After Bite

Chapter 2- The Next Day...

Tuesday September 7th

The next day was not what I had expected. I walked through the place feeling detached and miserable, the previous night had only served to make my self-loathing worse. Creeping back into the house wasn’t hard- I had done it many times before. When things were different I had sneaked out nearly every night to hang out with friends. If I had asked, my mother would have of course let me go but there was a pleasant feeling when I told my ‘friends’ that I had sneaked out without permission. They clapped me on the back and grinned in a devilish way that made me happy to be one of them. Thinking about it now I realised that it wasn’t big or clever to worry the people I loved, after all now I was the one doing the worrying. Constantly concerned about a mother who worked all hours of the day and night to support us, a father who was drinking himself to death, two little sisters who had to have their innocence preserved and a grandfather who worried just as much as I did, life never seemed to let up. It was no wonder that everything seemed to be getting worse. The day was not made any easier by Adam not making an appearance at all. Normally his laughing and joking personality relaxed me and made the concerns drift away for a few hours at the very least and on days like this, when I was deprived of that humour, it seemed like everything was just getting worse and worse. The pressure was building and building. I had called Adam several times before lunch to try and persuade him that his education was more important than whichever video game he was busy with but there was no answer on his cell or home phone. I thrust my phone in my pocket and cussed loudly, attracting myself the raised eyebrows of people walking past. They walked past quickly when they noticed the look on my face and the anger and despair rolling off me was tangible in the air. With long strides I pushed my way through the crowded halls and nearly ended up sending a couple of freshmen girls to the floor, I grabbed their arms before they could hit and set them to rights but not before they shared a look of alarm.

I ended up in the library for the rest of the day, ignoring the people around who were exchanging curious glances and whispers. Thankfully I had long ago befriended the librarian who left me alone, not forcing class on me the way anyone else would, and should, have. The way she saw it was that if I was here then I wasn’t causing trouble somewhere else, and as long as her books remained in perfect condition then she was happy. The librarian was a sombre woman in her mid-forties with close cropped hair and a no nonsense attitude, her skeletal frame didn’t look capable of hauling around heavy books but I had witnessed it on more than one occasion. Now she looked up at me from where I had been observing her and smiled gently.  I smiled back gingerly and went back to reading a book I had picked at random, trying to immerse myself in the world and characters.

I had finally gained some interest in the book when the library doors opened with a clatter and I jumped. Piper was standing in the door looking guilty. The librarian glared at her and Piper’s hard expression softened, “I’m sorry. They looked heavy.” She gestured to the doors with a fine boned arm then silently weaved her way around tables, gliding effortlessly. I had never seen a girl move like that. She headed through the stacks like she knew exactly where she was going and picked up a thick, heavy looking book with a sharp intake of breath. I caught sight of her face out of the corner of my eye, she was wearing the world’s smallest smile and it only served to make her more beautiful. With a spring in her step she found herself a seat, none too far from me, and settled herself down to read. Immersed in the thick tome, she kept smiling and it made my heart quiver. She was clearly the most beautiful thing in the world, and yet as I looked around me people seemed to look at her warily, like she was a raging bull and they were waiting for her to charge.

I went back to my book but couldn’t stop myself from looking up at her occasionally, eventually her small smiled faded and she looked solemn but content. As the final bell rang for the day she got up and put the book away but on her way past she seemed to glance at the title I was reading and raised her eyebrows speculatively.