Incubus

| Five |

    "Mom! I'm leaving now!" I yelled out to her as I sunk my teeth into an apple. I heard her door open and the light thump of her footsteps as she hurried down the stairs.

    "Brielle!" she heavily breathed as she bursted into the kitchen. My spirits lifted immediately. Had she actually remembered it was my eighteenth birthday today? "Your school is making an important announcement today. They sent out an email last night."

My excitement left me just as quick as it came.

    "What announcement?" I cocked my head to the side and slowly chewed my apple. Her eyes widened in panic and she quickly moved to the coffee machine. It was then that I noticed how disheveled her hair was. Her makeup from the night before remained on her face, only smudged and faded. She looked like a mess.

    "Uh, I'm not supposed to tell you.." she trailed off with a shrug.

I raised my eyebrows. "And what happened to you last night?"

She whipped her head towards me with wide eyes. "W-what do you mean?"

"Mom," I eyed her suspiciously. She was acting very strange. "You look like a mess."

"I had one too many glasses of wine last night," she laughed nervously before diverting her attention to the clock hung on the kitchen wall. "Oh, look at the time! Goodbye. Have a good day!" she waved before pushing me out of the house and closing the door behind me.

    I stared back at the door in shock. It was a rude gesture even for her. I couldn't control the sadness I felt over the fact of her forgetting my birthday.

I wondered why she wasn't at work?

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    On the drive to school I couldn't help but ponder what important announcement they were going to be making. My private school did have the intentions of becoming a boarding school but I heard there were still a few months of construction left on the building.

    I parked in the student parking lot and headed inside the small building. As soon as I stepped through the door, everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their head towards me. I blinked rapidly while my feet planted in place, wondering what embarrassing thing I had done now.

    Did I forget to wear pants?! I glanced down just to verify and sighed in relief to see my short plaid skirt.

    "Miss Thompson." I heard a deep voice call out my name from behind causing me to jump in fright. I instantly turned towards it. "Do you mind walking? You're blocking the hallway." Glimmering blue eyes smiled down at me. Mr. Smith's laugh blessed my ears. It was an amazing, melodic sound.

    "Yes, s-sir. Sorry, sir." I mumbled quietly, my hair falling around me like a curtain as my gaze locked on the floor. Without a second thought I hurried off down the hallway; desperate to get away from him and his distracting eyes. I didn't like how insecure I felt around him. Nobody was that beautiful.

    "Brielle! Slow down." he demanded from behind me and I instantly stopped in my tracks. The impact of him crashing into my back caused me to lose all balance.

    Before I could even process what was happening his large hands wrapped around my waist to keep me from falling. He pulled me flush against his body, but too soon he released me from his grasp and I stumbled back slightly. I had flashbacks of bumping into the man at the masquerade party.