Slender

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The phone rang once. Twice. Three times. The fourth time was the charm in this case. “Hello?” A familiar boyish voice asked.

“Can I see you tomorrow?” I asked. It was silent for a long time but I knew better than to think he hung up on me.

“Why not?” He replied kindly. I felt a smile creep across my face.

“I’ll meet you behind the high school.” I told him. “At eleven… in the morning.” I told him making sure he knew I didn’t mean night.

“Cool.” He said. I hung up feeling pleased.

I woke up at eight and showered. The purple hair dye ran down my drain from my high lights in my bangs. I pulled on my black skinny jeans and slipped into my vans. I put on my cyan blue sweater with the skull on it and straightened my hair. I put on my dark eye makeup which made my face look paler than it normally did even though I had foundation on. I liked paleness though. I thought it was eloquent looking. I tied my hair up high and walked into my mom’s bedroom. My dad was working so; I had to convince her to let me go even though a murderer was loose. I would be okay though because I was safe for now. Probably.

“Mom?” I asked ask I opened the door.

“Yes?” She asked from her bed.

“Can you drop me off at the high school for a little bit? I’m going to get some books from the library and use the internet since our internet sucks from the storm.” I lied. She was quiet for a long time contemplating the idea. I shifted my weight to my other leg as I waited in the doorway.

“I guess. Let me get ready first.” She said.

“Hurry..!” I groaned as I closed the door behind me. I played Pokémon on my DS for a while. I’d already beat the game so I just was working on filling out my Pokédex. It was ten-thirty when my mom finally grabbed her purse.

“Stay inside the whole time.” She said sternly. I was honestly surprised she dropped me off without a fight. She was going to her Aunt’s house for a little bit who was sick, so I guess it worked out. I promised and felt my heart lurch as I did that. I hated breaking her trust like that. I got out of the car and walked in through the library’s doors. I was thirteen minutes early so I checked my Facebook and Tumblr. Then when it was almost time I walked out and behind the school. The track took up almost the whole back of the high school other than the baseball field and parking lots. I saw a familiar tall, lanky, pale as fuck, boy standing against the fence gating the track in an oversized black Nike hoodie. I walked down the steps not making eye contact.  I should have brought a jacket. I was freezing in nothing but my sweater. The short layers that wouldn’t hold in my pony tail blew across my face and I skipped off the long staircase onto the asphalt.

I walked slowly over to Micah who was now watching me approach him. I waved an awkward greeting. I hadn’t talked to him in about two months now. I hadn’t seen him in three weeks nearly. He looked just about the same though. “Hey.” He said as I approached him clutching my arms with my hands tucked in the sleeves of my sweater.

“Yo.” I replied.

“Nice hair.” He commented with a nod gesturing to it. I smiled.

“Thanks.” I replied.

“So, is there a particular reason you made me walk eight blocks to be here in the freezing cold?” He asked as he hopped up onto the chain linked fence and sat on it. I walked over to him.

“Actually yes…” I started. I felt a knot in my throat. I tried to find the best way to say it. “So, these past couple months I’ve done nothing but hang out with my friends and go out and have fun. I’ve seen what I could be doing by leaving this all behind…but frankly, it bores me. That’s not me anymore. I don’t get the same rush I get by doing these things with you. It’s like everything I’d ever known has been changed and I can’t go back to who I was before. That life turned into a mediocre routine when I went back to it. I didn’t feel like…like I was alive. You know? And I tried…to push it all out of my head and convince myself this was what I really wanted. But, I really just wanted things to feel the way they used to feel. It makes me honestly pretty upset that these people that I love no longer are the people I will find myself to be around and be loved by eventually. I’ve changed. I’m not the same person they became friends with, and I think a few of them know that…” My mind drifted to Rosalina as I said that. “And honestly before these two months I was scared as fuck and out of touch with everything. And I guess now I’m really testing my luck, but I can’t really say I give a damn.” I said contemplating everything I’d just said. A half smile spread across my freezing cold face. Micah stared at me for a long time. The silence was eerie. His eyes were smiling though and soon enough his face was too. He hopped off the fence and walked towards me.

“So does this mean you’re back on board partner?” He asked with his hand extended. I smiled wider and placed my hand in his.

“Indeed it does.”