Normality, Thy Name is Lynette

Chapter Twenty-Six

We walked out of the tiny, gross, twenty-four hour diner. The sun was beginning to rise as all of us clumped out. I was emotionally exhausted. I had done a perfect job of making myself certain of Keegan. I had gone through enough trouble for this decision and I didn’t need Darian to ruin it. As the pink strands of light came into the sky and hit my face, I became instantly sad. Like when you have a lot to do during the night but you have to sleep also and then you see the sun rise before you are done. I started crying silently. Keegan looked down at me and a look of pure fear was on his face.

“What’s wrong Lynette?” He asked. I just buried my face into his leather jacket. He rubbed my shoulder as we walked along.

Enide looked like a zombie. She was just staggering along, and for the first time, Huey was not. Huey, though, had this little smirk on his face and was glancing at Piper the whole walk. Piper was blushing and Ace, again, was carrying the purse and the tide. He was grinding his teeth but didn’t say anything. Rain looked purely angry the whole time and Maria was trying to calm him down for some reason. We walked into the park and Darian collapsed into the grass. Melanie glared at him but didn’t say anything.

“Get up, Darian.” I said shortly.

“Why are you being so mean to me?” He asked.

“Because you won’t leave me alone! You have to push your luck all the time! I came here to get you because I didn’t want you to die and you have to use that as a weapon against me and throw it in my face!” I exploded. Everyone stared at us with wide eyes. Darian looked at me.

“Wow.” He said.

I looked at all the cloister. They were all staring at me and I felt the pressure sink in. They weren’t necessarily glaring at me, but it was still like a cage of force that weighed me down under their faces. I ran from the cloister. I ran as far as I could, ignoring the shouts of my name. I ran all the way across the park. I ran out of the park and across a road. I found a college campus and I realized how much my legs and chest burned. I walked inside the library of the campus, as it was free to off members too.

I approached the desk and came up to the librarian who was working there. She was typing something into the computer. She looked up at me.

“Good morning, my name is Clair Brown, was there anything you were looking for in particular?” she asked. She was around forty years old and had short, curly gray hair. She wore glasses and a cuffed sleeved button-up shirt. I must have looked awful. I hadn’t showered since I was on my own campus and I hadn’t slept since the night before last. And even then I hardly slept. The librarian eyed me carefully

“Are you ok?” she asked. I nodded but I was breathing hard. I staggered backwards towards the couch and fell into it. I fell over and my eyes closed instantly. I opened them briefly when the Librarian jumped up to help me, but everything went black after that.

I woke up in a small apartment with maroon walls and a mustard colored couch. Stars hung all over the wall. I sat up and I heard Clair making something in the kitchen. She came over to me and put a bowl of vegetable soup in front of me. I looked blankly at the soup and she sat next to me, forcing the bowl into my hands.

“Are you alright?” She asked. I shook my head and looked down into the soup.

“I don’t know. Thank you for the soup though.” I said. I put it up to my face and smelled it. It was a nice, brisk day and the soup was a perfect comfort. I took a bite of the soup and it was really good. Clair got up again and went into the kitchen.

“What kind of sandwich would you like with your soup?” she asked.

“Turkey and cheese.” I answered.