Black Raven | Wattys 2018

Chapter Five

Sometimes we see things that are not actually there. It doesn't always mean we're crazy.

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"Hey, girl! It's been days since we last hung out. Where have you been?"-Laura approached me in the school's hallway. She was with three other girls; one of them was Ryan's girlfriend.

"Yeah! I've been busy with work and school stuff. Been trying to apply to some colleges."- I answered while shoving some incredibly, heavy books inside the locker.

"Oh! That's stressful. My parents are rushing me to decide where I wanna go. I mean, I got no idea what I wanna do after I get out of here. They want me to go to med school in Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University. I'm not cut out to be a doctor."-She complained.

"Wow!! That's hard. Just tell them you don't want to be a doctor."-I said to her while slamming my locker's door and turning around to face her.

"I don't think they'll be too pleased to hear that. But, enough talk about colleges and deadlines." She changed the subject. " My parents are out of town for the weekend, so I'm having a party on Friday and you're coming. Don't make up some lame excuses, 'cause I will not accept them. If I have to drag you by the hair, I will."

"I got work, I can't."-I said apologetically.

"Shush. I said no excuses. You'll come after work; we're gonna party all night."-Laura insisted.

"That's right baby."-One of the other girls said loudly. I had forgotten they were there because they hadn't talked.

"I don't think I can mak..." I didn't get to finish; Laura cut me off, "great, we'll see you there. We're gonna have so much fun". She had already turned around and started to walk away, but just before getting lost of sight, added, "...And bring that hot brother of yours".

She was referring to Scott. She had a massive crush on him. Junior year she tried getting his attention, but Scott ignored her. I didn't get her obsession with him. I mean, don't get me wrong, 'he was hot'; his good looks (blond hair, gray eyes, great smile, cute dimples, and fit body) drove the girls crazy, but he wasn't boyfriend material. He was a player; he liked fooling around with girls and getting into fights at school. The girls didn't know his sweet side; they just knew his playful side, and still, they fawn over him, but I guess every girl is crazy about bad boys. He was a completely different person at school than what he was at home with us (his siblings).

I was walking down a student-less hallway when a massive headache hit me. I let my things fall to the floor and brought my hands to my head. A high-pitched sound rumbled in my ears; I felt like my head was going to explode. I fell to the floor, curled up into a ball, closed my eyes, and put my hands over my ears. I felt the hallway getting cold and dark. The high-pitched sound started to fade and the headache calmed down a bit. Slowly, I got to my knees and opened my eyes. I couldn't focus my eyesight; I saw everything around me blurry. Everything turned a dull, cold gray and I started to shiver; I was breathing cold air. I stood up a little wobbly, still trying to adjust my eyesight. In the distance, I saw a silhouette, well more like a shadow; my eyes weren't helping much. "Hello??"- I spoke with a trembled voice. No one answered, but the big, dark gray shadow kept getting closer. I opened my eyes bigger, but my eyesight was still blurry, probably because of my headache. Again, I saw the shadow getting closer, and closer, and closer... Meanwhile, my heart was throbbing hard against my chest. I swear I could even hear it, "ba bum, ba bum, ba bum, thump, thump, ba bum, ba bum...". I thought my heart was going to burst out. The silhouette, was then, just a few steps away from me. For what I could make up with my blurred sight, the silhouette looked like a little kid, probably like nine or ten years old. I relaxed and said, "uh, hi". The kid just stood there, his light-brown eyes staring intensely at me. He looked really pale and tired. Suddenly, he whispered softly, "You need to find us". I was confused, so I asked, "What do you mean? Do you want me to find your parents? What's your name?" The kid just stared, and whispered again, "You need to find us". I just ignored him and said, "Come on, kid. Let's go find your parents". I reached out for his hand, but my hand just went straight through his; his hand just faded. My appalled face was inexplicable. The kid ogled at me and whispered, "find us," just before he vanished into thin air.

The hallway lit again and the temperature rose to its normal state. I stood still in the middle of the hallway with a perplexed expression on my face. The ringing of the bell brought me back. It rumbled in my ears; I brought my hands back to my head and held it. I thought I was suffering from migraines. Students appeared in sight. Nick saw me and came up to me. "Hey, what happened? Are you okay?"-He asked worriedly. I fixed myself up and replied, "I'm fine".

"Why are your books on the floor?"-Nick asked worried and confused.

"Here you go." Brooke bent down, picked my books from the floor, and handed them to me. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine, you guys. I just slipped."-I answered.

"The floor's not wet or slippery; how did you slip?"-Nick asked curiously. Sometimes he was a real pain in the ass, but I know it was because he worried about me.

"Oh, My God!!! I just slipped, okay? I tripped over my own foot. Why do you have to question me about everything?"-I snapped at him. I felt bad after it because I know he was just looking out after me.

"Sorry, I was just asking. You don't have to snap at me, Jesus!!"-He replied a little angrily.

"Okay, you two, don't start fighting now. Come on, I'll give you both a ride home."-Brooke said in a bossy tone. She was great; she was smart and beautiful. She was a brunette with blue eyes and great legs. Nick got really lucky with her.

Brooke took us home and stayed for a while. Lena said she was going to be out all night; she had a deadbeat, new boyfriend; so Scott and Nick invited some friends over. While they stayed downstairs eating pizza, drinking beer, and joking around, I stayed upstairs watching Lucas, Connor, and Kyle. I put them 'Finding Nemo' and we all ended up falling asleep. I woke up later, feeling disoriented. I opened my eyes and I saw a little kid standing at the edge of the bed. I couldn't make up who was it, cause I was still a little sleepy and my eyesight was a little blurred. The kid extended his hand to me. I looked down and saw that Lucas was still asleep on my belly, but I couldn't see Kyle nor Connor; so I looked back at the kid. He still had his hand extended. I moved Lucas aside and sat on the bed. While rubbing my eyes I said, "what do you want?" I raised my head and the kid had turned around; he headed towards the opened door. I stood up and looked around the room. Lucas was asleep on the lower bed; Kyle was on the floor, and Connor was in the higher bed. So that left me with just one question, who was the kid standing outside in the hallway staring back at me?