Electrify

Chapter 6

Aeryn couldn't sleep. There was a presence that unnerved her, casting an unsettling feeling over her. Tossing and turning in her bed, she finally acknowledged the presence with a groan.

"What do you want, anxiety?" She grumbled, already aware of his presence. After all, he was a frequent visitor.

"Hello to you too, Naana. I've just come to see you. Why so brusque?" he inquired, flashing a sinister smile.

Aeryn snickered sarcastically. "Are you here to tell me that everybody hates me? If so, you're wasting your time, dude. I'm not about to get told what I already know. I could be sleeping by now, damnit."

The monster hummed in amusement. "But you're not asleep, are you? You're wide awake, and you're listening to me," he remarked, hovering around her bed. Aeryn found him irksome, but she didn't voice it. He already knew, and she despised repeating herself.

"Want me to start reciting psalms to get you to leave me alone, or do I allow my guardian angel to shoo you away?" Aeryn challenged. The monster scoffed in disbelief.

"You're only here because I allowed it. I'm done here," she declared.

"You can't—"

Aeryn began reciting Psalm 91 in Greek.

"Fuck you, retard," Anxiety cursed before dissipating into nothingness.

"Bye-bye," Aeryn waved, nodding at her guardian angel in acknowledgment. "Thanks, G."

The angel simply nodded.

That morning, Aeryn was grumpier than usual, leaving Mateo perplexed. He observed her in religion class, trying to decipher her mood.

"Mateo, could you stop staring at me, for Christ's sake? We have an essay to write on why Jonas was constantly being a whiny little idiot," she snapped, exasperated. Of course, she could see Mateo; he was sitting right opposite her, after all.

"No. Tell me why you're so moody today," he persisted, grabbing a grape from her fruit bowl, earning a stern glare. "I'm the one who should be angry considering of the stunt you pulled last 3 weeks."

"Why are you pretending to care? Don't you hate me or something?" she retorted, her eyes narrowing. Mateo rolled his eyes.

"Well, yeah, but—"

"Exactly, so leave me alone," she snapped, her voice leaving no room for argument, "Now hand me my study bible, thank you."

After religion class, before Mateo could react, Aeryn dashed out of the room, leaving him torn between chasing after her or staying behind. Opting for the former, he bolted out of the classroom, leaving his books from the last class of the day on his table, and his bag hanging from his chair..

Turning a corner, Mateo spotted Aeryn strolling down Hallway 3. "Naana," he called out. She stiffened visibly, stopping dead in her tracks. "What's wrong with you?"

Aeryn grunted in frustration. "Mateo, how I feel is none of your damn business. Go find someone else to care about, damnit!" Mateo scoffed, chuckling darkly.

"Who said I cared? I don't, Aeryn. That's the last thing I'll ever do. You could bathe yourself in sewage, and I wouldn't care."

"Oh?" Aeryn arched a sarcastic brow. "Then why are you here, Mateo?"

"Well, I'm here because your horrendous mood is ruining everyone else's day!" he shot back.

"Oh yeah?" Aeryn's incredulous tone was evident. "Well, screw you all! If you'd like, I'll do you a favor and disappear!"

Among the crowd of students, murmurs arose. "Damn, what did we do?"

"Yes, please, do us a favor and disappear," Mateo retorted, growing irritated.

"Speak for yourself, dude. Pop off, queen!" someone chimed in from the crowd. Aeryn nodded slowly at Mateo before walking away.

"Mm-mm, man. You're an asshole for that," Andres appeared beside Mateo, who shot him a sharp glare. "Jesus, dude, I was just telling you the truth!"

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Entering the lounge at 9:30 pm, Mateo was met with Terulah and Ivana's angry, enraged faces.

"Yikes. What crawled up your asses and died?" Mateo quipped, a slight smile playing on his lips, much to the girls' chagrin.

"Your common sense! Do you know the time, Mateo?" Ivana asked, a red aura of anger phyisically radiating off of her, and Mateo, knowing Ivana, knew that her Bite was much worse than her bark.

Terulah shot him a glare that could freeze lava. "You think this is funny, Mateo?"

Hey, glares are my thing! He thought.

Mateo shrugged nonchalantly. "Relax, it's not that late. What's got you two all worked up?"

Terulah crossed her arms, her expression stern. "You know exactly what's going on. Aeryn stormed off after your crappy words, and now you're waltzing in here like nothing happened!"

Mateo's smile faded as he realized the gravity of the situation. "Wait, she hasn't been back?"

Ivana sighed heavily. "No, Mateo. And it's all your f-ing fault!"

"You can swear this time, babe," Denise chimed in, obviously ignoring Mateo because he didn't feel like turning him into concrete. Ivana glared at Denise, and he rose his hands in surrender.

Terulah's frustration was palpable. "She's missing, Mateo. M-I-S-S-I-N-G."

Mateo's brows furrowed in concern. "Damn. I had no idea. Where did she go?"

This ticked Denise off, though he kept his composure, amidst his impending snarky response, "She's in fucking limbo, my dude."

Terulah shrugged. "Who knows? We've been trying to reach her, but she's not responding."

Mateo's mind raced with worry. He paced back and forth, before making a final decision, "Okay, I'll go look for her. You two stay here in case she comes back."

Without waiting for a response, Mateo dashed out of the lounge, his heart pounding with concern for her. He didn't actually mean what he said earlier. He scanned the hallways, calling out Aeryn's name, but there was no sign of her.

After he had searched for a good nearly 5 hours, the time now flashing 1:52am, He slumped in front of a locker, his head in his hands. He didn't know what to do now, and he texted the girls to ask whether she had come back.

Teyo, come back. She's not in.

As Mateo entered the lounge, looking tired and scared out of his mind, he met a pacing Terulah.

"So here's the thing. Aeryn's texted her parents, She even spoke to them. Apparently, She's somewhere, taking some time off for herself, and won't be back till next two weeks." She laid out, sighing.

Mateo was relieved that she was okay. But he remembered.

"It's because we have a religion presentation, and she probably doesn't want to work with me," He reasoned, sadly looking down.

"Damn straight, and I don't blame her," Andres resounded in disappointment. Mateo glared at him, but he didn't back down, "Face it, chico."

"Well, let's all go to sleep, I'm dying of sleep deprivation," Terulah concluded, moving through the doors of the lounge, followed by Andres'. "Thanks, Mateo, Now i'm going to be sleeping alone all over again." She turned her back, Andres shutting the door behind him with a last glance at Mateo.