Creep

Beneficence (ch. 2)

When I open my eyes, I am unsure of my surroundings. I feel a pang in my chest as I realize I am in a hotel or something. Moving slowly, my eyes wander around the room. I see someone walk out of the bathroom.

"Oh you're finally up." Its that man from yesterday, Jonah. Before I can scream, he motions me to be quiet. "Don't worry I'm not going to hurt you." He assures. "Why am I here?" I ask trying to sound calm. "You fell asleep when we were hiding from the rain so I called a taxi and brought you here to sleep." His pale blue eyes show complete seriousness and I begin to revive the memories from the night before.

Why couldn't he have just woken me up? I am too shocked to ask. I sigh with relief when I notice there is two beds and that we weren't sleeping in the same one. I pull out my phone from my pocket and almost scream again when I see the time. 9:07 am. "I'm late for school!!!!" I exclaim. "And my sisters probably so worried I didn't come home last night!" What am I supposed to do? How far from home am I?? "Calm down. Call your sister tell her you checked into a hotel on your own because of the storm and that you're taking a taxi to school." He shrugs. "Oh.. okay I will." I say and step into the hallway to ring her.

After expressing the believable story to her, I feel a weight lift off my shoulders. I walk back inside the room and see him sitting on the bed. "I'm really sorry for all of this. I'm grateful for your kindness." I frown. "No need to be so formal" He chuckles. "One last thing.... I can't wear the same thing I wore to school yesterday." I say. I end up quickly washing my jeans and slipping on a spare black tee shirt he gave to me.

The taxi arrives, I say thank you again and get inside. I didn't want to admit it, but what he did was probably one of the nicest things someone has ever done for me. I assume he is used to doing things like that for strangers- at least I hope so. I know now that there is no point in overthinking it, I'll never see him again.

It is already 10:00 by the time I get to school. "Hey why are you so late?" My best friend Imogen asks as soon as she spots me. "Oh.. I slept in." I say and it isn't entirely a lie. School ends in a flash but before I can leave the building, I hear someone calling my name. "Cassie! Hey! Wanna hang out tonight?" It was Dan, a boy who I barely ever talk to, yet he asks me a similar question almost every day. It was starting to get a little creepy. "Uh no thanks I've got studying to do." I say. "Oh come on you say that all the time! I promise I can give you a good time if you come to my house." He winks. I wonder why he constantly asked me out when he could ask almost any other girl and they'd accept his invitation in a heartbeat. I shake my head and pray that he will leave me alone. "You will say yes some day!" He exclaims and skips away.

When I finally get home, my sister Bella is sitting on the couch using her laptop. "Hey! You doing ok?" She asks. "Yep I'm good! Did mom come home yet?" I ask. "No not yet." She says and looks down.

Sometimes my mom would be gone for a day, or a few. And sometimes it was a week. It all depended on the situation. This time it was all my fault, I yelled at her for not taking care of me and Bella like a mother is supposed to. I told her my life was shitty all because of her going out at night and coming home drunk almost everyday. She threw plates at me after my harsh but true words. Then, she packed her bags and left. It has been two weeks and three days since that night. To my surprise, Bella hadn't yelled at me or even showed anger towards me even though it's clear that it is all my fault. I still haven't felt a hint of guilt either.

With my dad no longer alive and my mom showing less and less care for me and Bella, we learned to take care of ourselves. I also know that if my mom hadn't been gone for so long that Bella would have plans on moving out as well. She is 20, four years older than me and she should have gotten her own place a long time ago.

I help Bella cook rice and salmon for dinner. She is great at cooking. I'm not so great at it. After we eat and I clean up, she asks if I could go to the gas station to get some milk. I have an excuse to see him! I try not to get too excited. He might not even be there. I take a gray hoodie and put it over his tee shirt. He might think its weird i haven't changed yet. I decide to take the bus there because walking would take too long.

I anxiously open the door and glace over to the checkout. It's him. He is ringing some one up so he doesn't notice me. I grab the milk quickly and stand in line.

When my turn finally comes I look him in the eyes and say hey. He ignores what I said and rings up the gallon of milk. "I.. said hey." I tell him. "Excuse me? Do I know you?" He glares.