To Wake The Dead

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

I wake up to the sound of my bedroom door closing.

I roll around in my sheets a little, letting my limbs lather up the colder parts of the linen. The sun streams through the curtains, thick and warm in my bedroom, and the past smell of pizza has long left the room. The taste of morning is in my mouth, and I roll over, sitting up and sipping the glass of water on the side table. I knock my student ID a little as I place it back down, taking little time to see the horrific picture of me on it. Taken on the first day as a junior, my hair is naturally down, and not a single lick of makeup on my face. I look so much younger, and it remains a constant reminder of my nearing adulthood.

As I sit up fully, something crinkles and crackles underneath my elbow. Of course she left a note. Unfolding the paper, the scent of Scars perfume rises. Yes, she would spray her perfume on it. How poetic.

Hey Ally,

So I know you're probably still tired and sleepy and fuzzy and cute and all things cutesy, but I THINK YOU MAY HAVE FORGOTTEN WHAT DAY IT IS!

Yes. Prom dearest.

So as you may not have already been able to tell (but obvs you would so yay for being so Sherlock) I have departed to get ready for this evening.

See you there Al!

Your most loyal, beautiful and totally fabulous companion,
Scarlet x

The ink is slightly smudged, and my mind draws the conclusion that the door closing must have been her.

Unlike most teenagers in Silver Creek, Scarlet has a talent for being refreshingly melodramatic. Whether it be her entering a classroom, walking up to the school gates. Hell, even leaving the bathroom, Scar has to make an impression. Yet another reason I am surprised in our friendship.

I sigh as I see the time on my phone flash up before my eyes. No new messages, no missed calls; but a time that is way too early for my brain. Sitting up, the smell of bacon and slightly burnt toast floats into my room. Scar must have just missed breakfast. Her loss. Nonetheless, what I make up for in a full stomach, she will make up for in beauty and grace tonight.

You can get through tonight.

I pin the note onto the cork-board after my lazy morning stretch. So many pictures. So many memories. My slender fingers trace over the shiny card, and I can feel the corners of my mouth begin to tug upwards. One in particular of the day I first got my car. I was parked outside the school on the day the photo was taken, my smile beaming and glowing; a parked Ford Fiesta a simplistic shade of silver. It's a bizarre thing, that in just over a mere school year, we'll be leaving Silver Creek High; graduated Seniors pooled into the big, wide world. Well, I'll be leaving Silver Creek in general, the first chance I get. No regrets, no worries, apart from my family and the forest.

Like Chase, they are adamant to stay. I'm sure they still don't realize that when I say I'm leaving, I mean it. I'll have Scar, I'll have my mind, my heart, my hopes and dreams. But I won't have my home. My desire to take flight is too strong to keep me grounded.

"Alyssa, your breakfast is ready!" My Mother's voice reaches me. A reminder that I am in fact, stood in front of a cork-board, now frowning like an idiot.

"Just coming!" I shout down the stairs.

Grabbing a sweater to wrap around myself, I pad along the hallway, now filled with a creamy morning sun. A perfect day. Scar must be so happy. As I step out the door, letting it click behind me, I see the path to my right that I took yesterday to get to the bathroom and downstairs. To my left, the way to my parents' room and my Father's office. An office that I have never seen into, only hear my Dad tapping away at the keys of a computer, the dense scent of coffee hanging around the frame. I sweep past the window above the staircase and soak up the feeling of tepid sunlight licking at my skin. Not too cold, not too hot. Perfect temperature for a perfect day.