Eliza finally finds her first class and walks in. Everyone turns to face her and the teacher stops talking. "Ah, Eliza, I was wondering if you got lost." He chuckles to himself. "Everyone, this is Eliza Davis, she is going to be joining us. I am Mr. Garrison, your English teacher. You can take a seat there next to Luna." he says, pointing to the corner of the room. She smiles at him before rushing over to her friend and dropping into her seat. Luna softly whacks her arm.
"This is so great! We have the same class and we sit next to each other." She whispers, excitedly. Eliza smiles at her and then looks back toward the teacher. He goes right back to what he was saying before she arrived and Luna leans over again. "You okay?" Eliza just nods. As they get through the class she has to endure more looks and whispers from around the room. She feels like an alien. She begins to wonder if every new kid feels this way or if this town is just extra weird. Every time her school back home got a new kid, she never payed attention. She wasn't whispering and staring like a creep. She clears the thoughts so she can listen to what her teacher is saying.
Finally getting through first period, Eliza and Luna exit the class together. They had discussed the schedule whilst packing up and found out their next classes are next door to each other. So they are walking together. On their walk Eliza notices Principal Harris watching her from across the hall. When she is out of sight Eliza asks Luna about her.
"So, what is the deal with the principal?"
"What do you mean?" Luna asks, confused.
"Yea like, is she cool? Strict? She said she was very involved. What does that mean?" Eliza inquiries.
"She nice, she said that to me to once. When she was saying I could go to her whenever. She means it sort of like a guidance counselor. She doesn't mind if students go to her with questions or advice. You know, about school or life in general." Luna explains. They walk up to their classes and Luna tells her to meet outside after class. As Eliza enters her second period it goes just about the same as the last one did. Except this time she doesn't have her friend to hold her hand through it.
Making it through her second classes she releases the biggest sigh. Packing up her things a girl comes up to her. "Hi, I'm May." she says sticking her hand out, Eliza shakes it.
"Eliza."
"It's nice to meet you. I just wanted to say, you should just ignore all the whispers. People are just shy and don't have the nerve to talk to the new kid, but want to know everything about you. If you ever need anything, you can always ask." She smiles before turning quickly and walking out.
When she finally gets to lunch she feels exhausted, like she's been holding her breath all day. She has this feeling that all the looks are more than just intrigue. It feels more like they are watching her every move, waiting for her to slip. What that is she isn't quite sure, because it's just a feeling. Walking through the courtyard she sees the three familiar faces that now bring comfort. They are sitting at a secluded bench beneath a tree, that has view of the entire court yard.
Rushing up to them she drops herself on to the seat. "You okay? You look beat." Mary says, in a sympathetic manner. Eliza nods still looking around. She spots the principal from across the courtyard. She's watching her. She is trying to convince herself that she's just trying to have her back because she is new. But, she has the same vibe as this morning at the park and in her room. Could it be her, the principal that was watching. She said the same thing she heard in her room. 'Be careful'.
"Eliza!" Luna giggles, whacking her very distracted friend in the arm. Eliza jumps, quickly turning her attention to the other girls.
"What happened?" she asks, clocking back in to their conversation. Luna laughs but Mary and Rowan look more concerned. They look to each other and once again have a silent conversation. Eliza is starting to get annoyed with their silent conversations, because she wants to know what they are thinking.
The bell rings softly and they all stand up. "We can walk together Eli, our classes are next to each other." Mary says, walking around the table to meet her. Eliza nods saying bye to Luna and Rowan.
As the girls walk in silence, Eliza falls back into her thoughts. Nothing too weird has actually occurred, yet she's been walking around paranoid all day. It's this overwhelming feeling, like a sense that something is brewing. She has never been a very paranoid person before. She was always told she need to pay more attention to her surroundings. Yet, as of late, she looking over her shoulder and questioning everyone's motives for staring.
"Eliza?" She is dragged out of her thoughts by Mary's gentle voice. "Where did you go just then?" Mary asks softly. Eliza just shrugs, not sure of how to even explain any of it. "Are you actually okay? You can tell me the truth." Mary says, and for the first time the sense she gets is genuine. She feels that she can trust Mary with all of it, and so she runs with it. After this day feeling like she can't trust a soul. She is ready to bare her soul to someone, in hopes they will tell her she isn't crazy and that she is going to be ok.
"I just keep getting these feelings. Like not like I normally do, these feel like huge warnings that I can't ignore." She starts. Mary nods, ushering for more information. "This morning at home I had my window open, and I ... I could've sworn I heard someone say be careful. Then, at the park that person. It felt like I was being pulled to approach them. The feeling was overwhelming. Now, here at school... When people stare it doesn't feel like they are curious. It feels like they are scared. The principal, this morning she shook my hand. She kind of freaked out, she pulled her hand away quick. Then, kicked me out, telling me to be careful. She has been watching me all day. From afar. I don't know, I'm probably just being paranoid." She finishes, sighing in defeat.
"First of all, that feeling in your gut is there to protect you. You should always listen to it. Just try to keep your head on straight okay? We can talk more about all of this later. Let's just get through the day okay?" She says rubbing Eliza's back. Eliza nods before they split up to take on their last set of classes.
The rest of the day goes similarly, people staring, whispering, coming up to her. At the end of her last class she rushes out to the front of the school. The girls are all there already. The energy she's receiving when she approaches is that Mary has told the others about her paranoia. They are all staring, it feels like the way everyone else has been staring all day. She shifts her books in her arms feeling uncomfortable.
"You ready to head to the cafe?" Luna asks, less cheerful as she normally is.
"I think I'm actually gonna have to take a raincheck on that for today. I kind of just really want to go home, take a shower and a nap." Mary and Rowan look to each other. Eliza tries to ignore it.
"Are you sure?" Mary asks her. Eliza just nods before walking past them.
"See you tomorrow? At the park?" Luna shouts after her.
"Yeah!" she shouts back before hustling across the street. She begins to speed walk the rest of the way home, just wanting to be safe and sound in her bedroom. As she walks through the park she gets this thick, suffocating feeling that she is being watched. She looks around quickly and realizes the same hooded person is watching her again from afar. This time the person starts to walk towards her. She gets nervous and walks faster. She is speed walking home and looking over her shoulder to see if the person is still following. They are still there.
Turning the corner she continues to her house, checking over her shoulder. When gets to the door she pushes it open aggressively. As she is closing the door she notices the person is gone. She releases the biggest sigh shutting the door and locking it.
"Hey honey! Do you want a snack?" She hears her mom call from the kitchen.
"I'm good! Just gonna shower!" She yells as she books it up the stairs. When she enters her room, she shuts the door leaning against it.
