10 Frustration (10)

I stirred out of sleep as the bright yellow light from the sun invaded my room. I sat up on my bed and rubbed my eyes for a few seconds, absorbing to the intense brightness that came in through the white curtained window in front of my bed. Our house faced the east, my bedroom was in the front, and I would wake up everyday to the sun. I walked over to the window and opened it. Our neighborhood was scarcely populated, there weren't many families around and most of the houses were up for sale. A man in his thirties or so, jogged towards south and a boy nearly my age was taking a stroll with his dog and was headed to north. As they passed each other, they greeted each other and then went their ways. The day was sunny and full of warmth. There was no trace of fog in the air and the surroundings which were once concealed by the fog were now visible. I latched the window close and checked the time. It was seven and I rushed into the bathroom.

As the warm water streamed down my body, the troubling event from last night slowly sneaked into my consciousness, and I trembled, despite the warm water. I stood still for a minute recalling every detail I'd remembered from last night. The black sedan flashed in my head and a spasm of fear followed it. Stepping out of the shower, I wiped hastily and wrapped the towel around my body. Somewhere my mind was engaged in tracking down the connection between all the frightening events I had experienced.

First those threat messages that I've been recieving and now the car chase. There was a voice in my head, that shouted that everything was tied to a same reason, but then again, the car chase would have been random. Some drunkard could have followed me, or some random boys could have chased me and then eventually gave up the idea after noticing how persistent I was to get rid of them. But what about those threatening messages I was receiving, what about the person on my window last night. I knit my brows in exasperation, seeking for logical reasons. A part of me was tempted to believe that I had imagined the whole thing, that those were either hallucinations or my own addled brain playing tricks on me. As much I wanted to cling to these excuses, I knew that they were too real to be just hallucinations or visions. Another desperate part of me intended to inform Grace about everything, but then she would worry and come back here leaving her work and I didn't longed to disturb her with something I myself had no clue about.

As I combed my hair into a ponytail, I looked at my pallid reflection in the mirror. My skin looked paler than it ever had and my sea green eyes looked dull and lacked the usual lustre. I looked exhausted and sick, the outcome of having sleepless nights from past two days. I took a deep breath, pushing all the worries out of my head. I wore a pastel blue tee paired with blue denim jeans. I took my jacket from the closet, in case the weather shifts from sunny to foggy. I was about to leave my room when I realized that my bracelet was missing. It wasn't on my table, neither in my backpack. I pulled out my bedsheets, rummaged through the pillows, it was no where to be found. I panicked and time was already passing. Taking a deep breath I took my bag from my table and slinging it on my shoulders, I hurried downstairs, making a mental note to search for it whenever I get time. I made myself a bowl of cereals and poured myself a glass of orange juice from the carton.

After finishing my breakfast, I grabbed the keys of Cee' Ford and fleeted out of the house. As I backed the Ford, my mind darted back to last night incidents and the black sedan flared back into my head. I started driving, trying my best to keep the uncomfortable thoughts at bay, but despite my efforts I kept checking the rearview mirror again and again, to make sure no one was following me... again. When I was relieved, I took a deep breath and pushed on the gas pedal, turning a blind eye to the speed limit, the car lurched forward and five minutes later I made it to Cee' house. She was sitting on the porch, resting her arms on her knees, her jacket was resting on the floor beside her.

"I'm damned" She replied and jumped into the seat, slamming the door shut behind her. "I was pretty sure that you would arrive ten minutes later but you made it early."

"Well----I had to make an exception today." I grinned.

Cee was right, I usually drived slow, my speed never exceeded forty, but all the unrealistic and absurd events had made me crabby. As much as I wanted to ignore everything, I was damned to realize that these creepy things were affecting me slowly like a drug and I can't do anything other than to let it happen.

As the school came into my view, I slowed down and drove through the parking lot, scanning the whole area for space and after finding a proper spot, I parked the car and Cee and I nearly jogged towards the school's building.

I sat scatterbrained throughout the classes, getting to the bottom of the troubling incidents, but nothing seemed to make sense. I was so immersed in my thoughts, I didn't realized I had been drawing a rough sketch of a cars along the margins of my notebook resembling the sedan. Out of vexation, I kept balling my hands into fists, my nails digging deeper into my palms, almost piercing my skin.

Chemistry, English, Trigonometry and Spanish passed in a daze. I was distracted by my own speculations throughout the classes.

I was brisk and fiercer in P.E. . Coach Decker divided the teams in two for volleyball. Cee and I were in the same team while the opponent team was led by Sophie Andrews, so winning was the only option.

"Be ready to lose ..... losers." She mocked us and went to her side of the court.

"Yeah we'll see." Cee scowled at her

Throughout the game, I was sprightly, focussing all my frustration and anger on the game. I hit the ball every time with powerful swings, and won most of the points for our team. It was easier to utilise my anger for good by watching Sophie. I hated her for picking up fights with me and Cee and for bullying me in elementary school. Sophie's face was a sight to look at when our team made the winning point, after all it was a slap to her face.

In biology, Lucas kept exasperating me throughout the class. But I had already made a mental note that I'm not going to respond. I already had a lot going in my head and Lucas's nonsensical talks won't do much good to me.

"Rough night?" He whispered.

I passed him a bewildered look.

"You look tired." He mentioned.

I turned my head away from him, hoping he would eventually get the idea and stop badgering me.

"Is something bothering you?" I noticed a tinge of concern in his voice.

"Yes!" I blurted out.

"Worried about the peeping tom outside your window?"

The hair at the nape of my neck stood on end, and the temperature in the room seemed to chill.

"How did you know about that?" I was perturbed by his question. How did he knew someone was there at my window last night.

"Why am I not surprised?" He chuckled lightly, "A beautiful girl like you might have a lot of admirers." He turned to face me again, his eyes appraising me.

Whether he was making fun of me or just pulled the guess out of thin hair, his reply has once again made me suspect him. What if he was the peeping tom, what if he was the one who chased me yesterday. I shuddered at the thought.

"Earth to Katherine, what's up?"He nudged me, catching my attention.

"I don't have any admirers." I stated.

"That's not true." He picked up his pen and brought it to my notebook scribbling something on the blank paper. "You have me as your admirer." He winked as he said it.

I looked at the seven numbers he scrawled on my notebook in blue ink. What was that for?

"I hope you would call me." He smirked.

The bell rang, and before I could tell him that's there's no way I'm going to call him, he was already on his way.