Crossing Worlds

Chapter 4

It was the later half of April, the 21st.

     The next two weeks passed by without incident, and I noticed that my solemn younger brother was becoming cheerful again gradually and was actually able to open his eyes that didn't have black circles under them. He never mentioned anything fishy happening at school, and I came by the check if the principal got my message, which he most certainly did as he never laid a finger on my brother.

     Oh, he also stopped trying to tame his toupee. He looks even worse now. Right before I had went to bed that day. I had written a whole account of the day in my physical journal, the specifics of the meeting in my phone, and unearthed in the dead of night my metal box of incriminating things to put a second written copy in. I sealed it away again beneath the rose bush while making sure it didn't seem like I had touched anything. I went to bed and got up like nothing ever happened.

     Kenna and I hung out more often as we did in February. The only reason we scarcely saw each other during March was because of my household becoming more busy and tense, but that time was past. So, I got more freedom, got rid of my eggs and hatred bacon after not eating it this whole time, an allowance, and focused on the upcoming prom that was on June 5 while the end of school was June 8. Freshmen weren't allowed to attend, but if your grades were good enough you could get in if invited by a junior or senior. I was sure my brother would invite me just to keep away other girls.

     Cough cough Miranda and Followers.

     Recently though, for some reason I felt like someone was watching me. It was the day after the incident with the principal when I woke up in the morning, I sensed that there was something wrong with the silence when I pulled my blinds open and stared out to the dawn. The harmony was broken; it felt like I was the only one who didn't know why the morning was holding its breath.

     The air didn't have the usual tranquility it carried and instead was like a delicate silence. The birds had their song stolen from them and the usual swaying breeze was replaced with no movement at all. Not even a branch twitched in the silence. I heard nothing but the buzzing in my ears telling me something wasn't right, so I immediately shut the window and went to go make breakfast.

    The despicably loud alarm made me jump just as I opened the door. After that, it was like time had started flowing again. But what worried me was that the time between me waking up and the alarm clock ringing seemed to get longer every time. It didn't bother me much, because I could relax a little more.

    I went through the whole of getting ready until it was seven again and I was alone. No one had asked me why I was being cautious and silent, and I was grateful for it. They knew of my ideal, and that I would do many things to keep it. So, to deal with the feeling of unease, I would just lay low until the storm blew over. It usually took aggravated people about a month to fade their anger away so they would regain their rational thoughts.

    I didn't even pay attention to the brotherly banter as we did the same thing as every other day. I didn't sing, clean, or do anything extra, other than think, wait, and watch outside my window.

     The moment I stepped out of the house, I felt the eyes on me again. I tried to act nonchalant as I walked with my brothers, but my eyes were constantly peering around in the alleys of houses, at bushes that seemed lovely but felt suspicious, and at seemingly empty cars lining the streets. When we reached the bridge, we crossed it amidst the crowd and the crosswalk as well, sent Coop off to school, then made our way to our own school.

     I felt even more unsafe with a whole bunch of people around me, and like a dog my "hackles" raised every time something brushed against me.