Panic Room

Part one; the fifth

Heres part five. It's quite long, but this is about the length that can be expected from the chapters from now on.

Saturday; 1998; Luna; Luna's bedroom; 18:46 pm

Luna awoke the next day and felt herself flooded with fear. She had tossed and turned all night, before finally falling into a somewhat restless sleep filled with snakes and old friends and shadows. Even now, as she rose from her matted tangle of sheets, the shadows of her room seemed to follow her, and she was all but certain that she heard a voice calling to her softly. Luna sat in her bedroom as long as she could before the fear of the noises got so bad that she had to leave. She trudged downstairs, her blanket draped over her shoulders like a cape, and plopped down at the kitchen table. Luna lived in a simple suburban house, on a simple suburban street, in a simple suburban town. 

Nothing exciting ever happened, and that was exactly how the population of Lilly Valley wanted it to stay. In Luna's opinion, everything was too similar. Every house on her street was painted the same cream white, had the same green trimming on the gutters and windows, and had the same red front door, leading into the same cliché house. 

Luna slumped on the kitchen table as her brother walked in, wearing nothing but boxers and one of his dad's old tee-shirts. Luna and her brother looked uncannily similar, with their brown hair and chiseled features. It was their eyes that separated them however. While Luna's brother had inherited his fathers plain, brown eyes, Luna had gotten her mothers shimmering opalescent ones. Luna's brother was four years older than she, and he looked it. His hair was cut into bangs that hung over his eyes and he had bulging arms. He also was one of the most popular boys in his university, unlike Luna. 

She was still in high school, though she had been pushed up by a few years, which had definitely not improved her popularity. Luna was the laughing stock of the tenth grade, envied for being only fourteen among a group of unruly sixteen year olds. They mimicked her often and she sat alone most of the time. Also unlike her, Luna's brother had a steady girlfriend named Amy Fletcher, a pretty girl in her last year of High school who mocked Luna constantly. And it didn't help that Amy was at Luna's house more than she was. Luna moaned as her brother picked up the house phone and dialed that number that Luna knew all too well. 0793858343.

 After only two rings, an all too familiar voice blared out of the phone's receiver, despite the early hour. Amy's snooty, prissy voice sent chills racing up Luna's spine and she decided to relocate to the living room before she did something she was going to regret. She collapsed onto the threadbare couch and reached for the remote, flicking through the channels on her television before settling on a comedy series that was on at this time every weekend. 

After twenty minutes of struggling through tedious jokes, Luna turned the television off and walked back to the kitchen to get herself some breakfast. As she was reaching for the cereal, her brother leaned down to get the milk and knocked her backwards. The cereal flew over the kitchen and landed on the floor with an almighty crash as Luna stumbled and fell. She heard Amy snicker and say something to Luna's brother that made him laugh equally hard. Luna grit her teeth and pulled herself up on the counter, trying to steady her breath as she heard Amy say something that included the words bratty, immature and little girl. Luna sighed and decided that it was time to go back to bed.

Luna had hurried to school on Friday, afraid of running into the snake again. It had stirred up so many emotions that she was a little snappish and so, for the cherry on top, her mother was now angry with her. Luna had pleaded her case, tried to come up with an excuse, but in the end, was forced to lie and say that it was hormones that was causing her so much pain. All in all, her mother thought it was 'that time' and Luna was now forced to walk around in unbearable discomfort. She was thinking about her experience now as she trekked through the hallways, barley noticing the other students and completely forgetting about the sandy haired boy. It was almost a relief, since he had left her in such suspense after his incredibly dramatic exit.