In the dark: Darkness between us series (WIP rewrite)

Chapter One

Aspen

The sound of my alarm had me shooting up from my bed. I cringed and rubbed my face before even trying to look for my phone in the mess of sheets and blankets. For all I knew, I looked as if I was swinging my arms around like a blind monkey. I rubbed away the sleep crusted in the corners of my eyes and finally managed to grab my phone and look at the time. It was currently 6:30 and my first class started at 7:45.

I darted out of bed and to my bathroom, rushing through the process of scrubbing my teeth. How on brand for me to likely show up late. I put on my typical makeup, a winged liner for the eyes, some powder to wash away the look of death on my face, and my trusty lip balm that I couldn't seem to go a day without. I quickly tossed my clothes onto my body in a frenzy and looked at myself in the mirror. It was decent enough. My hands nervously went to my necklace as I bit my lip.

"I miss you dad." If he was here he would've come in thirty minutes ago and either tickled me until I got up or dragged me out of that bed by my toes. I giggled slightly at the thought before taking a deep breath and giving a soft smile to myself.

I shook my curls out from the twisted bun, scratching at my roots as the curls loosened slightly. I checked the time once more, making sure I hadn't taken too long before sliding my phone into my back pocket, darting for my bag as I sprinted towards the door and down the stairs.

God I hate those fucking stairs.

I snatched the car keys off of the kitchen counter on my way out and rushed through the front door.

****

I pulled into the parking lot, students were already rushing inside the gates to greet one another and appearing as if they were divulging in all the new gossip and sitting in the quad. I had never seen so many smiling faces back home as I did here today, everyone seemed so..

Carefree

I opened my car door stepping out before leaning back to grab the necessities from the passenger seat. I fumbled with throwing my bag over my shoulder and positioning the obscene amount of books in my arms. I straightened myself out, squaring my shoulders and facing the doom in front of me with my chin held high as I locked my car behind me.

As I made my way from my car, everyone's loud and obnoxious chatter died down and all of their eyes fell on me. I wasn't sure if the stares were good or bad, but either way they made me uncomfortable. I gulped down the burning feeling in my throat and placed my headphones in my ears, but played no music as I kept my head high. I didn't pay attention to the people around me or made it seem as if I was effortlessly bored. The lack of music playing kept me aware of everyone.

As soon as I looked away everybody else did too, almost in sync with each other. The silent environment that lasted about five minutes was now lost as the whispers and chatter erupted from the grounds in front of the school.

The whispers and stares I started to pick up only made me even more uncomfortable. I tightened my grip around my bag as nervousness and anger racked my body when memories of my past threatened to flood my brain.

Just keep moving.

The murmurs seemed to cease fire as I made my way to the steps. Everyone finally eased back into what they were talking about previously before I arrived. I carried on walking up to the large building in front of me that looked more like a museum than a college.

More like the burning pits of Hell. .

I looked down at the paper map on top of the books resting in my arm, preparing myself to find wherever it was that I was going to. Something collided with me and my books fell from my arms.