The Real Ram

Chapter 43

 The storm is coming.

And like any proper storm, is started with an ominous feeling in the air. A charge, caused by the uneasiness of a members death, and the uneasy feeling I got from X. The darkness that appeared was the invisible blanket thrown underneath everyone. The blanket that seems soft to the touch, but only few can tell it's going to be used to strangle it's blissful enjoyers. The clouds rolled in with a man by the name of Mole. He fist seems nonlethal, but his true dark color shown through as his beautiful white beginning evaporated away. His clouds engulfed my trainer, and a few others and with their condensed water they drowned many, but my trainer lived only to be caught in the beginning of Mole's rain. The true beginning of this storm that still seems to be coming.

I start to straighten up the room a bit, John hadn't messed it up, it was just messy to begin with. I'm straightening my bed sheet when Trish comes walking in. "Zoe I have to tell you the funniest story..." She trails off seeing I've cleaned up most of the room. "When did you do this? I thought you were going to go lay down?"

"It was messy, and once I came into our room I felt better," I didn't want her to notice any differences John might have caused.

"It's been messy for awhile, why are you bugged by it now?" She walks to her bed and sits on it.

I fight the cringe when she plops herself down, messing up the perfectly straightened bed sheets. "It's always bothered me, I just didn't do anything to fix it because I didn't have the motivation."

"What motivated you then?" Trish asks. I shrug my shoulders. Trish nods then puts her hand on her head, "I was supposed to tell you something but I forgot what it was."

"You said you were going to tell me a funny story when you walked in," I mentioned to her.

"Oh right!" She moves so she can tell the story with hand gestures as aids. "Okay so after you and Beast left, Shawn randomly started chuckling. I asked him why and he told me he is convinced you and Beast were holding hands while you were walking out."

I blush and say, "That's not a funny story."

"You two were, weren't you!" Trish asks loudly.

"No! No we weren't."

"You sound like you're lying," Trish taunts.

"No I'm not! We didn't hold hands, I promise." Jeez, we sound like eighth graders.

"Alright Miss Ram..." Trish's playful expression changes and her eyes shift to my closet. "Zoe?"

I internally kick myself. Why didn't I fix it?! I could have at least made it look like something accidentally happened. Well something did accidentally happen, but I can't tell that story. I look back to it and try to sound as casual as possible, "Oh you see, that's a funny story too. So my door just randomly broke. I think the—"

"I don't think doors just randomly snapped off their hinges," She gets up and walk to the broken door. Trish traces the indent of where John first hit it. "It looks like someone slammed into it." She turns to face me and I instinctively look away. "Zoe, why did you decide to clean the room now? What are you hiding?" I get up and move into the bathroom but Trish follows me. "You can't run away like that Zoe, I want to know what happened." I stay silent. "You never tell me anything."

"Can we just get someone to fix it?" I ask softly after a minute of silence.

"Yeah, but they'll ask what happened."

"Nothing happened."

"Zoey!" Trish shouts my name incredulously.

I bite my lip, realizing the sudden nerves I have as I lean on the counter, trying to slow my heart and adrenaline. I don't want what happened to John to occur right now.

"Are you okay at least?"

I don't know what to say. I look at her.

"Zoe?"

I don't know if I'm okay.

"You aren't even going to respond to me?"

"Trish," I choke her name out softly.

She waits before saying, "Wow, you still won't respond." She didn't hear me. "Zoe I care about you, you know that right?" I nod. "Then why won't you tell me what's going on? I worry about you, you know?" She waits a moment to see if I would respond, but I don't. "I know there's a lot that went on in your life and you are used to not sharing, but I want you to know what I'm here for you."

I feel tears start to stream down my cheeks. I look away from Trish so she doesn't see them. "It wasn't just my childhood."

"What?"

"It wasn't just my childhood," I speak louder, knowing my voice is shaky. "It's still going today. Just because I moved doesn't mean John's torment stopped."

"I know, I understand that. That's why I didn't push you to tell me I just—"

I look at her, "You were the queen of pushy! So don't tell me you know what I'm feeling, because you don't."

"I don't mean to offend—" I cut Trish off by walking away.

"Don't turn away from me!" Trish pulls at my shoulder and I squirm away. She notices the sudden tenseness I have and says softly, "Zoe."

I leave the bathroom and grab my shoes, struggling to put them on because of the tremor in my hands. I don't say anything to Trish as I leave the room. I don't want to be mad at her. I know she's trying her best to show that she cares and that I'm just overthinking things. I just don't want to be around people right now.

I walk out and travel the halls for about ten minutes until I find a place where it seems quiet. I slouch against the wall and slide to the floor, knees hugged into my chest.

I lean my head back onto the wall and close my eyes. I forgot how the quiet feels. So calm, peaceful, alone...

"Hey Zoe!" A sudden voice makes me jump. I look and see Marcus sitting across from me. "Sorry, did I scare you?"

"It always seems like you pop up whenever I'm hoping to be alone."I say.

"Yet you never tell me to leave."

I smile.

He tilts his head, "Are you okay?"

I look away, "Yeah, just fine."

He moves to sit beside me, "What's wrong?"

"Why does everyone care?"

He shrugs, "Because."

I sigh, "John showed up."

Even though he's a ghost, I feel Marcus tense up. "Did he hurt you?"

"No," I pause, "He actually asked for me to forgive him.

"Why? Does he realize what he put you through?"

"Do you realize what I put him through?"

"You didn't do anything," Marcus says.

"That's what I thought, until I heard his side of the story."

"His side?"

"He was just as alone as I was. He felt like I didn't care about my mother's death. At the time he didn't think I was as affected by it as him."

"Doesn't mean he was justified in his actions."

"Doesn't mean I was in mine."

"He's the bad guy here, not you."

I want to respond, but someone pops into the hallway.

Marcus stands, "Well I guess I'll see you later. I can see you want to be alone," He vanishes. I wish I didn't scare him off so soon. I kinda like talking to Marcus. He's a good friend, and I know he won't go and spill anything to others, mainly because he can't be seen, spoken to, or touched by them. But I know if he was able to do that, he still wouldn't.

I sigh and feel my eyes wander over to the person walking in the hallway and realized who it is. At this point, I wish Marcus didn't vanish. He wouldn't have been able to do much for me, but having the company would have been nice. Especially around him.