Scars Bleed Gold

Phone-A-Friend

I finished my noodles and got up to wash my bowl out in the sink, then sat down again and grabbed my phone from the table.

I went to the home page of my phone and looked around for the new app, wanting to test it before heading back to campus. I scrolled through the pages but couldn't find it. I looked through the tab that showed every app I had installed, but still couldn't find it. Did it not finish downloading?

I went back into the app-store and clicked on the app's page.

Mal0 ver.1.0.0. finished download

It finished the download, so where was it? I searched through my phones apps again and came up empty handed. It was probably just malware. I get it, Mal0, Malware, pretty clever. If my phone gets a virus because of this app I am going to be pissed.

Gannyn got up from the table and walked into the living room to sit on the couch and play with Nahla, before he cried out from her stepping on his balls.

I chuckled at his pain and opened my settings, finally finding the Mal0 app. I hit the uninstall button and turned my phone off, getting up from my chair.

"Let's get back to campus, numb-nuts." I said as I scratched Nahla's head, her giving off her signature grin.

"Trust me, they aren't numb, I feel 'em plenty. Gimme another minute." He said, clutching his crotch with his eyes shut tight.

I sighed and shook my head, then walked out of the front door and to my truck. About thirty seconds later Gannyn walked out with a grimace on his face.

Gannyn got in the passenger side door and slammed it shut. I got in the truck and started the truck before Gannyn decided to say something.

"To campus, Chauffeur Curtis."

"Shut up before I sic Nahla on your balls again, Pickett."

He shut his mouth. I drove back to campus without another word being shared between us, pulling into the parking lot. Gannyn got out of the car and I followed him to the only lecture we shared together. Social Science, taught by Ms. Kelly. Fun little tidbit, a few people have nicknamed her Killer Kelly, she was the strictest professor on the entire campus. One thing all of her students knew, was to never say her nickname to her face.

We walked into the lecture hall and took our seats next to each other, Gannyn muttering a few corny jokes to me while we waited for the lecture to start. The bell finally rang, right as I was about to slap Gannyn to make him stop with the shitty puns.

Ms. Kelly came in and took her seat at her desk, getting out her notes and her binder, before turning around and beginning to scribble furiously on her chalkboard. I considered putting in one of my earbuds and tuning her out, but decided to at least listen to the lesson.

I pulled out my phone while listening to her ramble on about relationships and society, turning back to the internet once again. Scrolling aimlessly, seeing posts by people I didn't know, companies I didn't recognize, ads I didn't care about. I exited out of the social media app and was about to search through the app store again before I got a text message and my ringtone played. Loudly.

My ringtone echoed across the lecture hall as Kelly turned and looked up towards my row as I frantically tried to silence my ringtone, finally succeeding in turning it off.

"Will the jagoff in the back turn their phone off, please?!" Kelly yelled. I'm surprised she didn't yell at me to get out, or just steal my phone.

I looked back down at my phone and checked the message I had received. It was a single image. The caller ID had no number, no name, nothing. The picture was of the gas station I sometimes went to, whether my truck was low on fuel, or I needed an energy drink or snack. Something dark was in the window of the building. I couldn't make out what it was.

"What's that?" Gannyn asked from beside me.

"I got a text from... Something. There's no caller ID, and there isn't a phone number. It's a photo of Gas N' Go, that gas station I go to. Hey, do you know what that is?" I asked him, pointing to the dark thing in the window.

He looked closely at the photo, before turning back to me. "Looks like something dark, maybe it's a person. Why did you even get sent that photo anyways?"

"No idea..." I muttered. I pulled out my headphones and put one earbud in, turning my music back on, leaving one out so I could hear if Kelly tried to call on me.

Kelly did try to call on me about half an hour later, without warning too, so it caught me off guard. I glanced at her chalkboard hoping for a possible answer on it and only embarrassed myself with my half-assed attempt at an answer. She shook her head, not surprised at me being wrong as usual. Gannyn chuckled at me. I turned and punched him in the arm before putting my other earbud in.

A portion of my playlist later, the bell rang and I took out my earbuds as we all got up to leave. I walked out the door and went to my truck, waving goodbye to Gannyn as he went to his car. I opened my truck door and hopped in, deciding to head to Gas N' Go. Maybe I could find what that black thing was, maybe it was a cardboard cutout, maybe it was an employee. Who fucking knows? I certainly didn't, but I intended to find out. I drove down the road towards the gas station, turning on the radio. My truck was too quiet, I needed some noise.

I pulled into the Gas N' Go parking lot and looked at the photo I got sent again, then looked up at the building, then to the window where the black thing was. Nothing was in the window. I stared for a few more seconds, and an employee walked into view of the window, placing down what looked like a big sign with black lettering. So that's what it was. A sign. I chuckled to myself for getting all worked up about a sign.

My phone went off again. I looked down at the screen and saw I had received another message from the mystery number. This time it was Kelly's lecture hall. Something, or someone, was sitting in her chair, legs propped up and crossed on the desk. I looked at the markings on the chalkboard and noticed they were the same ones from today's lecture. The person sitting on the desk was wearing all black, with the exception of their face, which was pure white.