Chiara Marino and the Demons of Darkness

Chapter 23 - Compulsive Honesty Disorder

"Ungrateful brat!" Chiara heard a yell as she neared school on Monday morning.

She saw Sydney slam a car door behind her while her mom – a woman with unnaturally tight skin, shiny blond hair, and icy blue eyes – rolled down the window and yelled after her, "You think you're such a queen! Well you can walk home today!"

Sydney stood still on the sidewalk for a moment, frozen in a trance as if she were trying to hold back emotions. Chiara noticed a cloudy demon moving beside Ms. Simmons as she drove away. As her focus moved back to Sydney, Chiara noticed another one on Sydney's shoulder.

Chiara could only speculate how Sydney and her mother treated each other in private if this was their public behavior. Her heart hurt even more when she remembered what Sydney had almost done to herself at the dance. She swallowed her pride and summoned her courage.

"Sydney," she called, jogging ahead, "can we talk?"

Sydney sneered as if talking to Chiara for even a few moments was torture. "What do you want, freak?" she asked with a weary sigh.

"It's about the dance," Chiara said tentatively. "You know, in the bathroom?" she hinted.

Sydney waited a moment with an impatient look. "I don't remember anything about a bathroom," she said with an eye roll.

"You just seemed really sad," Chiara explained.

Sydney laughed. "This is something you probably don't know, but when your life is awesome like mine, you never get sad."

"Just know if you ever need someone to talk to," Chiara said, putting a hand on Sydney's arm, "I'm here for you."

Sydney flinched away from her touch. "Oh my god. I guess I was wrong about you. You're totally in love with me! I'm flattered, but I don't date freaks."

Chiara watched as Sydney stormed away. She wondered if any of her words had made an impact.

***

Moments later, she was trying to dismiss her worries as she organized her books at her locker when the pen from her hair slipped out. She turned to look for it and saw Peter leaning against the next locker with her pen in his hand. He slipped it behind his ear with a smirk.

She smiled immediately and felt the soreness in her cheeks. She imagined that her cheeks must have been plastered in a grin all weekend.

"Hey, Chiara. How was your weekend?" he asked casually.

"Wonderful," she said as she closed her locker.

"Yeah?" he asked. "Did something special happen?"

She laughed in response and they started walking toward Chemistry together. "Are we still meeting after school today?" she asked eagerly.

He handed her back her pen. "You know, if this is all an excuse to spend time with me, you can just say so."

She giggled and fixed her pen into her hair.

SLAM!

The classroom door in front of her swung open as another student ran out. In an instant, Peter grabbed Chiara's shirt at the waist and pulled her out of danger. Thanks to him, she narrowly escaped taking a hit.

Chiara saw a dark shadow darting around a corner, out of sight. She scolded herself for not paying attention to her surroundings.

"Thank you," she said meekly.

"Geez." Peter chuckled. "What did you do before I moved here?"

"I got hurt a lot," she admitted.