AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I park my car and walk to class, eager to have a boring or hopefully silent conversation with my seatmate today. As I open the door, I see Derek sitting at his old spot, and I stop in my tracks. He looks normal, no casts, no wheelchair, just the same cocky Derek. He looks up at me and doesn’t say anything as I scoot to my seat, hearing my heartbeat in my ears. If I leave now, he’d probably know it was because of him or he might even follow me. How has he not completely failed the course by now or dropped out with his time missed?
My seat is three rows in front of him and two rows behind Elizabeth. I feel like I’m in a fucking warzone, one wrong step and a landmine will go off. My seatmate sits down next to me, and I crouch down beside them, ready to get the class over with.
An hour of notetaking passes, and I wait for everyone to leave the classroom before me, taking my time putting away my laptop and various supplies. I wait a solid two minutes until Derek has left the classroom. To my surprise, he’s gone. As I walk to my next class, I see someone has drawn a penis next to Elijah on one of his many big posters around campus and laugh. I can only hope he’s having a worse day than me so far.
My next class goes by smoothly, and I meet Olive, Stephanie, and Levi for lunch. I actually packed myself something last night and popped it in the fridge. I’d use my mini fridge, which is up and running now, but it’s full of snake food.
Elijah walks over, looking defeated. Maybe he ran into Derek? I wait for him to talk when he sits down but he doesn’t say a word. He has bags under his eyes and stares at me as I eat. He downs a warm protein shake before Levi hands him some of his personal pizza. Honestly, Levi is too good for him.
Stephanie and Olive finally have started talking about other things than just Levi now that they are official. I’m still not sure how it all works and how they avoid jealousy, but good for them, I guess. Elijah gets up without saying a word, walking off to what I assume is his next class. I finish my meal and blow kisses goodbye to the girls before I do the same.
Olive and Stephanie agree to meet me at my car after class. I told them I’d carpool them to my place and let them stay over after the party. A chill creeps up the back of my neck as I lounge by my car, scrolling through the various Halloween social media posts while I wait for them. I look up to see Derek walking this way. I quickly jam my key into the lock and unlock my car.
“Wait,” he says, throwing up a hand, now jogging towards me.
“Leave me alone!” I say and slam the door shut, locking it quickly.
He taps on the window, out of breath from chasing me down.
“What?” I say through the glass, turning on the ignition to get some heat going and perhaps for a quick getaway, too.
He motions for me to roll the window down, but I don’t budge. He fixes his blonde hair and bends his neck down, so he’s at face-level with me. I grip the steering wheel hard, feeling the palms of my hands start to get sweaty as he does.
“I want to say I’m sorry, Taylor,” he says, his voice muffled through the glass. I bite my lip and look away, so he won’t see the tears forming in my eyes.
“Leave me the fuck alone,” I yell, my face turned away. Stephanie and Olive walk towards me in the distance. The last thing I want is for them to see him talking to me.
“Please, leave, Derek,” I say, desperately.
He backs up, throwing on his hood. “I really am sorry; I won’t bother you again.” He jogs away, past Stephanie and Olive as they reach my car and hop in.
“Who was that?” Olive says, throwing her bag into the back seat beside her.
“Nobody,” I say, wiping away a stray tear as I pull out of the lot.
I show them my costume, pulling it out of my closet and slipping it on. They both clap their hands like judges at a beauty pageant. Past them, I can almost see a sliver of the sun as it sets beyond the cloudy sky through my balcony. My mind is still swarming with the idea that Derek might show up tonight and try to fuck things up for me. I realize I need to tell Elijah, but he’s still at his game.
Stephanie and Olive sit down at my vanity and finish up the last touches to their makeup. They’re going for pretty witches, not the green big nosed witch that most people think of.
“When is the game over?” Stephanie asks, checking the score on her phone. She winces. “They’re getting crushed out there.”
“Oh no,” Olive says, looking at the score on her phone. I don’t care about the score. I’m tired of pretending I even like hockey.
“Come on,” I say. “Let’s go downstairs and get out the drinks and music.”
They both nod and put their phones away. We head downstairs to lug out the plastic cups, drinks, punch bowl, and everything else to make a great college party. Stephanie puts on her playlist over the speakers as people start to trickle in one at a time until the place is packed.
I pour myself a drink, feeling uneasy about the day and sip on it as I meander around the house, talking to people and puffing hits off joints. I’m not usually a weed smoker, but it helps ease the tension. I slump down in a chair and watch Olive and Stephanie dance together, wondering when Elijah will be back.
A man dressed as a reaper walks over to me and sits down.
“Basic ass costume,” I say, laughing.
He pulls the hood off to reveal that underneath is Derek. Holy shit. I spill my drink standing up and he takes my hand.
“Shhh,” he says, “I’m not going to hurt you. I just need to talk.”
“Then fucking talk, Derek, because you have one minute before I start screaming bloody murder.”
