Simple Awakenings

Chapter two

"Ellie! I'm home!" I hear Josh, my older brother, yell even though I am sitting on the couch in the living room watching Netflix.

I don't think I mentioned that I don't do my homework automatically when I get home. Although I did during the marching band season, which is now currently over for the rest of my life unless I want to do it in college. Highly unlikely.

"How was work?" I ask still not looking up at him even though there is a high chance that he got me dinner.

"It was fine. I got the full day shift tomorrow since I don't have any college classes to worry about unlike this morning." He answers sitting on the other couch. Of course, this is something that he does on a day-to-day basis when he is not working at Dairy Queen or doing his online college classes so he can stay home and take care of me.

Yes, Josh takes care of me. Something happened with our parents in the past that made him now my guardian even though he is in his last year of college. I will not say what happened.

"Hey, Josh," I say getting up, "did you happen to hear anything outside when you got home? Something... that doesn't sound like rustling leaves?'

He shakes his head kicking off his shoes. "Only heard the wind. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I just thought I heard something."

"Maybe it was Max trying to annoy you again." Ugh, if only he would stop talking about Max.

Alright backstory time. Back in kindergarten I met this kid who sat across from me on the bus. His name was Max. We got in trouble a lot for trying to do limbo on the bus with my scarf during the winter. Well we were not suppose to know it was a fire hazard we were five and six years old. Long story short, we became best friends and we have been friends ever since minus the awkward time in middle school when we barely talked to each other. Okay, end backstory.

"Well, I'm going to go get the mail if it can get me away from your obnoxious teasing for a good five or so minutes of my life." I stand up off of the couch. "Again." This is a totally normal thing in the Ardet household.

I throw on my coat and walk out to my mailbox to get the mail. Bills, bills, bills, oh hey an Entertainment Weekly magazine, bills, pretty much bills that are to be paid by my parents but they are obviously not my problem at the moment.

As I walk up the driveway to head back inside my house, I feel a shove as if someone bumped into me. I look to see someone running. Did he not see that I was walking in front of him? I hold on tight to the mail and take off after this man.

"Hey!" I yell at him but he just keeps on running. "Hey, sir!" I yell again. My yelling continues until I hear someone call my name. It was the voice of one of the people who lives on my street, Mrs. Myens.

"Eliese, what in the blazing world are you yelling at!?" She asks.

"There was someone running and they bumped into me and—" I turn back around and the guy that was running away was gone. Where the hell did he go?

"Well, sweetheart, there was no man running around. I literally saw you just yelling at air. You should get back home before your brother worries. Have a good day." Mrs. Myens then closes her door.

If there is anything one must know about Mrs. Myens is that she is never wrong. What if I really was yelling at just the air? No, I couldn't have been. I swear that I saw some guy running. But what was that guy running from? Or running to? Oh my god these questions are just lingering through my head.

So I decide to walk back to my house with the mail since there was nothing better to do with my life.

~

"Ellie you should really get to bed," Josh says walking up behind me as I'm finishing up another episode of The Crown. "It's almost eleven."

I pause Netflix and turn my head at him. "Josh; it's a Friday night. No matter what day it is, I always stay up until at least 12:30 in the morning." Okay yes this doesn't work well for a smooth sleeping schedule of getting my full eight hours of sleep— I get six during the school week or five if it's a Tuesday or Thursday since I do symphony orchestra— but hey it still works and I'm sleeping so win-win.

"Then go upstairs and watch whatever the hell you were watching on your laptop!" He demands pushing me off the couch and onto the floor, and it was then when I get up huffing and going upstairs to watch the rest of The Crown. Before I knew it, it was already one in the morning when I finally finish the first season.

I take out my earplugs, logout of Netflix, shut off my laptop, close it, set it on my nightstand, and pull the covers over me drifting off into a nice sleep

But the sleep will have to wait when about two hours into my sleep, I am awoken by the sound of a thump. I open my eyes and look up to see my window was open. 'What the hell?' I think sitting up on my bed. I get up to close it but once I lock my window, I hear a voice.

"You can see me?"