Myocardium

Part 23

Thursday morning, my mood remains pretty neutral, but this peace of mind is immediately diminished by the thought of college and the nights that'll follow. I get out of bed, wishing I didn't need to. Sometimes, the urge to stay in bed is probably as appealing to me as that apple was to Eve. Hmm, if only I could keep napping away all my anger and sorrow. 

But there's no other option. I have to stay strong, for them. As I'm standing in the kitchen and wait for the tea-water to boil, I begin contemplating my life choices all over again. Mindlessly, I reach for my wrist and gently run my thumb over the two little beads on the bracelet. My arm hurts, plus, moving it too much reminds me of what happened yesterday. Oh yeah, that's another matter I have to deal with today, which is absolutely taunting to think about.

While my thoughts drift off into the abyss and beyond, I don't even notice that my little brother has walked into the kitchen and shows utter concern for the state I'm in – barely blinking and completely lost in thoughts.
"Eli, are you...okay?", he speaks up and waves has hand in front of my eyes, pulling me back into reality. To battle the dryness in my eyes, I blink aggressively and respond,
"Yeah, just...super tired. Do you need something?"

"Not really, I just wanted to ask if I can meet Mara on Saturday afternoon?", he asks confidently and makes me chuckle a bit, fully aware of my surroundings again,
"That depends on what her parents say about that and where you'll meet her."
"Well, her mom agreed to take us to the autumn-festival that's currently in town, so they're cool with it. They say if you agree, they'd come pick me up around 1 p.m. and drop me off again by 6", he smiles cheekily and shrugs his shoulders.

"Alright, sure. As long as you promise me to behave, of course you can go. I'll be busy with grocery shopping anyways, plus as long as I can count on you to be back by 7, it's all good", I explain and make sure to remind him not to mess with my made-up curfew. 

"Thanks, Eli. You're the best", my little brother giggles happily. If there's any opportunity for me to make my siblings' life a bit more normal, you bet I'm taking every single one of them.

As we're having breakfast, Daisy makes both Sasha and I laugh by how adorably she's trying to remember a story her teacher has told her, but miserably messing up and making up a whole new story that absolutely makes no sense whatsoever.

By the time I arrive at school, the good mood I'm in has left me again, this time completely. As I watch all these colleagues of mine enter the building, I audibly groan and wish I could just leave right here, right now. I mean, I have a good reason for my lack of will. The fact that someone almost killed me willingly yesterday makes that only more apparent than it would have been without this 'incident'. 

The fear from yesterday comes back once I'm walking through the hallways, where people are blocking my way everywhere. They're staring at me too. Words must have gone around about what's probably been found in this study room upstairs. Maybe my best shot is to pretend to be dead and haunt the school as the demon that's been released while I've been murdered so gruesomely.

And even though that's sadly not the case, people are looking at me in utter terror and shock as I walk through the class-room door. Are they seriously surprised that I'm still alive?! What the hell? 

Even Ben looks scared. Maybe he should have finished the job after all. Yeah, he most likely should have. My own terror turns into a smirk as soon as my stare meets his and I keep my eyes on him until I've passed him and let myself sink into my seat, with everyone's perplexed eyes lingering on me relentlessly.

My presence turns the class silent, the atmosphere is darker than usual. God, I'm so uncomfortable with all this unwanted attention on me. What's the deal with them anyways? Of course, the last bit of calmness inside of me gets drowned out as soon as the first professor walks into the room.
"Elijah, you're going to the principal's office right away. No arguing."
Her words are spoken in a cold, calm way. She's warning me.