4

Sorry it took so long to publish it, but I have been really out of it lately. Anyways, here's is the fourth chapter.

            We were assigned to each other -- Sarah and me. The way she watched her fingernails grow clearly showed she did not possess an ounce of interest for the topic nor did she care for her grades. But I was evidently the opposite, glancing at her ever so often and easily becoming agitated as I expected her to say something. But after a few biting of nails and ripping loose skin in the in-between, I gave up and finally asked her where to meet. She responded in a monotone, telling me to meet her at a shabby little library that wasn’t a great distance away from my high school, where we could meet and -- for her sake -- be hidden within the bookshelves. But I didn’t think it was necessary to choose such a secluded location -- like they would actually recognize me. I was merely just a speck of dust. Invisible and forgotten.

            “Where you heading off to?” I was halfway there when I heard the familiar tone of Anna’s voice.

            “To the library.” Her appearance brought a smile to my face as I continued walking. But the ground surprisingly began to shake. A vigorous shake that stopped as soon as it started, but what followed was complete destruction. Cracks began forming on the concrete sidewalks, trailing across the street. And it consumed it all. The buildings. The cars parked on the curb. The ignored road signs. As well as the concrete sidewalks that slowly crumbed, falling into molten lava beneath. There was a slight sound of sizzle when everything reached the scorching surface.  There wasn’t much remaining, and I just stood there. Dumbfounded. With Anna behind me.

            “You just had to make it harder for us.” She broke the silence and began to jump from the remaining parts of concrete, each supported by thin pillars.

            “What do you think you’re doing, Anna!?” She stopped to look at me, the corners of her mouth tilting upward.

            “What do you think? We have to get to the library, don’t we?” Still smiling, she shook her head before continuing to hop across the little islands of concrete while I, finding no other way to get across, simply followed.

            It wasn’t long until we made it up the steps of the library. She held the door for me as we entered. and Sarah was surprisingly early, sitting in one of the isolated tables in the far back.

            “What are you guys doing?” Anna asked as we made our way towards my partner.

            “A project on Shakespeare.”

            “How fun.” She giggled as she sat down on the seat beside me. Sarah was staring at me mostly, confusion etched on her pinched face before rolling her eyes.

            “Let’s just get this over with.” Now it was my turn to be confused. I didn’t ask, didn’t want to.  

 

            I laid there. Still and silent, while I blankly stared at my white ceiling. My eyes had lost focus, lost in the clutter of my thoughts. I thought about the book. I thought about her. And I thought about the day in the library with Sarah, how this tiny speck of dust had turned into mold on the wall. Freak, they muttered. They stared at me with mixed emotions again. Some with disgust clearly plastered on their faces and a few with traces of sympathy " but mostly disgust. It was all happening again. But this time, I had Anna.