Margin Doodles

Chapter III; Sense, and whatever I had felt like doing.

To be totally honest, I wasn't even going to stay up.

I had no stakes in this argument, heck, I didn't even know what the rumour was about! I already knew what to say to her. (Thanks to yet another missed meal.)

Now it was just a matter of when.

Dinner was off the table; by the time I'd finished scribbling on my torn-out piece of paper, I was the only person left in the dining hall. And when I made my way back to the wind battered tent (alone in the dark!) the evening meeting was already well underway. I didn't miss much, just the usual mindless dribble of the register, and another 'team building activity' at the end of the week. But the instructor just had to go on about how you should never ever go to the other side of the island. She finished off her lengthy speech with the customary 'it's for your own good', mustering enough enthusiasm to afford a twitch of the lip and half an eyebrow raise.

Breaking the news to Ramona then would just be insensitive. By the time I caught sight of the faded red curls, we were being ushered back into our cubies.

The only option left was to tell her at night. But was I really going to leave it that late?

...

You'd be surprised how easy it is to sneak out of a dorm room.

And how often it happened.

Everybody had done it, and you could tell when. The suffocated giggles, the splintering creaks on the collapsing hardwood floorboards and the small gasps that come with it; honestly, how could you not notice it? It looked like fun too... But I wasn't fond of the aftermath. Everybody wanting to talk to you, to be with you, to look at you all day was a nightmare not worth the daydream.

A chill shuddered down my spine as I carefully pushed my bed sheets onto the floor, which begs the question why I bothered to put my stupid olive-green cardigan on in the first place. If I really wanted to impress Ramona, I'd have left the note on the table, not scrunched up in my pocket.

The thought doesn't stop me from grabbing my hat though. Something to remember Evelyn the disappointment by, I suppose.

I began my escape by stepping onto my covers and over the especially squeaky floorboard right next to my bed. I left my fern themed sheets lying on the floor for when I came back; If any of the counsellors decided to make a midnight visit while I was gone, I was going to get caught anyway. Why delay the inevitable?

Heavy breathing punctuated my every step, and for a while, I was convinced one of the girls in my dorm was watching me... but that turned out to be just Lilith's snores.

A couple more hurried steps, frantic curtain pulls, and unnecessary pit stops later, and I was outside, home free. It was a lovely night; stars were scattered on an inky black backdrop, and soft gusts of wind drifted by. I would have been happy, excited even if what I had to say didn't hang so heavily on my mind. Why did I even care? She was lucky that I bothered to come in the first place. I could be sleeping right now, or finishing one of my drawings, or -

Wait a minute. Where the heck was Ramona? I whipped my head around, looking at my surroundings, but there was no sign of her anywhere. To say the thought of giving up had crossed my mind would be completely inaccurate. It was more like the thought was screaming at the top of its hypothetical lungs, and I had my hypothetical fingers in my ears.

Best case in scenario she'd just forgotten about it. Worst case she had already gone. I decided to check in the forest before I went back. Y'know, just to be safe.

A low hum rose from the trees.