Page 22 of Obsession

“No,” Chris and I grumbled, then we said our goodbyes.

I had history with Zac and our talking tomato, Candice. She was all over the place, I swear. But at least I had someone to walk me to my classes and I didn’t have to mindlessly wander the halls.

As we walked, laughter rang out behind us, and I turned to see them enter – the school’s celebrity group, radiating joy - as if they owned the place. All eyes were on them as they strutted down the hallway like superstars at a meet and greet, not at all like normal high school students. When I realized he wasn’t with them, I was overcome with depression. Actually, many of them were missing, including Spikey Boy. I only recognized a few faces from yesterday, the others were completely different people. How many stars did this school have?

In class, I tried to shake off the ridiculous sadness. I wanted to be glad he wasn’t at school. After giving our teacher the form that he had to sign, I walked straight to the back of the class and took a seat next to the window.

I was completely out of it, so much so that I couldn’t understand a word the teacher was saying. He made Candice and I introduce ourselves, and for the first time I was grateful that the redhead liked to talk so much, and I allowed her to take up most of the attention so I could mope in peace. Although all eyes were on me anyway. I had hoped that yesterday’s incident with Harris Stone, or the demon, or whatever his name was… hadn’t reached the whole school.

I was glad there were individual seats because that way I didn’t have to meet anyone in person. The dizziness was back, and I remembered the side effects of clonidine.

Low blood pressure, just what I needed.

I noticed Zac sitting in the row next to me and Candice two seats in front of me as I kept checking my wrist to find my pulse and see if my blood pressure was dropping, because the dizziness was certainly getting worse.

I shook my head, took a deep breath, and turned my attention back to my notebook. Not to make notes, but to scribble on it.

I felt a slight bump on my forehead, which snapped me out of my drawing frenzy. At that moment I realized that I was drawing black angel wings, at least I hoped so, because they looked demonic.

Next to my notebook was a small piece of crumpled paper and I saw Candice subtly pointing at it. She signaled for me to read it faster, so I unfolded it.

Look out the window.

Confused, I turned my head and felt the air catch in my throat. Again.

One by one, the cars from yesterday appeared, parked in front of the entrance, and the celebrities I knew got out. Without being able to control it, I gulped when I saw the black car parked last, like a devilish shadow swallowing up all the light. Maybe I wasn’t sure about him, but I was honestly fascinated by his car. I couldn’t see much from the second floor, but it certainly wasn’t as clean as it had been yesterday. It now looked dusty and covered in mud splatters, which looked rather odd on Vantablack, as if the spots were floating.

I waited for the driver’s door to open and saw him come out. My breathing was frantic, and I slapped myself mentally as the electricity returned. He was wearing clothes similar to yesterday’s. The breeze made a few strands of hair stick to his face, which he wiped back with his fingers. I noticed his face as he walked purposefully and seemingly angrily towards the entrance. Amber was behind him, but she couldn’t keep up.

I took a deep breath and turned my attention back to my notebook. Heat prickled my skin, and I rubbed the back of my neck to block out the recent images. He was just a boy, a boy like any other.

I ignored Candice’s whispers and went back to my drawing.

After class, I walked out of the room feeling confused.

At first glance it looked like I was running to him, but in reality, I was running away from Candice and her questions. She wouldn’t stop asking what I was going to do.

“Nothing, Candice,” I replied angrily for the tenth time. “He came to school. Do you want me to give him a prize for that?”

“No, but I was just thinking …”

“Forget it,” I closed her mouth and walked faster through the crowd of students, leaving her behind.

Being angry seemed to ease my dizziness.

“Hey, blondie,” I felt myself being called by an unfamiliar voice and instinctively turned around.

There was a tall guy with brown hair who looked familiar. I knew he was one of the celebrities, but I wasn’t sure if he was one of the ones from this morning or the ones who had arrived with Harris.

“What’s the rush?”

He came up to me, a charming smile on his face. He was taller than me, but not as tall as Zac.

“You know, it’s a shame I have such a beautiful classmate and I don’t know her name,” he walked up to me, and I noticed the fierce bruises covering his face, alongside some scratches and a swelling above his eyebrow.

He had tried to cover them up with makeup, but it did nothing but accentuate them.

“Will you tell me your name? I’m a curious person…” he continued, looking at me with a brazen superiority that only added to my annoyance.

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