Chapter Two: The Feeling And The Lies
32 hours earlier
March 3, 2016
That feeling never left me at all today, but I tried to ignore it the best I could. After school we three went to the library to work on our Biology project. We had to research Phobias. We had chosen this topic because Tommy had a phobia of snakes, which sucks when Ryker and I want to go to the reptile section of the zoo. We separated to find more books. I jumped up the stairs and began browsing the shelves. While I was looking, that same feeling came and hit me like a bullet. I staggered back as the sudden shock of pain coursed throughout my body. The pain didn’t stop, and it wasn’t like a stubbed toe pain or period pain. It was like being hit by a train that’s on fire over and over. I grasped my head trying to relieve myself from this torture and I let out a loud gasp. My hands felt like they were on fire when I placed them on my head. I ripped my hands off my head and stared at them. They were glowing bright gold. I slid down the bookshelf and tried to control my breathing. Everything was blurry. I couldn’t think straight, and I was in too much pain to do anything besides gasp for air, close my eyes, and pray that this will be over soon. After what seemed like 5 hours, the pain went away and I stood up shaking my head trying to shake out the dizziness. My vision returned to normal and I looked around taking in my surroundings. I looked up at the clock hanging from the wall and I saw it had been fifteen minutes in my little pain fest. I hobbled out of the shelf, when I suddenly felt a hand on my arm. I flinched and whipped around looking at who it was.
“Bobbi? Are you okay? Where were you for the last fifteen minutes? Me and Tommy were worried about you.” I breathed out a sigh of relief as I saw it was only Ryker. He looked at me expectantly waiting for my answer. I gave a fake smile and said,
“Yeah, I’m fine. I was just reading a good book and lost track of time.” I lied. I did not want to make him worry about me nor did I have an explanation about the pain I felt. Ryker narrowed his eyes at me and studied me trying to see if I was lying or not. Before he could say anything, Tommy came around the corner,
“Ryker did you find…” Tommy paused then noticed I was standing right next to Ryker, “Bobbi! There you are, we were worried about you.” Tommy said and I responded the exact same way with Ryker,
“Yeah I’m fine, I just got lost in a book.” While I said the exact same thing, Tommy’s eyes replicated Ryker’s. The boys shared a looked then Tommy scoffed.
“Bobbi, if you’re going to lie, you have to lie to people who don’t know you.” He crossed his arms and I looked at Ryker who just looked at me expectantly. I sighed knowing that I couldn’t lie to my childhood friends. They figured out how I lie when we turned six.
I walked out of my school holding back my tears. I shouldn’t be crying. I was a big girl. I should be strong like Ryker and Tommy. The two boys who are my only friends came up to me with big grins on their faces. I tried to match their smiles. I really did but it was just so hard to. The grins faltered when they saw me.
“What’s wrong Bobbi?” Tommy said completely concerned as he scanned my face for any injuries.
“Nothing’s wrong.” I lied selling it off with a big smile, Ryker raised an eyebrow at me.
“Don’t lie Bobbi, tell us.” He said but it was more like demanding, I sighed knowing that I could not hide from the boys with this.
“It was just Rosie Park. She said my mom and dad were bums and didn’t do anything for work.” Two tears fell onto my cheeks. Ryker reached up and wiped them away.
“Don’t listen to her Bobbi. She’s just jealous because her parents work at a zoo.” Tommy reassured me and I instantly felt better for some reason. They hooked arms with me then we began to walk.
“Oh Bobbi, did you know that when you lie, the black part of your eyes gets bigger?” I looked at him with interest since I did not know this.
“Yeah, then your left hand starts to fidget too.” Tommy finished. The rest of the time we walked, we just laughed and joked around all day.
I sighed knowing the two boys in front of me would not back down from my case until I told them what was wrong.
“Fine I’ll tell you,” I looked around but then noticed that the library was full and anyone could listen into our conversation, “just not here.” I grabbed both of their arms and dragged them out of the library. The phobia paper completely forgotten. We walked into the ice cream parlor right across the street and ordered. As soon as we sat down, my friends looked at me waiting for me to tell them what was going on. But the truth is, I had no idea what was even going on, the mysterious feeling of being watched, the pain I felt, even the weird feeling that everything was going to fall apart right before my eyes. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes preparing what I was going to say. I opened my eyes and began to tell them the weird events of this day; this horrible, miserable day. After I was done, they both looked scared, protective, worried, and maybe a little angry!
“Are you ok though?” Tommy asked. I was almost about to say yes but I wasn’t okay.
“No, I’m not okay.” I shook my head and placed it into my hands leaning onto the table. Our table the one we have always claimed whenever we came here.
“I feel awful. I can still sort of feel the pain, like a thousand fiery knives are being dug into my skin. I still feel like I’m being watched. I’m scared to be alone right now. I don’t want my dad or especially the She to find out. I think I’m going crazy but at the same time I feel completely sane… If that makes any sense.” I thought I was going to start crying but I didn’t when they both grabbed one of my hands each.
“You’re not crazy or alone, we’re here and we are going to help you through this.” Ryker exclaimed. Tommy nodded. These were the times when I wondered how I got two amazing best friends.
Lauren Stangl Writing 