Desinence. (The Beginning Of The End)

.6.

I finally fell asleep, but for once, I did not have the familiar, bright dream that filled me with joy. It was a nightmare, filled with evil red-eyed people chasing me down a long, never ending road. In the mix of monsters, I could catch one familiar blonde girl. It was Alyssa. But her eyes weren't the brilliant green I was used to. They were a dark, empty krimson red.

I was awoken to someone excitedly shaking me. I slowly and sleepily opened my eyes. I saw George sitting beside me, his hair in wild tuffs, sticking out in every direction. 

"Hey," He said cheerfully.

Before I had went to sleep last night, I had met up with George's other roomate, Eli. He was a tall, strong blonde with light brown eyes. I could see the hate inside them, staring me directly in the face. When Bryant had asked him if I could share a tent with him, Eli had refused to sleep in the same tent with me.

"I'd rather take my chances sleeping in the middle of the road," He had spit, giving me a look filled with such anger that I had to look away. So he ended up sleeping with someone else.

"Don't worry about him," Bryant had said, patting me on the back. "They'll get used to you."

That's what everyone was telling me. They'll get used to you. But what if they didn't? What if someone felt so threatened by me that they had to sleep with one eye open for the rest of their lives? They'd have to worry constantly for their children, though I knew that I would never do anything to hurt anyone. They didn't know me. They didn't trust me. Why was I treated so differently from everyone else? I was sure that no one else was treated this way when they first came to camp. 

I looked over to see that Bryant wasn't in the tent anymore. George followed my gaze, and then said, "He left with Micah to go unload the cars. He'll be back." He stretched, and then fell back onto his sleeping bag lazily. I stretched out my own limbs, muscles, feeling the bones pop with satisfying snaps. It felt nice to sleep on a soft blanket. It was unfamiliar, but I definitely could get used to it.

The sunlight from outside lit up the beige tent, and bits of light cut through some of the cracks, making florescent beams around us.

It was strangely quiet outside, and I wanted to peek out of the tent to see what was going on, but I wasn't going to risk it.

"Where is everyone?" I murmered, sitting up to stretch out my back as well.

"Getting breakfast," He responded. He turned his head to look at me. "Want to go get some?" When he saw the expression on my face, his smile fell. "Oh, come on. You're going to have to face everyone sooner or later. Might as well get it over with now."

I shook my head, but only because I knew he was right. 

We stood up, shaking the sleepiness from us, and then he unzipped the tent, light shining directly into my eyes. I covered my face as I stepped into the white. He followed me, stumbling blindly out of the tent as well. 

There was no one but the two of us in our general area. I sighed in releif, grateful for this fact. I could see everyone gathered around Micah's car, the light bouncing off of the bright vehicle as Eli and some other boys I didn't recognize handed our Granola bars and water bottles to everyone. George didn't hesitate. He was hungry. He ran towards the group of people, greeting Eli with his usual cheeriness. The man laughed and ruffled the younger boy's hair. I stared after him. As he glanced over George's head, his eyes fell on me and his smile dissapeared, replaced with a hard mask twisted with hate. He turned away and pretended like I wasn't there.

I sat down on the ground and waited for George to finish eating. I changed my mind, I wasn't hungry. My stomach grumbled in disagreement. I'd rather starve then go face them, though.