I quickly made my exit from the classroom, stunned by Jason's so called advice. His advice seemed to apply to me ignoring the shadows and whispers. How would he know what problems I had, he's barely said 10 words to me since we met. Determined to chock his advice to plain stupidity, I made my way down the hallway to my locker, where Abi stood waiting for me.
"So how was your last classes?" Abi asked with a smile, pushing her glasses back into place.
"Wasn't too bad. I got stuck sitting next to Jason last class." I say in contempt, rolling my eyes.
"Oh i'm sure you hated that." Abi said smirking, but her expression was guarded.
"I didn't exactly enjoy it." I chuckled, gathering the rest of the books from my locker.
"Don't look now, but Chelsea's giving you her death glare. What did you do?" Abi giggled, trying not to look at Chelsea, who was coming down the hallway attached to Jason's hip.
"I didn't do anything. Jason's the one who talked to me." I shrugged, not worried about Chelsea's problems.
"He's looking at you." Abi whispered.
"He can look all he wants." I shrugged, slinging my book bag over my shoulder.
"Hey Corinne." A voice said from behind me, causing me to jump.
"Did I startle you?" Jason asked, a smirk forming on his gorgeous face.
"You came up behind me, of course you did." I rolled my eyes, making sure he noticed.
"Next time I'll make sure you see me first." He said, his smirk still in place.
"Was there something you needed?" I asked, an eyebrow raised. The butterflies swirling in my stomach. I did my best to hear over the thumping of my heart. My blood began to boil at the sight of his smirk, and the butterflies in my stomach picked up their pace. What was wrong with me?
Jason took another step forward, only inches away from me. He smelled lightly of cologne and soap, an earthy smell but I couldn't get enough of it. I swore the entire hallway of students could hear my heart beating, that's all I could hear.
"I just wanted to welcome you to town, and I hope you had a good first day at school." He smirked, inches away from my face. His breath smelled of mint and part of me wanted to get closer, push his boundaries, see what he would do. The coward in me spoke up and scolded me for thinking such things. One, he was a jerk. Two, he obviously had something going on with Chelsea, and three, I wasn't going to let him push me around. He can find another girl to follow him around.
"Uh thanks." I replied in a small voice, using all of my willpower to form the words.
"See you around Corinne, Abigail." He smirked at me and nodded once at Abi.
Jason made his way back to Chelsea and Katie, who glared at me as if I had crossed a line. Why were they blaming me, Jason's the one who approached me. I would've never talked to Jason, went on with my life quietly wondering. Jason's the one who made it his mission to talk to me, to irritate me. Abi and I watched as Jason, Chelsea, and Katie made there way down the hallway and out the door, Abi was the first to break the silence.
"He knew my name." Abi stated, sounding unsure of herself.
"He did, and he's going to be the reason Chelsea and Katie murder me." I grumbled causing Abi to nod.
"Oh definitely, did you see their faces?" Abi replied, sounding worried.
"Oh I did. This was so not my fault." I said, shaking my head.
"No, it wasn't. Then again, that doesn't really matter to them." She shrugged, intertwining her arm with mine as we walked out the door.
Abi walked me home and promised she would come over later to do homework, she just had to watch her little brother until one of her parents got home. I waved goodbye to her as she walked down the street to her house.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Now was the perfect time to follow through on the plan I had made during my last class. I was determined to find out where I had went this morning, and why it happened when I walked through the shadow. In order to get answers, I had to find one of the shadows.
Typically they appear at random, tormenting me through out the day, as if it's their mission to frighten me. I walked around town, keeping my eyes peeled for the slightest movement. I had never gone looking for the shadows before and I was finding it difficult to locate one. I walked around town for an hour and a half, aimlessly looking for these hidden shadows. I had a strong feeling that the shadows were avoiding me, had I seen too much? Absolutely defeated, I made my way back home.
Just as I was wondering if my luck could get any worse, I noticed Jason sitting on the front steps to his house. I cursed at myself as my heart began to flutter at the thought of talking to him again.
I kept my eyes focused ahead of me as I walked past Jason and began to make my way up the steps to my house.
"No hello, Corinne?" I hear a taunting voice. Sighing loudly, I turn around to see Jason's perfect smirk. Jason was wearing the same outfit he had on at school, only this time he was missing his shoes.
"Hello, Jason." I said and started to turn around.
"You don't like me very much do you?" Jason smirked, running his hand through his jet black hair. After spending the last hour and a half searching for one of the shadows, the last thing I wanted to do was try and decipher Jason's hidden meanings. To my surprise, the shadow that often followed Jason around, made it's appearance. I looked past Jason and focused on the shadow.
Molded in the shape of a man, the shadow towered over Jason, who was fairly tall himself. The shadow didn't have eyes or any distinguishable features but I could feel it looking back at me. I wasn't sure how to tell the shadow to stick around, not without directly speaking to it.
"I don't like your type." I stated, failing at shoving the butterflies in my stomach back into their jar.
Jason's smirk was replaced by a frown, and part of me instantly regretted what I had said. A frown didn't suit his handsome face.
"Don't be so sure you know my type, Corinne." He said quietly, gently placing a stray lock of blonde hair behind my ear. As his fingers grazed over my cheek, I felt my skin ignite. It felt as if I was falling through the ground all over again, the butterflies in my stomach whipped into a frenzy. The heat rose to my cheeks and I could feel the blush spread over my pale skin.
"Don't I?" I said breathless, taking a step back.
"You don't know me at all." He said quietly, taking my hand. I felt my willpower dissolve and in that moment I wanted nothing more than to step into his arms, to taste the mint on his breath. Just as I was about to make the first move, the most unexpected face made its way into my mind.
Chelsea, of all people. No matter how she treats people or acts, she doesn't deserve another girl making moves on her guy.
"You're with Chelsea." I said, the butterflies in my stomach no longer pleasant. As much as I tried to hide the scowl that came over my face, I couldn't. I felt as though I was being toyed with, and I didn't appreciate it. No matter what I felt for Jason, I wouldn't wrap myself around someones finger. I'm not into self-inflicted misery.
Jason's face dropped as he let go of my hand.
"Me and Chelsea aren't that serious." Jason shrugged.
"You seem pretty serious." I shrug back, part of me feeling sad.
"Whatever you say, Corinne." Jason grumbled, making his way back inside his house.
I sighed, letting him make his get away, surprised to see his shadow sticking around. Standing in front of me was the shadow that followed Jason around. Part of me was tempted to walk through it. What would happen if I did? Would the shadow let me? Where would I go?
"Hello Corinne"..A voice whispered
"Hello." I said, swallowing the fear that had built in my stomach.
"What did you need?"..The voice whispered, almost sounding impatient. What obligations would a shadow have?
"I needed to ask you something." I stated, my determination overriding my fear.
"Ask."..The shadow whispered.
"Earlier today, I walked through one of..well what you are..and I went somewhere." I said, unsure how to describe my experience.
"Spirit." ..The shadow whispered.
"What?" I asked, confused.
"We are spirits." ..The shadow hissed.
"Okay..well I walked through a spirit, and I fell through the floor. I ended up in some forest." I said, internally sighing. This was my first time talking to one of the shadows, and I could feel his reluctance to talk to me. When I mentioned the forest I found myself in, the shadow hissed and took a few steps backwards.
"Where was I?" I asked, taking a step forward.
"Nowhere good."..The spirit hissed.
"Why did walking through the spirit take me there?" I asked, wanting some real answers for a change.
"Spirits are doorways"..the shadow whispered.
"Doorways to where? How would I get back to the forest?" I asked knowing I shouldn't want to go back, but the curiosity became overwhelming.
"Never go back"..The shadow whispered, and then vanished.
"Ugh!" I exclaimed, frustrated. Just as I was finally getting answers the shadow had to up and disappear.
Unsure what to do, I looked around, hopeful I would spot another shadow lurking around. Instead of finding a shadow, my eyes met something or someone else.
My eyes found Jason's as he was watching me (again) from his bedroom window. The expression on his face was unreadable. Out of all the questions rushing through my mind, at this moment only one stood out;
How much did Jason see?