Dreamless

Over the buzz of teenage shit.

The old alarm clock blinked the time with its red digital eyes. It may have been Friday, but to Daniella each day melted in to the previous. To her, time became a blur. An illusion created by people to feel safer in the word they believed they created.

Their primitive dreams of becoming a successful doctor, or an established writer were meaningless to her.

Daniella understood that even a queen, outside her colony of ants, is nothing to the rest of the world. Lazyly her body tumbled out of bed, landing with a loud thud on the ground. A small yelp escaped her lungs. As the pain subsided from the small fall, the empty feeling returned.

The feeling wasn't sadness, anger or even hunger. It was worse than any of those... It was nothing.

The sun's bright yellow rays guided themselves through her window, just to land on the unmade bed. The posterless walls illuminated by their glow.

A heavy sigh escaped Daniella's lips, as she stared up.

The long hallway leading to the living room seemed shorter that day. Daniella slugged her way to the bathroom. The mirror on the wall reflected a broken barbie doll. The tap leaked water into the sink. Daniella gazed up at her reflection. A mop of brown hair claimed the top of her head. Gray soulless eyes stared tiredly back at her.

Was this to be her eternal torment? To live as an empty husk only feeding off others joy?

She shook her head, ridding her mind of these thoughts. Her hands traveled to the mess on her head. The long hair fell from side to side as she scooped it up into a messy bun.

A sound echoed from outside. A depressing sound to say the least. It had but one owner. An owner Daniella knew all too well. Loud screams of excitement sounded in the air. With a backpack slumped over one shoulder, the high school senior moved to the big yellow prison bus. As Daniella stepped outside, the cold breeze of fall fell on her skin.

It was the weekend. A time teenagers would get drunk and high, regret it the next morning and vow to never party again, until the next weekend. This was their routine, their bubble to feel safe in. Daniella entered the bus immediately, hearing plans of who'll be smashing who. Gamers, geeks and other weirdo's with no action, listened in eagerly. Goths had their music blasting in their ears trying desperately to drown out the popular girls; common gosip.

Everyone had a group, even those who didn't. The misfits. The only group Daniella felt something in. They understood her. The tiny arrangement of students consisted of four people. The Anderson twins, Connor and Max and Elizabeth.

"I told you! Disposing of a body in a river would only lead to it popping back up!" Connor shouted , irritated by Elizabeth's idea. The strangest way of of teasing each other.

"Yea, so what?" Elizabeth asked nonshalontly. Her shoulder length blond hair whipped to a side as she tilted her head to the right. Her deep blue eyes grew bigger and her smile grew larger. "...so what if the body resurfaces, if they find what's left of it, there's no way of linking it to me,"

Connor shook his head hopelessly . His hand rested on his fair forehead.  "Can you believe her Max?" he asked.

Hair collorwas the only thing the Anderson brothers shared. Connor was a cautious person, overthinking everything that he came in contact with. His brother on the other hand was a live in the moment person.

Max could never escape the flashing lights created by cartoons.

"Yea sure," Max mumbled. His brown eyes glued to a cartoon on his phone. Conner rolled his eyes, shook his head again and sighed.

" What about burning the body down to ashes," Daniella asked entering the group. A small smile plucked at the sides Connor's lips.

"Hey little murderer..." Connor greeted.

Their conversation consisting mainly of what the weekend would hold.

"Max! What's your plans for the weekend?" Elizabeth asked. A smug grin smiled at the outside world. She knew the answer. To her it was a way of irritation and torture to the boy.

Max looked up momentarily. The latest cartoon jumping around on the screen. He bit his lower lip and chuckled.

Brown eyes glared sweetly at Elizabeth. He playfully cleared his throat, and dramatically said. "The same as we do everyday pinkie! Try to take over the world."

A roar of laughter escaped from the group of four. Even Daniella giggled along silently. It was a better time. She forgot about the growing emptiness inside her, even if it was just for a second.

The joyful moment couldn't last forever.

The bell rang signalling the four to bid their goodbyes.

The classrooms were packed to the brink and some how Daniella didn't share one class with her allies.

Mister Rogers, a math teacher who couldn't teach math directed the children's short attention span to an old chalk board. Even when the school had enough funding to afford new equipment, mister Rogers still choose the ' old fashion way.'

"Very well nou boys and girls," he said, generating a few eye rolls along with a mountain of low groans.

"For your next assignment you'll be studying the data. In other words, this weekend you'll be counting how many people enter a store and compare it to that of your partner. Frankie your partner is..."

Partner... Could there be a word Daniella hated more.

"Christian and Daniella"

There it was.

Christian wasn't just the wanna be stalker boy down the street. His obsession with anime often got him in trouble at school. There isn't enough detention to stop him from his bathroom time...

"Fuc-" Daniella whispered under her breath, before seeing his gofer teeth.

"Hey Daniella, so which store are you going to pick?" Christian asked in a lisp.

"I'm not, so buzz off asshole before you get beaten in to a lady by a lady." She replied, grabbing her backpack ready to leave.

"I'm sorry I didn't know that you liked to play dirty.
I'll see you later baby girl." He tried to whisper. His short frame moved behind her, taking a sniff of her hair and blowing her a kiss.

A wave of discuss washed over her being. With a sudden jerk movement her elbow collided with his ribs.

He fell to the floor, holding his side. His mind crying in pain.

Daniella didn't look back at her fine pice of work, coughing on the ground. She walked proudly to the door, blocking the outside world and the classroom. Her middle finger saluting him on her way out.