Journey to Psitharis

Chapter 37

Thirty-seven

I woke up on the porch, worn out after a night of partying. My feet were killing me, and the cut on my head had a consistent dull throb. I didn't know what time it actually was, but when I checked the front door it was unlocked, and I knew why. That way if anyone asked my mother could say the door was unlocked the entire time, I was just being stubborn when I slept outside. It didn't matter. She had no idea how happy I had been or how, regardless of how hard she tried, she couldn't take away the best birthday I had ever had.

I walked to my room and got out of my clothes from the night before; they were slightly wet from the dew that had covered me like a blanket. I hopped into the shower and, careful not to get my bandages wet, washed all over, from head to foot. Clean and feeling a bit hungry, because the food in Dream Land just didn't translate to a full stomach in this reality, I stumbled my way into the kitchen with the paper for a bowl of frosted cereal. The happiness I felt soon died, for I realized I had to face Ross Alexander Memorial High School for the first time without my best friend. Suddenly I wasn't in such a good mood. And Mom's appearance in the kitchen didn't help much.

"So, decided to show your behind and sleep outside, huh?" She noted snidely.

"Well, I would have slept indoors, but that's kind of hard to do when the door's locked." I snipped back.

"You're in now. Door must have been fine if you were able to open it, don't you think?" She reasoned, smirking.

"Yeah, must have gotten stuck last night. Or fairies held it shut when I tried to get in the first time, not to mention making you deaf to all that knocking I did. Who knows with old, run-down houses like this?"

"Don't start with me Medora." Mom warned me. "After yesterday and all the stunts you pulled, I'm in no mood for your crap."

"Well, you know what Olivia? I'm not in the mood for your crap either." Mom slammed the coffee mug she held in her hand on the counter almost hard enough to break it.

"Medora, I'm warning you. Besides, I took care of Robert real good last night. Sent his little wife a note, letting her know where her loving husband was for the last couple of days."

"Real classy, Liv." I took my bowl of cereal with me to the living room. Surprisingly she didn't follow. I grabbed my books, made my lunch and headed out to the bus stop, where I sat alone and tried not to think about the rotten day I had to face.

I made it through half the day by keeping my head down and paying no one any attention. It wasn't very difficult; everyone still thought of me as the crazy girl who was one misstep away from taking out some sort of murderous revenge. The stitches in my head helped ward away the evil spirits, though I did find out I was supposedly injured in a bar fight the other evening at a gay bar in the next city over; at least, that's the story Jennifer Langston was kind enough to share with the rest of the student body. So even though I looked like I had just lost my best friend, which I had, no one bothered to try to comfort me or ask me about it. They just made their own assumptions behind my back.

At lunch I sat at the loser table alone. I didn't take my eyes off my lunch. It didn't matter to me if they were pointing and laughing. As a matter of fact, nothing about this school mattered anymore. My main goal was to get through the next two months and kiss this school and this town goodbye. After graduation I was moving in with my grandmother and working my way through community college. I just had to finish what I had started in Psitharis first. Because no matter how bad things were here, I couldn't risk leaving them to a fate worse than the one I encountered the first day I returned. I had to finish what I started, and here in Marshdale was the place where my determination was strongest. After all, Psitharis was the only thing I had here to fight for. But oh how I missed the only other person in this world who had any idea what it was like to be an outcast like me.