The Story of Jackson

Chapter 5 - It's not Schizophrenia!

Chapter 5

Slinging my now book-laden bag over my shoulder, I trudged down the front steps of my house and along the road to the bus stop. As usual, I was just on time for the bus, I didn’t even get a change to take the bag from my shoulder and rest it against the small wooden bench.

The whoosh of hot air that came with the bus was soon counteracted by the cool blast that went straight through my bones as I stepped onto the very well air-conditioned bus. The heat got really terrible on day’s like today and the heat only seemed to make the voices in my head get more prominent. As bad as that sounds…no I don’t have any disease where I have gone psycho or anything, I just felt obliged for some reason, to believe in anything that Jackson told me.

Grabbing a seat halfway down the bus, I chucked my bag on the seat behind me and settled in for the ride.

As the ride progressed, the voices seemed to come to the forefront of my mind more and more, urging me to work out what they were saying. Using two fingers, I applied pressure to both of my temples and scrunched my eyes in focus, straining for an explanation, or at least a sign to explain what was happening to me.

I could feel it coming closer, I was nearly there, the sound becoming clearer by the second. ‘Just a little more…just push that little but harder!’ The thoughts rushed through and pushed me forward.

This time the sounds were not decipherable words…oh no, this was more like the crackle of thunder on a dark winter’s night, the flash of lightening that came with it, and the menacing growl of a rabid lion hunting for food.

These were not words, they were sounds; and above it all there was a sounds that stood out starkly, like a bloodstain, fresh on crisp white sheets. A low male voice was… well he was laughing. But this was not your ordinary happy laugh that you hear walking down the street to get the milk in the morning…no, this was a deep and sinister sound that made goose bumps appear on your arms, and your gag reflex try to kick in.

But the most spine tingling thing about the sound, was the fact that it sounded eerily familiar, a tone quality that I had heard quite recently.

Jerking out of my trance, I was left breathless and my heart racing.

I rode the rest of the bus ride in complete and utter shock…why hadn’t I seen it before now? Why wasn’t it blatantly obvious?

                                                            ~*~

Getting to the end of the bus ride, I stood from my seat and stood at the back doors. Staring at my feet I went through what I had heard in my head. That laughter was so familiar but I still can’t see the connection between him and me. The bus pulled to a stop at the curb and the doors stuttered open and slammed against the frame of the bus. Glancing over to the bus driver I nodded and got off.

Crossing the road to school, I began to observe my surroundings more then the bus ride. The birds were flying low around the trees, the kids in the playground across the road weren’t happily screaming and chasing each other around, and the lollipop lady wasn’t there today…she’s always there.

Something felt wrong with my surroundings but I couldn’t place a finger on it. Pinching myself to check I wasn’t in a dream, I was reassured when I didn’t wake up in my bed back home. With the front doors to the school open wide for everyone to come in, I followed all the people in front of me. Through the main foyer and out to the quad, I found an empty table and shuffled into the seat. This was the 2nd best part of the day for me. Just sitting in the quiet and the solitude while I waited for the real torture to start when the bell rang.

The best part of the day was when the last bell rang and signalled the end of the day, the time when I could just go down to the local shopping centre and cruise through the book stores until they all closed for the day.

But with that reverie over, it was time to get back into the swing of things, and with the first bell ringing, I headed off to 1st period.

                                                            ~*~

Getting called into the principal’s office 20 minutes into my first lesson isn’t something that I try to make a regular habit of doing, but I guess it happens to the best of us.

Grabbing my stuff, I trudged to the front of the classroom and left, leaving the door open behind me. Walking across the school grounds to get to the principal’s office, all I could think of was ‘What have I done now?’

Deciding to put off the inevitable, I stopped by the bathrooms. As much as I wasn’t one to go on and mainstream like the rest of the population of girls at my school, I still enjoyed the time alone just using the mirrored surfaces and the running water to distract me from what happens around me all the time.

It was 10 minutes later that I left and continued on my way. Arriving at the chairs that lined the corridors, I trailed my fingers along them, making a thrumming sound as I passed by the classrooms adjacent. Upon reaching the main office, I knocked on the door and took a seat outside. The amount of times that I had stood out the front of that door waiting for someone to come and open it for me almost immediately was amazing. You think I would have learnt.

Way to make the day even more unusual, there was next to no wait for the principal to call me into his office. Straightening the tie that I had loosely knotted around my neck, I walked in and sat at the chair in front of his desk.

I had always found principals to be intimidating. Having them just sitting there and looking at you while you squirm under their gaze, waiting for them to tell you off or give you a job to do.

Today was a job day.

                                                            ~*~

“His name is Jackson McCullough and I want you to show him around the school. He is new here and I want him to feel welcome.”

Not completely registering what my task was, I stared blankly ahead until Mr Peters cleared his throat.

“Did you hear me Alice?”

Jerking out of my daydream I spluttered out a response. I’m pretty sure it was something along the lines of a yes because almost instantaneously Mr Peters was out of his chair and walking to the door.

Leaving me along in his office probably wasn’t his smartest move, and he was gone for a while. As I waited for him to come back, I got out of my chair and wandered around to his side of the desk. Taking a seat in his high backed rollie chair, I spun around and checked out all his family photos and documents that were put in piles all over the filing cabinet and his bookshelf.

Reaching my hands out, I steadied myself using the sturdy wooden desk and waited for my head to get back to its normal place. In the mean time, it turned out Mr Peters had arrived with the new student and so when I righted myself, I looked up into two sets of eyes. One set of dark brown eyes that didn’t look too pleased, and one set of green eyes framed with curly blond hair that just reached the tops of his eyelids.

I recognised those eyes. Where had I seen them before? Looking now at his whole face, I noticed the sight hitch of his lips that suggested he found what he saw amusing.

“Now Alice, if you’d please go back onto the right side of the desk…”

“Umm, yeah sure…sorry about that.” I scurried round the desk, careful not to make anymore eye contact with Jackson.

“So Alice…this is who I was talking about just before. And Jackson…Alice”

Turning around to face Jackson, I saw that he had his hand reached out. Following suit I reached out my hand two, having it enveloped by his hand.

“I believe we’ve met before.”