Casey’s POV
It seemed as if a sudden gust of wind had blown all the rats away, leaving nothing but horror filled memories. I blinked, surprised when all I saw were the curious looks of students, most just staring at me as if I were crazy.
Maybe I am.
The rats had all gone, everyone seemingly calm as their focus shifted from the play to me. Even the actors had paused on stage, and in my peripheral vision I could see some worried faculty members making their way towards me.
What happened? Was that just a hallucination? But I could have sworn that I felt something on my shoulder…
With a thousand eyes still watching me, I turned behind me to see the boy with blonde hair from class looking at me strangely too.
“Hey, I didn’t mean to startle you, I just wanted to know if you were enjoying the play.” He sounded sincere, and his eyes shone with guilt. Yet it felt like his whisper had resounded through the entire room, and I was nearly positive that everyone could hear his quiet tone. It was deathly silent in the room, almost as if time had paused.
Then something clicked. He touched my shoulder? Was that what I felt? It wasn’t a rat?
“Y-you put your hand on my shoulder?” I muttered in disbelief, wondering how I could be so stupid. I knew it was a hallucination, knew that a flood of rats would never happen. All rationality had left me however, once I came face to face with my deep fear of rats.
He nodded, and I felt my face grow hot from the embarrassment. My eyes scanned the room wildly, the stares now too intense for me to handle. I felt as if the room was closing in on me, and I felt myself start to gasp and sputter, my lungs refusing to take in air.
Oh god, how could I be so stupid? I’ve made such a fool out of myself! Freaking out like that when I knew it was a hallucination, I should have just blocked it out; I should have just ignored it.
“Look, I’m really sorry I sc—“
“I have to go!” I choked out, all of the attention too much to handle. I moved past the other students, shoved my way past the teachers trying to ask me questioms, but even as I bolted out the door and up the stairs, I could still feel their eyes trained on me. I rushed through the halls, desperately looking for someplace to just be alone. I would have just left the school if I had some place to go; I just didn't want to worry my parents anymore with this latest episode.
Memories continued to bombard me, and I could only imagine what it must’ve looked like when I stood up and screamed for seemingly no reason. But I could still see the shiny black wave as it permeated through the room; I could still hear the other students screaming and pleading for the rats to go away. It all seemed so real, it felt so real..
“No, obviously it wasn’t real. You’re just stupid for believing in such a ridiculous hallucination.”
“God, how much more idiotic can you get?”
“Even we could tell, and we’re just figments of your imagination!”
“Go away!” I shrieked, clawing at my skull, trying to get the voices out. They were like a knife to my gut after my heart had been shattered by a bullet. I didn’t understand how they could even be here right now, I took my medicine, they should be gone!
Fumbling around my pockets, I desperately searched for my ipod and headphones, needing an escape. When my fingers came up empty, I could feel all the color drain.
No, no, no no. This can’t be happening. Where is it? Where is my ipod??
I felt myself sliding down the cold metal lockers, hands half-pulling half-covering my ears as if that would somehow block out the voices that radiated from within.
“Oh look, the moron lost her ipod,” one of them sneered.
“That was the only thing that you actually loved, and you were stupid enough to lose it?”
“Ha, this just proves that she’ll lose anything that she loves. Including anyone.” My eyes were closed tightly now, my teeth grinding against one another.
“Haha true! She’s destined to be alone. Look at the bright side Casey, at least you still have us,” another taunted.
“Casey—“
“Shut up! Shut up, all of you!” I screamed, still wondering why the medicine hadn’t taken effect. It should be forcing all the voices and hallucinations away, at least for a little while. I just wanted a bit of peace, a feeling of normality for a bit. Is that really too much to ask?
“Uh, I didn’t say anything, and it’s just us in the hallway,” someone coughed awkwardly, and my eyes shot open, vision blurry. I looked upwards to see the boy whose name I still did not know. But his grey eyes were both filled with concern and confusion.
The momentary distraction caused me to forget about the voices, with them becoming a distant hum. It provided me with a temporary relief. Yet I could already feel their presence starting to reappear again.
Standing up, I brushed off the imaginary dust. “Sorry, that wasn’t meant for you,” I apologized quickly, mentally fighting the voices off for as long as I could. I think I’ve had enough mental breakdowns for today.
He let out a chuckle. “It’s cool, I figured you weren’t. But you do have me curious, what’s wrong?”
I shook my head, brown waves bouncing around my shoulders. “It’s none of your concern, I know you must think I’m a nut,” I admitted. Silence was bestowed upon us, and I could feel my heart starting to pound erratically. I feel them, the voices returning… With that thought, I blurted, “Shouldn’t you still be at the play?”
“Oh right, I came out here to give this back to you. You dropped it on your way out.” He held out his hand, and my eyes widened when they found my ipod nestled in his palm.
I quickly snatched it, the worry leaving my body. Good, I’m glad to finally have it back again. I turned it on, putting in an earbud, feeling alleviated already. I could feel my mind being filled with the beats and the bass, coarse voices being drowned out by the melodious voice of the singer.
“What? No thanks?”
Pulled out of my moment of mitigation, I realized that we were both still standing in the hallway.
“Oh, t-thanks,” I stuttered out automatically, mentally pinching myself for forgetting my manners. Just because I liked to be distant from people doesn’t mean I should be rude, I scolded myself.
He let out another light-hearted chuckle, before waving it off with a slight shake of his head. “I was kidding, no need to thank me.” His grey eyes found mine again, before he spoke once more. “Anyways, are you going back to the play?”
Now I looked at him as if he were the crazy one. Then I furiously shook my head. “No way,” I responded curtly.
“Why not?”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I’m serious.”
I lifted my brow slightly. “After the embarrassing scene I caused? No thanks.” I felt a shudder as I remembered the rats, and I couldn’t decide what was more terrifying; having to face being in that room again, or my peers. Either way, if I didn’t go back there, I wouldn’t have to deal with either of them.
“It wasn’t that bad…” he mumbled, averting his eyes.
“Right. Sure it wasn’t.” I scrutinized him for a moment, determining that he was definitely lying. We both knew it was pretty bad. “Anyways, thanks for the help, but I think I’ll be off now.” I started to walk off, when I was halted.
“Wait, I never caught your name.” I looked down at my wrist, where his hand was securely clasped around it. Then I looked to meet his eyes.
Those pretty grey eyes.
“Casey,” I told him. “Casey Adams.”
“Cool, I’m Dakota Kels, but you can call me Kody.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay,” he responded, and I burst out laughing. “What?” he questioned.
I shook my head. “Nothing,” I replied grinning. Then I looked pointedly where his hand was still around my wrist. He followed my line of sight, before blushing and retracting his hand. I almost missed its warmth. Almost.
“Whoops, sorry.”
“It’s fine. But really, I better be going off now.” This time I really did walk away ,but not before calling out, “Maybe okay will be our always!”
There was a small silence, before I guess he registered The Fault in Our Stars reference. He let out a bellowing laugh, and I decided that I liked the sound of him laughing. It wasn’t often that I had a conversation this long with someone other than my family or the various practitioners that I saw, much less make someone laugh. It felt nice to know that even I could be funny… sometimes.
“Or maybe that’s too mainstream!” I heard him yell from down the hall.
I turned on my heel and continued to walk backwards so I could yell, “Maybe it’s not!”
“Maybe it is!”
I just shook my head, internally laughing as I continued back towards my classroom. I couldn’t resist looking back one more time to find him still watching me as I walked away.
A smile slipped onto my face as I wandered back into the classroom.
“Kody,” I said quietly, despite the fact I was the only one there. “Maybe, just maybe…”
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Another chapter! :3 Unedited - again sorry if it's not up to par. But Camp NaNo doesn't allow me the time to edit and fix everything cx I hope you enjoy none the less!
Also, for ship names, I was thinking Casota :D What do you think?