Darkness Falls College

Chapter Thirteen

Feeling guilty as hell, Peyton parked Elise's car in the parking lot of the gas station. She felt like he might burst with emotion. The Holiday light flickered, casting shadows on her while she entered the bright store with a ring from the doorbell. The cashier looked at me with a sullen, acne covered face, and I walked up. "Where is your bathroom?" I asked indifferently, glancing around at my surroundings. An old man grabbing bag after bag of chips. A woman in a waistcoat and oval shaped glasses, staring at me through her mask of messy makeup and a cloud of smoke from her cigarette. "Way back, take a right." The zitty teen cashier groans, resting his forehead on the glass separating us. I don't have time for this. I need to be somewhere alone. "Hey, though, I thought we could hang out after my shift-" "Don't even think about it." I snap, wishing these crazy people would just leave me alone. Is that all boys wanted a girl for? Her body? Why would that idiot even want her? Maybe because she'd covered herself in a large sweatshirt and looked smaller in it than she usually did.
She swiftly paced through the aisles, reaching the back. This is a bad part of town, she concluded, locking the greasy bathroom door and slumping down in front of it. Her red rimmed eyes spilled over with wet, big tears, her face immediately flushing red. She didn't care if anyone heard her.
Suddenly she felt a push on the door. Oh no, I forgot to lock it. she scooted into the grimy, tiled corner as the door opened and closed, revealing the woman from earlier.
She slumped down best to Peyton.
"Hey, Hon. It's okay."
Peyton didn't know what to say so she kept crying.
"It's hard. I know. It is." The lady put her hand on her back comfortingly. Peyton noticed the wrinkles forming on the woman's forehead and her tired brown eyes, drowning in makeup.
"I feel guilty everyday."
Wait, where is this going? "I don't understand."
"Oh, I thought you did. Most of us hookers wear lots of makeup." I rip myself from her hand. "Get away from me." I yell, rushing out of the holiday with the globs of makeup running down my face. I run, away from the holiday, from Elise's car. I feel the wind on my face, brushing through my hair, tickling my face.
I run halfway across McLeigh bridge before stopping. I impulsively look over the edge to the swampy, churning water below.
I can hear my heartbeat through my ears, my blood flowing, over the gurgling in my stomach. My feet feel the rusty metal railing below them. I take a deep breath and raise my arms to the sky. Goodbye.