PAPER FACE Part Two
7:05 AM
Faceless man sighted in Jackson Forest. A body was found buried at the edge of Jackson Forest, which miraculously came back to life, and ran off into the woods. Witnesses claim that it had the appearance of a naked teenager, with no eyes or mouth. Locals claim several sightings of the faceless man-
At most this was just some guy in a morph suit.
“VIOLET! YOU’RE GONNA MISS THE BUS!!!” I heard my brother, Carter, call from downstairs. I pocketed my phone, and slipped a light blue hoodie over my head.
“Violet!” He called again.
“Coming!” I said, rushing down the stairs with my backpack in hand. I wished I’d remembered to eat this morning. Oh well, such is the life of a teenager.
The three of us made it to the bus just in time. The three of us being me, and my two younger brothers, Mitchel and Carter. Mitchel was thirteen, and Carter was eight, almost nine. I was Seventeen. We also had an older sister named Angel, but she was twenty one, so not in school anymore. She’d wanted to go to college, but we didn’t have the money to afford it.
My head thumped the window next to me, startling me awake. I must’ve dozed off. The bus was pulling up to one of the school buildings. I picked up my bag as it came to a stop, and got off with the other high schoolers.
7:29 AM
We all waited in a big line in front of the school doors. Cold morning air brushed through the leaves on the big tree at the front of the school, and seeped in through my clothes. I shivered. The line started moving forward. It looked like Aliza was absent today. Or just late. Aliza was a good friend of mine. Not my only friend, but definitely one of my closest. I’d known her since I moved here in sixth grade.
I walked into the school building, and headed to my locker on the second floor, next to the ELA classrooms, and the computer labs, then to my Math class on the first floor. The day went as usual. I got done with Math, then went to ELA, then we all got the option to go to our lockers, and study in the hall, or the library. I usually stopped to say hi to my old English teacher, Mrs. Banter. Then lunch, Science, Geography, another study hall, and we all ended in our home rooms. By that time, I was usually exhausted. There had been a couple times I even fell asleep on my desk, and the homeroom teacher had to wake me up.
3:03 PM
It was cold that morning, but by the end of school, it was warm out. Usually on a day like this, I’d walk home. But not today. A couple kids in our area went missing a couple weeks ago, and since then, Mom said I couldn’t walk home anymore.
Neither of them were people I really knew, but it was still a shock when the school heartthrob, David Fletcher, went missing. The other boy’s name was Marshal, I think. And they were friends. They both had long-ish hair, and this Marshal-guy always wore the same red jacket.
I sat in the middle of the bus, next to another girl named Melody. Melody was a Blond haired girl, with green eyes. She didn’t ride in the morning, her mom dropped her off on her way to work. She and I had one class together, Drama, but I didn’t have that class today. The only other time I usually saw her was in the hall.
Just before the bus left, a boy named Tyson got on. He always did that. Getting on the bus right at the last minute. Sometimes he didn’t make the bus at all. I’d heard a rumor that one of his teachers always had him stay after school. He sat alone in one of the back seats.
“Hey Melody!” One of the boys in a seat further back called as the bus pulled out of the parking lot. I looked up to see him leaning on the back of the seat. I didn’t really know his name, it might’ve been Josh? I think it was Josh. He wore big headphones all the time.
“What?” Melody asked, looking over the seat.
“Andrew wants to know if you’ll go out with him~” Another boy chimed in. Markus.
“The question is, how much will you PAY me, to go out with him?” There was a chorus of ‘oohh’s’ from the back of the bus. I chuckled to myself as Headphones pulled out his wallet and pulled out some bills.
“How’s thirty dollars?” He asked, offering the money. Another chorus of ‘oohh’s’.
“Sit back down!” The bus driver called from the front. They did.
“So what do you say?” Headphones asked, Markus laughing quietly next to him.
“I’ll think about it.” Melody said, turning back to the front.
“Nice.” I whispered next to her. She just smiled.
3:35 PM
The bus came to a stop in front of my house. My brothers and I got off, and Mitchel shoved into my shoulder as he rushed passed toward the house. I headed straight to my room, and slipped my backpack off into the floor. I felt tired. So tired. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and scrolled through my social media feed until dinner.
6:30 PM
Mom called me to dinner, and I sat down at the table. Mom was sitting at one end, and Dad sat at the other. Mitchel and I sat on one side, and Angel and Carter sat on the other. I groaned to myself. I didn’t want to sit next to Mitchel. Sometimes I wished I didn’t have him as a brother. I wished I could leave him at school like all my other stress. And then I mentally smacked myself, because he’s my brother. I should love him, and I hated that I didn’t. So I pushed it to the side of my mind to deal with later.
Carter told us all about his day during dinner, about what new project they were working on, and which friends he played with. Dinner was alright. We had some kind of casserole my dad made, and a salad my sister put together. Mitchel ignored everyone.
7:28 PM
I went to my room and got on my phone again. I was so tired. School was hard. I knew I didn’t have it as bad as some other people, I had a good home life, and didn't get picked on a lot. But it was still exhausting.
9:49 PM
It was late. Too late. Why did I always stay up so late? I got ready for bed as fast as I could. I grabbed some clothes, and headed to the shower, where I stood for a while, letting the hot water run down my body. Taking all my worries, all my energy with it down the drain. And then I got out, brushed my teeth, and went to bed. I lay awake for a while. Trying to force myself asleep. I lay there about an hour before I finally drifted off.