In the Shadows

End of Ordinary

"Annie, baby, your killing me." Stacia said, flinging her hands about in a disturbingly accurate imitation of our gym teacher, Mrs. Ricci. I rolled my eyes and flounced into my seat as she snickered behind me.

"Rough day?" Mason asked with a smirk, eyes flickered between my best friend and I.

"We ran the mile today." I said grudgingly looking away, pretending not to hear their laughter. Stacia collapsed into the seat next to me, her long legs folding gracefully. At 6 feet tall with long lean muscles Stacia had no problem running a stupid mile. Not that she ever listened to the pleas of the track and cross country coaches.

With her fair skin she abhorred outdoor sports, preferring the spot lights to natural light. She had been dancing since she could walk. Russians tended to be intense no matter what they chose to do. At 5' 3'' I was having no such luck.

I was dragged from my reverie by a light pinch on my arm. The lunch table had filled in, and the topic had moved from my running debacle to the newest rom com coming out this weekend. A side debate had begun as to the merits of the bad boy vs. the golden boy.

"Let's be real ladies," Stacia said capturing the attention of the whole table, "Its not the looks on the outside that matter." She winked, some of the more innocent girls sighed. I had a distinct feeling she wasn't talking about personality types. She shot me a look, and I giggled, suspicions confirmed.

"Oh Stacia I had no idea you were so sentimental." Lilly, a small red headed girl, sighed. Stacia nodded sweetly and I giggled again. At this point I'm sure the majority of the table had caught on to the joke.

"Well either way its nothing you have to worry about Annabelle, Cause I'll be whatever type of boy you want me to be." He said with a wink. Lilly, among some other girls, gave a little sigh at that. Stacia along with the rest of the table rolled their eyes.

With grey eyes and dirty blonde hair Mason was a shameless flirt and notorious playboy. In the two years since I'd known him he hadn't kept a girlfriend for more then 6 months. I smiled at him and quipped, "Were't you listening? It's whats underneath that matters." I placed my hand over my heart while Stacia's gaze zeroed in on his crotch. We all burst out laughing.

The topics switched from movies, to sports, to parties and so on. I started to let my mind drift, until I felt an uncomfortable prickle on the back of my neck. For the most part I'm a normal highschooler. Get good grades, eat disgusting cafeteria food, walk home everyday. However I have a habit of being extremely paranoid.

From a young age I always felt like I was being watched. Not all the time but pretty regularly, at first it made me scared or curious, however over the years its just become normal to me. Most of the time there wasn't even anyone there, but this felt different. Like it was somebody new.

"Oh god, who the hell is he?" Chelsea, a fellow dancer of Stacia's, said gripping Mason's arm. Everyone shifted to see what, or rather who, she was looking at. "DON"T EVERYBODY LOOK AT ONCE!" She shrieked, making Stacia choke on her water.

Riley, who sat next to me, looked down at her with a smirk, "Well if he didn't notice before he sure has now." He looked down at me and I smiled, thumping my best friend in the back in the hopes that she wouldn't faint.

Riley Mathews was a scary guy, being a few inches taller then even Stacia he towered over me, and wasn't as nice to some of the . . . less popular kids. Needless to say I tried to stay on his good side though I didn't really care fo him.

He must have had some Mediterranean heritage because his skin was a smooth olive color. His hair was midnight black and his eyes were hazel green. Throw in the title of star quarter back and he might as well have been crowned the king of Easton High.

"He must be really hot to risk Stacia's wrath." I said quietly.

"He's gorgeous." Chelsea shot at me. Her eyes met what was probably a very nasty glare from Stacia and she murmured a quick apology for almost killing her with her own water. Riley snickered beside me.

"I'll only blame you if your exaggerating." Stacia said pulling out her compact mirror and a tube of lip gloss. Mason rolled his eyes, as she checked out the mystery man on the sly. She looked over at me and I raised my eyebrow, "He'll do."

There was a chorus of exclamations as to her quick dismissal, but I knew she would have him in her bed by the end of the month. Considering that it was already the 19th, that was saying something. A light tug on one of my chocolate curls had me looking in the direction of his highness. His lips quirked at the corner and he rolled his eyes. I gave him a small smile, really wanting him to let go of my hair, but not knowing how to phrase it without being rude.

Thankfully I was saved by the bell. I shot him another quick smile as I shouldered my bag, grabbing Stacia's hand we started walking to our final class of the day. I guess the mystery guy had left as I didn't see anyone particularly noteworthy on my way out. I knew I'd be hard pressed to get any details out of Stacia as she was probably into her scheming phase. This was going to bother me for the rest of the day, right on top of those annoying shivers that refused to go away.

. . . .

After 7th period let out Stacia texted me to let me know she was staying after school for a networking project, winky face, so I decided to walk home. My ear buds blasting spotify I let my mind wander. My parents wouldn't be home this weekend, but it was getting too cold to plan a pool party and I didn't really want half of Easton's student population spilling beer in my living room. It was probably for the best, I had a major amount of homework to catch up on.

My house was about a mile and a half from school, so by the time I got home (with my 20 + pound backpack) I wasn't up for much. I grabbed a quick snack from the kitchen and headed up to my room. Between bites I managed to tidy up a little before snuggling under my blankets and booting up my laptop. I surfed the web for a few hours and even watched some Netflix, but I was starting to get pretty tired. Way too tired for having done nothing all day.

I glanced at my bedside clock, only 8. I groaned. Must have been the long week. I gently placed my laptop on the ground and furrowed deeper into the covers. A familiar prickling sensation worked it's way up my spine. Not like the one at lunch, something else. Someone else. Before I fully realized what was happening I fell into the world of shadows.