"Valéry?" I feel a light tap on my shoulder and my eyes flutter open. Ethan is standing next to me, smiling sleepily with his hair messed up. Everything is blurry at first, but I rub my eyes and the view in front of me turns clear. After a quick yawn, I'm able to communicate once more. "Hey." I say while smiling. "What time is it, where are we?"
Ethan leans down in front of me and picks up his bag from the floor. "You drifted off to sleep last night. I have to say you're quite the snorer." He teases. I feel my cheeks turn red instantly and look away. But that's when I remember. "You said I fell asleep last night?" I ask and look out the window. The stars and moon are shining brightly in the sky. "But it's dark out.. Around what time did I fall asleep exactly?"
Ethan looks through his bag, barely paying attention to what I'm asking. "Pretty much right after I offered some of my candy, you passed out. And that's because it still is night, something went wrong with the bus and we had to make a stop. The driver is taking a look at it and almost everyone is outside." He says nonchalantly before pulling out a small flashlight attached to a keychain.
I raise an eyebrow in confusion. "Wait, so what time is it exactly?" After Ethan stops fussing around with the flashlight to turn it on, he looks at me puzzled. "Repeat that again?" I let out a long sigh. "Never mind." I say while getting up from my seat. "Whoa, where do you think you're going?" Ethan grabs my hand, and I still.
I feel a bunch of nerves tighten my stomach and my cheeks almost burn again, but I stop myself from turning flustered. "I want to go outside and see what's going on." Ethan makes a weird noise with his mouth, but I know it's a protest. "It's not the safest place outside the bus. Just stay in here with the others." I almost have to stop myself from rolling my eyes. "Ethan.. If there are other people outside, I'm sure I can manage. Besides, I'm a big girl. Maybe you should try to handle that flashlight before you try to handle me." And without another word, I step off the bus with Ethan following behind.
Everyone is huddled up in different groups, whispering things with annoyed facial expressions plastered on their faces. "Ugh, it's so fucking cold out here. Doesn't that old bitch know how to fix a damned bus?" I hear Jenny Carlen's voice from afar. "Um, no. She's a woman, what do you expect? Come on babe, is your thong too far up your ass? I'm sure we'll be out of here soon." Jenny rolls her eyes at Carl, her boyfriend. Or as I like to view him, her toy friend.
"That's not funny, Carl. You know how much I hate being in the woods. I'm only here cause my fucking parents forced this dumb ass trip into my schedule." She complains. After a while, I walk past the group and head towards the window next to my seat. Before I step closer to it, I make sure no one is behind me. When I see the coast is clear, I stand right in front of the window.
Everything looks completely normal, but I don't let my guard down. Ethan says I fell asleep after he offered me some candy. So maybe that face that I saw out outside my window was all a dream. But it felt too real for me to believe it was a figment of my imagination. I don't know, lately I can't seem to tell what's real or what's a fairytale. Better said, a nightmare. Because that face is not something that pops out in happily ever afters.
I think back to what I saw, how horrid the image itself was. A melted face, revealing some bone structure, and black eyes that seemed like the deepest holes I have ever seen. But the worst part was the grin it had smudged into its face. I shake my head, trying to draw away the idea from my head. Not because I'm scared, but I don't think the image will ever bring me comfort.
"Valéry, why are you here alone?" I jump slightly, before looking to my side and spotting Ethan with the flashlight dangling from the keychain beside him. "I just wanted to see something really quick, I didn't think it would be such a big deal." I walk towards him, halfway annoyed. Ethan has been weird since the trip started. And I don't know how I feel about that entirely.
"It isn't, but it's dangerous. If you're not going to listen to me about staying inside the bus, could you at least stay near everyone else? We're out in the wilderness." I wrap my arms around my chest and sigh quietly. Ethan looks away from me, an uncomfortable feeling taking over the air between us.
After a while, he sighs as well and stops walking. "Val.." He murmurs. I manage to still, but I don't turn around to face him. "Mhm?" I ask. I hear a few footsteps before Ethan is standing right in front of me. Once again he sighs, and looks directly at me, making eye contact.
"I don't want you mad at me or anything.. I know you're already sorta ticked off that I made you come along." He starts off. I look away from him, unable to make eye contact. "Look, I just want you safe is all. We haven't hung out in a while and you're a special friend to me. So why don't you stay safe so that when we get to camp, we can make it the best time of our lives?"
Suddenly I feel his hand grab mine, and my heart starts to race. I look up at him, and he's smiling bigger than ever. I feel my face burning red, but I don't change my expression. "So, are you going to stay mad at lil' old me?" He asks while making a horrible puppy-dog face. I look away and muffle my giggle.
"Just think I should let you know, that face looks more like you're constipated. But, you're forgiven. I wasn't even that mad at you to begin with. I just-" Then I stop myself. What am I supposed to tell Ethan? Everything I think of would make me sound like a freak. How would he feel if I told him I've never had anyone look after me, so I feel weird having him do it? Or that I'm used to being on my own, because I'm a danger to others. Who knows, sometimes I feel like I'm insane. But I can't let him know that, I can't let him know about my true dark past. Can I?
"You just what..?" Huh? Oh. "I'm sorry. I lost my train of thought there." I say, and start walking towards the inside of the bus. I go all the way to the back and sit. I'm still thinking about that face, wondering if it was all a dream. I want to ask Ethan if I even took a candy out of his bag, I want details. But I'm sure he'd think it would be weird of me. I mean, I'm surprised he sticks with me despite some of my weird behavior that I've accomplished already.
I run my fingers through my hair, feeling many tiny knots along the way. But it sooths me, just as it did when my mom used to do so. Before everything changed, before everything was ruined. "Hey, the names Valéry right?" I look up and see a girl with long, black hair and tanned skin. "Um, yes, it is." I manage to say without stuttering.
She stretches her hand towards me and smiles. "I'm Kirsten." At first I hesitate, but I shake her hand after a few seconds pass by. Out of nowhere, she sits down next to me and fixes her shirt in a hyper manner before crossing her legs and looking at me. "Pretty fucking boring with this bus messed up, isn't it?" She asks nonchalantly.
I crook my head to the side and look at her with a face, and she stills. "Oh, I'm sorry. I bet you think I'm weird for randomly introducing myself and talking crap, huh?" All it takes is one nod of my head for her to explain her actions. "Well, I'm kind of friends with Ethan, and I saw you two being all friendly with each other. Plus you seem to only know him, but every girl should have a female friend, just to be safe." She chuckles.
I almost want to tell her to leave me alone, but something about her seems sincere, so I let it go. "As long as this isn't some pity, charity work that someone's put you up to, then by all means you can sit next to me and ramble about boring buses as much as you please." I say as a matter of fact. We both stifle a laugh, right before it gets interrupted by a horrifying scream. And this time, I know I'm not dreaming.
YOU ARE READING
Paranoia (based off an actual nightmare)
Misteri / ThrillerA trip that was supposed to be peaceful, relaxing, and Valéry's chance to get closer to her love, ended up turning into a death trap. What happens when a large group of teenagers turn paranoid? Paranoid because one of them has become a traitor. And...