Page 37 of Broken Pieces

“I’m only trying to be nice.”

“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. I’m just not in the mood to hang out with anyone right now.”

“You never are,” he says coldly, taking me aback. “I’ll just see you in class.” Looking unreasonably pissed off, he heads for the doors and I wait for them to close before heading back to my seat to grab my bag.

Ihave to sit down for a minute to gather my thoughts.

Was I too mean to him?

He's trying so hard to be a friend and all I’ve been is an asshole to him the entire time. Maybe I should go and apologize. It wouldn't hurt to have someone I could talk to, it would be good for me to get out more. Maybe we could go to some parties together and I could make an actual attempt at making some friends here.

Who am I kidding?That's the last thing I want to do.

Just as I put my hand on my bag, the lights suddenly go out and I scream as I see a dark figure standing right outside the window.

“James?” I ask out loud, even though he can’t hear me from out there.

A light suddenly turns on and their face lights up with a bright neon glow. No, not their face. A creepy looking mask with yellow X’s for eyes and a crooked smile stares back at me.

Slowly, they shake their head, then they bring their finger to where their mouth is and make a shushing gesture.

What the fuck?

I’m sure it’s someone playing a prank or forced to do a dare, but whatever it is they're doing is really freaking creepy.

There’s a loud clatter from the kitchen behind me and I almost jump out of my chair as I swivel to see what it was.

A slither of light comes from the kitchen door and I see a shadow of someone moving around in there. It’s probably just the cook and there’s been a problem with the electrics.Right?

“Hello?” I call out. “James, if you’re trying to be funny, it’s not working.”

I quickly look back outside, but the figure is gone, making me feel like I imagined them standing there.

Grabbing my phone, I realize it’s later than I thought. No one else is in the cafeteria. It’s just me and whoever the shadow belongs to in the kitchen that is getting bigger and bigger as they step closer to the door.

Whoever it is, I don't need to find out. I stuff my book into my bag and as I pick up my phone I get a text.

Slut

I have to reread the message to make sure I saw it right. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with it.

It's not from James, I have his number thanks to him putting it in my phone the first opportunity he could. No, this is an unknown number.

Frantically, I think of anything I could have done for someone to call me a slut, but if it wasn't for the vibrator in my nightstand I'd be a nun.

They don't message again and I don't reply. Maybe it's just some odd coincidence and it wasn't meant for me?

I rush out of the cafeteria and don’t stop running until my lungs are burning and my legs ache from the sudden exertion that they’re not used to.

Casting a look around, I find there’s no one following me, the campus is almost empty apart from a few other students most likely heading to their rooms or to an end ofsemester party.

With my hand clutching my chest, I take a shaky breath to calm myself down. I’m just tired and paranoid. Whoever that jerk in the mask was is long gone.

Although I keep repeating the reassurances in my head that I’m not about to be murdered by a serial killer, the rest of the walk to my dormitory is still terrifying.

As the building comes into sight, I hear footsteps behind me.

No, two sets of footsteps.

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