When It Starts

Chapter 3 Part 1

Chare gestures at me to come over to the bar. It's a thick, long, bar that we use to lean on and serve pop. It makes us feel more 'adult' like if we call it a bar. Which is the main reason we enjoy our little hiding place. We all come here during school and just hang out. We all talk and lounge around pretending that we are doing something with our lives. I sit down on the brown, slightly moldy, recliner. Chare sits down beside me. She pulls out her box of fake cigarettes and hands one to me. It doesn't have any nicotine in it and it basically lights for twenty seconds before you have to light a new one. The only reason to really smoke one is that it leaves your breath smelling of mint. I take one and light it up. It falls in between my teeth and I look around the room. There was a couple in the corner making out. Awkward. I look the other way. There was another couple arguing with each other, using wild hand gestures to complete their points and opinions about whatever and the fuck they were talking about. Chare was looking at me. I could feel it. I turn my head and she does the same. Pretending she wasn't looking at me. "Whatever." I say to myself. It's quiet. As it always is in the mornings. Until the Boys come. The Boys are the type of people who are rowdy and annoying no matter if they have a dick or not. We call them 'The Boys' because they play 'boy' sports and say 'boy' things. There are actually six girls in the group. All equally antagonizing as the next. I hear the thudding on the walls. "Here we go." I say with a sigh. Chare just 'mhms' me and goes towards the wall. Both couples finally realize where they are and I hope that will mean they will take their personal lives out of my sanctuary. Neither of them do. The Boys all come tumbling down out of the wall. Loud, obnoxious laughs escape them. I look through them to see that they have picked up a new idiot. I see Chare arguing with the 'leader' or the original Boy. She throws her hands up in the air and exclaims, 'Well Flum! Let's just invite the whole flumming school down here huh!" She stomps my way. She slams into the seat next to me and lights another cigarette. "How am I supposed to keep this place hidden, and functioning if that idiot," She says pointing to the Original Boy, " Can't follow my rules! I ask of you people so little!" I nod. "How about you have a little meeting. Make sure everyone knows the rules and the punishment for breaking them." She looks over at me like I'm freaking Einstein back from the dead. "That's a great idea!" She says. "I know. That's why I said it. I wouldn't waste my breath like that. Now go get me a pop." She stands up and salutes me. "Aye-aye Captain!" She walks away. The Boys move over to the stereo system and turns on Pierce the Veil on shuffle mode. I bob my head to the beat and settle in. Conversations explode from nothing and everyone is speaking over each other. It reminds me of a nightclub my Aunt brought me to. She was working there part time until she got her promotion at her day job for a real estate company. I watch the new Boy make a fool of himself. He is wrestling around with his brown hair dancing in his eyes. I shake my head. He puts the girl, his wrestling opponent, into a head locke. They bump into a table and it falls over and the girl shrieks in pain. "Oh damn sorry!" The room goes silent. Someone shuts off the music. Everyone stares at the new Boy. I look at Chare. Her face is red and she storms over to the middle of the room. She climbs up onto a table and says, "It seems you idiots have forgotten my main rules." She shoots a glare at the Original Boy. "Rule one. There is no cussing! I don't like it, it is sinful. This moves on to Rule two. Do what I ask. If not, I will ask you to leave. If you refuse to leave.." She looks around at all of us. "Then I will force you, and I don't mean just leave this room. I will make you leave this world. That is not a threat, that is a promise." She glared at the room full of people. "The last Rule, is probably most important. Never.Ever. Tell. Anyone." Everyone looks around. Chare takes a deep breath and steps down. "Oh. If there are any questions about the Rules. Then keep them to yourselves and just do what you're told." Somebody turns on the music and everybody resumes their conversations. Chare storms over to the New Boy and pushes him back. I can't hear what she is saying but the Boy looks scared. I stand up and walk over to her. Weaving in and out of the teens. I reach her mid-sentence. "-never call anyone, anything in this room! Do you hear me? That's enough! Follow my rules. We are not bullies we are outcasts!" The Boy takes a step back. I scoffed. "Not so tough now are you?" Chare follows the Boy with a look of death. "One more time." She says. "One more time, and you're out." The Boy gulped. I almost felt sorry for him.

It's his fault really. Everyone knows not to mess with Chare. She knows everyone. Everything. If she wants to know something, she'll figure it out. All the teachers adore her, even though she is hardly ever in class. Nobody ever questions Chare. She walks away, leaving the Boy quite taken aback. He wipes his forehead and then finally notices me. He stares at me for a while. Then puffs out a cloud of mint, smelling breath, and pushes back to his 'friends'. I go back to the couch and lay down. Letting the vibrations pulse through my body. Chare comes out of nowhere and slams her body onto mine. She's sitting on my lap and offers me a cigarette. ''Way to go." I say, only half mockingly. She tips her head back and looks up at the ceiling. She starts rubbing her temple. "Ughhh! It is so hard to keep this place in check. These animals don't respect my rules." She gestures to the person operating the Bar. A sandy blonde comes over and hands her a soda. She shakes her head and whispers in his ear. I lean in forward to hear what she said. No such luck. The 'BarTender' looks at her questioningly, but obeys whatever command she gave him. "You know what!" She says a little too loudly, considering she was just a mere few inches from my face. I shrug and wince. "We should have a type of.. uh.. tour guide! You know? To show every new person how it works here and to watch over them until they've been here for a least a few weeks! But it can't just be anyone. It has to be someone experienced. But not part of them." She says glaring at the Boys. "If you hate them so much, why do you allow them to stay?" I ask. She was about to answer when the BarTender came over and offered her a tall bottle of brown liquid. All labels were torn off. I leaned in. "Is that... is that beer?!" I ask. She presses the bottle to her lips and her eyes seem thoroughly entertained. She takes a swig. She smirks at me. "Yeah. It's not a big deal or anything. I just took it from Dan." I look at her. I don't believe her. "Dan? As in the one who wouldn't even let you wear tank tops to Middle School? There is no way that he would leave beer hanging around your house." She shifts and faces me. "Of course not silly!" She takes another swig. "I took it from his beer box in his bedroom." "Like he won't notice." I roll my eyes. "When he's drunk he can't remember how many he's had! He can't even remember his name! He'll just buy more anyway!" All I could think was "Oh my God."