Dark Menace

Unusual Encounters

APPARENTLY, CONSEQUENCES ARE pretty much your worst encounters. Especially if those particular consequences involved missing your first two classes because you unintentionally overslept, due to the ridiculous seven-hour wait at the mechanic shop to just fix your shattered window. "Miss Grisham! Welcome to my class. You're about.....twenty-three minutes late, care to share why?" My writing professor eyed me with slight concern as I found my seat next to my friend and current dormmate, Julia. Putting me directly on the spot, all pairs of orbs quickly displayed on me as I practically rushed to get settled in. I softly chewed on my lip, lowering my head down as I lightly tucked a few strands of my hair behind my ear, thinking of something to say other than the actual truth.

"I...overslept." I half-shrugged, deciding to just come out with the truth since it was very unlikely for me to miss class due to oversleeping. I continued to keep my head down, pretending to sort out the already neatly thin papers stacked and well-organized as he responded.

"Well, Miss Grisham. You're rarely late to my class, I'll bypass that tardy only for today." He pointed a finger at me as soon as I looked up at him. I lightly smiled, not showing any teeth.

"Thank you, Mr. Bryson." I one nodded at him, suddenly having the bit of courage to ignore the remaining eyeballs that were apparently still fixated on me. You would think that I'd be used to being stared down in every judgmental way there was after what happened five months ago. Words get around fast, how fast may you ask? Stick around and you'll find out soon enough.

"Now, as I move further, the recent stories that we've gone over...."

"Did you really oversleep?" Julia turned to me as I opened my notebook, flipping until I came upon a blank sheet, "Surprisingly, yes. I didn't make it back here on campus until about three in the morning." I confessed as I began gliding my black pen across the first blue line on the paper. "What's today's date again?" I asked, lifting my left wrist to answer that for myself.

As I continued writing, I automatically felt Julia's eyes which made me do a quick pause and glance at her. "Why the staring?" I briefly chuckled, tucking both of my lips in as I concentrated on my handwriting. A talent I was gratefully blessed with at the age of six. Some say I write almost too perfectly but that's just a simple and complex compliment I've cherished over the years. "Nothing, I just-...this look that I'm seeing on your face right now is kind of the same look you had several months ago when Mason....." She trailed off her sentence, hoping I would get what she was trying to say here. "What do you mean? I mean what look are you talking about?"

"Ladies.." Before she replied, Mr. Bryson intervened giving us a short glare, indicating that we shouldn't be having a conversation while he talked. Julia turned her head at him, waiting for him to continue before taking her own notes.

"The look that clearly states that you're going through it."

"Well, I am going through it. I've been going through it ever since." I mumbled, avoiding eye contact with her now. I normally don't share my feelings with anyone besides Abe, but genuinely as Julia and I connected more this past summer, I was able to let down a few walls for her. She's earned my trust and has always been there for me when I couldn't just up and run home to Abe. When we met at the beginning of fall freshman year, I was partially rude to her, not in the great state of mind for socializing with anyone let alone my own roommate. Julia immediately saw that and developed this sort of pattern with me that I can't seem to figure out how she even does it. Even when she found out that I was being accused of murder, none of her thoughts changed when everyone else's did. I've tried to explain to her that hanging with me was also going to affect her too because if everyone is against me at the moment, they'd expect you to be on the majority side.