Forlorn. Desolate. Isolated.
I feel all these emotions plus a million more as I stand alone in a glaring white hallway that seems to stretch for miles. I begin to walk only to realize that there is no end. My mind cannot fathom the endless possibilities of what will happen if I remain stuck in this continued loop.
I speed up my pace, struggling for breath as I start to sprint. I sprint until I am lying breathless on the floor, my eyes blinded by the light.
I lie there for what seems like hours.
I hear the faint sound of a clock in the distance. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock.
I scream, covering my ears with my hands trying to block out the infuriating sound, but no noise comes out.
All of a sudden, my world turns black.
I stand up, touching the walls either side of me to guide me. As my eyes accustom to the abrupt darkness, I see a silhouette standing at the far end of the hallway.
My mother.
I try to start running towards her, but my feet don't move. I am glued to the ground, and my mother seems as if she is disappearing from sight.
I fight an inner battle with myself, forcing my brain to tell my feet to MOVE. One foot up, down. The next foot up, down. It works, but at such an excruciatingly slow pace that I grip my head and begin tearing at my hair out of frustration.
Suddenly I fall forward, my feet beginning to run at a normal pace. I recover quickly, still keeping my eyes trained on the figure that I am nearing.
The pitch black room begins to get lighter, if only just by a bit. I see the silhouette more clearly, and squint when I realize that they are moving forward.
"NO!" I yell, but my mother doesn't hear me. If she does, she doesn't acknowledge it; continuing walking as if nothing had happened.
I run, but yet again I feel like I am running through water. My legs are made of lead, and it takes all my effort to move them.
"Stop!" I scream, but my attempt at recognition has no effect.
My breath hitches in my throat when I see the figure morphing - morphing into something else, someone else? My eyes widen, and I see the figure of my mother change into someone different.
Harry.
The curly hair atop his head gives him away, and like my mother, he moves forward at a slow pace, while I scream and shout at him to stop.
But a different person doesn't mean a different reaction. Nothing.
Suddenly I see the end. The end of the never ending hallway.
But that is the thing. There is no end. A sudden drop; and I realize Harry is walking straight towards it.
I battle the demons holding me back, breaking through their metallic chains to burst forward. I rush to catch up to Harry.
Nearly there. Three more steps. Two. One.
Just as I reach out my hand to clutch at the hem of his shirt, he falls. He is falling, down, down, down. And I can't do anything about it.
I drop to my knees and let out a cry of anguish, clawing out my pain in bouts of screams and tears.
The hallway begins to lighten rapidly and I am temporarily blinded by the sudden change. I stand -
My body is covered in sweat as I jolt up, gasping for air. I glance around, grabbing the sheets of my bed for comfort. It was just a dream.
It has been four days since the incident, and my dreams have continuously been attacked by this recurring nightmare.
I lean over to reach my lamp, flicking the switch to turn it on. I flop back down onto my bed, squeezing my eyes shut.
Harry had found out about what happened unusually quick; although, come to think of it, his mother was working at the scene, so maybe it wasn't that unusual. He called me while I was in the hospital, asking me multitudes of questions ranging from "Are you okay?" to "Do you want me to bring you some chocolate?" I'd politely declined the latter.
They didn't find out who pushed her, or why they were at our house in the first place. It remained a mystery, though I know they are still looking into it and haven't closed the case just yet.
I check the time on my phone to see that it is 3:47 am. 3 more hours of precious sleep, if I can actually fall back into slumber before this inevitable Monday really begins.
Luckily I'd managed to skip school on Friday, but that only added fuel to the fire that I'd wanted to stay low and I'd received quite a few messages speaking their condolences. Which was nice, I'll admit, but I wasn't mentally and emotionally prepared to start openly talking about what happened.
It was especially big news because we were new in town. Things like this happen day in and day out but hardly ever to newcomers, and I think that's what everyone was so intrigued about.
The weekend passed relatively quickly and quietly, with no interruptions aside from Harry texting me that Dr K had extended the due date for our Biology project, to which I'd replied gratefully.
Other than that nothing of interest happened.
I turn onto my stomach, trying to find a comfortable position before resigning to a fetus like position, my knees curled up against my stomach. I feel my breathing slow down and eventually I drift off to sleep.
---
"Harold Edward Styles. It's a very royal name, isn't it?" I remark.
"It is, actually. I've never thought about it like that," he answers. "My parents must've been obsessed with the Royal family or something."
I laugh. "Guess what my initials are, though."
Harry shrugs and raises his eyebrows, implying that he wanted me too tell him.
"No guesses?" I ask. He shakes his head.
"Surprise me."
"Okay," I say. "Scarlett Mckenzie Dorchester. SMD."
"What's so great about th-" Harry begins to say, his eyes widening when he realizes. He bursts into laughter, brushing his curly hair out of his face.
"SMD!" He snorts. "Awesome. You should make a hat or something with that sewn onto the front. If people who know the acronym mention it to you, you can just say it's your initials. It's the perfect plan."
I shake my head, grinning. "No way. I'd never do that."
"Aw, come on," Harry pouts. "I'll do it for you. I can wear your SMD hat."
"You wish," I stand my ground. "Not happening."
We'd been 'getting to know each other', as Harry had called it, for the entirety of our Biology lesson so far; we had a relief teacher who didn't really have a clue about what was going on, which was a bonus.
I'll admit, it was a good distraction from all that had happened over the past few days.
"Favourite colour?" I ask when I see Harry looking at me expectantly.
"Red," he answers. "I love the colour red. It symbolizes passion, love, hatred, anger and pain all at once. Did you know approximately 77% of flags around the world include the colour red on them? And it's also the colour of good luck in Asia-"
"Woah, woah, slow down mate," I interrupt him. "I'm sure that's all very interesting but this was meant to be a quickfire round of questions."
"Fine," he grumbles. "Okay, what's your favourite colour, then?"
"Purple," I reply answer. "No reason why, I just prefer it to the others."
Harry shrugs. "Reasonable. Now, what's your favourite type of sweets?"
"Ooh, that's a hard one," I scratch my head. "I think I'll go with Skittles."
"Taste the rainbow!" Harry grins. I laugh, twirling my pen around in my fingers.
"My turn," I say, resting my arms on my desk. "Favourite type of biscuit."
"Custard creams," Harry answers immediately.
"Oh, they are good," I agree.
"They're great," Harry nods enthusiastically. "If you ever wanna buy me food, you know what to do."
I laugh, looking in wonder at the boy sat beside me. "What makes you think I'd want to buy you food?"
"I don't know, but it might happen one day," he says hopefully, tousling his hair artfully.
"Moving on," I say. "Birthday?"
"February 1st. You?"
"August 20th," I reply. "So you're about six months older than me, then."
"Correct," Harry answers. "And you're not 18 yet, then," he continues, using my words.
I shake my head. "Nope," I quip, popping the 'p'. "It's June the 9th now, so it's just over two months away. I'm expecting a present from you."
Harry scoffs. "Okay, okay. If you insist." I smile widely at his comment, wondering if he actually will pull through with it.
"Summer holidays are just over a month away, too," Harry ponders, to which I frown.
"What?"
"Holiday dates are different here, remember," he explains. "Our summer holidays are in the middle of the year."
"Right," I say. That'll take a lot of getting used to. "I'll have to remember that."
"Your birthday is going to be during the holidays as well, I think, so you're going to have to organize something," Harry says. "I want to celebrate this momentous occasion."
I laugh breezily. "I'll get on to it."
---
We banter back and forth like this for another few minutes, until the relief teacher actually starts stalking around the classroom, peering over the top of her spectacles slightly creepily as she inspects each pair she passes.
I see her stop by Riley and her partner Isaac, looking a bit too focused on their open textbooks. I hear the reliever remark something faintly, to which both Riley and Isaac nod hastily. The reliever then strolls away, and Riley starts giggling quietly, whispering to Isaac in hushed tones.
This happens a couple of other times, and then she reaches Harry and I. She walks past at the pace of a snail, staring at us. Harry, being the defiant person he is, stares her back, which perhaps isn't the best idea.
"What do you think you're looking at, boy?" She says sharply.
"Nothing," Harry replies innocently. She narrows her eyes, glaring at Harry for a few seconds.
Is she going to do anything or is she just going to stand there looking at Harry like a fucking ape?
She stares at Harry for a moment longer before moving on, only to look back at us about every two seconds. Harry and I keep our heads down, reading the textbook in silence. Out of my peripheral vision, I can see him looking visibly annoyed, no doubt by the relief teacher who I've forgotten the name of.
I nudge him lightly, hoping that my small action will remind him to calm down and not become frustrated over small things like relief teachers. He turns his head towards me, his lips pulling up in a small smile, which I return. Quietly, Harry taps the desk with his fingers and exhales deeply, his emerald eyes focusing intently on mine.
"Thanks."
---
A/n: #scarry5eva
I hope LA was fun for the short time that you were there scarlett (you might still be there rn idk) next chapter and you'll be in germany omg this is so weird
Please vote/comment/fan if you enjoy! Thanks x