After Monday

10 | Story

Liam had involuntarily cried himself to sleep after midnight. His thoughts had become enveloped in another, even more destructive tornado. In one of his dreams, he was being chased by a tall figure in dark clothes. It didn't take long for Liam's dream version to stop running and embrace the knife the person was about to stab right into his heart. Before it could happen, Liam woke up in cold sweat. The only sound he could hear was his own heartbeat speeding ahead, most likely attempting to escape his rib cage. Even his own heart was tired of his turmoil.

"Good morning," Liam said to no one as he entered the dark living room. "Evil spirit? Monday? Burglar? God?"

He leaned his head far back and stared at the white ceiling. Losing balance, he fell backwards and ended on the floor.

"If God was real, wouldn't He have sent me to jail?" Liam asked, lying down on the cold floor and closing his eyes. "Isn't that His job? I haven't read the Bible."

Slowly, he fell asleep again.

At school, Liam couldn't focus in class. He was imagining the lunch break where he would usually meet Cody and Ramona or sometimes Monday. This time, he wasn't so sure he'd even spot the latter sitting alone at some table. He really wanted to know why she hadn't at least texted him back, and he could only assume that she'd been injured. Or worse, she'd 'lost'.

"'Thanks for entertaining me for so long'?" Liam whispered aloud in utter confusion, recalling the last thing his troublemaker of a friend had said to him.

The thing Liam had anticipated the most took an eternity to arrive, but it was finally the lunch break. He didn't want to run to the cafeteria, so he just walked at his usual pace, trying to make his heart stop beating so fast.

As he walked down the hallway, a familiar voice calling his name made his heart skip a beat. When he turned around, how many of his friends would he see? All of them? Some of them?

"Please," Liam whispered before slowly turning around.

A fraction.

"Hey!" Ramona yelled, waving her hands over her head. "We thought about sitting outside! Weather's good!"

Cody looked at her in disbelief, presumably for shouting so loudly when there were other people around them.

"Right," Liam muttered before speeding up his pace towards the opposite direction of the cafeteria. "Have you guys seen Monday?"

"No," Ramona replied, glancing worriedly at Liam. "You haven't either?"

"She's usually always at school... unless something's happened to her," Liam said as they went outside, the fresh air surprising his senses. "But apparently she has an immune system of steel."

"Maybe she's late?" Cody suggested.

"Maybe you didn't even look!"

Liam almost screamed as he turned around on impulse at the sound of the voice he'd wanted to hear. He wasn't sure how to feel or what to say when she stood right there some feet away from him with a pout and arms crossed.

"I used my sight to look for you in the cafeteria but none of you were there!" Monday whined, stomping her foot on the ground. "Then I went looking for you, and you all seem to be running off without me! At least take me with you!"

"Oh," Ramona laughed. "We thought of taking advantage of the nice weather! You know, sit outside, get some vitamin D, maybe these pale ones could get a tan, and so on."

Liam stepped forward and grabbed Monday's shoulders, shaking his head as he scanned her face for signs of injuries. If he'd been the kind of person who hugs people, he might've done just that.

"You're all right?" he asked in shock, then whispered so the others couldn't hear, "nothing happened?"

"False alarm, I guess," Monday whispered back with a playful wink. "But I really thought I heard something and saw someone."

Liam felt like a complete and total idiot for having worried so much for essentially nothing. Yet, he was overwhelmed with relief. He couldn't even imagine what could've happened.

"Okay," he said, smiling as he turned back to Cody and Ramona. "Let's enjoy this lucky weather."

His smile gradually vanished as the four made their way to some quiet place Ramona apparently knew of. Something seemed very off, but Liam couldn't tell what. The feeling was so clear that he couldn't just ignore it.