The Book

The Book; Chapter 4

Location- Phoenix, Arizona

Date- May 19, 2015

Time- 9:05am

Cam's POV

All I could see was a man standing in the corner of the room. I don't remember waking up, but I was sitting up staring at the faded man. He started walking up to me, and his body began to flush like a water reflection does when something disrupts the silence of the conduit. He whispered something, but it was so feathery it was incoherent. He spoke again, and his words brought up memories from the other day that I wasn't prepared for. I wasn't scared like I would expect myself to be. He gave off an innocuous vibe. The figure smiled at me as if he was an old friend, but for some reason it sent a shiver down my spine. He began to walk closer, and with every step he took, the temperature of the room dropped 10 degrees. I wanted to scream to wake up Madi but I couldn't. I was trapped in that uncomfortable sitting position, hoping to any god it would be over soon.

Then I saw my sister's face, and I was under the protection of the quilt Alex gave me the other day.

"What the hell is wrong Camden?" Madi rolled her eyes and laughed a little to herself. She moved with celerity over to her bed and picked up a pillow, chucking it at my head voraciously. I caught the pillow and tossed it right back.

"Bad dream, I guess." I muttered, shrugging to myself. Madeline rolled her eyes and threw on a t-shirt. "Let's go get some breakfast, loser." She smiled and I shook my head a bit.

"Go ahead, I'm not really hungry. I have to take a shower anyway." I muttered and cuddled deeper into Alex's blanket. I got a weird look from Madi, per usual, but I was used to it. As promised, I got out of bed and took a quick shower before returning to my room. I slid on a camisole style tank top and some leggings then sat on my bed, putting on a bit of makeup and brushing through my hair. I hummed to myself, being completely peaceful and alone.

I have never been much of an insecure person. I mean, I don't think I'm some kind of beautiful goddess, but I've never been worried about my looks or what people thought of me. I looked into the mirror, and this sudden wave of nervousness fell over me. I could no longer see the pretty pale blue eyes, or the soft nose, or the perfectly white and straight teeth that inhabited my face. I saw everything bad. My short, stubby eyelashes, the little bits of redness that didn't quite match the rest of my face, the eyebrows that I hadn't plucked in at least a month. It all bothered me. In a slight panic, I grabbed my bag of makeup. I never used everything in it on a normal day, but I had a lot for formal things. I went to work on my eyebrows, my eyes, my eyelashes. I put a coat of foundation on my face and concealed anything left inept. My hands moved quickly and without fault, almost like it was someone else's hands controlling mine. When I was happy with the better face I created, my hair looked out of place. I stood quickly and took long strides back to the bathroom, plugging the curling wand me and Madi shared on occasion. I first blowdried my hair, then curled it into perfect, loose curls, not one single hair out of place. I had created a better version of me, and I felt great about it. I went to my closet to decide what to wear that day. I debated on wearing a dress, but I didn't want to look like I was trying too hard. I settled on the leggings I was wearing and a purple flowy crop top. I grabbed my phone and texted Alex to come over before sliding open the window.

After a few mere moments Alex's face appeared in the window and he hopped in. He looked at me with a little grin and I grinned back.

"You look good, Balter." He smirked and made his way to my closet, finding the book almost immediately and bringing it back to my bed where he sat. He slid back and rested his back on my headboard.