Undesirable.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"What's with the long face?" Ryan places his chair next to mine, straddling it and staring intensely into my eyes.

The warmth returns to my face, but the worries don't subside. "It's nothing. I'm just not a huge fan of serial killers."

"I don't really think anyone is a fan of serial killers, but besides that, you're totally lying." He darts a grin at me in suspicion.

"What are you talking about?" I'm confused, and want an explanation.

"You wouldn't have interned with him otherwise. That's literally what he's known for, and by the looks of it, you've got a dark twisted side too, huh?" He looks at me with a raised eyebrow. He's definitely not shy about speaking his mind.

"What do you mean by twisted." Now, I'm really intrigued.

"I can see it in those eyes on yours. Even when we first bumped into each other. What are you hiding in there?" He leans in and rhythmically taps his finger against his forehead.

There is no way he can tell all this just from looking at me. Absolutely no way, it's a bluff. "Aren't we all hiding something? Even you?" I look at him with the same intensity he stares at me.

"Touché." He gets up from his chair and starts putting little scattered things back into their places.

Mysterious boys can be attractive, but this is just annoying. I grab my bag from under my chair, and head for the door, before Ryan's voice stops me. "Where do you live? I'll walk you."

"No, it's ok. It's my time to think." I already feel vulnerable enough around him, he doesn't need to see anymore.

"Seriously, it's no problem. Let me walk you." He hurriedly shuts off the lights and closes the door behind him as he catches up to my footsteps that have already started down the hall.

"Seriously. It's ok." I'm  stern, maybe a bit too stern. "Sorry, my roommate's not feeling well, and I gotta make a few stops before I head home." It's a lie, but it shakes him off.

"I get it. Maybe next time?" He gives me a smile and a slight wave as he disappears into the opposite direction.

That was close. I don't need anyone getting involved in the mess I call my life. The tension that had built up in my shoulders subsides as I widen the distance between Ryan and I. Grant would scold me right now for now sharing my worries about this assignment with Professor Mason, but I had already convinced myself, on multiple occasions, that I was overthinking things.

The sun has already set, and the dejavu from earlier, settles back in, as I make my way down the all to familiar street from that night at the party. I hear Grant's voice in the back of my head telling me to go another way, but my stubbornness says this is the quickest path home. I prepare myself for the worst, and hope for the best, as the cicadas chirp from their hideouts amongst the bushes. The wind whistles with warmth, giving me more confidence than last time as I march down the street. No one is out, everyone is hushed away in the comfort of their homes, giving me the all too familiar feeling of aloneness. My confidence starts to fizzle, as a dark cloud of fear washes over me, and I can feel that figure once again lurking in an alley, waiting. Maybe I should've taken Ryan up on his offer. I squint, and look behind me and then in front, trying to conjure up my now lost confidence one last time. Prompt with his timing the  hooded man makes his appearance one more time, and my knees lock, but I don't crumble in fear, not this time.

I yell at him with such resentment and force that my throat aches with scratchiness, "YOU DON'T SCARE ME."

Lifting up pebbles with the kick of my boot, I irrationally charge into the darkness like a Spanish bull, seeing only red. My eyes shut, and my heart pounds, and I lift my fists in anticipation of the collision, yet I hit nothing. I catch myself from stumbling into the streets, as I twist around scanning the night for my stalker. Dizziness sets in, as I frantically search the streets falling down, and hearing only the ring of cicadas chirping back at me. There is no way I just imagined the whole thing, no way. My breaths quicken, and tears swell in my eyes as confusion blurs my mind, and from someone looking in, I'm alone, but the stares I feel tells me otherwise.

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I think there's a trend here... STOP WALKING HOME ALONE!

COMMENT and VOTE if you liked it!

Till' Next Time,
Lexi