I couldn't hear much over my own breathing. Everything around me was happening so quickly, yet my vision seemed to be in slow motion. My breath was uneven, and my heart was beating so rapidly that I could feel my forehead pulsating along with the beat. I closed my eyes for a second and tried to wish the headache away that was wrapping around my skull like a snake wrapping around it's prey.
I pressed my body into the wall, feeling the coldness send a small shock through my overheated body. I finally focused my eyes on the area around me. I tried to breathe slower as I realized how many pairs eyes were set on me. Not only me, but at my mother, who's voice could be heard shouting from the room near the one we were all in. The eyes belonged to mostly all high school students, blood scattered across their shirts and face, some with huge scars covering their arms or necks.
The blood was all fake, of course. I could smell the latex just as strong as when the night had begun. All of the students, including me, had come to the haunted house around four hours ago to be actors for the night. The fake blood made the situation even more weird for me. Someone simply walking through the haunted house as a customer would see us and think that my crying state was just an act. I wish it was all just an act.
A lady walked up to me dressed in all black. I believe she was a mother of one of the students, helping around the haunted house. She had wrinkles set on her forehead from the deep frown she wore. The darkness of the room caused a shadow to follow her as she slowly walked up to me.
"Come with me." She said this rather quickly and started walking to her left, and I was in such a confused state that I followed her without saying a word. Her arms seemed stiff as they swung by her side to match her swift pace. The eyes in the room all watched me as I was led into the women's bathroom, the back of my head feeling as if there was a target placed on it. The lady's brown hair swung around her right shoulder as she shut the door behind her, clicking the lock into place. I had no idea who this person was, but I was so relieved to be no longer stared at that I leaned against the sink and let the tears reform in my eyes.
"Focus on breathing. Try to slow your breathing down." I heard her voice as I squeezed my eyes shut. I heard the paper towel dispenser rattle and a ripping sound follow soon after.
"Your makeup is running, wipe under your eyes dear," she spoke, handing me a brown tissue
I thanked her silently, my voice still shaky. I looked at myself in the mirror for the first time, seeing the once pristine fake cut on my cheek now faded and smeared from me anxiously picking at the dried glue. I looked like a mess. Not that I hadn't looked like one before, me being covered in all this horror themed clothing and makeup.
I felt the lady's eyes on me as she watched me try and wipe the black marks under my eye. I wetted the paper towel in the sink and continued to wipe my face. She sighed softly before speaking up again.
"I'm Kelsey's mother. She just explained what's happening to me a few hours ago, and I'm guessing it all started up again. I don't know too much about going on, but do you have any idea why your mother is yelling at Jove right now? Why does she not want you to be with him?"
Hearing his name sent a chill through my spine, and I set down the paper towel on the sink. I turned to face her when I spoke, my voice barely above a whisper.
"I.....," I began, my voice cracking. "He's..."
Another tear ran down my eye. She looked down for a second before she finished my sentence.
"He's black?"
My eyes closed as I accidentally let out a whimper, my tears coming back quickly now. I heard her sadly sigh and she pulled me into a hug, whispering nice words as she patted my back. I leaned into her, my mind in a haze as I cried.
My mom was in fact still in the other room, her voice still audible through the closed bathroom door. She was yelling at Jove, saying words that I could not hear but I presumed to be nothing but negativity. I felt so bad for him. She was mad because we met in one of the rooms of the haunted house to have a conversation. She walked in on us talking, immediately screaming hateful words at him. He didn't deserve anything I put him through. He deserved the world in my eyes.
"Is she like that with all people....of his color?" The lady sounded like she didn't know how to word her sentence appropriately. I understood her.
"Yes, but she doesn't treat them like this usually. I've never heard her this mad." I quietly said. I looked in the mirror again, observing my pale skin. It was late October, so my tan from the summer weather was beginning to fade. My tan wasn't that intense to begin with though. Tan or no tan, there was nothing hiding that fact that I was white, and Jove was not. Many people in the year 2016 were fine with this fact. My mother, however, was not. She didn't approve of our relationship, especially since it was romantic. She would do whatever possible to make sure I didn't have a relationship with a person who's skin color differed from mine.
"I'm so sorry dear." Her voice was soothing, compared to the harsh tone of my mother's.
"He's a nice kid. We haven't spoken that much, but he's very polite. I'm sorry the two of you have to go through this."
"Thank-"
My words were cut off by banging on the door of the bathroom. Both of us jumped at the noise, Kelsey's mother swiftly unlocking the door. It swung open immediately, and to my dismay I was faced with my mother, her face still red as she opened her mouth.
"Come with me now."
