- having spacing issues as it resets for some reason, and wifi issues, sorry in advance...
Average words: 2804
Average reading time: 14 minutes
Reviewed: no
The smoke had penetrated between her dried lips, down to her collapsing lungs.
It's gas tore its way through her trachea, burying deep into her airway. Each attempt to claw it away had only found it worthless. Her soft skin was covered in scratches, decorated in splotches of dirty crimson blood; the sensation burned like a thousand needles piercing her skin.
Whoever they were, they were anything but forgiving as acidic fog burned her body between realities. Her vision became blurry in an obsidian hue, she finally gave in at peace.
She would never be able to see them again, to say sorry for everything.
y/n's life faded from her eyes, she was knocked out cold.
.
.
.
.
.
"When I call your name please say here or I will be marking you absent."
Everyone had a group of friends they'd hang out around with to gossip their souls away. In class, it was just the same. There was not one person that hadn't been talking to one another, all the students hovered around one another. The floors which were once a polished white, had been taking its usual toll of a dirty cream color.
The room was divided in rows of desks, each aligned perfectly alongside another.
Your face was plastered across the desk, squishing your cheeks into the crook of your arm. The air was cold as usual since there was scattered snow, but the school had a heater, so you didn't mind it much.
It'd been five months since you've moved here to be exact from the United States, while you're not exactly from there you'd call it.
Mom has business to do here, and it's not like I could say much.
New friends, new life, no work.
"And finals are coming up soon..." You groan. You peak out the side of your arm, picking at your nails you'd grown out in an attempt to distract your mind. It was loud, but it soon died down slightly.
Thankfully.
Out of the corner of y/n's eye, she noticed a feminine figure walk over to her. Her eyes scanned the figure from top to bottom before she stares at the woman, taking in her appearance.
"Oh, hello again Julie!" You smile, lifting a few stands of hair away from your face.
You always tried to not be awkward around her, but it always seemed impossible. She was popular, pretty, and oh so hot.
Julie fiddled with her hairpin, pushing the blond pool behind her ear. She was dressed in a navy blue T-shirt with a black jacket layered on top. It seemed like everything paired with jeans these days. The fabric looked as if it was made from the finest cotton in town, lucky to be rich.
Julie crossed her hands and put her chin down on y/n's desk. Now face to face, she grinned even wider. It was hard to not burn up of how close she ended up being.
"Hello again y/n, what's up with you?" Her eyes fit so well under the sunlight, well, for the most part.
You sigh, glancing back to the wall to your right.
"Obviously nothing, I'm ready to fail finals." y/n dragged her nails down her eyes, dragging the skin making a ghostly face with a pouty frown.
Julie snickered at your exaggeration.
"Oh don't worry I got that covered, I can message you the answers if you want."
Julie pulled out her phone and showed you a picture. It showed what seemed to be a picture of an answer key. I don't even think the tests were printed out yet.
You stare at it for a few seconds, then quickly shake your head.
"Where did you even get your hands on that?"
"One of the teachers pets ended up giving me."
Being cut off, the teacher yelled again.
"Come on, sit." He clapped his hands, glaring at the remaining students standing. His gaze fixated on the two of you, Julie soon sat down in the seat next to you. Her lips were puckered and pouty. Professor Adam was never a fan of Julie, which I could understand to a point.
"Calm down old man, take deep breaths we're going. If anything pay attention to the rest of the dweebs chewing horses in the back of the class." She brushed her hands in the air in a dismissive motion, glaring at a small group of girls who had hidden a bag of chips under their desk.
Professor Adams just glared even sharper. Julie just sighs.
"Alright, now that we've come to a resting stop. Take out your text books and turn to the page 469."
Some kids made an irritated face, others just complied with no complaint. You were one of those, taking out the dusty white covered textbook, you place it down on the desk to rummage through the pages.
Your mind starts to wonder off.
The sound of a lecture starts to disappear as you stare off into the pages next to you. Picking up a pen, you started to doodle.
'Its so cold here in Ormond, so I wouldn't be surprised if the pen dried up.'
You weren't used to the cold from your state, but you also didn't want to be a baby about it.
Flicking the pen to the side, you sigh. A sound of a fast buzz vibrated on your leg. Your phone had given you a notification.
It was decorated in your favorite colors and patterns. But to a bare minimum you kept it.
Y/n dragged her fingers across the keys, typing out into the box.
'V'
'0'
'7'
'P'
She hit enter, as soon as her home screen came up. It was from Julie.
Julie:
'so have you heard about the new exchange student that's coming over?'
y/n blinked a few times, glaring at the screen. Nobody ever mentioned anything about a student.
She was beyond curious. Her fingers grazed against the keys again.
'no I haven't, do we know anything about them?'
Julie:
'nah, they're just coming from somewhere far from Ormond.'
y/n shook her head. Usually nobody comes in late to the school year like this, so what's the case for this guy?
"Y/n are you even paying attention to what I'm saying?" The teacher eyeballs you, gripping the book close to his chest. He was standing not too far from your desk.
You flick your arm and look up at the teacher. Staring awkwardly.
"Phone, now." His hand placed itself Infront of my face. I was not giving him my phone, I'm not even failing.
"Hey she doesn't need to do that if she doesn't want to." Julie butts in, kicking her legs up on the desk. You shake your head and prepare to hand in your phone.
"No it's fine, really." You place your phone in his hand, almost waving it goodbye. The teacher turned on his heels to face your friend.
She looked at you with a deadpan face.
"You as well Julie, phone."
"What? What did I do?" She threw her hands up in a defensive motion, the teacher just throws his hands open in her direction too.
"Don't think you're slick, I saw both of you."
"Oh that's bullshit come on, we're not even failing your class at all. Cut us a break at least?" Julie frowns, shaking her head.
He slams his hands across the oak desk, scratching his nails at the crusting lamination. The horror of the sound of screeching table made you cringe, looking down to cover your ears.
"I told you I don't like when you swear in my classroom, as well as when you continue to talk back." He yells.
"You know what, I'll just give you both detention. I'll make sure you get your phones back today in trade."
Not only did you lose your phone, but you were sent to detention.
Did you wanna go? No, no you didn't.
Did you have to go? Yes you did.
It would kill you to hear how disappointed your father was, you always loved your parents. It wasn't like you to do anything bad, so when Julie offered to skip, you kindly declined. To be fair, it was her fault.
The halls were emptied out of students, most had already headed out to lunch. Either out of campus or in the café.
"You're such a goody two shoes," she giggles.
"You know me, c'mon I can't have you ditching either." You sigh, you dust off your shirt.
"You're the one who got us in real trouble..." You mumble the last part to yourself
Y/n was always trying to keep her somewhat in check, it's the least she could do to keep her from getting herself into issues.
"So..." Julie presses her fingers together in a cutesy motion, trailing off into a murmur. You raise your brow.
"I plan on throwing a party at my place while my parents are out at work." Julie turned to face you, walking backwards.
Not shocked upon hearing this, you stare at her intensely.
"So let me guess, you're askin' me to come join?" She skipped around you and grabbed your shoulders. Julie had a glint in her eyes, in a pleading manner.
"It won't kill you to come."
"You know I don't do parties, let alone people."
Resting your hand on hers, you take them off you and throw your hands up. Stopping at the class door.
"Mrs. Popular you forget who you're talking to, I'm not social enough to engage into conversation with others." You roll your eyes, shivering.
"Not to mention I don't wanna see people sucking each others faces off in the corners of the room. Maybe even worse."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure you're ok. At least make one new friend, you can stay with me if you'd like if you're a big baby. Or one of the others."
Clasping her hands together, she opens the door. Written on the whiteboard read 'Detention' in big bold black letters. You notice an elderly white woman sitting in front of the classroom reading a book, and a few other kids sitting across the seats. It was a pretty dim, grim room.
"Never seen her before," Susie whispered in a hush tone, her hand covering her mouth.
You and Susie share a glance before walking up to the lady. Not even sparing a glance, she spoke in a muted harsh tone.
"Sit in the desks apart. No talking, no phones, no drawing, nothing at all. If I catch you disobeying, goofing off, doing anything intolerable in detention, I will happily send you to the office where they can deal with your sorry asses if they so please."
With a wave of her hand, she dismissed you two to a desk. You weren't expecting someone nice, but you weren't expecting her to be rude either.
Slouching in a desk, you put your head down. Julie did the same, winking at a few boys while taking a seat.
It was going to be a long day.
"Sit up straight, take your head off the desk, and young lady take your legs off the desk!" The woman called out, you immediately sat up. Julie eventually sat right as well. You just wanted your phone back and to go home.
The sun began to set behind the mountains in the distance, the sun's beams were grasping each window with whatever it had left. It was around five past noon, you were walking to pick up your phone
"I'll catch you tomorrow y/n, I have to get home soon before my mom gets on me." Julie shouts from down the halls. Turning your head, you notice she's already at the front doors.
"See you tomorrow!" With a wave goodbye, she left the school.
Everything was quite quiet after that, you had stopped by your teachers room to pick up your phone. The door was opened already, you see your teacher sitting in his desk.
"Go ahead, I expect better from you y/n." He nodded at you. You squint your eyes, you weren't fond of people expressing disappointment. But to be fair, you'd expect nothing less.
"Thank you, have a good day." With not a spare glance, you prep your backpack upon your shoulders and exit the room. The halls were pleasantly silent, no kids or teachers running back and fourth either. It was a good time to set back and relax.
I look at my phone, no scratches thankfully. Through the doors, it was already started to chill up again. Small bits of slow flakes fell from the sky, eventually landing on your nose.
"Now if it's gonna snow, I might just go home." You kick a rock along the way to the sidewalk, it flew sideways into a decaying bush. Right by the rock, it landed by a coin.
'it might be a sign, a good sign perhaps.' You initially thought. But that was just a convince for what was happening later. You pick up the coin, inspecting the edges. It was dirty, you couldn't tell how old it was.
Aside from that,
The air was becoming thinner, chillier, and it was becoming dark.
Throwing on a pair of headphones, you open Spotify. Scrolling through each song, they were all good of course. Your screen was almost like ice, you press on a song, cranking the volume up.
It was already 7PM, your parents would be coming back soon to check on you. But it wasn't too late to relax, you decided it was a good time to go to the park.
"I'm tired of these, I need something new." You stated, sitting down on a bench. You changed your song a few times before settling on one of your old favorites.
You browse through your Twitter feed, seeing nothing interesting. Each post was some verified influencer, you were quite bored of it. Sighing, you look around. The chilly breeze blew by as snowflakes started to fall from the sky. The street lights illuminated the walkways with a bright orange hue, bushes, and the pond.
It was a beautiful sight.
Until you notice someone standing in the distance.
You turn down your volume, and slowly take out your earbuds. Carefully not to make any loud noise, you quietly shift back away from the person. Their focus was on something else. You could hear voices starting to come to form, but nobody else was around but them. Probably on a call?
They were pretty tall, standing guard by a tree. Wearing a dark blue hoodie and some cargo jeans. Looked like he had something in his hands. Something shiny, something sharp. Unbeknownst to you, they already knew you were here.
You were too tired to deal with a potential mugger, maybe even some drug dealer waiting for their buyer to come around.
You stand your guard up, turning back where you'd came from previously.
You question.
As seconds went by, you stare at the spot ahead of you. You looked across the sidewalk to find someone in case there were more weirdo's lurking.
Thankfully, you didn't see anyone.
Of course, see is a strong word of sense.
Walking back home, you feel eyes watching you. In fact there probably was. Deciding you didn't want to die today you had picked up your walking pace to your house. Unlocking the door to your home, shutting it right after.
"I'm home!" You called out, no response. Surely they'd be home by now.
The keys dangled from the hook as you put them away, searching the fridge for a snack. Pulling out a piece of cheesecake, you walk up the stairs. It was already quite dark, the clock already hit 1am. It'd been 6 hours which was a while.
Your room was covered in dirty clothing, crumpled school papers, and DVD's of your favorite series. Careful to not step on anything important, you sit on your bed.
"I should clean this up." Placing the plate on your nightstand, it clinked upon impact. Making a loud sound as it set.
'I think I should be a bit more productive.'
You pondered, smiling at the thought of a more neat space. Well it's the thought that counts, kind of. Cleaning was not something anyone liked to do, in this case right now that was you.
"I'll do it later." Shrugging, you open your phone to message your friends.
'any1 up?'
You sent the message, waiting for a response. A few minutes passed by, nobody responded. Maybe it was best to hit the hay. Turning off the lights, you sink into the covers.
Susie:
'sorry was doing my homework.'
You turn on your phone, Susie was awake. Which was slightly unusual for her, having to go to bed around 11 because of her parents.
'You're sure putting in effort'
Susie and you have been friends for around four months. A little less then Julie. Despite such short time, you two knew a decent amount of each other. Especially compared to everyone else, she might know more the Julie.
S
usie:
'Yeah, I need to get this project done by this Friday. Anything bothering you? :)'
You think at the moment before you'd encounter, was it wise to tell about it was the question.
'not much, parents are out later then usual. Ran into someone at the park, probably some drug dealer.'
You laugh at the remark you make, sending a heart emoji to your group chat.
It was getting late, not to mention the fog was kicking up.
Plugging in your phone, you close your eyes. Waiting for sleep to take you over. You hoped to stop by her house tomorrow to say hi.