The Masqueraded

1

It was too cold for a walk but she wanted to take her mind off things. Everything in her life turned out to be an utter monstrosity. If only she could accept that it wasn't her fault. It is always painful to lose someone who takes up a lot of space in your heart. It was the way she had stared at the door as the familiar smell of paint and baked cookies trailed out with her. The only person in her life who made sense. The flashback made her wince.

Ru looked up at the sky to force her tears back in and wiped the ones which were already trickling down her cheeks. She walked out past the cement driveway which curved from the main road into the two houses which stood side by side to the left and then reached the top of the little lane.

Ru couldn't bear the weight she felt inside. It was almost as if there was a huge block of asphalt tucked away in her stomach. Having to pretend she was okay when she actually wasn't, made her want to throw up. If words could kill maybe she was dead inside and that's why she couldn't access how she felt. All she felt was blinding pain.

Kira had spent over three hours trying to calm her down and to comprehend what she was trying to say in the middle of a panic attack. She was a patient and understanding girl most of the time. Although their friendship had been rocky for a while last year because of the whole space thing, they had moved past it and Ru had learnt her lessons. Now, her anxiety had thrown itself back at her and was making its way right down her throat like hot lava.

Deep in her thoughts, she had reached the end of the street and walked into the crowded part of the nearest town which opened up into the Delis, cafés and restaurants. The billboards stood tall, the Cafés were lit up and there was movement about her as people walked in and out of them in a hurry.

She checked her phone. It was seven o'clock. Usually she'd be at home at that time, but after what had happened, things were kind of hazy. Although she knew her dad could get upset she couldn't help it, she was tired of pretending things didn't affect her.

Turning a corner she suddenly collided with someone. Black converse shoes stopped near hers. Still deep in her thoughts, without even looking up, she said 'sorry' with a shrug. As she was about to dodge the interrupter and walk forwards, the person blocked her path by shifting himself to the right. She felt annoyed but she was too preoccupied with her thoughts to let someone distract her.

'Excuse me', she said, shifting to the left and trying push past the person.

'Hey', a voice piped up, 'I think I've seen you before!'

She looked up at the stranger, very annoyed. The frizzy haired boy who was smiling at her seemed to be completely unfazed by her scornful look.

'Are you from around here?' he asked, 'I just moved here a few days ago! My house is down that road', he pointed at a road behind her which she fully well knew was the road that led to her neighborhood. 'You go to Frederique College?'

She looked at the stranger closely. Of course it wasn't a surprise that every college student in the vicinity went to the college which was closest to them. Besides, Frederique was considered the best in the whole area. Her surprise was however at the fact that he knew she was a college student.

'How did you know I'm from Frederique?' She asked inquisitively. He smiled.

He shifted his weight to a side and casually putting his hands in his pockets. 'I m also starting the fall at Frederique. I saw you when I came in for registration...at the entrance of the library', he said, shyly. Ru smiled. She did always spend time at the library and loved reading books, so it wasn't a surprise that he had seen her there.

'New student? Oh, you're gonna be thrilled to be acquainted with all the indifference. "The Who's Popular clique-making" you know', she couldn't help saying with a non-committal shrug. He sensed the sarcasm in her voice and gave her a long hard look and for a second she saw something shift in his eyes.

Ru was particularly irritated about everything that night including the fact that someone was actually talking to her. Even the thought of going to college was a grim one, despite the fact that she was going to start a new year in the fall and was supposed to be overjoyed at the prospect of being 'a senior'. However, she wasn't in the mood for a pleasantries.

She regretted after she'd said it out loud. It wasn't her intention just rattle out a snarky comment. Before she could rectify her error she saw a genuine smile appear on the stranger's lips as he looked at her with interest. Then he laughed softly. She noticed that his eyes twinkled when he laughed.

'I can't say I'm more thrilled than you are', the stranger said, 'wasn't particularly with the in-crowd before either'.

She gave a small smile, he seemed to be a nice person. He looked at her with an unreadable expression on his face. Was it curiosity? Was he amused?

Suddenly it occurred to her that it was pretty late. The sky above them was adorned with stars. A nice breeze was flapping at their coats. She looked up at the stranger and smiled for the first time that week. After a few seconds of  a strangely comfortable silence she spoke up.

'I really need to go uh-' she stopped short trying to recall his name and realized he hadn't told her.

'Sam', he said quickly, lifting a hand briefly.

'Ruera', she responded as she waved at him and sprinted back down the street. She swerved her feet into the road leading towards her house and disappeared around the corner.

Sam stared at her disappearing figure as he stood there on the side of the road. After a couple of minutes he turned around and walked in the opposite direction.

This chapter is sort of like an introduction to the protagonist but this also contains stuff that'll help you understand the references in the story as you move forward. In case y'all wanna know who I am, I'm an extremely enthusiastic writer and a College student myself. Hope y'all enjoy it! It's not perfect but it's an effort on my part to do something I love xx