Dendrophobia

Chapter 2

                The maddening sound of your alarm clock rings through your room. It pierces the darkness, and you groan. Thinking about another day working at the hellhole of Abercrombie and Fitch makes your stomach sick. The bright lights and pounding pop music irritates you to no end. The sunlight makes a valiant attempt to shine through your blackout curtains, yet still fails. You check the time and see you only have twenty minutes to get ready.

The familiar routine of taking a shower, getting dressed, doing your makeup, and eating is interrupted by the thoughts of last night. You still had no idea who that man was. He did sound vaguely familiar. You take a bite of Cheerios and look at the gum wrapper left on your counter once more. Should you really meet him again tonight? You had shared more with him in just ten minutes than any of your family members. You glance at the clock again and are torn away from your thoughts. Anxiety pushes you out the door and into your car.

"Five minutes late. Again." Your boss says, tapping her foot. You push back the urge to argue and force an apology.

"Sorry, Ms. Hue."

She turns on her overpriced pump and struts away. She can take that high heel and shove it up her- "Hey, (Y/N)!" Andrea greets. Andrea is one of your coworkers. Always happy, always a suck up.

"Hey, A." You respond rather monotonously. She sticks her red stained lower lip and crosses her arms over her barely covered chest. It seemed like everyone here was trying to be a civilized hooker. You push past her and begin unpacking the new clothes. Even though it was fall, Abercrombie and Fitch still decided to sell clothes that would no doubt give hypothermia to the wearer. "So I was thinking." Andrea begins. What a surprise. Andrea, thinking?

"What, Andrea." You say while forcing a smile.

"We need to get you a man, hon."

"I'm good."

"There's a party at my friend's sorority tonight." She hands you an invitation with gold trimming. "Be there or be square!"

You look at the invitation. Would it really be that painful for you to go? Why did she invite you of all people? You return to unpacking the clothes. What if you met your dream guy there? What's the worst that could happen? These thoughts flood through your mind until it's your lunchbreak. Your boss warns you not to return late and you just smile and nod. Sticking your earbuds into your ears, you walk your way to Hot Topic. They were having a sale on T-shirts and the black interior was calling your name.

The wall of tees at the back of the store has always been your favorite part. They have a new arrival. On the front is the old blue, white, and red Twenty One Pilots logo. The back provides the space for a beautiful drawing. A forest with a single treehouse in the middle is shown. A figure is standing at the bottom of the treehouse along with about thirty gasoline cans. You immediately pick up the shirt for purchase and see that it's the last one in stock. The alarm on your phone goes off and provokes you to hurry up your purchase. You quickly pay for the shirt and jog back to hell.

. . .

The end of your shift couldn't come any quicker. While driving home, you think about the party once more. Why not go? It's time to live a little. When you arrive home, you slip on your new shirt and a pair of black skinny jeans. Andrea texts you and lets you know she's on her way. After slipping on your vans, you walk down to the lobby of the apartment complex. Andrea is wearing an all-black dress that comes down to the top of her thigh. It's strapless and definitely too risky for your liking. She's flirting with the boy at the front desk. She sees you and winks at him before leading you to her car.

"You look nice." She blatantly lies.

"You do too." You respond with, yet another, fake smile.

"I gotta give it to you, (Y/N). I didn't think you would actually come."

Was that supposed to be a compliment? You mumble a "thanks" as she pulls into the sorority house driveway. It sounds like hundreds of people are inside and you can smell the alcohol from the driveway. The inside, however, is much worse. People are grinding up against each other and empty bottles of vodka, rum, beer, and every other alcohol out there litter the floor. Andrea accepts a drink, from a boy, who looks completely stoned, and begins grinding on him. You quickly turn around to leave, but a drunk boy stops you.

"Hey, pretty thing." He says while dancing closer to you. He reaches out to touch your butt and you try to dash for the door. He grabs the back of your hair and you scream.

"I never said I was done with you, slut! Besides, who the hell dresses like that?" He finishes before pushing you up against the door. You run outside and begin to walk home. The smell of his intoxicated breath still wafts through your nose. Your feet have somehow managed to take you back to the same park you were in last night. And the same figure is laying down on the grass again.

Without a word, you lay down next to him and feel tears stream down your face.

"Are you okay?" He asks while slightly sitting up. You can only see his mouth. His bottom teeth are slightly jagged, and his lips are full. You hear the concern in his voice and shake your head 'no.' He lies back down and takes your hand. Everything feels alright again. "Listen," His voice splits through the night air like a bullet through a tree branch.

"We're all going through stuff. But we'll make it out alive. I promise you that."

His words strike through to your heart and you take a deep, shaky breath.

"I don't know if I can do it." A voice that spoke from somewhere inside you said. It was so quiet, but you could tell he heard you.

"You can." He stared up to look at the clouded sky. "You can."

I have to be awake in 4 hours :-)

I'd lose sleep to make you guys happy any day.

I hope you enjoyed! Comment and tell me what you think!