Spider

Spider...Chapter Three

CHAPTER III (SONG: SOBER)

She shifted, uncomfortable restlessness creeping up on her again. Cameron rolled in bed and rubbed her hands across her eyes to help convince herself that she actually acquired some well-deserved sleep. Afterwards, she pulled the covers off of her and sat up slowly, as to not get a head rush from sudden movement. Without realizing it, she had let her alarm clock go off for a good five minutes before she reached over to the nightstand to turn it off. Cameron groaned from sleep deprivation before she finally stood up and made her way downstairs.

Aunt Sherry and Uncle Henry were both there, waiting on Cameron at the island table located in the kitchen.

"Hey, hon. I was wondering when I would have to send Henry to wake you up. You look tired." Aunt Sherry said, a tinge of worry in her voice.

"Yeah...it's nothing. Just a long night. A long...sleepless night." Cameron trudged over to the dining table and took a seat.

"Well," Uncle Henry started, "Do you feel well enough to go to school?"

"Yeah. Why---"

"Because if not, then you can stay home for one day. It won't hurt anything. You look like you need some rest."

'Yes, but I'll be fine. Besides, it's only my second day at school. That would be weird not to go. Anyways, I have insomnia, so...I'm used to not getting sleep."

"Well, okay. But don't say I didn't try. I don't want any phone calls from the school saying that you fell asleep in class."

"You won't, and yes, sir." Cameron smirked lightly at the sudden leniance of Uncle Henry. She knew that he had always been the pushover, but...this bad?

"Oh, Cameron, " Aunt Sherry called from the hallway, "You can ride with me again this morning. I have to pull a double, though, so I won't be able to pick you up."

"That's okay. I'll ride the bus, if you don't mind. I know you have things to do. And the most convenient way for you is for me to ride the bus." Cameron got up, waiting for her Aunt to reply.

It came a moment later, "Alright. Better go get ready. It'll be here in about fifteen minutes."

That's all it took for Cameron to light a fire under her rear. She rushed up the stairs and back into her room to get dressed. She picked out another simple outfit: a Phantom of the Opera tee-shirt and a Jack Skellington zip-up hoodie, along with a pair of tight-fitting black Tripp pants. Cameron didn't go for the whole, 'baggy and bell-bottomed' Gothic look, just a normal, simple one--so she liked to think. She tied up a pair of her NaNa brand combat boots and went to the bathroom to fix her hair and brush her teeth. She decided to wear her hair down for a change, as she usually kept it in a loose bun or long ponytail. Hopefully it wouldn't get in her face. Cameron then rushed downstairs and out the door, giving her Aunt and Uncle a mere hug and good-bye before hand.

She only waited seconds before the bus came, a sign that Cameron needed to remember the time for later reference. She boarded the unpopulated bus and went to her seat, Eleven-A. After yawning from exhaustion, she pulled from her bag a book. It was an Anne Rice classic, taken from the Vampire Chronicles, called Queen of the Damned. It was on Cameron's Top 100 Books to Read, not very far from her Number Ten, The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe.

As Cameron started to read, the bus stopped again and again, to pick up the little midget children and then some. A few stops later, she hears a quiet whisper beside her, "Who is this irresistible creature who has an insatiable love for the dead?"

Cameron looked up from her book, only to see Jack. She sighs, "hey."

"Well, aren't we just chipper," Jack scooted Cameron over and sat down.