Whenever something huge changed in books, movies, and television shows, nobody ever expected it. In dystopian settings or natural disasters, nobody knows that their lives are going to change drastically.
Following the Netflix series 'The Society'...
Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble.
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Heart clenched in despair, Tess wandered the thinning hallway. Uncontrollably her fingers shook, trying to grasp the contents of her bag, hoping that she could summon the metal of her car keys. Her chest heaving with heavy breaths, her eyes stuck to the grey flooring. Heavy footsteps suddenly sounded behind her and she faltered in her steps. Her eyes flung forward, wide and full. She brushed some hair behind her ear, swallowing the nerves down her throat. Quickly, she fastened her footsteps down the stairs to the main hallway.
She wished that she had stayed with her brother, Grizz and Luke. She was in Grizz's arms for too long. She cringed.
"Stupid, so stupid," she muttered to herself, mentally hitting her head with her hands.
Seeing the exit into the parking lot, she let out a sigh of relief. Another student kept the door open for her and she smiled softly, whispering a small thank you. She could see her car in the far corner of the lot. Almost there. Now, she would just have to explain to her parents and Clark why she had missed her last period. She would think of something, she would blame it on women problems, Clark and her father tended to withdrawn straight away whenever she mentioned it and used it as a scapegoat. Her inner ramblings were suddenly cut short as her forearm was grasped tightly, her body was flung around and she was pulled into the side of the school building, hidden from view by the shrubbery and hedges.
Her breath caught in her throat in shock, as her back met the bricked wall behind her. Her other forearm was caught in an iron grip and she could feel herself becoming smaller, her whole body shrinking into herself. Campbell's piercing blue eyes rose slowly, his tongue pressing into the side of his cheek.
"Hey babe," his whole expression screamed: 'you're in trouble, you know what you did'. His head was tilted and his lips were thin, in a sarcastic sly smile. Tess rose her lower arm with difficulty, attempting to pull her bag strap up to her shoulder, but his grip did not falter and she awkwardly dropped her arm again, her eyelids dropping as well.
"Hi," she replied, raising her head with false confidence, "I was just coming to find you," she smiled, "I wasn't feeling too good during last period, so was just going to head home."
"Uh huh," Campbell nodded his head repeatedly, but he did not say anything more. His tongue was drawing patterns in his cheek. Seconds passed by along with Tess's increasing heart rate. She was afraid that it was so loud, he would be able to hear it due to their close proximity. After a minuted passed, Campbell lifted his head, but didn't meet her eyes. Instead, he turned his head to the side, looking out over the parking lot, watching some of the students pass by. He started to suck his tongue between his teeth, the sharp, abrupt sound causing her to grit her teeth.
Her eyes widened, when he rolled his neck dramatically and his trademark, sinister smile graced his lips, his eyebrows raised.
"You're not feeling well?", his right hand released her arm and he placed the palm of his hand over her forehead. She swallowed nervously and watched his eyes and face. Emphasizing every movement, he rotated his hand to feel her forehead with his palm and dorsal. Her jaw clenched, eyes surrendering, when the palm of his hand traced the contour of her face and palmed her cheek in his hand. His face came closer to her own, looming over her. He tilted his head, his nose kissing hers softly.
"What the hell are you doing, huh?"
She wanted to retort. To reply. To say something, but she knew that there would be no point. She knew that he had seen her in the hallway. She wanted to explain that there was nothing there, but he would have seen, what he had wanted to see and there was nothing she could say that would change his mind.
"Campbell, I-"
"Sshhh," his hand clenched into the hair at the back of her head, bringing her head closer. She could feel his breath against her ear, which caused a shiver to run down her spine. She could begin to feel water prick painfully in the corner of her tear ducts, as she was trying to hold them in. His fingers dug painfully into the back of her scalp and a lone traitorous tear abandoned her eye and trailed down her cheek. She let out a shuddering breath.
"What have I told you?" he whispered, the smile never leaving his mouth. His nose trailing upward the length of her neck. Words escaped her. Fear presenting its prologues: loneliness, decrepitude, pain, debilitation, depression. All things, which he had promised. Promised that would happen if she was to be without him. Her eyes clenched, just a number of weeks left, until freedom, not that she had revealed to him yet that she had chosen to be as far as possible from this place: to start anew.
"You are the same, you and I. We need each other," much like you would approach a cornered fearful animal, he lifted his hands to hover them in the air above her skin, before he enveloped her in his arms, hugging her tightly. No comfort came to her, but only heightened her tense state. His arms clenched around her, when she didn't respond and she tentatively wrapped her arms around his waist, more tears filling her ears when she witnessed the canvas of purple tainting her delicate skin; fresh paint on a dulling canvas. For a moment, she stopped breathing altogether, when he stepped away from her, she did nothing but stare into the black abyss of his eyes. He gently grasped her chin between his fingers, tilting her head upwards. He smiled once more, before leaning forward and pressing his lips firmly to her own in a lingering kiss. She furtively responded. He stepped away from her and she was taken in, when his expression darkened.
"Go home," he said monotonously, he said back stepping away from her. His name was called from within the parking lot and a conniving, manipulative smile returned to his lips and he continued to walk casually in that direction.
Tess' back scraped down the wall, as her legs sunk beneath her. She didn't even acknowledge the pain, when her shirt had ridden up, revealing the skin of her back. Her arms wrapped around herself and she folded her legs beneath her; she was closing in on herself. Sighing and breathing deeply through her nose, her head hit back on the wall behind her, as she finally gave in and was defeated by the trapped tears. Hearing rustling from the bushes in front of her, she closed her eyes. A shadow loomed over her, blocking the light and she opened her eyes. Sam was stood in front of her, his eyebrows furrowed in concern, his lips pulled to the side in a sympathetic smile.
'Are you okay?' he signed, crouching down in front of her. Tess wiped the water from her cheeks with her palms and a believable smile filled her face.
'I'm fine'
Sam smiled sadly, he rose up and offered her an open hand. Her petite hand filled his and he pulled her up with ease, she wiped the invisible dirt from herself, attempting to ease the pity that she could feel radiating from the boy next to her. Unbeknownst to her, a male figure was standing on top of the school steps, a hand pushing back the hair from his head. His lips pursed together and pushed to the side, his gaze breaking from the scene. Every fiber of his being, was screaming at him to run down, to console her. But, his subconscious was holding his feet in place, cementing them to the floor. She would be okay, she will be far from here soon and she will just forget him. If anyone deserved everything, it would be her.
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