as she walked up to me, pulling me into a hug. I didn't hesitate to squeeze her tightly, the scent of vanilla perfume washing over me.

"Kitty, holy shit!" I choked on the words, clutching my cousin tightly against me. "I haven't seen you in so long..."

"I've been looking for you ever since your parents made it to the news," she pulled back, her hands cradling my cheeks gently as she looked me over, "are you okay? No one hurt you, did they?"