The Stars Among Us

Chapter 2

ELAINE

The following morning, I was feeling really excited, yet tired. My eyes were awake, but weren't open. My brain was awake enough to notice that it was drizzling outside and it made my room dark and quiet. I finally was able to open my eyes, and to see there was no sight of Echo at all. I guess she went for her morning walk. I proceeded to get up and I checked the clock, and it showed four o'clock in the morning. I should've noticed that the sun hasn't appeared just yet.

I was going to prepare some things for the trip to Springfields today, but I thought that it's still very early, so I went to close my eyes again. But something interrupted my attempt to sleep. There was someone on the door, and they knocked. Firstly they knocked three times, calm and quiet. The second one, they did it louder, but not loud enough to wake up the neighbour's dog. The third time, it was loud, loud and hurried. And now, they were knocking louder. No. Knocking isn't the word. They were banging the door, it was like they were being chased by the devils. I jumped out of my bed quickly and opened the door. I figured the person who knocked was leaning on the door as they knocked, and when I opened it the person fell on the floor, face first. I jumped and took a step back. The person groaned and rolled over so I could see their face. It was Grayson. What was he thinking to wake me up this early. Although I wasn't exactly asleep.

"Grayson!" I screamed. "It is four in the morning!"

"I know," he groaned again as he got up to sit on the floor.

"What are you doing here?'' I asked, and got nothing in return. He stared blankly into my eyes, his mouth was opened and closed. It was like he couldn't get the word out. Then, he stopped and still said nothing. Now, he stared at the floor.

"Grayson?" I called. "Did something happen?"

"No, nothing happened," He said, his expressions changed. He suddenly looked happy. It's far different from like five seconds ago. "I'm just excited about the trip today!"

I knew something was up, but I shrugged it off and said, "That's it? Go back to sleep, Woods."

"Oh, come on! Cheered up a bit, will you?" He said as he stood up and jumped up and down like a little kid. It's funny to see him like this, he rarely had any fun back in his childhood. And since Vesper went missing, he became less enthusiastic.

"Get out, Woods! Let me sleep!'' I said with frustration, pushing him out the door. He fought it, of course, and screamed a bunch of words I couldn't process. After a while, he gave up and let himself out of the door. Finally, I continued my sleep.

I let myself sleep for an hour or two before Echo woke me up. She got into the shower and told me to pack my things for the trip. After everything's done, showering and packing, we all met at the cafeteria for breakfast. Echo was already ahead of me, she said she was starving. I mean she looked like it. The others were already at the table too with their foods in front of them. I picked up my tray, and gave it to the cafeteria lady. As I waited, I looked around the room, everyone had a bored and tired look on their faces. Of course, except for my group of friends, they seemed happy and excited. Not Grayson though, he smiled but he's different.

When the cafeteria lady gave me my food, I told her thank you and walked over to my friends' table. I sat down beside Wini who smiled at me, and across from Grayson who just stared down at his food. He looked sad and probably had a lot on his mind because he looked like it. The others were just talking in the background, and Grayson looked up once in a while and gave us a nod or a small smile. He wasn't talking at all.

After eating and talking, we put our stuff in Wini's car. And yes, it was Wini's car, but she couldn't drive, she didn't even have a licence. So, Echo was the one driving, and Wini's calling shotgun, and that leaves me and Grayson in the middle. Echo started the engine, and we drove off.