Vitality

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

This morning, I’m woken up by my alarm which I immediately want to smash against the wall. But, like a good sheep girl I force myself to get up and ready for another wonderful day of forced learning.

And it only took hitting the snooze button five times. God, I hate mornings.

After I get dressed, brush my teeth, and pull my hair into another messy ponytail; I follow my morning routine through by grabbing a can of Vital. Luckily, my mom must have already left for work so she’s not here to nag me about my poor breakfast choices.

I drive to school in my caffeine-induced haze and park in my usual spot. I’m momentarily startled out of my routine by some guy screaming in the parking lot. I glance over to see him being chased around by some of his friends. Just guys being guys, with that thought I slip back into autopilot.

I stumble into school, still half-asleep, and head up to my locker to dump my stuff. Then I find Dame’s locker and stand by it, waiting for him to get here, which is odd because he’s usually here by now. Oh well, I don’t mind waiting.

I sit down in front of his locker. At least everybody can get a full locker by sophomore year, that’s one [the only] good thing about going to a small school. I take out my phone to play with, but I notice something is different today. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s going to really bother me now. I put in my earphones to block out the… noise? That’s what it is! Everything is much quieter than usual. I look around me and see people shambling through the halls, but they’re not in talking in groups like usual.  I narrow my eyes and try to think through the fogginess that morning brings, why would it be so quiet?

The bell rings, signaling that it’s time for math, and I shrug. Maybe everyone else hates mornings too. Who knows, if enough people act dead like this, they might even cancel mornings? That would be great.

Also, Dame’s late. I wonder if he’s sick, I’ll have to text him later.

***

I sit in the back of the room and take out my stuff while waiting for class to start. Math is okay, at least the teacher mostly leaves me alone. As I sketch a storm with lightning, the bell rings again and Mr. Liese enters and I tune everything out.

This is how the rest of my morning classes go and it’s finally time for lunch. Or I suppose I should say my afternoon dose of Vital. I’m the first one to enter the cafeteria, which is weird because I had to go to my locker first. In fact, even when I don’t go to my locker, there are still quite a few people. That’s really strange…

I shrug my shoulders, oh well, at least there’s no line. And there’s also no lunch lady. Just great. Did I miss something? It is lunch, right? I walk back to the hallway slightly annoyed. What the heck is going on?

I check my phone to see if Dame’s texted back yet. Nope, maybe he really is sick. I text him again, asking if he’s okay. Then ‘okay’ turns into ‘oki89’ when I slip on a spill.

I cry out as my but hits the floor, landing in something wet. “Ouch…” I look down to see what I slipped in, and see a puddle of red. What the…

Scurrying up, I almost slip again, but I manage to catch myself. Is that blood? I look around the empty hall, trying to spot cameras or something, but it’s deserted. I look back at the puddle. It must just be juice… or paint. That’s right, and I should get a janitor to clean it up. I reach out my hand to pick up my phone and realize that I’m trembling. I force it to stop and tell myself that everything’s fine and slip my phone back into my pocket.

Okay. Good. I turn around and freeze. More spilled blood paint trails through the hallway and in some spots it looks like something was dragged. I swallow the lump in my throat, I don’t think I want to know where it leads. I should just go and get help, I tell myself. Logic tells me that I definitely shouldn’t go look, but my legs seem to walk themselves along the trail. My breathing becomes shaky and my knees tremble as I near the corner where the trail turns.