Under the Rose

Chapter 4 | A Convenient Friendship

"Oh my God, Ellie, you look like hell!"

My droopy, bloodshot eyes slowly looked over at Jessica as she expressed her worry aloud. Of course, I looked like hell; I met a resident from there. Sunday went by with me spending most of my time in my room, hoping not to see Caus for a day or two. What he did on the hiking trail . . . it was uncalled for and just cruel. I wish he had done it to me, instead; that man didn't deserve something like that, especially when he had no part in anything. I didn't even know if he killed him. Well, if he meant to scare the shit out of me, it worked. I didn't sleep at all last night, and now it's Monday. To make matters worse, I have a freaking chemistry test. Well, lucky for me, I decided to use my insomnia to study. Maybe one thing was going to go right today.

"I know," I eventually replied, gathering my textbook and binders for next period out of my locker. "I couldn't sleep last night."

She frowned. "You didn't make curfew, did you?"

"Actually, I did, thank God. Mom probably would've had me rebuild the barn yesterday if I hadn't."

She patted my shoulder with a look of relief and understanding. Then she grinned. "Hey, but my party was pretty fun, right? It was worth it?"

I rolled my eyes and closed my locker, heading in the direction of my English class. "Sure. It wasn't complete shit; I'll give you that."

"Oh, whatever," she huffed, breaking away to go down a separate hallway. "I'll see you after school, Bear."

My head snapped in her direction as she waved at me with her girlish smile. I stopped in my steps to class, and she did the same with a look of confusion when she saw my shocked face. She never used that nickname before. No, there was no reason for her to call me that. That was something only Caus said.

"What did you just call me?" I asked, voice quivering slightly.

She looked even more confused. "Ellie. That's your name, unless you've lied to me for the past thirteen years?"

I shook my head. I'm going insane. "Right. Sorry. I'm just tired. I must've heard wrong." I was so paranoid; I was hearing things that reminded me of him.

She sent me a worried look. "I'll try to bring you an energy drink before your lunch break is over. Hang in there!" She curled her pink-painted nails into her palm to form a fist, giving me a stance of encouragement before she headed off to class.

I smiled a little, despite my crappy mood. She would always skip half of her history class to come see me at lunch whenever she wanted to talk to me about something or just to hang out. She got caught once or twice, but that never stopped her. Though we never had any classes together, she would always find time to see me. She was a good friend.

The day went by at a painfully slow pace. It felt like I had been there for a whole day, yet it was only lunch time. I was close to walking out the front entrance several times. If I wasn't so worried about my grades, I probably would have left. I was exhausted enough to form a headache, and it was hard to keep my eyes open. Damn Caus. My life just became ten times harder because of his evil presence forcing its way into it. I needed to get rid of him, fast.

I didn't even go through the lunch line. I just went to the vending machines outside of the cafeteria and got a small bag of potato chips. Just as I was thinking about my inevitable situation with Caus, I spotted Camellia across the cafeteria. She was sitting with one other girl, laughing and talking. I almost cried. She was just the person I needed to talk to.