(Mind) Tricks

Chapter 2 - Before

"Clarrisa Frost?"

"Ugh, Here"

"Okay everyone's here, shall we begin?"

Silence.

"Okay, let's get started"
    Mr. Sawtelle's lectures are long and monotonous, many of us wonder if he actually enjoys his job or whether he's putting on a show to try to get us excited. He's the professor for Graphic Design, what I'm trying to major in. His voice sounds like a migraine, one you just want to sleep off for ages. I can't even imagine why some of the girls go at him like moths to a flame. Besides the point, I'm here and I only have one year left before I can go out and start my own company. I have the finances to start up a shop right in my beautiful, drug-ridden hometown of Los Angeles. I can't wait to get out of here and actually live my own life.

    "So after that you'd press 'alt5' and that does the thing", Sawtelle said without tone. He could not be more vague with his instructions. What was the thing he was doing again? Probably something to do with computer editing on photoshop like he's been on for weeks. I mean I guess it's kinda cool that he's so into it, but it's so boring for the rest of the human race. I just want to get my degree and get out of this school. There are too many frat parties and the drug abuse is off the charts, I swear everybody has some heroin in their veins.

    Great, I haven't been taking notes this entire class; just wonderful. Oh well, I'll just steal the notes from someone else, no problem. Josh takes great notes, I could just steal them from him.

    Josh is a super nice dude. Blond hair, brown eyes, super tall; compared to me at least. By the way, I'm basically a dwarf at five-foot-two. Back to the actual topic, I'm pretty sure Josh has a thing for me; which is probably why he offers me notes and answers when I don't pay attention. Some people say I use him for answers, but we're best friends; and I'd do the same thing if he missed a class or didn't pay attention.

Ring.

    Why does the bell have to be so obnoxious and loud? I get it, it's the end of class, time to go home. I pick up my black backpack and my MacBook. I go towards the door when Jenn, a girl in my class, stops me right outside. She curled her hair and did her makeup special. Her blue eyes glistened in the fluorescent lights of the hallway. She's so pretty, it makes me jealous.
"You forgot your notes on 'how to create a filter in Photoshop'", Jenn said, her voice smooth; it sounded almost flirty. I blushed a little bit and replied with,"Thanks Jenn, really appreciate it".

    Finally out of school, time to go home and eat something; today's been too long. It was nice running into Jenn though. God, she's so cute. Anyway, back to my boring life. Maruchan is a lifesaver when you're twenty and living on campus. You can get a week's worth of styrofoam-coated noodles for around fifteen dollars, which isn't a bad deal in today's world. I get to my dorm, heat up dinner, and spend the next three hours doing homework. Such is a day in the life of Clarrisa Frost, Graphic Design student.

    Tonight's a bit different though, it's like there's some weird white noise coming from outside. I normally wouldn't mind something like that but it's keeping me awake, so time to go find out where it's coming from. I walk out of my dorm and I can hear it loud and clear from the hallway. It sounds like a swarm of bees chewing up the wall. I keep walking toward the sound, I want to know what's robbing me of my sleep. I turn the corner expecting someone to be there making that noise, but there's nothing there. I turn another corner, and another, and another, until I'm out of the dorm building. It's cold for a summer night in Los Angeles. My phone says it's supposed to be sixty-five, but it feels like fifty. Oh well, the weatherman has been wrong before. After not seeing anything for an hour I go back inside.

     I couldn't sleep, a small amount of fear gnawed away at my confidence all night. I couldn't help but ask myself 'what if there was something and you just weren't looking hard enough?', 'what if it's gonna come in and murder you?'. Jeez, I sounded like a seven-year-old afraid of the bogeyman. If I'm gonna go crazy, can I go crazy over something that's actually exists?