Personal Demons

Chapter one

The birds were singing the same tune they had been singing ever since the school year had started. Like everyday, the kids in the class threw paper airplanes at each other while some others quietly chat or did whatever on their phones. Just like everyday, the teacher would come in and rat out the trouble makers that interrupted their teaching. Just like every day, Elizabeth Teal would silently sit in the middle of the class watching everything go by. She watched the football games on the sidelines, she watched the two lesbian couples snuggle and pig out on food that they so happily fed each other every other day. She watched the teacher and the students and even the principle. Just silently observing. The students payed no attention to her, the teachers however, did since she was their grade A student. Elizabeth only had a few friends that were similar to her but never could get the "best stalker" award of the year. Whenever she talked with them, she would always be caught drawing in her large sketchbook. No one has ever really seen the inside of her sketchbook nor no one exactly cared. In this day of age, artist were everywhere, so seeing one at school was no different than a person breathing. Their were only a few that had seen the inside of her sketchbook, but they dared not to tell anyone. They would always say "it's for your own safety" and walk off like it was nothing. It was the beginning of December when Elizabeth felt like something was off. Everyone did the same thing like normal, but it just didn't feel right. Class was about to start when the principal came in the room with a new student. The teen was pretty tall and had short blond hair that complemented the freckles on their scarlet face. They wore baggy jeans that were held up by a brown torn up belt, and denim jacket that went over a plain white tee shirt. "This is our new student, Ivy Hunter, she just moved here from New York so please make our little town to be as bright as the big city itself!" With that the principal had left and Ivy took her seat next to Elizabeth. She had to admit, the new student was quite cute as her rosy cheeks flared in embarrassment from all the attention. The student asked her all sorts of questions about New York, they were all answered in a small, shy tone. When lunch came around everyone asked her to sit with them, but surprisingly she ended up sitting next to the silent observer. "Hey...um didn't know you draw? Is it cool if drew with you?" For once, the observer was actually noticed, she shot her head up, a bit confused on why she wouldn't just sit somewhere else. But she wasn't complaining, the lack of human contact was getting to her head, so having someone speak to her was like a bell ringing in her ears. "Uh sure...I don't mind." Ivy took out her tattered sketchbook, it was smaller than Elizabeth's but it held so much paper that it seemed like a stack of junk to be honest. She watched as Ivy flipped through a few pages, all filled with anatomy studies and monsters. "Those are...incredible.." Elizabeth spoke quietly, still watching as Ivy tried to find an empty page. "Oh thanks, I'd been taking personal art classes for five years now, I really enjoy the human body! It's quite fascinating on how it works like clockwork. If one spring is missing, then everything would stop moving." To Ivy's fortune, the next page was empty. "Ah finally..now what to draw..hmm got any suggestion?" Elizabeth pondered on the answer, it was strange, she always knew what to draw, but whenever that questions was brought her mouth went dry. "Uhh...how about a monster that's entangled in vines and thorns. Even though it could easily break free, it's too worried about the flowers that are held together by the vines." Ivy nodded with happy smirk. "Yeah haha that sounds pretty wicked, I like that idea." Ivy picked up her pencil and immediately started draw, Elizabeth however, didn't seem to know what to do. Why can't I see it? The two exchanged everyday conversation like "the weathers great isn't it?" and "I hope I get enough sleep before tomorrow." All this talk and not a single line was put down on Elizabeth's paper. Why can't I see her demon? The bell to next period rang as loud as she remembered it, she was about to sneak out of the cafeteria until Ivy stopped her. "Hey do you know where my Pre-AP geometry classroom is?" Elizabeth scanned the schedule that was given to her by Ivy, and to her darkest desires she was in the same class as her. "Ah I see, we are in the same class together, here I'll take you." She handed her the schedule and they both went to the classroom.