More then a week had passed. It had been about 10 days since Regan moved in California and most of the things have gone good. She was closer to Vesper considered her as a best friend. But apart from all this,there was still something weird about Vesper.
It seemed like she was always hiding something. The paranoic girl, couldn't get her mind out of it. It happened all the time,when she sensed something weird and bizarre,she wanted to get to the bottom of it.
She had noticed most of the time of how her friend emotions changed drastically and quickly.
She didn't talk about this, thought. She didn't want to get into awkward situations or to make Vesper take it as an insult.
In one of her physics tests, Vesper had gotten A+ and Regan had gotten A-.
She wasn't worried as much as she was about Vesper's grade.
She never wanted to be the kind of person who envied others success, nor was she. But Vesper's grades seemed off.
The day when they took the test, the classroom was for two students to sit. She obviously sat with Vesper. And all the times she glanced at her paper just because she was curious if Vesper did good or not. And the weirdest thing was that most of the answers were wrong.
As someone who studied hard, she knew what was right.
The more Regan thought about it, the more she blamed her suspicious nature. Maybe she was the one wrong. But she couldn't shake off the fact that Vesper was weird.
When she arrived at school, she threw the bag pack on her back and started to walk inside school. She found her friend in the classroom, looking at her phone.
"Hey, are you coming over at my house today?" Vesper asked.
"Is anyone in your house?" Regan asked.
"I told you NO." She said emphasizing the "no".
Regan still wasn't okay with it. She felt something weird about going to Vesper's house.
One thing she was glad from the class was that the students had stopped to stare at her and minded their own business. All she wanted was to be invisible.
She passed her class period and when lunchtime came, it was an not so pleasant time.
She got to see Olivia around, making fun and taunting everyone, but despite that, everyone acted like she was righteous.
"Get back on earth!" Vesper said, smacking her shoulder.
"I'm on earth," she replied. "I don't understand, what are we going to do in your house?" Regan asked confused. The truth was, she didn't want to go anywhere.
"There's much more fun in my house and I'm not telling you this early." she said after taking a sip from her coke.
Regan saw from far Olivia and her band moving around like searching for someone. Her eyes searched and searched till they landed on the table where she and Vesper sat.
Later, she started walking to their direction, followed by two girls behind her.
Regan let out a sigh in frustration and signalized Vesper that she was coming.
These days Olivia stared at Regan mostly. Maybe it was because of Vesper. That thing about the Nate guy, wasn't cleared up in the girl's mind. She still thought there was more to know.
"Hey scar, what's up?" Olivia said, her expression filled with disdain.
Regan frowned, she hated being called, 'scar'. She had been called before and she still loathed it.
"What do you want?" She coldly retorted.
Olivia didn't reply but in one swift move she poured her coke into Regan's burger.
Regan stared, dumbfounded back and forth at the burger and at her. She couldn't believe her eyes. The lunch was ruined.
"What the hell did you do?!" She yelled.
"I ruined your lunch, scarface." Olivia laughed and everyone else did so.
Regan looked at Vesper, who was looking down the table, her expression unreadable.
"You're an idiot," Regan hissed at Olivia.
"And you're a freak," Olivia retorted, laughing.
Regan turned to leave but one of Olivia's friends moved their leg to trip Regan. As she didn't notice, she stumbled and fell on the floor.
Again, they all laughed and her blood boiled hot. Her jaw clenched and she gritted her teeth. She could feel everyone's gaze burning at her back. She could feel their laughs pierce through her soul.
Slowly, she stood up, her face tight with anger. She didn't want to show that they had succeeded in making her feel bad.
In a moment, she didn't know what had gotten to her but she expanded her palm and, "Go burn somewhere," she said through gritted teeth.
As she hissed those words, a strange sensation coursed through the air, making her fingertips shake. Suddenly, sparks seemed to dance around Olivia's head, and before anyone could comprehend what was happening, a small flame erupted from her hair.
"Olivia watch out! Your hair!" Everyone yelled in shock.
"My hair what? ARGH!" she cried out as she realized, "MY HAIR IS BURNING!!! WHAT ARE YOU ALL LOOKING AT??!!! COME HELP ME!!!" she yelled at everyone who was just staring and gawking not comprehending what just happened.
Regan felt as if she gone numb, she couldn't move, she couldn't fathom what was happening. Maybe some seconds later, teachers started rushing over to extinguish the flames, and the commotion drew the attention of the entire cafeteria.
She stood frozen, her mind racing with confusion and disbelief at what had just occurred. She couldn't understand how or why it happened, but she knew she had to get out of here before things got even more out of control. Without a word, she turned and hurriedly made her way out of the cafeteria, leaving behind the chaos she inadvertently caused.
Vesper, who was shocked as well, saw her leave. She saw that the fire was subsiding and then disappeared from the scene like a shadow.
As she kept on her track, she saw Regan was walking out of the school. She followed her suit and Regan was on the school's playground.
Regan felt her heart pound rapidly, and her mind swirled with different confusing and weird thoughts. She couldn't comprehend how Olivia's hair had caught on fire and she didn't ever want to think she might have been the cause of it.
The playground was a quiet and better place to stay. The air was fresh and clear, filled with the sounds of birds chirping and voices of the guys playing basketball in the distance. Regan found a set of swings and sat down, trying to collect her mind.
Vesper reached her, her expression unreadable.
"Regan, are you alright?" She asked, sitting on the other swing.
"Yeah....what just happened back there?" Regan asked, her voice slightly shaky.
Vesper shrugged, her expression still unreadable, "Her hair just caught on fire. They put it out, don't worry. It wasn't very severe burn."
Regan nodded, although she was still shaken and confused. She remembered how she had felt something weird when Olivia's hair caught fire and how she had extended her palm to her. She didn't know what it was and she didn't want to think about it.
"I'm not involved in this," she told herself.
"But you are...." A voice echoed in her mind.
Her whole body went stiff and she felt a wave of uncertainty wash over her. She had always been on talk with her subconscious but this....this didn't seem as her subconscious. It seemed out of place.
"Well, let's not think about it. Maybe some fella did a prank or maybe there was some kind of freak accident. We shouldn't jump to conclusions," Vesper suggested, her voice calm.
Regan nodded, trying to push aside the strange thoughts and feelings that were swirling in her mind. "Yeah, you're right. It's just... so strange."
Vesper gave her a comforting smile, but Regan couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something more beneath that fire, something she couldn't quite grasp.
How about you come to my house tomorrow instead of today? I won't be home until yesterday morning so better if you come tomorrow." Vesper spoke, looking at the guys playing in the distance.
"Yes, of course." Regan replied, her gaze distant and observing.
She was waiting for something to prevent her from going to Vesper's house, after all.
***
The biology class was finished and Regan didn't zone out.
While in class, she was completely unfocused and she kept thinking about what happened in the cafeteria, as well as the voice she heard. It was weird. She didn't hear it anymore and didn't want to.
Vesper on the other hand was bored as well, she kept doodling in her notebook and she kept drawing on the desk as well.
After the class ended, everyone was gossiping about Olivia and what had just happened to her. Regan and Vesper just listened but no one of them said a thing. They acted as if they were busy in their works.
Suddenly, a girl turned at Regan and started to accuse her of the situation. Regan felt a shiver run down her spine and she quickly defended back.
"I didn't do anything to her hair, okay? If you don't believe, there are cameras around where she can go and take a look to expand her dearly knowledge."
"I know, nerd. But you looked quite weird in the footage. You were standing just in front of her."
"I didn't do anything," Regan snapped.
"Yeah, well, you aren't as innocent as you seem to be," the girl scoffed. The other classmates circled their desk and Regan felt her frustration reaching its peak. She stood up, and harshly shoved them all away. Vesper followed her as well.
Regan only wanted to go home and forget everything that happened here.
"They're all fools," Vesper sneered, "And that Olivia, is a piece of shit," she cursed.
Regan didn't answer. She was still shaken with unsettling thoughts and feelings. She collected tampered notes from her locker and stuffed them into the bag carelessly.
Guilt started to spread through her as she remembered that she had told her to go and burn. She couldn't help but feel bad,so so bad. These thoughts were draining her from the inside.
She made her way with Vesper home and when she arrived, she fell into the couch, drowning in thoughts.
What made her even more unsettled, was that she still had a feeling like something was following her.
She stood up again and lazily climbed the stairs. She left her bag in her room and grabbed her laptop. As soon as she did, she noticed a red rose on the bedside table. They always made her dizzy, as if she had been drinking wine or something.
This week she had collected like 6 of them but she didn't know why her aunt became so obsessed with red roses and where did she even find them?
In this neighborhood, Regan hadn't ever seen any roses like these. These were a deep shade of red and didn't seem to dry. Their scent was so heavy that she could smell them from every corner in her room. Every time she found them, they were on the bedside table.
Regan thought to talk to her aunt about that and tell her that she should keep collecting them for herself.
She was very hungry so she ordered a pizza. She also called Vesper to ask about what she was doing, but she didn't answer.
After some minutes the doorbell rang and made the girl to freeze. She tiptoed to see through the peephole and realized it was the pizza guy. She smacked her forehead for being so paranoid.
The girl opened the door, paid the guy and closed it again without saying anything else.
She stormed inside the living room, sitting comfortable in the couch. Regan started eating pizza and surfed the net through the laptop.
When her aunt came home after two hours, she noticed Regan's messy behavior but didn't say anything.
Meanwhile Regan stood up going outside to throw the pizza box and then grabbed the laptop to let it upstairs.
She didn't see Monica around, and guessed she was having a shower.
Her phone suddenly rang and it made her to stop on the stairs.
It was Vesper, who asked her if she was coming in her house. Regan was reluctant but she still agreed, not wanting to seem annoying.
Then, she proceeded to do her precious homework and studies.
But still, she couldn't focus. What happened in the cafeteria lingered in her mind and she couldn't help but overthink it over and over again. She glanced at her right, seeing the roses staying there, their beauty ethereal. She had put them on a glass vase, but they were so mysterious. They seemed to taunt her or watch her. She sighed and grabbed the vase, went downstairs and left it on the kitchen's counter.
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