Author note
Alright chapter 2! Let's get into it!
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But why are the donuts gone?
A single dull throb echoed through my mind. A moment later it passed again, more prominent. And again. Annoying… Slowly, my eyes flickered open. For a second or two everything was hazy, the plastered white roof tricked me into seeing an eternity of colourless landscape. But as my brain slowly began to correct my lagging vision, the walls and objects in my room started to become clearer to me.
Why was I laying on the floor? The greying carpet felt unfathomably soft underneath me, I brushed my hands against it, savouring the feeling. If it weren't for the irritable throb in my temple, I might have laid there forever. A single moment of clarity pierced my dizzy façade.
Something's wrong.
But as my vision began to waver yet again, the thought was quickly lost. I shifted slightly, I had to get ready for school… My plain wooden door creaked shut as I moved. I examined it for a split second before attempting to right myself. As I sat up, the relentless throb became increasingly louder, almost as if it were manifesting into a physical noise. Ignoring it, I pulled myself to my feet. Immediately falling back down.
What the hell was going on? Readying myself once more, I pulled myself up, swayed slightly, but never the less held my ground. School… Laptop. It was of course the first thing that popped into my mind every time I considered leaving the house. Without a laptop, I was helpless. It was my connection to the world, to my friends if I needed them. Almost effortlessly, I managed to slide my sleek, high performance laptop into its case and hang it over my shoulder with a practised grace.
I stood for a minute or two. I needed something else… What was it? Uniform. That was it. With a little bit of struggle, I finally got the navy blue blazer on and made for the door. For some reason I looked upon the house in a new light now, as if it weren't just the same old boring set of rooms. It was split into two stories, a winding staircase linking the two. All of the walls were washed white and carpet lined almost every floor, except for those that were filled in with wood instead. It was an open plan house, fairly modern and quite pleasing to the eye. As I studied my surroundings I recalled the reason why I preferred it in here rather than out there.
My legs seemed to remember how to walk properly by the time I had reached the front door and I pushed it open without a second thought. The cold morning air nipped at my face as I stepped outside, I shivered slightly. Well at least it wasn't snowing… Yet. As the season of summer was on its way out, fall seemed to become a foreign word, as winter quickly stole its position. The trees that overlooked the narrow street had already begun to shed their weary leaves and the grass had already started to crisp considerably.
Turning, I grasped the brass door handle and started to pull it closed. A flash of purple dashed across the small gap that still connected the interior to the outside world. I stopped… Purple? My eyes unfocused momentarily and the unanswered question excused itself from my mind. I shut the door, locking it, and crossed the small section of grass between the house and the well-worn street. It would certainly be an interesting day.
Everybody was staring at me.
Usually I would just blend in with the crowd and avoid drawing attention to myself. And yet today the other students seemed fascinated. I felt uneasy… They muttered things behind my back, phrases that were unrecognisable to me for some reason.
A teacher stood before me, blocking my path. She was a short woman, shorter than me anyway, and her hair was noticeably greyed from the stress of her job. She spoke something, although I was not sure exactly what it was she was saying. She took a sudden step towards me, and out of reflex I took one backwards. A sudden dizzy hit caused me to fall to the hard concrete floor below me.
I dreamed of purple. Not a single shade of the royal colour, but many varying shades. Some of them almost seemed pink, others almost, but not quite, blue. The simple notion caused me to flashback to the night before. Words formed one by one on the inside of my eyelids.
Danger.
Run.
Girl.
Protect.
I bolted upright. My eyes snapping open to process the scene around me. The large sanitized room reminded me of a hospital, as the school's first aid clinic always did. What the hell happened? My head was a mess. I couldn't tell if the memories I had were true or just random jargon. I groaned as I pressed my face into my hands, I had a terrible headache.
"Can you shut the fuck up?" A drowsy voice spoke from across the room.
I looked over at the figure who lay neatly tucked into a bed in the corner. Fiery red hair was the only visible feature, but I recognised the irritable individual immediately. Raven. She had been in almost all of my classes since third grade. We hated each other.
"What happened?" I asked, ignoring her question.
She followed suit and tucked her head under the small pillow, brought to school specifically for such a purpose. I sighed. The only thing the prick of a girl and I had in common was our sleeping schedule. Normally, we would both arrive in the mornings and make our way here, to catch half an hour or so of shut eye. Apart from that, she was loud, annoying, swore constantly and never expressed anything other than a disappointed frown.
The swinging double doors at the end of the room opened to permit a tall, white clad nurse. She was young, and good looking enough to make the majority of the schools boys cover up nose bleeds every time she passed. "Thank goodness." I starred at her as she walked towards me. "I was starting to think we might have to call the hospital."
My head tilted back down to the soft blanket that had been kindly spread over me. "What happened?"
I saw her smile in the corner of my eye. "First, do you remember your name?"
The question was an odd one, but I answered anyway. "David. David Verona."
"And how old are you, David?"
I started to sense the seriousness of the situation. "Seventeen."
She clapped her hands. "Good! You turned up with blood caked all over the back of your head. Minor concussion. I put a few stitches in."
"Blood? I-" Memories suddenly flooded my consciousness. The blinding light… Something had knocked me over… Everything was a little hazy after that, but I had the general idea.
My caretaker looked at me quizzically. "Just take a few minutes to make sure you're feeling alright. When you go back to class, take Raven with you."
We both turned our gaze to the girl in the corner. "Fuck off." She mumbled from underneath her pillow.
With a final reassuring smile, the nurse turned and departed the room.
I sat, still a little unsure of myself. Something had knocked me unconscious… But what? Slowly, I slid out of the cheap steel framed bed and stood up. My head spun for a moment, but it didn't discourage me. I found my belongings on the floor and threw both my laptop bag and my blazer over my shoulder.
As I stretched to expel the lazy feeling that plagued my muscles, Raven turned over to face me. If it weren't for the terrible personality she might be considered beautiful. Her face was angular, probably capable of possessing dimples if she ever smiled. Her eyes, a husky blue opposite of her hair. She watched me. I watched her. Neither of us found a reason to say anything.
She pushed herself up, strands of red fire hanging across her face. Yawning, she slid out of bed and stood in front of the exit. I rolled my eyes as I joined her, pushing the door open so she might pass. When we finally found our way out of the labyrinth that was the school medical bay, the fresh air was almost welcoming. The sun was surprisingly low in the sky. How long had I been out?
Yellowing rays of light streamed through every tree and every window we passed. Combined with the familiar silence that surrounded us, it was almost… Relaxing. The school itself was quite old, most of the buildings being made out of vibrant red brick that created eccentric archways and odd corners at almost every turn. It wasn't much all together, but it was as homey as a school could be and that suited me just fine.
We were almost half way to class when Raven deemed a conversation necessary, not that either of us knew how to keep one going. "Still single?"
I didn't turn my attention from the few birds I was admiring, they skipped across the ground in search of discarded crumbs, oblivious of the world around them. "You don't care."
She sighed. "You're right."
We walked the rest of the way in silence, past the green house and administration block, past the library and various classrooms, until we finally reached our homeroom. Annoyingly, it was on the third story of the tallest building in the school, which meant several trips up and down stairs every day. Raven pushed in front of me, flinging the door open and hesitating her grip for only a second so that I had just enough time to slip through.
"Where have you two been all day?" Our perplexed teacher asked.
Raven lay down across her desk in the back corner of the room. "Having sex."
The whole class stared at her as she lay exhausted, falling asleep almost as soon as she went down. She truly did not give a single care to her social image or the impacts her words might have on others.
I considered my options as the teacher who was pretty certain of her sarcasm, but not quite positive, waited for my answer. Denying it might satisfy the teacher but would just add fuel to fire among the students. Giving an outright affirmative answer would convince them all. A joke would make them laugh and they would most likely soon forget about the event.
I glanced over at the red haired form that lay sprawled across the chipped and well used wooden surface. She really didn't have any energy left. "Well, looks like I did a good job."
The guys in the room chuckled and the occasional girl let off a small grin, the teacher however, was unimpressed by my humour. "Sit down, David."
As I complied, my thoughts quickly returned to the happenings of last night. Minecraft huh? Was it a glitch? My knowledge of programming and game mechanics may be basic, but I know what I saw could be nothing but a feature of the game.
A stolen Dragon egg…
The bell rang its joyous little tune and the depleted students rose from their seats and marched lazily out of the old sliding door. The teacher cast a weary glance at the two remaining people in the room, but decided they weren't worth his time.
I complained only in my mind as I tore and scrunched up a piece of paper from my maths notebook, the various equations finally being put to use. Why was it always my job to look after her? I flung the paper missile across the room, narrowly missing the sleeping girl that was my target. It's not as if I was her personal alarm clock. Loading another round of ammunition, I aimed and fired in her direction. This time it hit her square in the face. She squirmed violently, startled by the unexpected hit. I grinned as the table began to tip and she fell heavily to the floor.
It was a moment before she emerged, her eyes just peaking above her now upturned mattress. They were eyes that contained nothing but hatred of the purest form. Wasting no time, I made my escape. "Don't spend the night here again." I called back as I descended the stairs.
The walk home was a long and uninteresting one, as per usual. It pissed me off to no end, seeing ever kid grin at me as they drove past in their expensive and polished cars, their parents serving as the pilots. It was almost as if the money just came to them, almost like their parents never had to work a day in their life. I couldn't exactly complain though… I mean even if it meant that she had to travel frequently, we still had a home to keep us warm and food to satisfy our hunger. I nodded as I dismissed my selfish thoughts. My mother worked hard for what we had, I should never compare her to anyone else. It was strange to be having these thoughts now. I usually did every time I walked home, and every time I came to the same conclusion, and yet the cycle always continued.
Finally, the wild looking strip of grass that surrounded my home came into view and I was unlocking the door before I knew it. As I pushed, the hinges creaked, like they all did in this mishap house. My eyebrows furrowed as I squinted into the darkness. All of the blinds were closed, and none of the lights were on… Odd, I don't remember turning them off. Mind you, I guess I wasn't exactly myself this morning.
Fumbling for the switch, the room was instantly illuminated. It was at this moment that I recognised I was no longer the sole occupant of number forty one Frankston Drive. We both froze in our steps. The girl before me was tall. Not quite as tall as me, if I stood up straight, but dangerously close. She wore nothing but a scuffed black hoodie that was far too big for her. The sleeves hung down, concealing her hands, and her legs were thankfully covered from just above her knees. The hood was drawn upwards to hide a vibrant curtain of bright purple hair, some might argue it to be magenta. But whatever it was, her eyes matched it perfectly. She was mesmerizing.
Cute.
Was the word that instantly popped into my mind. Despite all of this, it did nothing but add insult to the fact that a single glazed donut hung suspended from her soft lips, the remainder of the box cradled in her arm.
I swallowed, nervous and also a little irritated. "W- Who are you?" Her head tilted to the side, examining me. "And more importantly… Why are you eating my donuts?"
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ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER ALERT!
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Author Note:
Another chapter completed, hope you enjoy it!
(: