Title: Glass Roses

Author: Shades of Hades

Date: December, 2005

Dedication: Ever Be! Forcing me to write was a good thing. ^.^

A/N: So, my muse, Ever Be is moving across the country soon, so I went over to her house to spend some time with her before she leaves because I know otherwise, I won’t get to see her again until summer, and I was sitting on her floor, and she was egging me on the write a new chapter for this. So, here it is. And what’s great is, I already have chapter five written too, so that should be up before the end of my break, which is, like, this week.

 

Chapter Four: Early Morning Blues

 

            A warm fuzzy feeling spread over me as I pulled my self out of slumber, annoyed at the buzzing of my alarm clock.

“Yea, yea, I’m up you fucker. You can stop now…” I held my head with my right hand, my left hand groping out to stop the alarm’s awful noise. I finally found the button and hit it roughly with my fist, the terrible noise agitating me further and further every second. “I should have set it to music,” I told myself as I opened my eyes, letting them adjust to the light seeping in between the thick, black curtains.

My eyes ached, and I rubbed them with my fists, wishing I didn’t have to be up at this early hour, especially not for something as god-awful as my first day of a new school. I blinked nearly violently, and looked around the darkened room, semi-recalling what had happened last night. Something about waking up from a nightmare and a ghost… A friend. Wait a minute.

My brain feels fuzzy. Obviously my thinking was a little off from the lack of sleep, or maybe lack of oxygen to my brain.

I stifled a yawn.

It must have all been a dream…there’s no such thing as ghosts.

Remembering the crash that had brought my attention to my late night visitor, I glanced over near a stack of boxes, starring suspiciously at a pile of broken glass, not even really remembering what it originally started out as. Maybe a cup? I don’t know.

Dropping my blankets to the bed, I slid out from under the covers, shivering as my nearly naked body met with the cold air, my skin not liking the fusion.

It took all of my will power to push myself out of the bed, stretching my aching limbs as my feet hit the icy, wooden floor. I shivered again, wondering idly why I’ve never in my nearly eighteen years, bothered buying myself a pair of slippers, as I got up to do my morning routine. Never mind that my morning routine was anything put routine, seeing as most of my things were still inside their neatly packed and labeled boxes.

Letting out a long, weary sigh, I bent down, tearing the packaging tape off a box with my familiar chicken scratch marking it as ‘clothes.’ I riffled through it looking for a shirt suitable for my first day of school. First impressions and all that shit. Not that I particularly cared what I looked like, but sometimes it’s smart to at least give yourself a fighting chance in a new environment. Not that I wasn’t already fucked from the start. In small towns like this one, is usually where I get the most shit from people. Some people in these farming communities have never seen anything but fields and cows their whole life, and usually, when something new finally comes, they let their prejudices that they’ve been taught by their parents take over for them. In my case, they see someone who is blatantly homosexual in their minds, and without bothering to ask if I really am, they try to make my life a living hell, hoping I’ll eventually get sick of it and leave their shitty little town. All the while, they run away from their own problems, thinking attacking me will just make them all disappear. I know these kinds of towns well, unfortunately, having spent more then half my life jumping between them.  Even though I find the same thing in every town, human brutality never ceases to amaze me.

I pulled out a worn, black, button-up shirt, pulling it over my arms and shoulders as I pull out a pair of slightly tattered and faded blue pants. My body was already heating up from the added warmth of the shirt and I let out a contented sigh as I began buttoning up the red buttons on the front of the dragon-embroidered shirt.

With another soft sigh, I began to run my fingers through my hair to flatten and untangle the multicolored strands, pushing myself off the floor with my other hand, pants clenched firmly in my fist. I make a soft pain-filled noise as I lift myself up onto my feet.

It becomes more and more difficult to adjust and move after moving from town to town so much. Each time my body becomes more stiff and unwilling, almost like it has given up on ever being at peace.

With the intention of brushing my teeth, I wandered into the bathroom just outside my door, snarling into the darkness of the early hour as I groped for the light switch on the wall. My eyes blinked at the sudden light, and my hands moved to the medicine cabinet, pulling out a half squeezed out tub of toothpaste and a red toothbrush.

I had just raised the brush to my teeth when I saw it.

Movement out of the corner of my eye, and a sad face reflected behind me in the mirror. My heart gave a great leap of fear and my hand holding my toothbrush shook with surprise. I could HEAR my heart beating, racing, trying to escape from my body in panic, and I’m sure HE could too.

I lowered my toothbrush; breathing harshly as I turned to met the transparent fingers reaching towards me. I sucked in a deep breath, as what I thought had been a dream, touched my warm skin, instantly making me shiver.

“I didn’t mean to startle you,” said a soft voice in front of me as I closed my eyes willing my heart to slow and my goosebumps to cease.

“Just a dream,” I told myself quietly, hoping that when I opened my eyes the boy and his cold touch would disappear. My eyelashes fluttered open, but that sad face remained, and his fingers still running over my check bone in a cool caress.

“I am sorry to disappoint you,” he gave a soft sigh, his cool blue eyes staring intently into mine, “but I am not a dream.” His hand finally fell back to his side and he spoke again quietly, as if unsure of himself. “I wish, however, that this was but a cruel dream.” Unshed tears sparkled in his eyes and I was stuck with sudden, unbelievable sadness that felt like I could never escape from.

“I’m sorry,” I told him awkwardly, not really sure what I was suppose to say as I scratched my right arm. “I just…” I blushed, not really sure why, but unable to look him in the eyes, “I just kept holding on to the silly ideal that you were just a dream…”

Frozen fingers were softly placed under my chin, lifting my eyes to meet his. His face seemed closer to mine then before and I wasn’t sure why my heart began to beat faster as he spoke soft, soothing words so close to my lips. “I don’t mind.” He gave a soft smile of understanding, and I felt something flutter in my stomach, wishing that sweet smile would never leave his face. “You’re not the first that has thought me but a dream, or a figment of their imagination, but you were the first to treat me with such kindness…”

My blushed deepened and I fumbled for the right words, completely unsure of what to say to such lonely words. Should I tell him I was lonely too? Tell him I was sorry, or that I took pity on him for such a lonely afterlife? Instead of speaking I smiled softly, my lips loaming ever closer to his ghostly ones, my fingers reaching out towards him. I closed my eyes, less then an inch lay between our lips, and I nervously licked mine. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, my fingers found the coldness they sought, only to be interrupted.

“You little shit!” Fuck. I had forgotten about school, and my mother for that matter. I had forgotten about everything for that matter. “Get your goddamned ass down here before you miss the fucking bus! I’m not driving your ass to school if you miss it!”

“Fuck!” I said aloud, quickly pulling myself away from my ghostly friend as I forced my clean pants onto my legs and up my body, completely forgetting about my toothbrush still sitting on the ledge of the antique, porcelain sink.

I cursed again as I tore out of the bathroom and back into my room, almost missing the curious eyes watching me yank on a pair of miss-matched socks. “You’ll be late for your first day.” His eyes gleamed with humor as I looked back at him in curiosity at the sudden change in his mood. I was trying rather unsuccessfully to jam on one of my boots, growling as I nearly fell over, onto my bed.  Frequent rushed mornings have taught me to multitask well, but I was finding myself rather distracted today, quite possibly by the intriguing puzzle of the ex-human currently seating himself down on my bedspread.

“Fuck!” I said for probably the tenth time today. “I will not!” I shot back with venom, not finding his sudden humor helpful as I tied my black shoelaces. I pushed myself off the side of my bed and grabbed my sweatshirt, quickly yanking it over my head, snagging it on my lip ring as I roughly pulled it down my body. I cursed again, and he just smiled at me, laying back, comfortably on my bed as I dashed around my room like a lunatic looking for my backpack.

“I’ll be waiting for your return...” He told me with the same sadness as before as I burst through my door, feet pounding on the wooden floor. My feet moved as fast I thought humanly possible as I practically flung myself down the flight of stairs, my body moving on automatic, but my brain still up in my bedroom with the sad boy sprawled out on my rumpled bed. I felt like my brain was on overdrive as I thought about everything that had happened and how much my life had changed in less than twenty-four hours. It was so much to take in at once.

Not only did I find out that ghosts DO most definitely exist, but I’ve just made friends with one, and I’m pretty sure I gave him permission to stay in my room, and in my bed… I blushed deeply, my hand automatically reached for the doorknob on the front door, nearly ripping it off its hinges as I pull it open, and feeling it shake as I slammed it shut behind me, my race for the bus only halfway over as I ran for the bus pulling up in front of my long driveway.

Frowning, I stop in front of the bus, hands on my knees trying hard to catch my breath and clear my mind. School would be even worst today if I didn’t get my mind away from the boy curled up in my bed, waiting for me.

There’s a faint ‘creak’ as the bus driver pulls back on the handle to let me into the bus, and I grope forward for the bar, my feet lifting to the steps as I look up into the bus drivers frowning face. She grunts softly as I pull myself off the ground, both feet now firmly planted on the first step, my eyes already scanning the long bus for empty seats, not waiting to subject myself to too much ridicule this early in the morning.

I spot a vacant seat little over half way through the bus and I stomp up the rest of the steps, my eyes to the floor as I walk towards my seat between a sleeping boy and a fake-looking girl who was applying even more makeup to her already plastered face. I grit my teeth as I walked through the bus for what seemed like eternity, eyes piercing the back of my head as I walk, whispers reaching my pierced and gauged ears.

Falling into my seat, I pulled my bag tight against my chest, my eyes instantly fixed to the window and what lay beyond it. My eyes are drawn up to my window and the sad face pressed against the glass when I feel a tap on my shoulder. I grit my teeth in annoyance, turning my head to face the fake girl who was trying to get my attention.

She smiled, and I just stared at the creases around her mouth mesmerized at the makeup that seemed to flake off of at the movement. “You’re cute.” She says simply, and I swallow the rising bile in my throat as her fake smile grows. “What’s you’re name?”

I turn my attention away from her phony smile and watch in sadness as my house fades away behind the tall trees. “Jackson.” I say quietly, just wanting to stop talking to this girl. She is persistent however, and continues on.

“I’m Ashley. It’s, like, your first day, right?” I numbly nod, completely fading out of the conversation she is trying to have with me as an unpleasant feeling settles into the pit of my stomach. Deep inside, I feel a storm brewing.

 

To Be Continued…