Serenity to Souls

Leave me alone

With a huff, I turned to face the source of the sound.

"Dani-" Luke stopped short. He just stared at me. His eyes were locked dead onto me, almost as if I had turned into a ghost at the last minute. I was irate. I didn't come all this way just to have his creepy inspection following me.

"What do you want?" I spoke, rather harshly than I expected.

Luke instantly snapped out of it, subtly shaking his head in the process. "So, it actually is you?" he started. "I never knew you had put time into your choice of clothing."

The corners of my lips tugged down to form a frown. "Don't think anything of it." I stated, glaring at this menace of a person. "You're wasting my time, shall we get going or not?"

"Of course!"

...

After a long while's walk, we reached the mall. Despite my attitude, I dearly loved shopping. I would spend forever in one shop, either gazing at the garments or even trying them on. At least - at the very least - I was one to spend my money carefully. Even then, I came across my favorite shop - one that I hadn't visited for a long time. After I had set my vision on it, my body felt magnetized, attracted toward it.

"Let's go there next." I claimed, trying my hardest to resist the overflowing enthusiasm. I grabbed my roommate by the wrist, beckoning him to follow me.

"Danielle?" he spoke in disbelief. I ignored him and gave in to the hypnosis of my favored store.

...

I wasn't aware of how long I'd spent in that store. Out of the blue, Luke's fingers snapped in front of my face. I shot up to look at him.

"I'm hungry, why don't we take a break and let's eat some lunch?" suggested my roommate.

Before I could oppose it, a deep, rumbling sound was emitted from my stomach. I felt heat and blood rise to my cheeks, reddening them. Luke let out a light chuckle.

"I see that someone's agreeing with me." he teased, smirking.

I batted his smug complexion with an iron-clad expression. However, I had to accept my hunger. "Fine."

As we continued to stroll, Luke was enlightening me about the wonders of his prized restaurant. I admit, the way his description wafted its way into my mind had me restless to try the food. Roasted chicken with honey, grilled lamb with a garnish of rosemary, fried spinach, and so much more. It was like music to my ears. All this was felt in the interior. I bore my shell of false uninterest on the exterior, just so Luke wouldn't get on his high horse.

At the restaurant, we were indeed presented with intense delicacies. I began to turn a deaf ear to the world around me, and commenced my indulge in what was in front of me.

I finished my share of the meal, yet still sat, fazed. I had experienced heaven, while staying on Earth. Blinking several times, I realized Luke's confused aura seeping into me. He smiled warmly, almost as if he was tasting satisfaction. I set my uneased glances upon him.

He blinked. "I'm sorry, was I staring too much?" he responded, a trace of apology evident in his tone. I nodded in reply, and he frowned, quickly apologizing.

After exiting the restaurant, we went to go watch a movie. A horror movie in fact. Though it was insultingly short, I must confess that the jump scares had really gotten to me. Luke, on the contrary, had surprisingly withstood all the fright without a common flinch. Maybe he wasn't as cowardly as I initially thought he was.

...

When we had walked out of the theatre, the Sun had seemingly disappeared from our view, leaving the sky to the control of the other stars.

My roommate and I had found a seat at a cozy cafe, our final destination before going back to the dorm. I set my handbag perfectly on the rounded wooden table, bracing myself for the inevitable stream of useless conversations that would be released from Luke's big mouth. Luke seated himself across me, and just like I anticipated, I was attacked with an endless flow of surging words. This was really starting to get on my nerves.

In the midst of our conversation, however, the atmosphere took a sudden drastic change of mood.

"You were really different today, you know?" started my roommate. I flinched. Had I unknowingly crossed my boundaries of emotion?

"Even though you never smiled, your eyes had grown softer. I could tell you were enjoying this time we had."

Enjoying my time? With Luke? No way!

"I'll ask you again, can we be friends, Danielle?" he continued, with a hint of hope in his voice. My heart had started thumping like a jackhammer. He brought this topic up again? No. Not this topic...

Facing him with a spiraling twist of rage, I spoke. "No."

All of a sudden, Luke's eyes had lost their warmth, growing frosty and dark. His fists had been visibly clenched. To my startle, his eyes flicked to meet mine, and I thought I saw some spark of ember dancing in them.

"Why do you keep doing this, Danielle?" Luke asked. His voice was unnaturally harsh and husky.

"You and I aren't-"

"Yes we are, Danielle! We cooperate with each other just fine. We respect each other's personal space. We are clearly eligible to be friends, so stop denying it!" he interrupted.

"I don't want to-"

"Yes you do, Danielle! Do you think I'm blind? I saw through every single change of attitude you displayed."

This was bad. Very, very bad. I had disrespected the very own borders I had set for myself, and I couldn't possibly avoid this assertion of anger.

"You annoy me, Luke. Cease this childishness." I muttered, clearly intimidated.

Luke laughed. A laugh without humor. He set his crazed eyes onto me.

"Quit trying to rat your way out of this. This is why you don't have friends."

My eyes widened. My limbs started to tremble. A faint ringing sound flooded my ears. I felt my heart shatter into billions of fragments. His last sentence echoed, reverberating through my soul. An unfamiliar moisture began accumulating in the back of my eyes. I tore my gaze from Luke, and stuck it to the floor.

"Speak up, Dani-"

Abruptly, I stood up. Grabbing my bag, I proceeded to flee from the cafe, desperately attempting to conceal my tears.

Suddenly, a hand had clutched my wrist, wrenching me from my goal. By now, droplets of salt water decorated my face. My undone hair had thankfully covered them.

"Leave me alone, Luke." I said in an insisting whisper.

"N-"

Uncontrolled, I turned to face him.

Damn it.

"Danielle? Are you-"

I instantly turned away from him, tugging my wrist away from his grip. It was locked tight.

"Danielle...I'm so-"

At this point in time, my tears had been flowing down in consistent streams. They gave me strength. I harshly retracted my hand. It was free.

I began walking away from the cafe. Luke had called, but never followed me. Once I had passed a hedge and was out of his sight, I ran.

Tears had obstructed my view, and everything was a complex blur. I didn't care. I kept running. I sprinted past a network of streets, rows of trees, and clumped crowds of people. As I kept at it, I heard a deafening honk of a car. I had narrowly escaped death, but I didn't care. I had enough of life. I had enough of people. I had enough of myself.

Before I knew it, I had reached my dorm. I didn't question how I skillfully navigated my way to reach it, and once I was inside, I had slammed the door behind me. I dropped my bag on the cold floor and stumbled to my bed. Tear-choked and broken, I tossed and turned, unable to settle myself to an agreeable sleeping position. I hurled the blanket away from me.

At last, my body had abandoned itself to the seductive sense of sleep.

Everything went black.