Mackenzie's P.O.V
I stirred behind closed eyelids, her mind ceasing nightmarish mode to bring me back to wakefulness. At first, my breathing was erratic. The ceiling of my room came into view as my vision adjusted. I was slightly confused; I hadn't turned on the fan before she went to sleep since it was frighteningly cold last night but I smiled at the realization that the sound wasn't a fan but the rain. I could tell the rain had been falling steadily without letting up since before I woke. As I glanced out the window, the rising sun was bearly lighting up the heavily soaked fall foliage.
I lay there, in the dark, awake, just listening to the heavenly soundtrack, slowly reeling from a mental ache, blaming it on the anxiety surrounding Winter Break but it might have been something else. I'd been losing sleep for a couple of weeks now and grades were paying the price. I had just recently started pulling myself out of the rut, bad juju and all.
Closing my eyes, I whispered a prayer to myself that only I could hear. Well, a prayer meant only for His ears. I hadn't been praying a lot. I was distracted and was ignoring the fact that I needed to make time for Him. Maybe all of this stress that was getting to me was a message. A message to seek him out. Mom had always told me that the rain was a blessing, a sign that good things were coming. I really hoped it was because I need a pick-me-up, a release from the anxiety, and clarity for things that worried me, I didn't know what I needed, I just knew I needed something.
The rain wasn't the angry kind. It was heavy enough so one could hear it without it stealing umbrellas. Something about this rain had me more relaxed than I had been in days and I was in no hurry for the gloominess to end.
The early morning had finally begun to light up, though surprisingly bright, I let the serenity of the rain chill me from the inside out, goosebumps eroding my skin like ripples in a pond, it made the skin on my arms feel slightly tender. Pulling the covers closer to my body, I allowed the warmth to seep into me. Besides, the rain, it was silent, a little too quiet, so much so, that the campus seemed like it was completely asleep. It made me wonder who else was awake experiencing this serenity in wonderment.
Winter Break was right around the corner and a part of me didn't want to go home, but the other half couldn't wait. I could already hear the thousands of questions I would get asked and how my allergy would act up when I lied about it. I sighed, deciding that I had to tell them about Xavier and me and that the break would be the best time to. My mind drifted from anxiety-filled thoughts to something way less stressful. Most likely because it wasn't happening to me.
I glanced at the Christiano Ronaldo poster that hung on the wall. I could hardly make it out in the dark but I knew it was a shirtless glossy poster of him, one that I'd come to know all too well. Especially since it was ritualistic for Anna to make out with poor Ronaldo... to ensure she had a good day, for luck. Truthfully, I hated that for Anna; I couldn't imagine being in her shoes nor could I imagine having to rely on a poster to have a good day. But who was I to judge... To many, I was just as bad, relying upon an imaginary guy in the sky to fix my problems.
I looked over at Anna who was deep in sleep, wrapped head to toe in thick blankets. I was glad she'd been getting some rest, maybe it was the sugar from all the ice cream last night but at least she wasn't crying anymore.
Last night...
"I don't know, Mac." Anna hummed out as her eyelids fell victim to gravity and slowly closed, "Something about him doesn't add up."
When she said that, I stopped caressing her hair to look at her, "He seems normal to me," I shrugged.
She opened her eyes, sighed and sat up, "He's... H-he's not normal. Not a normal guy at least."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"He's the popular guy but hardly has friends, girls want to say they've been bedded by him but he doesn't sleep around and he's cool about buying tampons?"
"Pads." I corrected her.
"Whatever," She dismissed it, "Same thing." She laid her head on my lap again, closing her eyes. "He's hiding something, I can feel it." I thought back to what Anna, high on sugar, had said. Tristen was unusual. I needed to stay away from him regardless of who he was or what he was about. I hadn't any luck with men, that's what the checklist was for.
"Um... Anna, you haven't left the room in a couple of days," I began, "I- er... I think you need to go out, clear your head, you know? Have a good time." I promise not to embarrass you like the nerd I am."
"Yeah, sure..." She trailed off.
"So how about the soccer game tomorrow at school? I know you're a fan of CR7."
"Fan is an understatement."I glanced at the glossy poster, and silence ensued for a moment, I thought she was considering what I had said until I looked down at Anna to see a sleeping beauty. I rolled my eyes at the attempt I had made last night to cheer her up.
It's later in the day and the rain stopped, though it still appeared a little bleak. After a quick breakfast and an early shift at the cafe, Anna and I headed to Professor Simms' office to drop off that new rewrite. I saw him enter his office, briefcase in hand as he had just finished up a class. "Wait here, I'll be a minute," I told Anna.
"Can I just go home?" She whined, leaning against the wall in a black hoodie with cheese stains from the sandwich she ate this morning and grey sweatpants and a pair of black Sketchers.
"Anna, you said you would go out today. You can't back out now."
"I don't remember any of that." She continued complaining, "I wasn't even thinking straight, I was high on a sugar rush and that wouldn't hold up in court. I didn't sign a contract."
"It was a verbal contract," I rolled my eyes at her pathetic attempt to swindle out of this.
"The impaired party was incapable of understanding what I was agreeing to."
"You ate four ice sandwiches, and drunk on sugar you decided to drive a conversation about Tristen about him being unusual which could endanger your passenger: me! According to the court, you should be pulled over and be taken to jail."
Anna said nothing for a moment as if rethinking our whole exchange, "Fair point," she groaned, "Hurry up, dweeb."
"Dweeb?" I asked offended, "What did I do to deserve being called that?"
"You're always wearing hoodies, that's such a dweeb thing to do."
"Because it's cold," I replied, thinking that her dissing capabilities had shrunk massively since she became depressed.
"Yeah, but you're wearing one all the time." She indicated, sniggering a bit. She was basically saying that I had no sense of fashion.
"You shouldn't be one to talk, you're wearing one too so."
She folded her arms, visibly proud as she pointed to herself, "That's because I," she continued, "Am having an off day."
I sighed and rolled my eyes for hopefully the last time today, exhausted by this exchange, "Just let me drop this off real quick. Okay?" She nodded.
I approached Professor Simms' office and knocked on the door, "Come in." I heard him say.
"Hey Professor, just dropping off the rewrite." I laughed nervously. He could have refused to take it.
He sat behind his desk, tenseness in his shoulders, and a dead look on his face. There were tired lines on his face, "Yeah, you can leave it there." I'd never seen him look that way before, an expression so grim, it could cut. I swallowed hard. Then he spun around in his chair, looking out the window. I had fully prepared to beautifully explain why he should let this slide and take the essay that I worked so hard on but he just brushed it off. That, I was thankful for.
If his back wasn't turned to me then I'm sure he would see the weird look I gave him. As I turned to leave, I spotted something a familiar reddish-orange in a file cabinet. I stared at it for a while trying to discern what it was. My legs involuntarily moved toward the cabinet before my mind could think of woven fabric, encased in glossy plastic. "Is this- "
"Is there something else I could do for you, Grey?" Professor Simms asked as he was now facing me, leaning back into his chair. He stood up and took off his jacket and hung it on the back of his chair, then put his hands in his pocket, a stance that made me feel as though, it was time to leave.
"I lost a sweater and-"
"Are you ready yet?" Anna asked as she popped her head into the office, looking around. I looked at the glossy plastic once more before turning to look at Mr. Simms and then at Anna before mouthing to her, "What are you doing?!"
"I'm so sorry Professor, she's not thinking straight. She breathed a little too much smoke from that Biology experiment that went wrong, yesterday." I giggled to make it seem like a joke.
Anna picked up on what I was doing and she nodded, agreeing with me and trying to look jaded. I dropped the document onto his desk and headed out. "Thanks, Mr. Simms."
Professor nodded, "I hope your friend feels better."
We left and headed to the bleachers on campus. I slapped her shoulder when we got out, "Are you crazy? He's the dude that grades my papers. Haven't you heard of knocking?"
"You were gone for longer than a minute. I thought you needed saving," She shrugged, walking off in front of me. We got to the soccer game early just before it started we settled down. The school's soccer team was running out onto the field and waving to their school. There were a lot of people here, mostly girls to watch the guys get sweaty and take their shirts off or dads pressuring their sons to be soccer stars like they were in their time but still, a good turnout.
"There are a lot of people here, Mac, are you sure you don't want to leave," She spoke, sensing my uneasiness.
"Good try but we're staying," I told her, refusing to give in to her sketchy plan to let me let her leave.
She laughed, for the first time today. A knowing one, she must've noticed that I knew what she was trying to do. The soccer team huddled together, in front of their coach. A blonde hair guy moved away from the team, searching the crowd. Our eyes met for a second then he looked away, stopping to look elsewhere, smirking while he did so, before rejoining the team. Anna was suddenly stern and quiet, her shoulders tensed up and I saw her gulp. "Hey, I'll be back," She said getting up.
"Where are you going?" I asked concerned.
"Uh, the- m-my stomach doesn't feel so good."
"Okay," I started getting up, "I'll come with-"
"No, no, no!" I was taken aback by her sudden outburst. She cleared her throat, and let out a slight scoff, "Mac, the bathroom is right around the corner, I'll be fine."
I looked at her warily, "I'm a big girl, I can manage." She patted me on the back which I thought was awkward but I ignored it. Anna was going through a lot, maybe she just needed a little space. "I'll be right back."
The game was about to start and I sat there, uncomfortably in the crowd of noisy people. They were a group of girls sitting in front of me. The black girl with the long green braids said to the group, "Do you see him?"
"Ooh, ooh, there he is," another with a whiny voice shrieked, "Damien is so jacked."
"He can taste my fortune cookie anytime," announced the Asian girl to her friends," She said it so boldly that her friends laughed and bumped her shoulder. She covered her mouth to muffle her sniggers and I, the unlucky eavesdropper was bruised for life. What was worse was that they were talking so loud that I couldn't not listen to their conversation.
Then someone sat beside me, right where Anna was sitting moments ago. He had a black hoodie on, a pair of shorts and a cap. What's with everyone and black hoodies lately, I thought. He kept his hood up, "Excuse me, I'm saving this seat for someone."
The person didn't reply. He just sat there, staring at the field. "Excuse me, but you can't sit here. This is where my friend's sitting."
He didn't budge. I couldn't see his face and that creeped me out. He avoided my gaze purposefully, his shoulders slumped. He took the backpack off the ground that was in front of him. Out of it, he grabbed a white envelope and put it on the seat as he got up. My name was written on it, not one that anyone called me but mine nevertheless: Doogie.
My limbs felt numb, I shook my arms to bring life into them. Millions of tiny creatures on the inside of my limbs ran around in panic, my heart sped up as I picked up the envelope, pushed my hand in and took out a phone with a pair of AirPods. I swiped the lock screen open, the screen saver was blank with the word 'recording' and an icon of a mic. I skipped through the phone. Seeing if there was anything else there.
It must've meant that I should go to the recording icon on the phone, so I did. There was only one audio. I put the AirPods in and clicked on the audio. I listen for a while. Then I heard it. Fear submerged my entire body in its webs, paralyzing me. My breathing was ragged. The atmosphere must have been feeding off my emotions. The sky looked darker and a boom of thunder clapped. Lightning flashed and I looked down onto the field. The game was just about to start when the blonde-haired boy looked at me again, eyes gazing into mine. He smirked as he held my gaze. I wanted to look away from the fear I was feeling. My chest tightened. I was falling again, into that precipice.
I clenched the muscles in my body. The referee blew the whistle and he finally broke the stare. The lightning flashed, the bright white line in the sky was obvious against murky clouds and on cue, the thunder followed. The game started and I looked off into space blankly. I stopped the recording as soon as I did. The rain came pouring down.
To be continued...