A disquieting dullness hung over the school that morning. With waiting and waiting comes an inherent boredom, something that settled quickly over Aubrey, Michael and Juno as they stood outside the school, waiting for Tobi. "It's no good making ourselves late too. He probably just overslept or came down with a cold and forgot to contact us. Let's just go to class," Juno proposed as the collective disheartenedly made their way to the school doors and split in separate directions. Neither one had quite realised how much levity Tobi brought to the group, and without him there, the surroundings lacked their usual brightness. As Aubrey made her way to her lesson, she couldn't help but feel a familiar sickness simmering in her stomach, bubbling and writhing with the ferocity of an uncharted sea. She took a deep inhale, trying to steady her breathing as she navigated through the mostly empty corridors, trying to ignore the feeling of wrongness in the air. Though they hadn't known each other long, they texted frequently - exchanging conversations about menial things and giving updates on schoolwork. Aubrey felt a heat beginning to cling to her skin as she checked and rechecked her phone screen, the unread message looming over her, pressing a weight onto her shoulders that she couldn't shake off. With the classroom growing nearer, every step felt too heavy and thick, as though she was walking through a viscous fluid instead of air. She checked her phone again. Nothing. Again. Nothing. Slowly tracing her steps backwards, Aubrey walked into the bathroom and locked herself in a cubicle, trying to steady her shaking hands, trying to lull her overactive breathing back to a steady pace. She took a deep breath in, counting for four beats like her brother had taught her to do.
Realistically, her brother had taught her to do most things.
As she stared at her phone, a message appeared on the home screen and she scrambled to unlock her phone, only to find out that it was sent by her mother.
Great.
She stared at the text over and over again until it was engrained in her mind. Each letter, each word, each sentence.
Shit.
Looking behind me at the clock on the wall, I had overslept by a lot. I checked my phone, but a night without being plugged left me with nothing but a black and unresponsive piece of limp metal. I immediately stood up, a wave of dizziness passing through my body as the blood went too quickly to my head. Attempting to carry on through the spots dancing in front of my eyes, I fumbled to the lock on the door before taking a deep breath. The knife from last night was still on the floor - a precaution more than a weapon, it wasn't like I'd ever need to use it. I carefully unlocked the door, stepping cautiously out onto the dirty landing and checking to my right into my dad's room. Fortunately, he was asleep, the repellent sound of snores echoing through the meagre acoustics of our house. I carefully treaded my way along the carpeted floorboards, trying to walk quickly yet with as little noise as possible, though I doubted it would've made a difference against how deeply my dad was asleep. Making it to my bedroom and changing into cleaner clothes - a white and red golf shirt with a brown hoodie and faded jeans, alongside my trusty red beanie - I slipped Juno's bracelet into my pocket and started to briskly make my way downstairs. I had made it a habit of keeping their bracelet on me at all times, though I didn't really know why. It just felt right, like it was better to keep it with me than to leave it at home somewhere and let it get lost. I rubbed my thumb and forefinger across the silver charm, thinking about our first meeting. It was nice to know that they cared more about me now - especially considering how much they seemingly despised me for the entire duration of our first interaction. A lot had changed since then.
Grabbing my school bag from by the door and slipping my trainers on, I headed as quickly as I could in the direction of our school. It was about a half hour walk as luckily we lived close to the school, and though classes would've already started by now, I was hoping to get there before second period. Grey clouds obstructed the sun, a paltry light barely seeping through onto the neighbourhood and leaving a desaturated glaze across the whole town. Despite my best attempts to subdue it, thoughts of last night still stained my brain and with every memory, a new shiver worked its way down my body. I remembered exactly the first day that it happened - the day of my mum's funeral.
