Vanity

one

Falling victim to your fantasy 
- Ghost Town

Rue Myers glanced up at the Hemlock Grove High School, ignoring the students that pushed past her to walk into the large building. Her last year of high school had been good, especially because she had lived there for over three years. Though, she knew no one here and had less of a chance to make a name for herself among these people. 

She sighed and hitched the shoulder bag she carried further up before climbing the steps to the old building. She never made it to high school when she lived here, due to leaving when she was only seven years old. It all went wrong for her family two years after J.R Godfrey committed suicide in his own house. Her father had been friends with the manager of the Godfrey institute for years, even before she was born so when the man died, her father began to close himself before rushing them out of the town. 

Seven years later on the full moon after her fourteenth birthday, she found out why they had ran away. She was more confused now than she was then, however. Why run away just to come back again?

After grabbing her necessary things from the main office she counted the number of lockers before spotting hers. She used the pin given to her to open the creaky, door before throwing everything in, even her bag. All she had to carry was her pencil case and planner. Slamming the door she jumped when she saw a rather large girl stood in front of her, with only one eye showing through her dark her and a small smile on her face. 

Rue stared at her for a moment, frowning in confusion. "Shelley Godfrey?" She asked, checking to see if it really was her. She was only two years old when Rue had moved away but she recognised that face from anywhere. 

"It's good to see you, Rue," said the phone that Shelley had been typing on causing Rue to look down at it in curiosity. She watched as Shelley quickly wrote something else. "But why are you in high school?" 

Rue was dreading that question. She was nineteen years old, five years older than Shelley yet she was still in her senior year of high school. "I moved around a lot, so I missed a lot of high school. Thankfully this is my last year," she joked, though sadness still seeped into her voice as she stared at the locker. 

"Well, I am glad you're back," said the computer and Rue looked up with a small smile, daring to step forwards and wrap her arms around the tall girl for a moment before stepping back. Shelley was grinning at that point before waving to the smaller girl and walking down the hallway to her art class. 

Rue slumped, her smile dropping as she looked back into her locker. "Another year," she muttered before slamming the damned door shut and walking away to her English class. She was only a few minutes earlier than the rest of the class so she sat a seat from the back of the classroom, closest to the window, not knowing if there was a seating plan. 

She gazed out of the dirty window tentatively, watching as the trees in the far distance swayed heavily by the strong winds. It was quiet for only two minutes before the bell rang and the classroom began to fill up, students not even giving her a second glance as they chose where they sat.

Guess there wasn't a seating plan. 

Rue was sad to admit that English wasn't one of her better subjects and with a boring teacher such as the one stood in front of her, well, it definitely wasn't any better in Pennsylvania. She played around with her compass and pencil, drawing circles on the blank page in front of her as she thought of her home, her friends and everyone else she left behind. She was happy in her little wonderland, that was until someone kicked the back of her chair. 

She sat up a little straighter, her eyes immediately flashing to the teacher at the front who was still prattling on about a poem, before looking behind her where a boy sat behind her, his blue eyes twinkling with amusement as he stared back at her. She knew those eyes. Her gaze snapped to the front of the classroom again, pretending she never saw those eyes but they were seared into her memories. 

The five year old she remembered was polite but very sly, every time she came around to his house with her dad he would send her off to see J.R Godfrey's children; Roman and Shelley. At first she liked hanging around with them but soon Roman began to make her nervous, he would always stare directly into her eyes until she felt herself going dizzy. 

One time she fainted. Moments later she woke up with her head in the five year old's lap and ever since, before she moved, Roman would always be close to her. So, you can see her predicament as she sat, sweating slightly, in the first class of the day. 

When the bell rang, signalling the end of the class and for next period she shot up from her seat, grabbing her pencil case as she weaved in and out of the students who were still packing. She immediately spotted Shelley's large form heading down the hallway and squeaked all but running to the staircase in feigned hope of hiding from the siblings. 

Rue knew she was late to class as she stood there for five minutes. She didn't want to move from the spot she had deemed as her safe spot, scared that she would walk out of the door and he would be stood there. She shouldn't have forgotten that he would be in his last year of high school too. 

She let out a slow breath before standing up from the bottom of the staircase but she never made it to the door all because of him. "Hiding?" A smooth voice asked from above, for a moment she hoped it was God talking to her but she knew it was a ridiculous thought. She knew exactly who it was. 

"If you're anything like I remember, then yes, I am hiding," she muttered but he heard it. She knew he had heard it by the deep sigh that echoed throughout the staircase before footsteps followed. He was walking slowly but surely towards her and she didn't have the heart to run for a second time. 

"You should've stayed," he said, his voice quiet as he stepped down from the last step, walking around her with confident strides. His startling blue eyes as close as ever now. 

Rue tensed, her breath hitching as she clung to her pencil case. "I didn't have a choice," she whispered, her eyes now trained on the collar of his shirt. "I couldn't leave my family," she added.

"I know," he stated before moving closer to her. "It wasn't our fault," he started. "It was our parents." He wrapped his arms around her tense body, one hand on the back of her head, beckoning her to rest it on his shoulder as the other rested against the small of her back. 

Rue didn't know what to think. She was strong enough to break his tightening grip, she couldn't even move as much as she tried to. She wasn't sure what was wrong with him nor her but she didn't like it. "Roman," she tried but was cut off by him shushing her. She bit her lip, stopping all movement as she continued to let him stroke his hand down her hair. 

"I never knew how much I had missed you until I saw you this morning, talking to Shelley," he admitted quietly, staring at the bland cement wall opposite him. 

Rue was quiet, from any other person she would've thought this was cute, alas, this was Roman and she never really thought he was capable of being cute. She didn't reply and soon she was released, she dared not to let out a breath of release as she stepped away from him, her eyes nervously fluttering around him, refusing to look at him. "It was good seeing you Roman," was all she said before she pushed past him to the door. 

Roman said nothing as he watched her walk away from her, a smirk playing on his lips.