Smile

Chapter Two: You Are

I hate the mornings.
I hate waking up every day and debating whether or not to get out of bed.
I guess today I wanted to get out somewhere, maybe meeting people would give me a sliver of happiness.
I took the last pills from my weekly arrangement of medicine and walked out the door.
The air smelled of disgust, no one wanted to be in this godforsaken city and you could just tell by the way it reeked.
If I was going to go out into the city, I had to do it with a friend, my best friend to be exact.
I pulled out my phone, and began to dial his number, but it slowly started to sink in; the last time that I spoke to him was at the graduation party, and there he told me he was moving to Texas.
I guess I got a little upset, and we got into a bit of a fight, I called him some things and he told me to "fuck off and go back to living with my girlfriend who pays for everything my sorry ass does".
I guess I had to contact an old friend.

"Hey Riley," I started on the phone as I stood on main street in Dirtville, Illinois, "Long time no speak, look I was wanting to go out somewhere today and they've been showing some old surrealist films down at Midnight Theatre on the South side. I was thinking we could grab some snacks and catch a viewing of some creepy shit down there?"
"I hope you know I'm not driving, Dale," Riley accepted over the phone, "Not after you drank in the car and got me arrested for nothing last year."
"I know, I know," I countered as I glanced around me and began to walk towards Riley's house, "I made a mistake, but the theater actually isn't too far from your house."
"The city is barely the size of 67 football fields," Riley remarked as I crossed main street, "Everything is close to everything if you're in a car."
"Yeah, but, uh," I stammered as I stumbled into an alleyway, "I don't exactly have a car."
"So you're telling me you're 22 years old and don't have a car?" Riley poked fun, before I replied, "And you're 23 without a girlfriend, dipshit."
"Fuck you, man," Riley budded back, as I sat down in the alleyway and lit a cigarette, "You are a piece of shit, dude. You think your life is oh so sad but you are the reason you are always fucking depressed, Dale. No one is going to save you if you treat everyone like garbage then expect sympathy."
"You're right," I stammered, taking a drag off of the cigarette, "I'm sorry. Do you still wanna see that movie?"
"I guess, man," Riley responded before hanging up the phone, leaving me alone with my thoughts once again.

As we entered the theater, I took a look at the movies they were playing tonight.
"Does Eraserhead sound good to you?" I asked Riley, before he stated, "Never heard of it, sounds like a shitshow. Let's watch it."
"That'll be $25," the employee at the front desk chimed in, before I exchanged glances with Riley.
"I, uh," I stuttered, before reaching into my pocket and finding my empty wallet, "I have nothing."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Riley exclaimed in frustration, "You dragged me all the way out to Midnight Theatre so I could pay for you to watch some fucking movie called Eraserhead?!"
"I thought maybe I had enough in my wallet for a ticket," I lied, knowing I intended for Riley to pay, "If you don't wanna watch the movie just say so."
"Fuck you," Riley shouted at me before storming out of the building, "You're not gonna play the victim card this time, Dale, I know you better than anyone, you wanted me to pay for the damn movie."
I sat down in the lobby, staring at the movie listing and wondering what to do, before I eventually left.

It was 8 P.M. when I returned to that shaky elevator that led up to the 6th floor, where I lived.
As I walked through the door to room 608, I felt a chill roll down my spine, as if something was just off.
I glanced around me, before turning the light on, and there it was.
Standing in the corner was an abnormally skinny, tall and pale figure, with nothing but black, hollow eyes and a smile on its face.
I froze, terrified, before I watched as it slowly carved a smiley face into the wall with its sharp nails, creating a truly horrific sound.
I let out a scream, before covering my face, making sure I didn't have to see it again, but when I removed my hands from my eyes the creature was gone, leaving nothing behind but that little smiley face on the wall.

"What the hell did you do this time, Dale?" Aubrey complained, now home from work an hour later, as she stared at the smiley face carving in the wall, "If the landlord sees this shit he'll evict us."
"I swear to God, you wouldn't believe me if I told you," I tried to explain before sitting on the couch and nervously tapping my feet against the ground.
"Yeah I probably wouldn't because you constantly lie to me," Aubrey barked at me, proceeding to take down a poster from the other room and put it up in front of the smiley face.
"I don't lie to you, baby," I explained, lighting another cigarette.
"Oh quit it with the baby talk," Aubrey snapped at me, then grabbing the cigarette out of my hand, "And fucking quit smoking you're gonna give yourself cancer!"
"I'm sorry, okay?!" I shouted at her, "And you really wanna know what happened?! Do you?!"
"Go ahead, tell me," Aubrey replied before putting the cigarette out.
"This fucking, this thing," I attempted to put my experience into words, "I walked into the apartment and this thing was just standing in the corner, staring at me. It took it's almost talon-like fingers and carved that smiley face."
"You're batshit crazy, Dale," Aubrey sighed, before turning the TV on, "Get out of my house."