The Secret Society of Ryland, Virginia

Chapter 4- The Girl Who Hid From The World

I woke up starving. Well I guess that was the consequence of avoiding your family at dinner and not eating. I rolled out of bed, still in my clothes from yesterday, and quickly scribbled a note that said "at Destiny's Diner" and threw it on my bed. The door was locked, but oh, well. They could have fun with that if they cared enough to try.  It sure didn't seem like they cared, as they hadn't even attempted to bust open my door last night to talk to me. Some family I had.
I grabbed my Destiny's Diner hat off my bed (yes, it was still there) and put it on my head. It was surprisingly clean and had no blood on its white surface. I was glad, because I almost always wore it, and I didn't want some kid's blood all over it.
I wrenched open the one window in my tiny box of a room and climbed out onto the small roof that was above our porch. I jumped down and made a run for the diner. I had to cut through people's yards again, but I pretty much did this every day, so they had pretty much just given up trying to stop me. I walked through the door, slowing my pace, and sat down at the booth farthest from the door (my favorite one). The diner was much less crowded than yesterday, so I could eat in peace. Finally!
A waitress walked up to me and I realized that I had never seen her before. The fact that she was smiling at me also proved that she had never met me.
"Are you new?" I asked.
"Yes," she replied, still smiling ever so brightly. "I'm the temporary replacement for Penny Ingram while she's missing," I cringed in my seat. I know I've said this a million times, but I swear, I'm going to kill that woman one day.
"I'll take this," I said, pointing at a random meal on the menu. I didn't even care, I was so hungry. I slid down in my seat, as tired as I always was.
After the waitress arrived with my food, I ate in silence and slid down in the booth when I finished, suddenly extremely bored. I sat like that for a while when all of a sudden my phone beeped in an obnoxious ringtone. Ugh, why was everything annoying to me?
Anyway, I took the old thing out of my pocket and looked at the alert. I had apparently gotten an email. It was probably just some dumb ad, but I opened it anyway. It was from an unknown email, and it said, "Book club meeting today," This was secret society code for a meeting today. Okay, what the heck. We literally had had a meeting yesterday! Well, I was devoted to this society, so I had to go.
I saw my waitress, and I waved her over quickly and  paid her with the money that I kept in the back of my plain black phone case. It was really running low, and it wasn't going to be replenished soon, as my only source of income was my relatives on Christmas and my birthday. I walked out through the door, hearing the familiar jingle of bells that was, sadly, starting to get a little bit annoying.
I walked towards the meeting spot. It didn't take long since the diner was near the shopping center, and I was soon closing the hatch over my head and walking down the familiar dark staircase. I sat down at my seat, only to realize that the room was empty. Well, except for Mr. Brenton and Ms. Vann, that is.
"Hello, Dakota. I assume you are wondering why you are here?" Mr. Brenton asked, not even bothering to go up to the podium.
"Yeah, I mean, it's not like I was having a blast at the diner, but why is no one else here?" I retorted, straight up ignoring Ms. Vann. Something about her just... annoyed me.
"Well, we have heard that Byron and Carmen are recovering in the hospital, and we wanted you to go see them," said Mr. Brenton. I almost walked up to him and punched him in the face. If Ms. Vann put him up to this...
"What the heck?! I'm not going to see those kids just to be your little minion and get information! Why don't you go there yourself? I exclaimed. I'll admit it, it was a bit harsh, but I really didn't want to see Byron right now. He was such a.... jerk. He freaking made me cry! Wait... it was in my mental trash... right.
Mr. Brenton rolled his eyes. He was used to my rude outbursts, and wasn't ever offended by them. But then Ms. Vann spoke.
"Well, Dakota, you were there when it happened, so it would make sense for you to be worried about them. It would be odd if Mr. Brenton or I went. As far as everyone else in Ryland knows we don't even know each other. It could expose the society," said Ms. Vann suddenly, not affected by my outburst either. See? Annoying.
"Fine. But what do you want me to ask? 'Are you okay?'" I mumbled, crossing my arms and slumping down in my chair. I didn't care if I was being difficult. I actually rather enjoyed it, for some inexplicable reason.
"Just act worried and try to see how much the doctors know, both about the injuries and the situation. Also just see if they've gotten any better," Mr. Brenton replied. I narrowed my eyes. Act worried? There was no chance that I would do that. I couldn't even act worried when I was actually worried. Well, except for when I was in danger. I get it, I'm a little selfish.
"Okay, fine. But you'd better drive me there," I said to Mr. Brenton directly. I didn't want Ms. Vann to have to drive me (annoying), and, besides, I had known Mr. Brenton longer.
"Meeting dismissed," he said. I rolled my eyes. Was there really any point in saying that?
***
I was standing in front of the Ryland Hospital, which was much smaller than a normal hospital, but easily one of the biggest buildings in Ryland. I entered the building, taking in the stark whiteness of everything. The walls, the ground, the furniture... everything was white. Not really my style, if I had one. Mine was more... grey.
I tried my best not to look completely annoyed and walked up to the front counter.
"Um, hel-lo!" I said a little too rudely to the man at the desk, who was hastily scribbling something down on a paper.
"Oh, hello. What are you here for, ma'am?" he said, completely brushing off my rudeness. For some reason that annoyed me. He was still looking at the paper, though. Rude.
"I'm here to visit Carmen Diamond and Byron Anderson," I said. He looked up and seemingly recognized me.
"Oh... uh, yes. Come this way," he said, adjusting his glasses and walking out from behind the counter. He walked me through a stark white door and a woman replaced him at the front desk. Soon I was standing in front of another stark white door.
"This is Carmen's room, and Byron is next door," the man said. As he walked back towards the waiting room, I knocked on the door. Soon it opened to the same distressed woman I had seen talking  to Ms. Vann and Mr. Brenton two days ago. She must've been Mrs. Diamond.
"Hello?" she asked, sounding confused but worried. Also a little scared, even. Wow, I didn't know I had that effect. But then she reconsidered. "Oh, wait you're..."
"Dakota Sycamore, yeah," I mumbled. "Can I see Carmen?" I asked, trying my best not to sound bored or annoyed.
"Yeah, she's right here," Mrs. Diamond replied, leading me into the small white room. Carmen lay on a bed in one corner. She was frowning, and her arm looked to be almost completely healed except for a small white scar, much to my suprise.
"Umm... hi," I said awkwardly. Carmen looked at me and her face brightened.
"Oh! You're here! You can finally tell them what really happened! No one would believe me..." she said hopefully, looking at me with large hazel eyes. I just looked away. I wanted to tell her that I couldn't, but I didn't.
"Oh, yes. You were there! Can you please tell me what happened?" asked her mother. "Carmen just kept saying something about a shadow monster... you know, kids..."
I awkwardly cleared my throat. I couldn't reveal the truth, of course, but... poor Carmen. When I realized that I had just been standing silently for a minute, I quickly spilled out words, making sure to stay in tune with the news story.
"Well, me and Byron just... um, happened to be in the woods, and we found Carmen with the wound on her arm, but then I... uh, I blacked out and when I woke up, Byron was hurt too. I asked Byron what hurt him, but he said he couldn't remember. Carmen said that too, and we finally got out of the woods and found Ms. Vann and Mr. Brenton..." I trailed off. Carmen wailed.
"No! That's not what happened! She's lying! I didn't say that! There was a monster! You saw it, remember?!" she screamed all of a sudden, looking at me. Then she started crying. "It killed my friends right in front of my eyes! You have to believe me!" I awkwardly stood again, wanting to defend the poor girl, but also wanting to defend the society. Ultimately, the society took first, and I decided to just up and leave. I didn't have time for this, and I didn't want to hear her crying anymore.
"I know it's hard, Carmen, but you should just get some rest, alright?" I said, sounding much more gentle than I would like to sound. She just glared at me, but kept quiet, tears still flowing from her eyes. God, why did I make everyone hate me? Sometimes I hated myself for it. But this wasn't my fault, it was Mr. Brenton's, really. Right?
"Thank you so much, Dakota," Mrs. Diamond said to me dryly as I turned towards the door. I knew she didn't mean it. I hadn't had much to offer other than what had been on the news the day before. I left the room hastily, but at the same time I was dreading where I had to go next. I stood in front of the door, identical to the one beside it. Suddenly I felt really weird. I shouldn't go in here. Byron was just going to annoy me, anyway. I don't know why I let Mr. Brenton force me to come here. It's not like that last visit went well, either...
I opened the door, surprising myself at my suddenness. I then realized that his parents could be in here, but it was too late now. I entered the room, and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw him sitting up in his bed, no one else in the room. He looked exactly the same as he had three days ago, except that he wore different clothes and had a large bandage wrapped around his midsection. Oh yeah, and he wasn't covered in blood and dirt. He noticed me quite late, and smiled that godforsaken annoying smirk. I didn't know if I wanted to hug him because he was alive or punch him in the face because he was annoying, but in the end, I just stood there awkwardly. 
"Never thought I'd see you in here," he said, still freaking smirking.
"First of all, it wasn't my choice, and second, wipe that smile off your face. It's freakin' annoying," I grumbled, crossing my arms.
"Ahh, there she is," he said. Dang it, why did I even come here? Oh yeah, that's right. By force. Well, partial force.
"What did you tell the doctors? And your parents?" I asked.
"I just told them that I didn't remember anything. Oh yeah, and after I saw the news, I said that we went on a walk together and found Carmen," I breathed a sigh of relief. At least everyone had heard the same story. But still, I didn't really like that "walk" thing. It sounded pretty suspicious.
"So, why did you actually come here?" he asked me.
"Mr. Brenton wanted me to get information. By the way, are you, like... okay?" I asked awkwardly. I wasn't very good at sympathy, as you can see.
"Actually, I'm doing way better. I have no idea how I didn't die from blood loss, but... now it's pretty much healed, except for this epic scar," he said. My mind flashed back to Carmen's arm. Why had both of their wounds healed so fast?
"Wanna see?" he suddenly asked me.
"Umm, no way! I don't want to see your freaking stomach, and I don't think you're supposed to take that bandage off anyway," I exclaimed. Sometimes I didn't get this kid. Actually, all the time.
"Well, anyway, it's way better," he said. Then, all of a sudden he looked nervous. I breathed a sigh of relief. The smirk was gone, finally.
"So, how have you been doing?" he suddenly asked me. I was caught off guard. Why would he care how I was doing?
I actually stood there with my mouth hanging open for a few seconds until he said, "Dakota, you saved my life! I'm supposed to be nice, right? Unless you want me to be a jerk!"
"Yeah, actually, you can stay nice," I replied. It was weird, but I guess this change was for the better. "And for your information, I'm doing horrible. I'm on the freaking news, my mom thinks I have freaking friends, which is not true, and now I have to freaking see you in the hospital!" I ranted.
"Okay, calm down, Dakota. First of all, you really need to stop saying 'freaking'. It's becoming a really bad habit. And also, I have something to ask you," he said, changing the topic just as fast as he had changed his expression.
"Uh... What?" I asked. I resisted the urge to say no before he even spoke and decided to let him talk. He had just recovered from a life-threatening injury, anyway.
"I know you saved my life and I owe you one or whatever, but I still need to make you this offer," he breathed deeply and suddenly looked straight at my face. "Dakota, I honestly need to tell you that I'm worried about you. You have no friends, and you push everyone away. Maybe it's not my place to say, but I think you just don't know what it's like to have a friend. It's makes you feel better about yourself, really," he said. I looked away. Who did he think he was? I already knew all this, and I didn't care. Why could no one see that I didn't care?! I was about to come back at him with an overly harsh counter-argument, but he stopped me. "No, Dakota, I'm not gonna listen to you. I don't care what you say. I think you need a friend, so I've decided to be one," he said confidently. But at that, I interrupted him.
"You? Be a friend?! Listen, I've been trying to deliberately avoid you, and now you've suddenly up and decided that you want to be my friend? I don't get you. Like, at all," I exclaimed. But of course he just ignored me and started talking again.
"Okay, then here's the deal. You let me be your friend for one week, starting today, and I promise that I'll never tease you or be annoying ever again. I won't even talk to you unless it's necessary for the society," he said, meeting my eyes again. I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to be his friend for a minute, but the second part of the deal sounded pretty good.
"So what will happen if I don't take the deal?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.
"I'll just keep teasing you forever," he said, smirking again. I sighed. I really didn't think he had looked into the heart of this matter.
"Fine," I growled. "But, seriously, if you act all chummy with with me, your real friends are seriously gonna stop hanging out with you,"
"I don't care. They're all jerks anyway," he said with a wave of his hand. He laid back down and said, "You know, you should probably go now. My parents are coming for their daily check. And they're probably gonna take me home now anyway," He propped his head up on his pillow and smiled as I walked out the door.
"Bye, friend," he said. The word stung me like a needle in my eye until I left the hospital and began the long walk home. I needed some exercise, anyway. While I was walking, I quickly texted Mr. Brenton what I thought he needed to know.
Finally, I stood in front of my house and debated trying to climb through my window, but in the end I decided to go through the front door and, inevitably, face my mom. I took the key from my pocket and unlocked the door. I was only about halfway through the doorway when Jean Sycamore came running at me.
"Dakota! Where the heck were you?! I checked the diner but you weren't there! And, young lady, I would like for you to explain exactly why you were on the news yesterday!" my mother fumed, pulling me into the house and closing the door.  "And for goodness sake, eat something! You haven't eaten in almost two days. Or showered, even! Good God, you smell horrible!" she exclaimed.
"Thanks, Mom," I mumbled. Well, whoops. I always looked like trash anyway. A shower wouldn't really help.
"Thanks? Dakota, talk to me! I'm tired of you always being so secretive all the time! And I know that you weren't at a friend's house!" she shouted. Davis started crying from his baby seat in the kitchen, but for once my mom ignored him.
She pushed me into a chair in the kitchen and plopped a microwave dinner in front of me. I had to admit, I was kind of hungry.
"You talk, and then you eat," My mom said. She sat down in the chair across from me and glared at me. Wow, I had never seen my mom this mad. She was usually just a stressed-out but moderately calm stay-at-home mom.
"Okay, fine... So, where do you want me to start?" I mumbled. There was no getting out of this.
"What in the world were you doing on Friday?!" she exclaimed. I winced.
"Okay... well, you see... so, I went to... the diner after school that Friday, and... afterwards... I went to uh... my friend's house-" I started, but my mom stopped me.
"I know you weren't, Dakota. I'm not dumb. I see how you deliberately avoid people. And I don't know why Mr. Brenton would lie to me. Also, what about the news? And those injured kids-" This time I interrupted her, the gears in my brain finally turning. I had to make up a story that was believable, but also went with the news...
"Mom, Mr. Brenton didn't lie. I was at my friend's house... um... and we, uh, we took a walk in the woods and we found-" And she cut me off again.
"You mean that kid who got injured? That blonde guy? He's your friend? But I thought you said "she" when you were talking about your friend..." my mom said. Oh wow, she really picked up on everything... ugh.
"Well... um, yeah. That was- um, an accident. Byron's my... friend," I spat. "So, we were walking in the woods, and we suddenly found Carmen, injured in her arm. After that I blacked out, and when I woke up, Byron was injured and Carmen was in tears. She was- uh... delirious, and Byron said he didn't know what hurt them. We left the forest and found Mr. Brenton and Ms. Vann, and... they took them away in the hospital... then I went back to the diner, and I came home. You didn't even notice," I said. My mom didn't reply. She knew it was true.
"Then... today... I, uh, I didn't want to tell you about this stuff, so I just let myself out through the window and went to the diner. Then, I, uh, called Mr. Brenton for a ride, and he drove me to the hospital. I, uh, I saw Byron and Carmen, and they're actually, um... completely healed, pretty much," I said awkwardly.
"So... why did you hide this from me? And what did you do yesterday?" my mom asked.
"I thought you didn't care enough to know! I mean, you usually don't give a crap about what I do all day!" I exclaimed.
"Well, maybe I do care when you're on the news!" my mom yelled.
"Well, I'm sorry, mom, okay? Is that all I had to say?!" I asked.
"No, Dakota! I want to believe you, but you're seriously acting really shady. And not to mention how bad you've looked recently," she replied. Oof. You know something's up when your mom calls you shady and ugly.
"Okay, I'm sorry, I'll eat and take a shower. I mean, shouldn't you be proud of me? I finally have one friend! And can you please tell me why you never cared that I had no friends?! Like, ever?! You don't ever even pay attention to me- all you care about is that stupid little spoiled brat Davis!" I spat. My brother just looked at me with his big brown baby eyes, like his tiny brain knew what I was talking about. I glared at him, and he glared back.
"Dakota! Don't you call your brother names! And, fine! It's good that you have a friend! But, still, I can't force you to make friends, Dakota! You were still this rude when you were younger, anyway!" she yelled. God, I didn't even care anymore.
"I'm gonna take a shower," I shouted, in a way more aggressive voice than you should ever have to use while saying that. I turned my back on my mom and raced upstairs to the shower.
***
I was laying on my bed, in nothing more than a baggy t-shirt, and my short hair was spread out in a halo around my head, soaking the pillow. I had eaten, too, and the crappy microwave dinner had actually satisfied my small appetite. It actually felt really good to be clean. It felt like I had washed away all the things that happened in the two previous days. But, of course, I hadn't. And to make it even worse, tomorrow was Monday. Ugh...
Suddenly, my mom walked into my room, a softer expression on her face. Even when I had eaten, we hadn't talked since the argument.
"Look, Dakota, I still really don't like all this stuff you're getting involved in, but as long as you stay out of trouble, I'll keep out of it," she said gently, sitting on the end of my bed. Talk about a mood change...
"Thanks..." I said awkwardly, not really knowing what to say. "And, yeah, I'll stay safe," That right there was a big fat lie.
Then my mom left to go help Davis or something. It wasn't that late yet, but I sure was exhausted, so I showered quickly and then drifted off early, finally getting the sleep that I had been missing out on in the past few days.