Mindful(l)

Chapter 19: A Victim Of Violent Vacancy

. MARLO'S P.O.V.:

As soon as I closed the bedroom door, I put in some ear buds and threw myself on my bed wearily. I was both mentally and physically drained, and all I really wanted to do was lie there and drown my own thoughts out with loud music.

The only thing I wasn't supposed to do was sleep, but my body said otherwise. I tried to keep my eyes open, but slowly they started to close. It felt like there was some greater force keeping me from controlling my own consciousness, lulling me to sleep. Though really it was just me being too lazy and naïve to stay awake and heed Nancy's warnings. At that moment, sleeping seemed to be worth the risk of nightmares and past experiences. It was like a beautiful siren luring me in with her song; even though I know she'll suck the life force out of me, I'll still fall victim to her melody.

* * *

I awoke to the sound of silence. Literally, there was not a single sound in the house besides my deep breathing. Usually, you could hear the sizzling of bacon and pans clattering as my dad made food in the kitchen. But, this time? Nothing. 

Naturally, I went downstairs to apprehend the situation. The kitchen was obviously empty, as expected. But, awkwardly enough, there wasn't a single note on the counter, like there always was when dad skipped breakfast, which he rarely did. 

Since there was no sign of him, I got ready for school and ate a toaster strudel for breakfast. That day, I decided to walk to school and, while I did, I agreed to forget about my dad until the end of the school day. I was probably overreacting anyway. 

(As I walked through the crowd of hormone-induced teenagers, I couldn't help but notice the abscence of a headache, the abscence of tens of hundreds of voices intermingling. It seemed that today, I couldn't read minds.) 

When I arrived to my first class and spotted Nancy, she waved towards me and pointed to the seat next to her, her face lighting up. With a question mark on my face, I sat awkwardly and wondered why she was back to her crazy fangirl self. 

"Hey, Hun." she whispered, kissing me on the cheek. Ok, something was DEFINITELY wrong, but I couldn't lash out in public like that. So, I smiled back at her and replied "hey" back. 

With that, class had started and I didn't have time to confront Nancy until the bell rang. When it did, however, she kissed me on the cheek again and waved goodbye, muttering something about having to run to her next class. Since I wouldn't see Nancy until lunch, I put a pin on that matter too and posted it up on the "Clipboard of Clustered Confusion".

Another class flew by and I wondered if Kanna would act weird around me too. Of course, that would have to wait until lunch, too. Fuck. 

Eighty agonizing minutes later, I was making my way to my locker to drop off my bookbag and go to the cafeteria. As I was in line for my lunch, I spotted Kanna arriving and sitting in the table closest to the doors. I was about to head there with my tray in hands, but Nancy appeared from behind me, kissing me on the cheek yet again. 

"Our table is over there, silly." she laughed, pointing to the other side of the room. I smiled at her and followed, groaning as soon as her back was facing me. 

We sat with my usual group of friends, nothing strange there. Well, except for the fact that Nancy was never part of my usual group. Idle chatter was exchanged as the usual transcured. Everything was the same except for Nancy, who was sitting strangely close to me and acting all lovey dovey.  I'd assume the bitch was playing with me, but nobody else questioned her behavior today so the problem was deeper than that. 

Everyone stood up to leave and waved goodbye. Everyone EXCEPT NANCY. She drew close to me and tried to kiss me again, but this time her lips weren't headed for my cheek.