(Take me to my) Safe Place.

II

After the events of last night all I did was go to my room. I just laid on my bed deep in thought and lost track of time. I decided to pop in some sleeping pills and fell asleep around 5:00am. Which means I got about an hour of shut-eye. Damn. Insomnia.

As I groggily walked through the entrance of the school I looked at a parked car's window. Black eye.

"Crap!" I whisper-yelled as I put my head down, pulling the hood of my jacket up. The LAST thing I needed was attention. You take an Invisible and give them a black eye, there WILL be heads turning. Even for them.

I walked inside the senior building and walked straight up the flight of stairs on the east wing, heading straight for the back west wing toward my homeroom classroom, not daring to look up. Somehow, I managed to not bump into anyone.

As I was only a few feet away from the door I looked up. There was Pete. Pushing through a crowd as he spotted me.

His eyes widened and his eyebrows immediately furrowed when he saw me. "Violet!" He shouted, trying to get through the crowds of seniors blocking the hallway. "Violet!" Crap. He was making his way over.

I ducked my head.

"Blend in. Blend in and he'll never notice you! You can walk right passed him and act like you're going into the bathroom." Inner me told myself.

"Good thinking!" I said aloud quietly to myself. I was about to take another step forward but I felt a pair of arms wrap around mine putting their hands on my elbows. Pete.

"Violet!" Pete whisper-yelled. "What. Happened?"

"Softball incident?"

"You don't play softball." Pete said, his expression was a mix of blank and that look that says, "Cut the Crap," except this was Pete's "Cut the Crap" look.

"Well I played with Marshall... He was the bat and I was the ball..." My voice trailed. I wasn't going to continue at that sad attempt of a joke/excuse.

Pete frowned. More. "Your da- er... Marshall hit you again?!" Pete was loud, yet made sure only the three of us could hear. He was angry. Wait- three of us?... It was then that I looked over Pete's shoulder.

There was Patrick. My face flushed. He was standing there looking at me with a hard expression. A slight frown, eyebrows furrowed and showing every bit of concern that laced his features. I gazed at my shoes, thinking.

"Hey. Heeeeyy!" Pete stood there waving his hand in front of my face. Snapping. "Snap out of it!" I jumped. He literally snapped me out of it. Looking up, I stared at him, recovering from my daze. "Are you even listening? Cas, talk to me." The pet name was comforting in a way. When we were younger, Pete called me Casper. (I was and still am very pale) Like the friendly ghost. It gets shortened to 'Cas' quite often.

"I-" I stammered out. I opened my mouth to try again. I let out a breath of air that made a slight noise trying to say something. Nothing.

"I... We-" Pete turned. Looking at Patrick, clearly concerned. "Let's go."

With that, he grabbed my hand and we were off towards the stairs. The hallways had cleared a little, so it was easier to get through. Neither Patrick or I argued with Pete. We just followed, him still holding my hand. We made it down the stairs and headed out to the parking lot of the senior building. Since I walked to school and Pete drove Patrick, we all piled into Pete's car. He finally let go of my hand. As we all sat in the parked car, it was quiet.

          "You already know what we're doing," Pete said assuming.

          "Skipping school?" I asked. "Again." I added, almost inaudible.

          "Well yeeees, but what else?" He pushed, starting the car.

          "Going to The Hangout?" I asked, as if it wasn't obvious.

          "Uh huh." He turned back around, pulling out of our parking space.

          I let out a sigh. Going to the abandoned house meant we needed to talk. Today was supposed to be the first day of warm-up exams. It wasn't too major, but Pete wouldn't miss it. None of us would. It was senior year. Exams are a big deal. This meant seriousness. We do this often, but this is warm-up exams week. It's different.

          [A little about "The Hangout": Pete and I found The Hangout in seventh grade. It was this abandoned house that had only ever housed a single family. They moved out after a month though. It was only around a year old when we found it. Only reason no one else moved in was due to it being one pretty large bedroom, tiny bathroom small kitchen and connected lounging area. The place was tiny. Not fit for a family. Everyone called it a motel room. The backyard though, was amazing. One acre. Nothing but clear grass. A white picket fence. Pete's (wealthy, businesses owning) uncle later gained possession over the house, and let us turn it into our hangout. He still pays for it to this day. Later nicknamed,"The Hangout" it became home away from home. We go there all the time.]

"This should be great." Inner me said as we made our way to the house.