The Clichés

Chapter Eight

Vanessa is standing on the bridge. The water is far away, a blue endless sponge, frothing at the edges, but the fresh smell of seaweed is thick in her nose.

A wind is blowing. It's so strong it has begun to rattle at the railing of the bridge. Vanessa watches in horror as the rails keep ripping off one after the other. Now, she's there, exposed on a dangerous bridge, overlooking an endless body of water waiting to swallow her and offer the body to its animals.

A seagull appears in the far opposite. It stands tall, and its immaculate feather is silky against the perfect white of the morning sky.

The winds are blowing faster now, splashing water on the bridge.

Suddenly, the seagull transforms into Lucas, and the water leaps up to pull him down.

Vanessa wakes up screaming. The alarm is ringing consistently, disturbing the tranquility of the new Monday morning, but Vanessa can't reach to clamp it off.

It dawns on her as she dresses up for school later that today will be an extraordinary day.

*

Indeed, it's an extraordinary day. First, the winding walkway leading to the administrative block is empty, which is weird. Instead of students, the tall pines sway lightly, providing eerie shadows against the unusually bright morning sun. Vanessa makes a call to Dylan but stops herself at the dying minute. She'd find out what had gone wrong by herself. Plus, she just remembered that she had left her phone at home. 

In the hallway, students are scattered about as usual, but something strange is happening: they're all fixated on their phones. No one is looking at her while greeting her back. Many don't even respond to her hello. A few students are bumping into each other, bumping into columns, windows, and chairs. No one is looking up. And they're mostly chuckling and tilting their heads sideways.

Vanessa finds two students sitting in front of the library, laughing and pointing at something on their iPads. Because they raise their heads to acknowledge her hello, she asks them what the matter is.

"Are you a Crownstoner?" they ask, bewildered looks on their faces.

"Sure. Want to see my ID?"

"Not like we're cops or something. It's just weird that a bona fide student who has access to the school app doesn't know what's happening."

Vanessa has forgotten her phone at home today again.

She moves closer to them. "I left my phone at home. Can I see?"

"Sure. Quick, before the campus police get involved or take it down."

Vanessa cranes her neck and squints at the screen. She can't believe what she's seeing. She rubs her eyes to awaken them; perhaps they're too weak and blurred to see real things. But the person is still there, unmistakably Carol the Amplifier.

Carol, stark naked. Photographed while asleep.

And the poster's name reads…

The girl snatches her phone just then and tucks it in her jeans pocket. "The librarian is coming," she whispers.

The librarian pulls over just then. She's a very tall woman, the tallest woman Vanessa has ever seen, well over six feet. She's wearing a tartan pantsuit with padded shoulders. Her kitten heels knock the tiled floors mercilessly as she marches up to the girls.

"What were you three watching?" she demands.

"Nothing," the girl's chorus, Vanessa's voice strange in her ears, papery on her tongue.