"Alexis- Alexis wake up!"
Arms are shaking my body violently and eventually my eyes break open. Nobody is in my bedroom, yet I feel a presence within the atmosphere around me. This time, I'm not having a nightmare. Whoever died in this house didn't get the ending they deserved and I know it. This spirit is vengeful and is taking its anger out on people who live here.
I sit awake for the rest of the morning until my alarm goes off and try to talk with my mother before she leaves for work. I slowly and quietly walk down the steps as I approach her bedroom. Underneath her door was the light flooding the inside and I open it carefully to see my mother getting dressed.
"Fuck" I blurt out. I assume she heard me because she peeked out of the creak of the door.
"Alexis?"
"Yeah mom, it's me," I say as I step into her room, closing the door behind me. "I came down here because I wanted to talk to you before you leave."
"What do you want to talk about?" She asks while sticking her earrings into her ear lobes.
"It has to do with me blacking out the other day"
"Go on" She insists as she grooms her hair.
"Well, almost every night here, I've been waking up early- It's weird because one night I relived the moment dad died. Red and blue lights were scattered all over my walls and sirens were blaring- then when I looked out the window dad's car was smashed up against the tree. It's like I was in the old house, seeing everything happen all over again, and then I blacked out. And during school, I'd suddenly get lightheaded, and barely anything around me is audible. Remember the other day, when I woke up in the clinic and said "Dad"? I said that because I saw dad sitting next to me, crying. And this morning I woke up from arms shaking me, but nobody was in my room when it happened." I explain to her.
"I honestly don't know what to say to that, Alexis. I don't want to say that I don't believe you but there could be multiple reasons that you are dealing with these problems. I would suggest trying not to think about it so much, it'll only make it worse if you keep thinking about it."
"Okay, I'll try not to. Thanks for listening to me talk, mom" I sigh as I leave her bedroom.
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"So- I apologize for what I said yesterday during lunch. I was joking around but it obviously took a wrong turn." Blondie scratches the back of his head.
"It's fine, don't worry about it. By the way, what's your name?" I ask while flipping my hair behind my neck.
"Oh so now she asks questions- My name is Easton." He laughs.
"Easton?" I squint my eyes.
"Easton Harper," He adds.
"So, why did you move all the way down here?" We stop at his locker and he shoves his bookbag inside.
"I have no idea. My mom talked to me yesterday about the whole deal, she said that maybe I'll have a better life here and I'll be happier here- But I kind of doubt that." I sigh and face my head down towards the tiled floor.
"What do you mean by you'll have a better life here? Did you not have a good life in Oklahoma or something?"
I take a deep breath, trying to ease my mind so I can think of a way to answer, hence I don't want to spill my personal life with him. "You could say that, but I don't really want to talk about it- It's a lot to take in and It's really personal so I'd rather not tell you until we know each other better."
"Touche. I moved down here because my parents are investigating a crime and they don't want me to be around to hear it, so now I live with my grandparents. My parents work for the police, by the way."
I raise my eyebrows, "Wow, sounds pretty serious"
"Yeah, it is, because some woman committed vehicular manslaughter."
As I hear him say this, I immediately think about the car crash that killed my father, and my attention is drawn away from Easton's voice. I can't help but blame my mother for the death of him- Though I know it was the drunk driver's fault. They argued that night just before my father had left to take a drive... She set him off and that's why he did.
I can feel my hands starting to shake intensely and I stop in my tracks. As I lift my head from looking at the floor, Easton is no longer at my side. All the students who were standing in the halls beforehand are now gone, and everything is silent.
"Alexis? You okay over there?" I hear Easton say, but there is no sight of him.
I look around the hall and start sprinting towards a bathroom to pull myself together but as soon as I reach the door I hear my father's voice speaking to me.
"Alexis, it's okay." I feel a cold breeze brush against my skin.
He sounds so alive but I know he isn't. I begin to bawl my eyes out as I try to pry open the bathroom door although it won't budge. I sit down on the floor, wrapping my arms around my legs and burying my face inside, trying to distract myself from the stressful phenomena.
I feel a hand pulling me up to my feet, "Hey Alexis- Pull it together. I'm right here, okay?".
It's Easton. Without thinking, I pull him close to me and refuse to let go of him.
"What are you doing?"
"Don't move, please. I don't care if people see, I need you to stay here right now." I hug him tightly.
"I'm sorry- what do you think you're doing?" I hear a girl approaching us.
Easton pushes me away and walks toward her. "Audrey, it's not what it looks like-"
She cuts him off and slaps him across the face.
"OW! What the hell?!"
"I just saw everything, don't act like you weren't doing anything wrong. And who the fuck is she anyway?!" She scowls at him.
He sighs and drops his hands at his sides. "First of all, calm down- and two, she is my friend, you hear that? Friend. I used to go to her old school in Oklahoma and she just happened to move down here, okay? And why did you have to smack me so hard?"
"How do you expect me to react when I see you hugging some girl I don't know?" She sets her hands on her hips and sneers at him.
At this point, I feel guilty and walk away.
"Hey, where are you going?" Easton looks over.
"I'm going to let you two talk. I need to go to class, see you tomorrow, Easton." I wave.
I hear them continue to argue as I approach my History class.
"Ms. Burkholder, could you give me a valid reason why you are late to class? You've been gone for the first half of the entire lesson." Mrs. Cooper crosses her arms and gives me an intimidating stare.
"Sorry, Mrs. Cooper. I was just-"
"She has panic attacks and takes time to calm down. Don't you think it's a bit rude to tell her to say out loud why she was late to class? You were going to make her feel embarrassed." Natalie cuts me off and explains.
"Fair enough, but next time let her talk- I didn't ask for your input Ms. Hyde."
I shuffle over to my seat, which is placed in the back of the class, next to Natalie's.
"Hey, what was going on out there? I heard you and blondie talking" She leans over and asks.
"I wouldn't ask, because I honestly don't know. I didn't blackout this time, though."
She studies my face and raises an eyebrow, "Were you crying?"
"Perhaps."
"What did he do to you? I swear I will kill him if he touched you." An angry expression appears on her face.
"Woah- Calm down there, he didn't do anything to me. It's actually really hard to explain but I'll talk to you about it later." I chuckle.
"Ladies! Do I need to move your seats?" Mrs. Cooper shouts at us.
I nod my head and snicker.
"Then I suggest you stop talking while I'm teaching".
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"So spill the tea, what happened?" She asks.
"Well, we were walking and just getting to know each other, and then he said something that made me like- I don't know, snap out of reality? For a good minute, nobody was in the halls and neither was he, I heard him talking but I couldn't see him. I started panicking and tried to run into the bathroom but for some reason, the door wouldn't open so I just sat on the floor crying, and then I was back in reality. Like I had a moment of derealization- or something. I really don't know what was going on."
"Yeah, that sounds pretty serious Alexis. Are you sure this has never happened to you in Oklahoma?"
"Yeah, I'm sure," I answer.
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The bus pulls up at the foot of my driveway and I notice that my mother isn't home. Although I can tell she came home, the lights are turned on and the door was left unlocked. I see a yellow posted note on the dinner table- "I won't be home for a couple of days, I left the door unlocked for you and there's a key hanging on my jewelry stand. Something came up with work, sorry." This is absolutely ludicrous, but at least she left me a key to lock up the house so nobody robs us.
I call Natalie to tell her about the situation.
"She came home, put a note on the table, and just left. Like, why? She said that something came up with work but Jesus, she's not gonna be back until after two days or so and I don't think I can stay here by myself for that long. What if somebody breaks in and kidnaps me?!" I overexaggerate and slam my hand on the kitchen counter.
"Okay, Alexis, you need to calm down. Isn't your dad home?" She asks.
I pause and wait to answer. "He's- He's not around." I refuse to tell her about his passing because I don't want her to feel bad for me.
"Oh- Well, just play some music. Get your mind off of it so you won't be paranoid, that's what I do when I'm home alone," I hear muffled voices in the background, "But I gotta go, sorry- Maybe we can talk later?"
"Actually, do you think you could ask to come over for a bit? I really don't want to be here alone, I also need some help with some homework- If you could?" I pace around the kitchen, biting my fingernails.
"I guess so," I hear her covering her mic, "Mom! Is it alright if I go to my friend's to study?!" Her mother's voice is barely audible but I can somehow hear her. "She said yes but I have to be back by like 8, so we have 4 hours."
"Awesome, see you in a bit." I hang up the phone and rush upstairs to change my clothes.