Hushed

Chapter 6: Unharmed

    The sun hasn’t even come up and I’m already here at school with a bunch of senior’s. They’re pretty excited despite waking up early and I’m not. There is a good side in waking up early though, it means that I would get to see my parents’ faces in person after only looking at pictures but of course that didn’t happen because they haven’t come home in so long.

    “Alright then. Since everyone is set, you guys can enter the bus now,” our adviser said and everyone started to fill up the bus, only twenty people came to the trip, some didn’t get their parents approval, neither did I but it didn’t stop me.

    I was at the end of the line since I was the last to arrive. By the time I got in, everyone already had a seatmate, not that I’m protesting, I like being alone, I feel at peace.

    “There’s an empty seat beside Max,” our adviser said.

    “Is there any other seat?” I asked. I still haven’t talked to him, besides I thought he would sit beside Mikaela. “No, I’m sorry. Cain insisted on sitting alone,” he answered. I have no choice but to sit beside Max. It’s sitting beside him or not going at all so, I had to choose the right and more logical thing.

    We’ve been on the road for half an hour now and the bus is filled with noise, it’s like a freaking carnival here. Although between Max and I, it was offly quiet. It’s like we’re playing a game of who can stay silent longer, it’s not fun. I’m just not used to being silent when I’m with him.

    “Everyone, wake up. We’re here,” Mr. Belen announced. I raised my head and scratched my eye. I looked at Max when I realized that I had fallen asleep on his shoulder.

    “I’m sorry,” I said and stood up, I lost the game. Before I could even disembark the bus, I felt someone staring at me. I looked around but no one was doing so.

    Everyone was scattered around the place, waiting for the teacher’s instructions. “There’s no signal,” I hear one of the students say.

    The place was like a hotel without the staff. According to the paper, we need to bring our own food and the school also prepared food that could last us for a week.

I was looking around the place when I saw Max stretching his arm, oh no. Is my head too heavy? Should I lose weight from my head? Max looked at me and smiled. He saw me looking at him.

    “Alright, Lily, I want you to hand out the room keys, make sure everyone is in their assigned rooms. The bus will be back in three days. Have fun and don’t die,” he said, the last part was whisper.

    The students started booing as soon as he left. They hated Lily, I don’t. She’s the righteous student and the class president. She likes following rules and reports everyone who breaks it. One time, Mark used his phone during class which our school doesn’t allow and she flipped out.

    He had the phone for emergencies because his mother was in the hospital. While we were in science class, Lily told our teacher, Mrs. Najera. The two of them had an argument. I was really grateful for the thirty minutes of my time that got wasted.

    Lily was calling everyone’s names and giving them their room keys. I walked up to her when my name was called. “We’re roommates,” she said and went back to giving out the keys. I just nodded and went to our room.

    “Hi,” Lily greeted as she entered the room. “Hi,” I greeted back as I yawned. I’ve been lying on the bed and I can’t help but to feel sleepy even after sleeping on a three hour bus ride.

    “I’m sorry. I’m really exhausted,” I apologized. She just smiled and started fixing her things. I haven’t even fixed mine. I just placed my luggage at the bottom of the bed and went straight to laying down.

    She brought school stuff with her. She’s the kind of person who prioritizes school and doesn’t procrastinate, all things that I’m not.

    “Can you wake me up when they call for dinner or something?” I asked. I really want to sleep.

    “Sure,” she answered. We can really be friends if I tried but I never did.

    “You need to be prepared though because I’m a heavy sleeper. You would need an air horn or something,” I stated which made her laugh. I haven’t really tried using an air horn, one reason; I don’t have anyone to use it on me.

    Two a.m., that’s the time I woke up from my slumber. The noise from outside was so loud that even a heavy sleeper like me woke up. I looked over to Lily’s bed and saw her, sleeping. I didn’t bother waking her up so I got up and made my way out without making much noise.

    My movements were slow and cautious as I walked through the hotel halls. I feel like a ghost would just pop in front of me and kill me. If I ever see something that resembles a ghost, I should just throw my shoe at them to make sure that it’s a ghost. If it is, I should run so I won’t get my happiness drained, or are those dementors.

    By the time I got out of the hotel, the noise got even louder. They were having a bonfire near the opening of the woods, which led me back to the incident two weeks ago. I hope it won’t happen again.

    Indigo, Lily’s boyfriend approached me before I could even join the crowd. “Do you know where Lily is? She told us that she would just wake you up before dinner but she never came back,” he stated, looking worried.

    “I just saw her. She was lying on her bed,” I answered. Maybe she fell asleep, trying to wake me up.

    “Is she asleep?” He asked.

    “I think so. I didn’t open the lights just in case she was asleep and didn’t want to get bothered,” I said. Why is he asking so much? Did something happen? I don’t feel good about this.

    “Can you tell me where your room is? I just need to check on her,” he asked.

    “Sure. I’ll come with you too.” The two of us went up to the room. I don’t know why but I feel like something bad is going to happen.

    Lily’s fine, she’s fine. I left her in the room sleeping, unharmed, totally unharmed.