"You look like shit go take a shower." The voice informed me the second I woke up.
Please leave me alone, I thought.
Silence.
I heaved myself out of bed and grabbed my small bag. I stuffed it with some clothes and my shampoo and conditioner. I slowly walked down the hall and out of the cabin. Pushing down my probably frizzy hair I looked towards the mossy ground. There were several people walking around and some teachers who were trying to get them to chill out.
No, I'm serious, I swear I hear one of the younger teachers yell, "Chill!"
I begged for no one to take notice of me. Especially Ty.
I rubbed my eyes and took another agonizing step towards the bathrooms.
Oh god, I feel like shit, for just leaving him there.
"You should." The voice told me.
I let out an audible groan and rolled my eyes right as I got to the door.
I took my key and unlocked the door, and walked inside. There were sounds of water running already so I walked to the nearest corner and closed the curtain behind me and hooked it on the wall.
I shed the clothes that I had fallen asleep in last night.
Is it possible to ignore someone you are so attracted to it hurts?
I started to wonder all sorts of things as the water hit my head. I wanted to cry. Why the fuck does it have to be me? Out of all the people in the world I could have been, I get to be the crazy girl with a voice in my head.
Who knows it could just be a phase. A thing I'm going through. It'll stop.
The voice laughed. It was cold and bitter. "Ha. Funny."
I leaned my head against the cold tile and hit it a few times.
"How do I get you to stop?" I asked.
Nothing.
When the water started to run on the colder side I turned it off and wrapped myself in a towel. After drying off I put on my black sweater and jeans. After I wrung out my hair I let it air dry so I could braid it later and walked out of the bathrooms.
"Ella!" My name was called from somewhere off to my right. I turned to see Cam and Ian. They motioned for me to walked over. I slung my bag across my back and went over to them.
"Did Bear Scare commence yet?" I asked.
They shook their heads and set down the yogurts they were eating.
There was a slightly uncomfortable silence, which left me tapping my leg and wringing my hands.
Cam finally broke it, "What happened last night?"
"Huh?" I played dumb.
"Don't- Erm... Ty was well, I don't know." Cam stuttered.
Ian jumped in, "He was a bit, off."
"I don't- um..." I stuttered at a loss for words.
What do I say? Oh, yeah I started hearing a voice in my head but it's totally just a normal Tuesday! No need to worry.
I scoffed and rolled my eyes at myself. It felt nice to have my other inner voice back.
Too soon?
Yup.
"Say it." the voice snarled at me.
I shook my head the slightest bit but they caught it. Of course, they did. Guys are jerks, but not these two.
"You okay?" Ian asked with the smallest of head cock.
I shrugged and put on a fake smile. "I'm okay."
Although the thing is, I was the polar opposite of okay. I have a strange voice in my head, making me consider I'm actually going insane, I might have just ruined my chances with the Ty, and I just want to go home.
With that realization I turned on my heel, ending the small talk and marched my way to where the teachers were.
"I want to go home," I announced to the group of them.
Mr. Calp stood up and looked at me like I was crazy. "You can't go home. No one can leave until tomorrow."
I wrung my hands until they turned white. "I can't leave?"
"Not unless there is an emergency and you have a guardian pick you up." He shook his head sadly.
"Do you have a phone I can use?" I asked.
"There is one in the kitchen cabin."
Mr. Jin smiled and looked over, "Did you finish your assignment?"
Ah, yes I almost forgot. The whole reason this was happening was so we could get more accustomed to nature and respect the earth. Simple, spend more than fifteen hours outside.
I nodded, "I think I did."
"No, you didn't"
Shut up.
I smiled, "Thanks, I'll be going now."
"Did you mean the double meaning?" The voice asked in a calm way.
No.
"Oh, I thought it was clever." It said again, in an almost nice way.
I ignored it and found my way to the kitchen. There, a clunky pastel salmon phone on the wall. It came along with a long curly cord and thick touchpad. I dropped my bag to the floor and stood next to it.
I picked it up and debated calling Anastasia. She lives near here, I bet she could come pick me up. I decided against it and called T.
It rung a few times before he picked up, "Hello?"
"Taylor! It's Ella."
"I'm in Civics right now this better be good."
The teacher was a big believer in phones in class. Don't ask me why.
"Ah, after school today can you ask mom or someone to come pick me up?" I asked, terrified he would say no. His trip here last year was great. I'm sure he talked about it for weeks afterward. Not that I was jealous or anything...
"You really think they would stop their day to do that?" He sighed and I could hear the bitter disappointment leaking into his words. "You'd be better off just calling Aunt Tammy."
The voice sighed, "Your parents are terrible."
I ignored it but secretly agreed. It's true, they were.
I nodded and played with the cord, "Mmhm... Can you give me her number?"
"Uh yeah. One second."
I scrambled to find a piece of paper and a pen. There was some in the drawers next to me. I pressed the tip to the paper making sure it worked and told him to go.
He read the number to me. "Why do you want to leave?"
"I'll explain it all when I get home. Love you bye." I hung up the phone by pressing the little button instead of hanging it up.
I let out a small sigh and typed in the number Taylor game me. It rang for a few minutes like it was struggling to connect. I wouldn't be surprised. The thing came from the Triassic period.
There was a small click before Aunt Tammy's voice filled my ear. "Hello?"
"Hey, Aunt Tammy?" I tried to make my voice sound as preppy as I possibly could.
"Ara?" She asked, seemingly recognizing my voice.
"Yeah, hey um so- I'm at this getaway thing for my school, near your house, and I was wondering if you could pick me up?"
There was a shuffling noise, "Of course honey! Where is it?"
I explained to the best of my capabilities where we were. "It sounds like where we went camping last year. I'll call your school to make sure. Can you be ready and walk out to the parking lot at noon?"
"Yes! Oh, thank you so much, Tammy!" I exclaimed. Tears even filled my eyes. I wasn't used to this.
I wasn't used to people actually caring about me. Maybe that was my problem.
"No problem, thank you for calling me. Love you goodbye."
"Bye."
I put the ugly phone back into its place and leaned my back against the wall. I rested my head backward and took a deep breath.
She didn't even ask. She just dropped everything and offered her time to come to get me. I couldn't get over that fact.
"Stop running away from your problems." I winced at the sound of the voice.
It distracted me from the sound of the door closing and the footsteps. When it ceased to exist, the world resumed its natural course. Signing birds and people talking filled my ears again.
I opened my eyes and looked down to see Ty sitting on the kitchen countertop.
"Oh!" I jumped back and hit my head. "Ow," I clutched at my head as the world spun. How hard did I hit it?
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." he looked really uncomfortable and shy. His gaze kept going down to his feet and he wrung his hands.
"It's fine." I could feel a headache coming along. Again I shoved it down so I couldn't feel it anymore and turned to him.
"Can I talk to you?" Ty asked. He ran his hands through his hair and let out a long sigh. I shuffled my feet and put on a small smile.
"Um, yeah..."
He looked up and met my eyes, "In private?"
____
Well hello, how are you?
I'd like to address two things at this point and time. I'm sorry for not updating last Wednesday or Friday, and I won't be updating as often anymore.
I just don't have the time anymore and I'm very stressed out due to many things that I cannot speak of on here.
But yes. Just remember that I love you all!