Crazy

Normal?!

Detention had definitely fulfilled its purpose -to ruin your entire day and make you want to crawl into a hole and die.
In other words, Carly was in a bad mood as she trudged home from school.
It was slowly starting to get dark and the courtyard was covered in shadows, and dark shapes. She quickly made her way through the maze of shadows, in reality she would never say this but she was frightened, she had never been in detention before and could only guess what her parents were going to say, also, these shadows were really quite unnerving. They were dark and very foreboding.

Carly had just left the school property when she saw something move from the corner of her eye. She whirled around and blinked. Something was there.

Slowly a dark, and imposing shadow walked up and confronted her. A small gasp escaped her as the figure came and stood in front of her. It reached out towards her and put its hand on Carly's shoulder. She screamed and lashed out, hitting it on the shoulder. Proudly Carly jumped away and watched in satisfaction as the figure held its shoulder and moaned. She blinked once more, scared and excited by the rush that filled her. The rush that made her feel like she could take anything on.

Piper stepped out of the shadows, her gaze fixed on Carly, rubbing her shoulder."Really?! You couldn't just have said hi Piper?".

Carly stared at Piper, before hitting her again (but much lighter), "You scared me half to death!
Really?" Piper smirked, "Are you really that jumpy?".

Carly couldn't help it, and a smile broke through her annoyance.
"Hey, it's dark and I'm tired. Okay? Now, we can talk, but I have to get home."
Piper's face wasn't giving anything away, and Carly started to wish that she could take back her invitation to walk together. She was so tired and just wanted to get home, even though she knew that she would have to go through a lecture and an interrogation of why she had been in detention.

Piper looked at Carly, "Why did you say there was a spider on her shoulder?". Carly had been hoping that this wasn't going to be the topic of the conversation, but she also knew that that was what her friend was curious about.
She turned to Piper, "You didn't see it?". Panic was rapidly gripping her in its icy grasp, but there was nothing she could do.

"No. Carly there wasn't a spider there. Are you okay?". Piper could see the panic lighting up in her friend's eyes, but she couldn't lie to her and tell her that she had seen the spider. She hadn't. But there was more to this supposed "spider", Piper could always tell when Carly was keeping something away from her, and this was one of those moments. That fearful gaze was hiding something, she had definitely seen more than just a spider. "Carly-" She started, but she was interrupted by a babbling Carly: "It was growing! I swear it was! I didn't imagine it! Why didn't you see it?! Is there something wrong with me?!". Piper could only sit there in surprise as her friend shouted about a growing spider that had most certainly not been there.

"Carly, stop! It was probably just your imagination! It was a long school day, and the year has only just begun, I'm sure you'll be fine tomorrow. Just get a good night's rest." Piper could see that Carly didn't believe her, and she wasn't sure if she believed herself either, but she had to calm down her panicked friend.
Carly looked down, "I'm sorry, you're probably right."

After a few minutes of awkward silence they slowly started walking back, in silence. It was getting dark, and late, so they both ran home. Piper dropped off Carly at her house and continued on, to her own. Carly stared at Piper's retreating amber ponytail, before bracing herself and entering her house.

Carly lived in a large, old, Victorian house, so any chance of sneaking quietly through the house was close to zero, but it was worth a shot and so, Carly quietly attempted to creep up the grand staircase to her room.
*Creak*
She flinched.
She tried to continue up the stairs, knowing it was highly unlikely that her mother and father had not heard her.
Stopping for a minute to catch her breath, and plan her next move, Carly reminded herself to ask if she could put a carpet on the stairs the next time that she had the chance.
Relaxing and breathing more regularly, Carly listened, making sure that there were no footsteps.
Grinning, she started back up.
She was going to make it!
Then she heard a slight cough and whirled around, heart sinking. No one was behind her.. She turned around ready to go back up the stairs when she froze. Her mother was standing there watching her with a slightly amused and annoyed expression on the landing above the staircase. How had she not seen her mother standing there? When had her mother started watching her. As if it was possible, Carly's heart sunk even further.

Her mother was one of those very quiet people who could stand there and watch you, and you would have no idea that she was even there. She was a very beautiful woman: fine featured, short black hair, and a gorgeous smile.
Sadly, this smile was no longer on her face, and the slightly bemused expression had completely disappeared.
"Did you really think I wouldn't hear you? You sounded like an elephant", Zia looked at her daughter, eyebrows raised.
"Not really." Carly answered disappointed, she had thought that she had been quite successful at quietly sneaking up the stairs, but then again, her mother had impeccable hearing.
"Honey, we need to talk."
"I know, I know."
"Your father and I are very disappointed in you."
"I know."
"We will be having a family meeting, without your sister tonight after dinner."
Carly wanted to point out, that that wasn't really a family meeting then, but she refrained from making that thought public. She was in enough trouble already.