Porcelain [ ᴊᴏᴋᴇʀ ]

Chapter 8: Uninvited and Unhinged

(Originally published: October 2020)

(Rewritten: November 2024)

Crime & Chaos

" UNINVITED AND UNHINGED "

by house_of_gia

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Julie couldn't remember the last time her sleep schedule had been so messed up—probably when she had that one ball ache of a science assignment.

She had been thinking about that recently; how was she supposed to concentrate on school when she had a mass murderer stalking her? Speaking of, the memory of Joker was haunting her every movement, her every waking hour. It was torture. But she had to take care of herself some way or another.

A pale light flooded through the curtains of Julie's bedroom. She was already awake and sat upright on her bed, staring at the clock on her bedside table. 6:10 a.m., her mother's wake-up time.

The very woman's footsteps could be heard in the hallway, gradually disappearing as she walked downstairs. Julie knew she had to pull herself together quickly before her mum came knocking on her door, demanding she wake up.

With a deep breath, she kicked off the bed and hopped into the shower.

"Morning, hun." Her mum said to her as Julie walked into the kitchen, dabbing her damp hair with a towel. "I made some scrambled eggs; you're just in time—Jesus fuck, what have you done to yourself?"

Julie blinked multiple times, really trying to understand what her mum meant.

"I... had a shower?"

"Did you fall and hit your face? Why do you have two black eyes?"

Julie realised what she was talking about and sighed. "They're eyebags. I just haven't been sleeping well."

"Well, you'll be best off putting some concealer on them," her mum replied, dishing out two bowls of scrambled egg. She handed one to Julie. "They look dreadful."

"Yeah, thanks."

Pushing the egg around with her fork, she tried to will herself to eat, but it was so hard. It felt like she was trying to force shit down her throat. She waited until her mum ate hers, said goodbye, and shut the door.

Alone again.

Her phone lit up as she plugged the charger into it. She hadn't charged it since Saturday and boy, did it show. Multiple notifications popped up at once. Ding after ding.

Maggie: 'Hey Julie, did you get home alright?'

Beth: 'OMG! I heard what happened on Saturday! Are you okay??'

Clarice: 'JULIET EVANS ANSWER YOUR PHONE RIGHT NOW!'

Answering them all back one by one, she gave the same excuse. One that just said she hadn't been feeling great and felt ill since Saturday. After all the texts were sent, she placed her phone face down on the table, feeling sick just looking at it.

*

School seemed to be the only place that felt safe to Julie-the only place that Joker hadn't made an appearance.

She walked through the double doors, clutching her bag. The security guard eyed her with an obnoxious grin, looking her up and down. Julie grimaced and walked on, glancing behind her and noticing he was doing it to every senior girl that walked in.