Apollyon

2: A Face in the Crowd

The gasp was definitely audible, but it was soft enough to be drowned out by the sea of whispers that had started up again. I blocked out the whispers, more like struggled to block them out, but I found that I couldn't focus on my concentration techniques.

He looked like the same as the boy from my dream, and I even tried to tell myself it couldn't be; that it couldn't be possible. But I knew there was no denying the obvious; dream boy and the new kid were one in the same. I gave a half-hearted look behind him to see if there was a bear following him.

I couldn't help but glare at the boy that just walked through the door. Seeing my expression the boy's lips upturned into a lopsided smirk as he strolled over to Mr. Garrett with a note in his hand. His eyes stayed with me as he walked over to the desk, and I could see the students casting their eyes at me in question. I could hear the whispers, most of them, practically filled with rage asking, 'why her?'

My head found its way into my hands as I touched my temples and rested my eyes. That simple gesture, however, triggered a slew of images that were different from my usual visions. These were memories! At least I think they were. I could see this boy growing up in what looked like somewhere in California, but as usual I couldn't hear anything that could give me a clue as to who this character was. But I knew I didn't want to see anymore, so I became diligent in my breathing and focused my sight on one of the speckled dots on my desk. The images slowly ebbed out of my mind as I fought and I was finally able to regain control. I looked around to see if anyone noticed me shutting down, but no one did. No one ever did. Except the new kid.

I looked back at him and he looked at me curiously and I narrowed my eyes at him before returning to my phone. I kept my eyes on the device, but I was still very much aware of the new boy and Mr. Garrett still standing at the front. And even when Mr. Garrett announced the official arrival of the new boy, my eyes stayed down. I didn't want him to know he had some type of effect on me, though it was definitely too late for that.

"Class, it seems we have a new student. This is Troy Delos. He's transferred from sunny California and will be joining us in homeroom until the end of the year. Troy, you can take that seat in the back, and class tomorrow I'll rearrange the seating so we can be alphabetic again." Mr. Garrett patted him on the back and turned back to the whiteboard to get his notes ready for his first period class.

I couldn't tell if he was still watching me as he made his way to the seat in the fifth row that Mr. G pointed out to him. After a quick mental calculation, once the new seating chart was made, Troy's desk was still going to be in the back of the room, just in the first row, while I was in the middle of the third row. At least that meant that he wouldn't have any reason to cross my path in homeroom.

I glanced at the clock and noticed that I had about thirty seconds before the dismissal bell was going to ring, so I shoved my phone back into my back pocket and was ready to go as soon as the bell rang.

Hurrying through the halls before they got too congested with students, I practically ran down the corridor and down the steps to get to the auditorium for my first period Music Appreciation class. The house lights weren't on, so the huge space was only dimly lit with the bucket lights on the stage. But that was okay with me; I spent more time in the auditorium than any other room in the school. Besides, the center aisle was also lit with floor lights so it was easy to make my way to the stage.

There were chairs already set-up and I looked around for Mrs. Leif, but when I didn't see her, I just assumed that she was somewhere backstage. I placed my bag on a chair, and went over to the closet where Tara said she'd place the guitar I let her borrow over break. It was bittersweet letting her borrow my guitar because it meant that I wouldn't have it to play during the break. But she was interested and determined to learn so I parted with it for the time being. But oh, how great it felt to be reunited with my favorite of friends.