10

Unfortunate announcements

Katy Burke.
That was her name, the girl who died last night. They found her in the woods, she had a injury to the head and had been bitten frequently on her arms. Her neck was also bitten and even her collarbones. When they found her, they found her with one leg, the other was gone.
"I hope we can all honour Katy's memory and keep her in our prayers. Counselling will be offered for those close to her, or those who feel affected by her passing." It was strange how we avoid the word death like it's taboo. It's a word.
"There will be a memorial assembly this week, your teachers will update you later in the day. Please don't stray into the forest, stay on the grass." She swept her grave eyes around the room again and landed on me. I felt that there was something unsaid in her gaze, she knew more than she let on.
The hall was silent, the whispering started again but it was subdued. I could hear quiet sobs, the muffled sound of mourning. I didn't know her really, we had never met. I had no reason to feel the lump in my throat rising and the prickling sensation of tears building up in my eyes. Daisy's eyes were watering and she watched me cautiously, evidently my struggle was visible. Aurel's face was closed, emotionless and she avoided my gaze as she stared at Jaspar. Judging from his expression, they were having a wordless conversation. This group was full of secrets and things left unsaid. It was already suffocating. It was a clique.
Skye was staring at me, her eyes almost kind. I had some hope she understood, something told me she knew exactly what had happened. She realised I was looking back and stood up abruptly.
"Need more cereal. It's good for shock." Her words were sharp, she sounded angry. She turned round and stalked off to the counters. Daisy looked around, confused.
"What's up with her?" She wondered aloud. I stood up, I needed to talk to her.
"Skye sounds right, cereal, uh, shock!" I almost ran over to where Skye was stood. She was leaning against the counter. Her eyes were closed and she held a hand to her forehead, rubbing her temples. She definitely looked angry, like she was trying to control her breathing. I reached out to her, placing a hand on her arm. She snapped her eyes open and glared at me, full of hostility.
"What do you want?" She snarled at me. I felt the lump rising in my throat, it was getting harder to breathe.
"Skye, you know what happened. You know what I dreamt!" My face was boiling. She laughed, a cruel laugh. She was laughing at me.
"Honestly May? You're a freak. Just stay away from my group, they're like my family and I won't let you mess them up." Despite her laughter, she said this passionately. She cared about them a lot. I tried not to show just how much she'd upset me, I wasn't a freak. I know what happened, she knew what happened and so did Aurel. Speaking of Aurel, we both stiffened as we caught sight of her making her way over here. Skye glared at me one last time and stalked off.
"Skye wait! Come on Skye just talk to her!" I heard Aurel call after her before sighing in exasperation. I felt her hand resting tentatively on my arm.
"May, are you okay?" Her voice was gentle but for some reason it riled me. She didn't care.
"I'm fine. I'm great." I tried my best not to snap but there was no denying the sharpness in my tone. Her green eyes were wide with confusion.
"I dont get it, May? What's wrong?"
I opened my mouth to speak.
"And don't say nothing," she added bitterly. "I've done nothing. Nothing."
"I don't deserve this."
"Maybe you're right." She was still calm, as cool as she was the night before with Cal. Was it really the night before? Was it really last night when her family didn't run after her when she was upset? When I did?
"Go back to your friends, your family. Dont let me stop you." I turned around, ready to leave. I felt so bad but it was for the best, right? Skye told me not to mess with her family.
"My family? May, you're not stopping anybody but yourself. You're the one doing this. There's no reason for you to do this, we're welcoming you and you're throwing this back in our faces," her voice was quiet, almost sad.
"Because I'm a freak! Dont you get it Aurel? I'm doing you a favour, Skye told me not to mess with your family. But Daisy is my roommate, and if she wants to be my friend I wont stop her. You can tell that to Skye."
"A freak? Skye called you that?" Her voice was still quiet, soft but there was a dangerous edge to it. I nodded once, still facing away from her. I heard her footsteps as she stalked off.
I heard more footsteps, this time approaching me. I whipped round, already tired of conversations.
"What?"
It was Daisy. She was smiling but her eyes were full of worry.
"The bell's about to ring, we need to go!" I had completely forgotten about psychology, that we had lessons. She linked my arm again, like she did as we were walking to breakfast. She was such a friendly person, it was so strange how the people surrounding her were so cynical. But, opposites do attract.
"So, we have psychology together but that's all. I wish we had more together, I'd like to show you around and help you to lessons. But I'm sure Aurel won't mind helping you find your way, you have three out of four lessons together," she chuckled. "I guess fates really rooting for you."
I made a noise between a grumble and a sigh. Aurel. I messed up. I could feel Daisy's eyes on me, searching.
"Oh, is this what I saw in the food hall? What happened?"
"Nothing much," I sighed. "Skye said some things to me, she seemed to want me out of your group, I guess. Aurel just, uh, got caught in the middle of it." Looking back to the argument, I was pretty ashamed. I didn't need to take it out on her.
"Oh, May! Don't worry so much, Skye's overprotective of us. She'll calm down, it's only your second day here. And as for Aurel, she'll be okay. She's had enough tempers to understand how you felt! Just let it all play out and enjoy your first week here!"
Daisy was definitely a dream friend, I knew I'd be asking her for plenty of advice over time. I was lucky to have a roommate like her.
"Well, ready for your first class? We're here!"