Climax

Charla

Now, 3:21 AM
Lynx Cabin

I run down the hallway, flashlight in hand. It was dark and past the class's curfew, the sky an eerie shade of blue, thick clouds hiding the stars from my view. It was snowing, but it didn't seem to bother me. I grasp the cold doorknob, open the door slowly and look up. The light December snowflakes were dancing in the moonlight, shining like crystals. I open my mouth and let some fall on my tongue. I felt little tingles when they landed and melted. I laugh but quickly shut my mouth. I was past the age in which this was appropriate. I was fifteen, not five, for goodness' sake.

I sigh and watch my breath become clouds of warm air. I brush off a layer of snow from the top step and sit down. My mind was flooding with thoughts like an untameable sea.

The words Maddie told me yesterday were violently crashing up and down in my head, restless waves at sea. I shiver as her voice repeats those dreaded words for the umpteenth time. "I'll kill you, Charla, just you wait."

I shouldn't call her by her nickname, but I do so anyway. She used to be my friend last year, back when we were in middle school. Back then I'd call her Maddie all the time. Everyone did. She was the Queen Bee, the person everyone wanted to be with. She'd be the center of her own universe. I just hung around her, hoping it'd make my social status skyrocket, hoping she'd notice me, hoping she'd say a single word to me. I was a small asteroid hopelessly orbiting the sun, caught in its orbit, never to leave again.

There were Gas Giants, people Maddie'd notice easily. People who weren't like me. Sure enough, Maddie befriended them all. She invited them to places, and they'd all tag along her and defend her. I remember Maddie's hatred towards them when they'd announced they couldn't go to the same high school. She'd clung onto Meg, who was the only one to go with her. Her best friend, her number one.

At first, I didn't really know why I bothered following Maddie around for so long. I knew she wouldn't talk to me. I looked stupid, never uttering anything, afraid to say a word and make a fool of myself. Yet again, I've always dreaded the need to speak in front of others, even people who called themselves my friend. Those came and went. At the time Maddie started noticing me, my acquaintances deserted me. She started giving me positive comments out of the blue, just like that. Well, she started complimenting my things. She said my shoes were nice, my dress was original, my headband was a nice shade of green. I think an adult must've asked her to do so, because it was really sudden and unexpected.

Eventually I started feeling more important. Maddie invited me to hang around her and the Gas Giants. She invited me to shop, go to the mall. Occasionally I'd get invited to a birthday party of some sort and I'd get to know Maddie and the others.

It felt like the beginning of something nice, but it all ended when Meg got murdered.

Now Madison Evans hates me.