A Veil Between Worlds

Chapter 2: October 31st, 2022

Anastasia walked down the school hallway, she was making her way through the large crowds of students. The hallways were packed with new students, which made traveling through the hallways harder than it should be. Anastasia made it to her locker and put in her combination and opened it. She placed a few books inside before shutting it. "What is your costume?" Alison asked as she appeared behind the locker door. "I don't think I'm going to dress up," Anastasia said.

"What? Why not?" Alison asked and Anastasia shrugged. "Well, I am most likely going to have to be the designated driver and if I wear a costume there's that risk that I am going to have to clean off vomit," Anastasia said and Alison's eyebrows furrowed. "Okay, two things. One, we don't know if alcohol is being served. Two, even if there is, we are not going to get that drunk. Maybe a drink or two," Alison said.

"Maybe for you, but for Nora, one or two drinks are cups full to the brim with alcohol," Anastasia said and Alison shrugged. "True. I can't speak for the boys either," Alison said and the warning bell rang. The two girls walked to their class and soon arrived at their class right before the second bell rang.

-

"Okay, so, everyone is coming over to my house, right?" Alison asked and Anastasia looked across the table at Nora. She had a blank expression on her face. "Hey, Nora. Are you okay?" Anastasia asked and Nora looked up from the table with glazed-over eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine," Nora said with a fake smile and Anastasia didn't believe it for one second, but she didn't push it any further. Nora has been acting weird for the last week and it was getting more concerning as the week went on.

"Yes. Everyone is coming over to Ali's," Kai said and Alison nodded. "Perfect," Alison said and Nora went back into a trance. Anastasia felt concerned for Nora she was acting weird and not eating any of her food and for the last few days, Nora has been horribly sick. To the point where she couldn't come to class until she felt better and now she's acting like this? Something did not feel right about it. At first, Anastasia thought Nora just had the flu, but now she is more concerned about her friend's mental health. So, Anastasia decided to ask Nora about it once she could talk to Nora in private.

The warning bell echoed through the cafeteria and everyone stood up and walked out of the cafeteria. Nora didn't move though, Anastasia watched as Alison, Kai, and Peter started to walk towards the exit of the cafeteria, but once they saw that Nora and Anastasia weren't following they stopped. "Nora, the bell rang," Anastasia said and Nora snapped out of her trance. "Oh, that was quick," Nora said and she stood from the table. "Yeah. Are you sure you are feeling okay?" Anastasia asked.

"Yeah! Why wouldn't I?" Nora asked being a little more energetic than she was a few minutes prior. "I don't know," Anastasia said and Nora smiled at Anastasia. "Let's get going before we are late," Nora said and Anastasia nodded and they exited the cafeteria along with their friends.

-

The group arrived at the party and about half of the party was dressed up and the other half was dressed in normal clothes. Which made Anastasia feel a little bit better about her choice to not wear a costume. Alison and Nora went off on their own to get something to drink while Anastasia stood between Kai and Peter. "They are going to get wasted aren't they?" Kai asked and Anastasia nodded. "Most likely," Anastasia said with a sigh.

"Great. Well, you two have one other sober person to help. I don't feel like drinking," Kai said and Anastasia was scanning the crowd for anyone familiar. "Thank god. Ali and Nora get bad," Anastasia said.

Alison is one of those sassy drunks and Nora is one of those super clingy and happy drunks. They are very entertaining to anyone around them, but a pain in the ass to the people who have to take care of them. Anastasia spotted Alison and Nora with red solo cups in their hands as they walked over to the group. "Stas! Come dance with us!" Nora said as she grabbed Anastasia's hand and dragged her towards the dance floor. Anastasia looked toward Kai and Peter with a pleading look, but Kai just had a smile on his face and then gave her a thumbs up.