Suddenly I Knew

Chapter Three.

When I close my locker, I jump because I am eye to eye with Damian, and he does not look happy.

"Can I help you with something?" I ask, trying to get past him.

"What is it with you that makes you so damn interesting?" he mumbles to himself. Finally walking past him—those twins are huge, which is annoying in itself—I can’t help but wonder why everyone is mumbling under their breath today. It is so damn annoying. In my irritated mood, I turned around and said to him, "If you have something against me, please say it to my face. Otherwise, leave me the hell alone, just like I told your brother."

With that, I turn back around and head to my class, leaving him standing there, speechless. While walking to my next class, I’m not paying attention to where I’m going. But let’s be honest—I’ve walked this hallway more than once, so there’s no need to focus. By the time I reach my seat, my brain is overloaded because of the strange day I’ve had. I try to wrap my head around it, but all I can come up with is that either this is a dream or it’s happening. First, there was the almost-car accident, which was strange enough in itself. Secondly, the walk-in with the twins—normally I pay attention to where I’m going, but this was completely out of the blue. And third, and hopefully, the last weird thing that happened today, is that the twins suddenly decided to talk to me. They’ve never done that before—not until today. If the Jones twins had ever spoken to me before, I’m pretty sure I would remember. And then there’s that strange note I found in my locker from someone I still don’t know. While thinking about all this, I walk to my seat and sit down. Then it hits me: the last two classes I have today are math and art. Neither of them includes the twins or Rose. That’s not a bad thing, though, because I’m in one hell of a mood. At this point, I might kill anyone who so much as looks at me funny. The door opens, and I glance up to see Mr. Williams. Math class is about to begin. I open my backpack and take out my notebook and pen, ready to jot down notes for upcoming tests or assignments. Before I know it, math class is over, and I’m on my way to art class. As I approach the art classroom, I hear a whisper: "Trust the twins." I whip around, looking for the source, but there’s no one there. Great. Now I’m hearing voices. Just what I need—people will think Violette McReid has gone crazy right before her 18th birthday. Shrugging it off, I walk into the art room but freeze in the doorway. Caleb Jones is there. It’s like he senses my presence, because his head snaps in my direction, and he immediately locks eyes with me. It’s becoming annoying how often he looks at me. If looks could kill, I’d be guilty of murder a thousand times over by now. Someone clears their throat behind me, and I realize I’m holding up the doorway. Oops. I step inside and take a seat, thankfully on the other side of the room. From the corner of my eye, I see Caleb glaring at me. Too bad for him—I plan to keep my distance. Miss Fey enters and tries to get the class to settle down, but she’s struggling. Annoyed, I finally snapped, "Shut the hell up! Can’t you see she’s trying to start class?" Miss Fey looks surprised, and honestly, I can’t blame her. I usually keep to myself and stay quiet, but like I said, today has been rough. I pull out my earphones and get my pencils and sketchbook ready. As I start drawing, my mind goes blank, and the music fills my ears. I lose track of time and don’t even realize what I’m drawing until Miss Fey tries to get my attention. Startled, I pulled out my earphones and glanced at my work. I’m shocked to see that I’ve drawn two large black wolves with piercing silver eyes. The shock fades as the final bell of the day rings. I pack up my things and head to my locker to grab my homework and put away the rest of my stuff. On the way, I put my earphones back in—I’m in no mood to talk to anyone. When I reach my locker, I see someone leaning against it. As I get closer, I realize it’s Rose. Right—I forgot we planned a sleepover tonight.

"Hey, Rose," I say, opening my locker. "I know we were supposed to have a sleepover tonight, but can I take a rain check? One: I know you’re going to ask what happened today, and honestly, I have no idea. And two: I just want to stuff my face with pizza and ice cream, watch a bad movie, and sleep."

"Damn, today did a number on you, didn’t it?" Rose asks. I nod, packing my bag while we talk. Once I have everything, we walk on our bikes together. The ride home is quiet, which isn’t a bad thing. It gives me time to think. Halfway home, I remember something. "Rose, did you talk to Damian before lunch? I waited for you, but I saw you talking to him."

"Oh yeah," she replies. "It was for a school project. We got paired up, but that’s it. Nothing important."

That makes sense. When we reach our tree, we say goodbye and go our separate ways. At home, I toss my bag on the floor and head to the kitchen for a drink. Looking out the window, I see a pair of silver eyes in the woods. Deciding today has been weird enough, I shrug it off and head to the couch. I order a pizza with extra cheese and queue up a chick flick. Thirty minutes later, I’m devouring my pizza and stashing the leftover money in my secret piggy bank in the closet. Later, as I clean up, I see those silver eyes again. This time, I’m certain they’re real. I decided to change in the bathroom, just in case. After my nighttime routine, I double-check that all the lights are off, head upstairs, and crawl into bed. Tomorrow has to be better—right? With that thought, I finally fell asleep.