"Se-Se!" I hear someone call my name. I turn around and see Macith - Macy, for short - running toward me. Macy is my best friend, and she's everything I'll never be. Her short, curly hair is light brown and has purple tips. Her dark blue eyes are big, but fit her face perfectly. She has a heart-shaped mouth, that hardly stops talking, has impeccable fashion sense, and always wants me to borrow her clothes.
She is outgoing, friendly and energetic. She has a big friend group, and talks to everyone at our school. Both of her parents' are still around, and she is very loved. We've been friends since third grade, when two boys were picking on her and threw her hair clip into a gutter hanging on the roof. She convinced me to climb up and get it for her - we both got detention, but ended up friends - and she hasn't changed since.
"Hey, Mace." My voice sounds hoarse, and I work to clear it. "Did you hear? Did you hear?" She asks, Bouncing up and down. "No. What?" Oops. That didn't sound very nice.
Even though it's Ninepm, Macy is still hyper. I don't know how she has so much energy, she just does. I realize she's still talking. "-ew kid coming to school tomorrow!" Wait, what? "Say that again?" I ask. "Oh weren't you listening?" She sounds really disappointed. "I'm really sorry Mace. Tell me what you said, I promise I'm listening." I say, trying to bring back her enthusiasm.
She eyes me doubtfully. "Ugh. I said we have a new kid at school." A new . . . student? "How do you know?" She grins at me, "Jenny told me - she's in charge of showing him around tomorrow - I can't wait to see him!" "Wait. Just . . . wait. We have a new student." She nods. "It's a guy." She nods, grinning this time. "Do you know his name?" She laughs, now. "Of course I don't, silly!" Jennys' mom only told her it was a guy!"
"Oh, Ok." We reach the alley that has my door in it. "I've got to go, Mace, I'm cleaning tonight." That's my other job, three nights a week I clean the different buildings my employer - and Landlord - owns. I clean in exchange for my room. "Ok! Love you, Se-Se!" Macy waves and runs back in the direction we came, probably to go tell some other person about the new student.
I wake up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. My face feels wet. Am I . . . crying? Why am I crying? What was I dreaming about? I can only remember a sense of urgency, a longing, a deep terror, and an overwhelming sadness. And what I can't remember, scares me more than what I can.
I lay in bed for a while before giving up on ever falling back to sleep. I look at the clock on my wall, it's 4:33am. I get up and pull on my black stretch pants. I find my faded gray sweatshirt on the hook that's hanging on my door, which is weird because I distinctly remember putting it on the floor by my bed. But whatever, I have more important things to worry about.
I head out the door, and set off on a slow walk. I don't know where I'm going, but Macys' dad always says, "It's not the destination, but the journey." So I just walk. I find myself nuder the bridge 40 minutes later, on the path that heads towards the park.
I hear a ghostly laugh behind me, it's not happy laughter, or even mean, but instead confused, and . . . surprised. I can't see anything in the early morning light. "H-hello?" I stutter, feeling my cheeks grow red. "Is someone there?" No one answers, "Of course there's no answer Sera, if someone is hiding in the shadows, why would they give themselves away?" I ask myself.
I turn back around and start walking again. "Oof." I crash into big, and very solid. The laughter comes again, this time right above me. "You." A smooth voice says, "Are utterly hilarious. And not what I expected at all." I look up, trying to see where the voice is coming from, and a bright light shines into my eyes. "Ow! I cry. The voice laughs - yes, laughs - again.
"But . . . you're what I'm looking for, so I can't complain." He says - and now I can tell it's a guy. "You know," I say, climbing to my feet. "If you're trying to pick me up you'd do better putting some feeeling into that line, or even using a better one."
"Ha! I'm not trying to pick you up. I was simply stating a fact." He replies in a bored tone. "Well . . . If you're not here for anything important I'm going to leave now," I say, with more than a little sass. "I've got more interesting things to do." I try to step around him, but he holds out his arm. "Where do you think you're going?" He asks. I pause, debating what to tell him. "I'm going to school, not that it's any of your business. I'm not yours."
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