I'm Paranoid- Part 1

I moved as fast as I could, I had to clean this mess up. I had to do it before my parents found out what I had done. Mother would surely be angry with me if see walked in on this mess, and it's not just the mess. I should be getting ready to go to school, I didn't want to go but it was better then being home. At lest at school I had a few friends.
Foot steps made my head snap to the side, my eyes grow wide and my body started to shake. My foster mother had stepped though the doorway leading from the kitchen to the living room. She was at average, around five foot five. She had light brown hair and hazel eyes, today she was wearing a white blouses and a pair of dark blue jeans. She had fair skin which people say looked flawless, but that was only because of the makeup she would use.
Mother's eyes narrowed into angry slits as she saw the mess I had made over her carpet. I had spilled my tea well I was putting my books and last nights homework into my backpack. There was now going to be a greenish stain on an other wise white carpet, something both my foster parents would say cost them seventy bucks.
“You get out and get your ass to school. Well talk about this when you get home.” There was a cold hint to her other wise light voice, I knew fully well what she meant by talk.
I gulped and quickly stuffed everything into my backpack and ran out the door to catch the bus. I kept running till I had gotten to the bus stop, when I did I place my hands on my knees taking deep gasping breaths. Once I had caught my breath the bus had pulled in and the other kids had stepped on, the last being me. I sat by myself in the front, ignoring everyone else as I looked out the window just watching the houses and trees passing me by. I zoned out the bus stopping and picking up some of the other kids that I go to school with. My mind going back to what my mother had said.
My faster mother never likes it when I leave a mess, though I don't think any mother likes to see a mess in her home. It's just my mother goes about it differently and I'm pretty sure it's very different then what other parents would do to their kids. Wither or not that child is adopted.
I was snapped out of my thoughts when the bus came to a stop in front of a large building. It was mostly made out of brick and was three stories high. Written in large white letters was West Side High School.
People starting moving into the walk way in the middle of the bus, some of them bumped into the other as they hurried to get off the bus. I however waited for the end of the line and then followed them off the bus. Once I had gotten off the bus I looked around me, most of the people- apart from a few of the teachers- were outside. This made it hard for me to find my small group of friends, heck I don't even now if they all came to school today. One of my friends sometimes got very sick and because of that he couldn't go to school as much as he wanted. Another one of my friends would sometimes get herself injured well she was out skateboarding, and then there was the one that would skip a day of school just because he felt like it.
I stumbled forward a little as someone bumped into be, this was followed by an annoyed voice saying; “Watch where your going loser!”
I moved out of the way for a tall male, who was most likely going to see his friends. I payed no mind to the glare he give me as I head inside the building. Once I had walked though the set of large metal doors I found myself at the beginning of a plain looking room attached to a plain looking hallway. There was the main office just to my right and a door that lead to the gym to my left. Down the hallway there was no boors, in fact the hallway was attached to another hallway that went sideways and that was were the classroom doors were. And there are three floors just the this one connected with stairs and ramps. The only difference was that this was the floor that held the office, well the second had the cafeteria, and the third floor had the teacher's lounge. The rest of the rooms were classrooms and bathrooms, all in all it was your normal school.
There was a ringing sound and that was when I quickly made my way to my first class. I managed to get there before all the others could rush though the hallways, good thing to since I didn't want to be pushed around. That and I didn't want to bump into one of them and add something else to an already not so great start of the day.
I sat down in my set at the back of the classroom just as the rest of my class came rushing in though the door. A few minutes later the teacher had entered the room and class had started. Everyone was silent as the teacher spoke about good ways to write short stories and make good characters. Oh, the wonders of English class mostly because this is my favourites. Not a lot of people really like this class, they even said that the teacher, Mr. McKay was to hard on all of his students. I thought he was a pretty cool guy and a good teacher, it's just that everyone else just wanted a lay back kind of teacher.
An hour later class was over and we had to write a report about a book they had read and have it done by Friday. Also if there wasn't a book they could think of then they would have to write about a Shakesphear story the class had read during the beginning of the school year. After that the students of our class had left to go to there next class.
Before I had gotten the chance to leave the classroom like all the others Mr. McKay said “Pete, are you okay?”
He walked up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. He didn't know what had been going on at home, but he had made a guess when he had seen me with a black eye. I hadn't told him how I had gotten it either.
“I'm fine...” It was a lie, and I guess he knew that to since he give he a sad look.
“You know you can talk to me if you ever need to.” Mr. McKay said with a worried voice he soon added “Well you should be off to your next class. I wouldn't want you to be late.”
With that I had left the English classroom and head off towards my Math class. Along the way I seen some of the people that were on free block. I walked past them and they didn't see me, that was a good thing. I wondered what they were talking about as I walked by and put my hands into the pockets of my black sweater.
I had just made into the classroom by the time the bell rang once again. I toke my seat at the back of the classroom and had to ignored the looks some of the others had given me. Unlike before the teacher was already in the classroom and as soon as I sat down he started today's lesson. I was only half paying attention to what she was saying. My mind was mostly on what Mr. McKay had said to me, about being able to talk to him. Snap! I jumped when the teacher smashed his ruler on the desk of one of the other students.
“Pay attention!” She snapped.
Looks like this didn't just startle me, but a few of the others since there eyes almost seemed to snap open. They turned to look at the teacher as she went back to teaching how to solve a few different math problems. This time my mind didn't wander off to other things.
Another hour had passed and another class had ended, even more homework was handed out and I had handed in some of the homework from last week. The only thing that meant was that there was only three more classes till school was over and I had to go back home. Something I wasn't looking forward to, no matter how much I disliked school it was a better place then home.
I left the classroom and this time the teacher didn't stop me. I left the room along with the rest of the class. On the way to my next classroom, I had seen one of the people I was hoping to avoid. He was the tallest of the group, but he wasn't the meanest. I moved at a faster pace, hoping that he wouldn't see me walking by. It seem that luck wasn't on my side since the tall male had seen me, he looked at him with cold green eyes. He didn't make a move, no he would wait for a good time to strike. It wasn't just knowing what he would or might do when he the time came to strike. What would he do to me, when would he do it? I had started shaking at the thought, I knew it was nothing good and I was pretty sure that it would happen during lunch. But right now I didn't have to worry about it, right now I had to worry about getting to my next class in time.
Once I had gotten into the classroom of my third class the second bell had rung. This was my split class, meaning that I go to this class before and after lunch. Right now I had Science which is a class I dislike, almost as much as I dislike Math. Though right now I wished there wasn't a lunch break. If only so I wouldn't have to put up with whatever it is they wanted to do to me. It toke a lot to make sure I didn't start shaking and mess up with the answers. The teacher had passed out worksheets so we would be ready for the test in two weeks, which is something I have to get a good mark on.
Like the last two classes, time had gone by and soon the bell give a loud ring. Everyone left what they were doing and left the classroom and headed down from the third floor to the second. I soon followed after then, hoping that they wouldn't find me. I still didn't have luck on my side, this was proven when a fist hit me right in the back of the head. It made me tumble forward and almost fall flat on my face onto the cold concrete floor. Before I could stable myself a set of arms grabbed hold of mine, holding them behind my back. The only thing I could do was struggle against the hold. I went to look behind me and that was when I fist smacked across my, it hit me just below my right eye and was strong enough that I wouldn't be surprised to see a black eye.
After the hit I turn my gaze in front of me, I not only seen one of my attackers but also that some of the people in the hall had stopped. Most of them just watch, not wanting to get to involved with what was going on and others give encouraging remarks to my attackers.
Now for the person who punched me. It was the same guy I had seen on my way to my last class. He glared at me with his cold hazel eyes. He had on a black t-shirt and a pair of baggy blue jeans on. His hair is short, and I mean really short. As in it's just a bunch of stubble on his head. I couldn't see his shoes right now, but I would assume he was wearing his thick work boats.
“Tommy, don't you think this little shite needs a little washing?” The male in front of me ask.
Tommy? Tommy was also a pretty big guy and someone who had once tried out for the football team last year when we were all fifteen. He wasn't as muscled as he was last year, but he still had a pretty good grip. As for needing a wash, I knew fully well what they meant.
Tommy then pulled/dragged me to the nearest man's bathroom and kicked open one of the stale doors. I had struggled the whole way there, but nothing seemed to be working. Tommy dragged me till I was standing in front of the toilet and that was when the other guy kicked the back of my knee causing me to lose balance. This made it easier for them to push my head into the water. Tommy still had a good grip on my arms so I couldn't flail them around, but I did start kick and struggling even more. I then hear Tommy say something, it was very clear and the only word I could pick out was the name of the other guy “Leo”. After that Tommy had lifted my head out of the toilet water- which I was thank that it was clean- and allowed me to take in a breath. The two boys were about to do it again when someone spoke.
“What is you two think your doing?” It sounded like Mr. McKay, I wish I could say that maybe this would be the start of some good luck but I would only be fooling myself.
The two boys were at lost for words, knowing that it wouldn't matter what they would say since a teacher had caught them in the act.
“To the Principal's office, the both of you.” Mr. McKay's voice was very stern and disapproving.
I looked over my shoulder, blonde hair dripping wet making it look a lot darker then normal. I seen that Leo was about to say something, but he just closed his mouth and shot me a glare as if this was all my fault.
“Now!” The teacher snapped, this caused the two taller males to jump. They shot each other a startled glance then toke of, most likely down to the first floor and to the main office. I however stayed where I was on the bathroom floor only just starting to catch my breath.
“Come on let's get you a towel.” Mr. McKay spoke in a much calmer voice as he give me a worried look.
I agreed and soon the two of us made out way to the teacher's lounge. Once we were there I looked around. In the room was a few different things, like a small kitchen in one corner. It even had a stove that I assumed wasn't used all that often. There was also a table with at lest twenty chairs around it, though the table looked long enough to hold at least five more. Then there was the couches, at lest two of them and both were plain black and also had a small coffee table in the middle of them. The walls of the room looked the same as the rest of the rooms in the school. White walls with a large brick like look to them. There wasn't anyone in the room, well apart from me and Mr. McKay who was looking though a closet on the left side of the room. When he had stepped away from it, he had a white towel in his right hand. The casually dressed man soon handed over the towel so I could dry off my hair, I took it well saying a thank you before plopping it on my head and started using it to bot ruffle up and dry my hair. When I was done with that the teacher handed me a brush so I could fix up my now messy and still slightly damp blonde hair. I took it and ran it though my hair till all the tangles were gone and then give both the towel and the brush back to Mr. McKay.
“You sure your alright?” He asked, I know he only asked cause he wants to help but I rather not talk about what had just happened since it was just one of two things that left me in edge.
“No. I'm fine.” I used the same lie I used every time, and I knew that Mr. McKay had picked up on that lie.
The older male let out a soft sigh as he slipped one of his fair skinned hands into the pockets of his blue jeans, the other went to his short chocolate brown so he could run this fingers though it. I knew that he wouldn't make me talk about what was going on and I was thankful for that.
“Well if you want you can stay in here till the bell rings.” The teacher finally spoke and soon added “Since I'm not sure if Freddy and Alex are looking for you right now or not.”
I gave a small smile as I sat down on one of the couches and said “Sure.”
After some time of talking and joking around with the teacher the bell rung giving the sign that it was time to head back to class. I did that, not before saying a see you letter to one of my few friends and heading off back to Science class.
Like normally whenever I would come to class with a black eye, all the other students started to whisper among themselves. I heard one person say “Looks like that freak got a good punch”. I flinched at the cold tone of the person's voice, but soon made myself focus on the worksheets the teacher had given out. The teacher manly ignored the whispering off the his students seeing as they weren't being loud or distracting them from their work all that much. Though I wished he would of.
For the second to last time the bell gave a ring and I followed the others out of the classroom an towards my last class of the day. As I stepped into the last classroom of the day I toke my set at the back. Right now I was in gym class and it was one of the days that we would spend in the classroom and not the gymnasium. This meant that we were most likely going to watch a video or answer some questions on a worksheet or something. This was also a class that just about everyone liked, and even I had to admit that I found some of the stuff we did in gym class rather fun. Even though I'm normally left out to do my own thing.
Just as I had though we were going to watch a video on different sports, which I'm pretty sure the class will be playing when it was our turn to have the gymnasium. The last class went by faster then I would of liked it to and soon the bell had given one last ring and everyone had left to their lockers to get their stuff so they could head home. Me on the other hand carried all of my stuff with me as I went from class to class since my foster parents didn't want to give me the money to pay for a locker. It didn't bother me all that much since it meant that I could just walk out the main doors and wait for my bus to pull up. And that's what I did, I sat down on one of the benches and waited. Once the yellow school bus pulled up to the curve of my school I got up and walk in then took a seat in the front. A lot like what I had done when I had gotten onto the bus when I was going to school. The bus sat where it was for a few minutes to make sure that everyone that needed to be on this bus was on this bus and then it followed the two buses in front of it out of the school's wide drive way and then headed off on it's own path.
The whole bus ride I was shaking, I knew what was waiting for me back at home and I wasn't looking forward to it. Though I did hope it wouldn't be as bad as last time. I both wanted to get whatever was to happen over with and wanted this bus ride to take it's time so I wouldn't have to go back home so soon. But the bus ride was as long as it normally was and I was soon at my stop. I stepped off the bus and slowly made my way back home. Once I had gotten in front of my house I froze for a few seconds and just stared at the two storied building. The house is light blue in colour with white sidings. There are at lest three windows that I could see from the front of the house and only one of them didn't have the curtains drawn. The front door was a light brown with a small window at the top and a round doorknob. Over all it looked like your normal everyday house and it also gave the impression that the family that lived here were normal people. I guess this is one of those “Don't judge a book by it's cover.” kind of moments, isn't it?
There was no point in prolonging what was about to happens, so taking a shaky deep breath I stepped into the house. Everything was silent as I slipped off my shoes and walked into the living room. Before I could walk up the stairs to my own room a hand had grabbed hold of the back of my shirt and flung me backwards onto the white carpet I had accidentally stained this morning. I was now sitting on the floor next to a glass coffee table that I was very happy not to have landed on. The room was silent but I could feel the glare of the man who had thrown me to the ground, and looking up I seen him. My foster father was a large man that I assumed was maybe about two hundred in weight and at lest five foot eight. He was strong for a man who's weight was mainly just fat. He was wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of baggy dark blue jeans and had no shoes and socks on. He also has somewhat of a comb over and his hair was a dark brown. The older male looked at me with old and angry brown eyes, most likely my foster mother had told him about the spill I had made this morning. This did nothing to help my shaking and I soon put my hands over my head and started repeating the same thing; “I'm sorry!” My faster father however toke no notice of that and grabbed a hold of the back of my black sweater and dragged out to the back door. With a fast movement of his hand he opened the door and throw me out of the house. I rolled down the stairs and ended up both ripping a hole into my black jeans and leaning a small cut along my leg.
“You worthless little shit!” The older male had started “You stay out here to night like the no good dog you are!” and when he said that he slammed the back door shut and locked it so I couldn't get back in.
I sat down at the bottom of the stairs still shaking from what had happened. I wouldn't try to sneak into the house, the last time I had tired my faster father had broken my arm. That was something hard to explain to Mr. McKay, though I had told him that I had tired to skateboard like my friend Megan was doing and that I had fallen down some stairs well trying.
I toke a shaky breath and soon got to my feet and I had made my way to the back of the yard were I had placed some flashlights for when something like this would happen. There was also a thin blanket and a small pillow inside a small dog house like box. I set my book beg down next to it and pulled out my homework and my flashlight. It wasn't very dark right now, but it was better to have it out and ready in case I would need it later. I ended up doing my English homework last since it was my favourite class and I was hoping it might cheer me up a little. It didn't and only give me the feeling of me truly alone. When I had finished my homework I put it back into my backpack and then crawled into the small box. I brought my backpack in with me and put it under my pillow. I curled up under my thin blanket and lay in the fetal position. I soon closed my eyes and fell into an uneasy sleep.
 

Snap! I blinked open my eyes at the soft sound of a twig snapping. I rubbed my eyes and grabbed hold of my flashlight. I flicked it on and poked my head out of my little dog house and once I had done that I looked over to the wooded area just past the back of my yard. I moved the flashlight around trying to see what had caused the sound. That was the first time I had seen it, a tall being wearing the kind of suit you would expect a rick person to wear or maybe even someone going to the wedding of someone else. But that wasn't the scary part, what had scared me was it's face. The being had no face, it almost looked like a very tall white skinned manikin. I had let out a gasp of shock and fear and ended up bumping my head on the roof of my small dog house before quickly pulling my head back in. I lay there, eyes wide wondering what the heck I had just seen and once I had gathered the courage to poke my head out again. That was when I saw that strange being was gone. I tried to go back to sleep for a good hour, the whole time my mind was racing. What had I just seen, why was it just standing there, and why didn't it have a face. I rubbed the back of my head as I toke deep breaths to calm down my breathing. Maybe I hit my head when I foster father had thrown me out the back down and down the stairs. Or maybe I was just seeing things, but one there was one thing I knew for sure. I felt like I was being watched.

I'm not sure what time it was when I was able to fall asleep again, I do however remember waking up almost as soon the as the sun started to rise. I crawled out of the small dog house feeling sore and stiff from both sleeping in the small space and the fall down the stairs. When I was outside I went to check where that being was standing, I wanted to prove to myself that nothing was really there. I was proven wrong when I seen both a step of foot prints and a broken twig. I felt my heart beat race up a lot like it had last night when I had seen the strange creature. The feeling of being watched was still there and that made me swing my head from side to side trying to spot whatever it was that is watching. I didn't find anything. That would of been a reason to calm down, but I had a feeling that this was only the beginning.
“Pete Barbara Thomson!” I heard the cold voice of my foster mother and when I looked towards the back door I saw her. Today she's wearing a cream t-shirt that's tucked into a long light grey skirt. She also had on a pair of ankle high white socks.
“Get you ass inside and get ready for school!” She snapped and that was when I seen the rolling pin in her hands. I got my backpack as fast as I could then hurried inside and up to my room. I quickly got changed into a pair of dark blue slightly loss jeans and a red plaid t-shirt and then I put back on my black sweater. For socks on put on plain white ones and then made my way back downstairs to the kitchen were I pack a few things for lunch and then rushed out of the door. I didn't want to wait at home and just wanted to get away so I could think. When I hat gotten to the bus stop I sat down on the sidewalk and started playing with the laces of my black and white shoes. My mind went to thing thing I had seen last night, that thing I was pretty sure wasn't just something I had seen in my mind. I also started to wonder if other people had seen this strange being as well and that I might not be the only one. That was the only thing I could think of till the bus had come, and it was the only thing that had went though my mind on the bus ride to school.
The school day was the same as any other, that is apart from the classes I had today. First I had Science, then gym, then Math for the slip class. Today I didn't have a run in with any of the four, I went to the second half of Math, and lastly I had English. I passed in all the my homework to the right classes and with that I was back on the bus and heading home. It was a pretty okay Tuesday all in all and I was hopping I could sleep in my room tonight. Though not that it matter how much sleep I got since tomorrow there's no school.
When I had gotten home I was told I had to clean the basement. I did what I was told, knowing that if I didn't I would be thrown out to sleep outside once again. The whole time I was cleaning I felt both the eyes of my foster mother and of some unseen being. I would look around every once in a while- which often got me yelled at by my foster mom since I would stop cleaning- and look around. I didn't see anyone other then the woman that had adopted me.
Almost two hours later and the whole basement was fully clean and I was aloud to both have super and sleep in my room. Though when night came around I didn't do much sleeping, I couldn't keep my eyes closed for five minutes at a time. My mind went to school and to what the other students might do to me. Would they act like Tommy, Leo, Freddy, and Alex and do anything that would harm me in some way? Would they stand back and watch as others beat me up? Or would they try and help me, something I had a feeling would never happen. They always just stood there and watched, their cold stares that held a hint of laughter in them.
I rolled over in my bed and faced the window that lay to my right. The door to my room behind my back on the left. I didn't have a lot in my room, just my bed and a dresser. Not that it really mattered, that was all I really needed after all. I have lived with the knowledge that my foster parents didn't want to waist any of their money on me for a long time and had since gotten over it.
My eyes blinked open when I saw a flash of black and white, that made me jump out of my bed and walk over to the window to see what I had seen. But when I had looked out my room window I hadn't seen anything. Most people would of dismissed it as being their imagination, but after seeing that tall man yesterday night I wasn't so sure. I sat back down on my bed and started to rub my arms as if I was cold. I sat there for about an hour before I made myself lie back down in my bed, I faced the window once again and keep my eyes locked on it. I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but I knew something was out there.
I don't remember falling asleep, just like what had happened the night before. However I woke up just before dawn. Though what I seen when I woke up made me jump up out of my bed, my eyes grew wide with shock. Standing in front of me was, now I know how crazy this sounds, but it was me. Or rather someone that had the same shape as me. He's hair was longer then mine and a bit messier too. We both had blonde hair and grey-blue eyes, the only difference is that his skin was almost a white colour and he was wearing a white sweater with black pants that had white stripes going down them. Something else that was different was that fact that he was smiling, something I just about never did.
“Look who finally woke up!” The strange man said as he waved his arms in the air in on over dramatic way. I just stood there, my mouth hung open and I wasn't sure what to say or what to think.
The smile on the strange man's face disappeared for a few seconds before it came back as big as ever. He let out a small laugh as though he had thought of something funny, and I wasn't sure but for some reason this annoyed me. And I was about to say something when he disappeared, leaving me once again standing were I was both shocked and a little confused.
I went though half of the day without seeing the strange male and when I seen him again, it was when I was walking though the tracks after having to do some cleaning around the house. I had a red mark on my cheek where my mother had slapped me after I had dropped one of her plates and after I had cleaned it up I was thrown outside my my dad. When I seen him sitting on the edge of a bridge with his toes in the water, he looked to be happy. The fish in the stream swam past his feet, some even touching them as if he wasn't even there and maybe he wasn't.
I stood where I was for a few seconds before going to join him, but I didn't let my feet hang in the water. Instead I sat on my knees and looked out a head of me. The strange male didn't move to show that he had seen me and when I looked over to him I saw that he had the same red mark on his face that I did.
“My name is Jay. Jay Barbara Thomson.” The male I now knew was Jay spoke, he had a somewhat said expression on his face.
“Pete and we have the same middle and last names.” I soon found myself talking to this strange teen.
“I know who you are.” Jay stated calmly as he moved his gaze from the slowly moving river over to me. He smiled once again, something that seemed very strange to me seeing as he had a big red mark on the right side of his face. It went silent for a while, nether one of us wanted to break the silence but I soon did when I asked; “What are you?”
“That's for you to decide.” Jay answered and then it all went silent once again. It was around this time that I started feeling watched. So I looked all around me, I did that till I saw that tall being once again. Like before he didn't move, he just stood there and watched me. I'm not sure what it was, but the longer I looked at him the more light headed I started to feel and not to long after my vision had blurred had I started coughing. It was normal coughing at first, but a little later on I started coughing up blood. This went on for about a minute or two before my vision fully cleared and I was left wheezing to catch my breath. It took another minute before my breathing was a gasping sound and a little less then that for my breathing to all by slow down. Once I had caught my breath I looked around again and that was when I saw that the tall being had once again disappeared. I looked over to my left to see if Jay was still there and when I did, I saw that he was also gone. I was no longer shocked by this and figured that I might as well walk along the tracks a little before I head back home.

When I got home I didn't even bother go inside the house, I just went to the back yard. I would of rather avoided getting thrown out of the house yet again. I sat in front of my small dog house when my foster father stepped outside. He stumbled down the stairs in an obvious sign that he was drunk, this was something I knew was bad. I got up hoping to be able to run away and get out of here, but he has seen me and made his way over to me. He moved a lot faster then he had when walking down the stairs and once he was in front of me he grabbed a hold of my arm and held me in a tight head lock. I started to struggle as his grip on me tightened, like he was a snake and I was a mouse he had caught. I had almost gotten free when he brought he free, that was now a fist and slammed it into my stomach. My mouth opened and a bit a spit was flung out as a silent scream left from my lungs. The heavier male soon had me pinned to the ground, his foot on the back of my neck. My eyes had grown wide and I then done something I had never done before. I rolled over and used my arm to push back my foster father foot, this made him stumble backwards a little and give me the time to get back to my feet. I turned around about to run when he had grabbed hold of the sleeve of my black and yellow jacket.
“Where the fuck do you think your going?” The man pulled me forward and as I stumbled towards him he used his free arm and brought it across my face. I fell backwards and this caused my jacket to rip at the sleeve. I lay on the ground stunned, my vision blurred so bad that I seen no lings and everything blended in. I was like this for a few minutes before I blacked out.