Ditching Greek | editing

20| The Change

My attention drifted as time progressed, and as I fell in and out of sleep. Eventually, I opened my eyes to a room I had seen the last time I blacked out under strange conditions.

It was Clyde's bedroom.

I was dressed in the same clothes I had on yesterday. The only difference from this time and the last time I had ended up in Clyde's room was that he wasn't at the side of the bed, waiting for me to wake up. Monica and Hazel were knocked out in the same window seat he had sat that one confusing morning. It felt like years ago. This entire past two weeks felt like I had just endured enough drama to entertain me for a lifetime.

"She's up," Hazel groggy voice croaked as her eyes met mine and she nudged Monica awake. An uncomfortable smile took over her face. "How are you feeling?"

"Well, I was pretty sure I died for a while. So I guess I feel a hell of a lot better for not being dead," I returned her smile with my own crocked one. "I came back looking exactly the same."

Monica groaned and frowned up at me, "I wouldn't hold my breath. You don't look the same."

I arched a brow. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's not that bad," Hailey assured me.

I sat up straight, feeling a shot of pain rocket down my spine. "What happened?"

"Go look for yourself," Monica said, tilting her head toward the long narrow mirror beside the door of his closet.

I eased myself gently out of the bed, making sure I didn't cause any more pain than I already had. Placing my hand on the walls as my support, I walked myself over to the mirror. It wasn't until I had my face inches away from the mirror. 

That's when I saw the change.

Within the brown color of my eyes, flakes of gray intertwined within my irises. My once muddy eyes looked lighter because of the bright ray-like bits of stark trapped in them. Just like Clyde's eyes had been.

I spun around, but just as my mouth opened, Hazel answered with: "It's a long story, but it has to do with what happened last night."

"And Clyde," Monica supplied and got to her feet. Her expression hardened as she moved in closer, "None of this would have happened if you had just listened to my instructions."

I inhaled. "I almost died last night-"

"Because of your reckless behavior to be defiant against what I say," she finished for me.

"Guys!" Hazel moved in between us. "I think it would be best if we didn't fight. Not now at least." She turned to me, and her frown faulted into a smile, "I, for one, am glad you went last night."

"You're glad...I almost died," I barked. "Thanks, Hazel."

"No!" she gasped, shaking her head, "That's not what I mean. I'm not glad that you almost died. What I was trying to say is that I'm happy we can finally tell you about what we haven't been telling you. All of it. We can explain what happened last night, and all those other nights before."

"That's not necessary a good thing either," Monica said with a roll of her eyes. "Now we have to deal with bigger things. Bigger things than hiding stuff from Nabela. There's a lot of problems more important than that. Because you woke up and passed the test," she looked at me now, "you've opened up a world of ugly after you. You thought this week was crazy? Well you just signed yourself up to something much worse by going to that bonfire. I tried to prevent this--"

"You can't prevent what's written in the skies," someone said at the door. All of eyes averted from each other and went to look at who had just spoken. Gideon leaned on the door frame, crossing his arms over his black sweater. "It's fate. All of your attempts wouldn't have worked forever."