Ataraxia

∞|Chapter 4: Again|∞

My eyes fluttered open again, but the moonlight had shifted over to dawn. I was in the school. The orange light peeked across my face, leaving a warm glow. I sat up, wrapping my arms around my legs and rested my head on my knees. I thoughtfully sat there, wondering if all this was real. Remembering, I looked over to the door that stood that night. My bobby pin was still in the lock, right where I had left it before the creepy woman in the glass put me in a trauma.

'Speaking of which, where is she?'

I frantically looked around, but figured that creatures were afraid of sunlight, so she wouldn't be here. I stood up, leaning against the wall to support my weight. I was still in the school I hated, where everyone hated me. I checked the clock in the middle of the hallway; it was quarter-to six. School would start in 3 hours. I sighed and looked out the window into the gazing sun.

___________________________

My shoulder crunched as he shoved me into a locker. I gasped in pain and cringed as I prepared for impact. I grabbed his hand, pleading for him to stop.

'Why do I have to put up with this? Where's the principal?'

He and his friends started laughing hysterically. Tears streaked down my face.

'I'm too weak.'

"Why do you bother trying to defend yourself against me?" said the boy, "You know you can't win. Why don't you just stand still, so it hurts less?"

I refused to take his advice. I threw my good arm up to block my face.

"You can still do that? Now let me break your other arm," the boy shot an evil grin.

I shut my eyes tightly as I prepared for a punch. After a moment, a grunt had escaped the boy's mouth, and I looked up from behind my arm in wonder. Out of surprise, a boy, much bigger than the bully, was grabbing onto his wrist giving him a lecture. After more moments, he let the boy go, who retreated like a mouse. The tall boy looked to me, smiled, and walked me to the nurse's office. On the way there, he introduced himself,

"Oh yeah, I'm Kael." He scratched the back of his head, "I've been seeing what that punk has been doing to you, I should have stepped up sooner, sorry."

"That's all right," I said, glancing at the floor.

"Why does he treat you that way? I mean, is he aware of his consequences?"

I looked to him,

"I don't know. I've known him for a while. Troublemaker he is," I scowled at the floor.

"You know," he stated, "You're pretty brave yourself, you know?"

I looked away as I blushed at the compliment.

With one arm in a sling, I trudged myself outside on the street to walk home. Halfway there, Kael came out of nowhere and joined with me.

"How's your arm?" he asked, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

I took a glance at my arm and tried to lift it up.

"Eh," I stated, kicking a rock down the street, "Kind of hurts, I mean, um, I meant to say this before you left the nurse's office, but thank you."

I looked up at his face. He had long brown hair that hid his ears, and he seemed about 4 heads taller than me. He had a calm expression on his face. He looked down at me,

"No problems," he smiled, "If anything, I'm just glad myself that I was there at the time, dude ran away like a deer caught in the headlights." He laughed.

I haven't had a friend like this in a long time, or should I say, a friend.

"If you want," I said, "You can stop by my house, I could get you a cup of hot chocolate. It's also pizza night."

"No, it's okay," he said, raising up a hand, respectfully declining my offer, "I have places to be tonight."

He smiled while scratching the back of his head. I smiled back, and waved to him as he dropped me off at my house.

'Overdosing on painkillers isn't very fun.'

I thought as I took the last painkiller. All of a sudden, I 'felt really dizzy.

'Oh no, not this sensation again.'

I quickly retreated to my room, tripping on the last step to my bed before I fell unconscious.