Midnight whisper

What can I do

The bell for the school's closing causes Blair to breathe a heavy sigh of relief.

She can’t wait to go home and just lie on her bed.

All she has to do is get through detention for strictly three hours before finally getting home.

Home?

Since when did Freevilely freely become her home?

Nowhere was going to be like home without Kimberly.

Shoving her schedule inside her back, Blair makes it down the hallway to an abandoned lab, where she has received information that detention takes place there, thanks to Clairo, who also helped her out with most of her classes today.

Getting inside the school’s abandoned lab, which smells like dirty socks and sweat, Blair slaps her palm over her mouth to prevent herself from puking.

“Stupid, Fuckin’ School!" She spits angrily.

Detention should be fair enough, but having it in a stinky room should be illegal.

The lab is dark and has only the sun’s stretchy light behind the rectangle windows to give it a dim light that goes softly around.

“Welcome” A calm, familiar voice seizes the room, and Blair feels her limbs vibrate just from the sound of the voice.

She could hear that voice from anywhere.

Nolan

“So tell me about yourself... I’d really love to know about you. Really!

“Um…” Blair unconsciously scratches her temple, staring into space, suddenly forgetting who she is.

Why wouldn’t she? Anyone who looks into such eyes is bound to forget who they are.

“I’m not really much,” Blair fidgets, looking everywhere but at him.

"C'mon, we’ve been over this like a hundred times. I thought we were friends; friends are supposed to know each other. Tell each other things.”

He’s right, and Blair knows it.

But why can’t she just let loose?

He takes a step from the rock on which he’s sitting and moves to the edge of the small river before coming close to her.

His presence engulfs her existence immediately; he feels like water and light, like thin, wet, and warm fur frizzling around your limbs and insides, and despite hating his aura because it always feels new and strange, It is also irresistible.

She lets out a groan.

She is getting so used to the energy around him, which she shouldn’t.

“C’mon… I already told you my name like a hundred times. I'm—

“I know! You’re Nolan” She cuts him off, catching a glimpse of his aqua eyes circled by his thick, dark lashes, already mesmerized by the river tides and glistening under the evening sun.

She likes how everything easily catches his attention and gets him to stare like a child.

"So... tell me your name. You know mine." He shrugs.

“I—

Blair's eyes slowly flutter open, and her first view is her high ceiling.

She slams her alarm to shut it up and slowly sits up.

Letting out a yawn, she looks down at her hand, tossing every feeling of derealization.

Another recurring dream revolving around Nolan, which feels so real.

It’s only a matter of time before she starts seeing him when she wakes up.

For a moment, she didn’t want to wake up.

Because reality stinks, and every day without Kimberly is going to be worse.

Blair sighs and throws her comforter to the side of her bed, getting on her feet to get ready for school.

-

"Blair your father and I have been wanting to talk to you about something.

There’s a pause in the air, and Blair freezes.

A random, frigid, frozen state she did not arrange in her head.

She immediately shoves a text book in her backpack, breaking her frozen state so as not to scare her mother away.

“Mom, you know I have to get to school early... It’s my first day, and I can’t let anyone or anything

“Please…” Regina cuts her off, leaving a crease on her forehead and a dry, uncertain expression as she stares at her daughter, who she can tell already knows what’s coming.

"Mom!" Blair calls.

“Just hear me out, and I’ll leave you to go to school." Regina sighs

Blair nods and takes a seat on her bed.

Holding her breath, she watches her mother’s lips release the words she doesn’t want to hear.

“Your dad and I have decided to get a divorce.”

The room goes silent, and Blair searches the quiet room for a noise. Any noise at all with her big hazel eyes, framed with curled-up lashes almost shaped like the letter O, searching the room except her mother’s face.

"Blair, honey, say something,” Regina sighs, rubbing her palms together.

“I don’t know what to say, mom. If you were me, what would you say?” Blair gets on her feet and slides her hands right into her backpack.

"Well, okay, I understand. We’ll talk about this when you get back. Have a fun first day of school. I hope you make new friends."Regina grins, trying not to sound nervous, but she fails as she tries.

Blair, almost a foot taller than her mother, looks down at her. A wave of resentment and anger flashes across her soft features, but she brushes it off immediately.

She let out a nod and a faux smile before storming out the door and feeling her eyes gather the worst tears they could possibly find in her eyes.

She said it was a fun first day of school.

Ever since they moved to this town a month ago, Blair could feel her parents grow distant, every secret fight they had when they thought she was asleep. She knew it would lead to this.

And now it was happening—a divorce?

And she thought moving to a new town and starting over with friends and school was her worst nightmare.

And now a divorce. It couldn’t get any worse; she already lost her older sister. This wouldn’t help.

-

The late April wind feels colder as Blair makes it past sixteen houses from her home.

Staring down at her phone to understand the town’s dumb map as she made her way to school, Blair finds herself almost smashing her phone as her mind gets warped up.

Looking around the empty road with its creepy willow trees and empty sidewalk, she glances down at her phone again, confirming she isn’t lost.

“Are you lost?” An unfamiliar voice echoes down the path, and Blair finds herself turning around to meet an old woman, dressed in surely one of the most expensive, overly nice-looking outfits she’s ever seen.

Moving from the city to the countryside, Blair could clarify that the people in Freevilely didn’t put much effort into their outfits, unlike the city’s.

But this old lady was an exception.

“I don’t know. I’m not quite sure." Blair waves her phone at the lady.

“You’re on your way to school, right?” She asks.

She looks quite sophisticated and fancy; even her accent could tell she breathed money and not air.

"Yes,” Blair beams.

"Well, you’re on the wrong path, dear. Nobody takes this road. I can see you’re a new face in Freevilely, dear. We don’t have a lot of people in town, and Freevilely might seem empty today because half of everyone is at school. But do not worry. Just take the other path down to school, and you’re good to go. Freevilely is a small town, so every road leads to school, but take that one. It’s short, and it saves lives.” The old lady grins.

Blair finds her jaw almost dropping; she wasn’t much of a talker herself, and meeting an old lady ready to speak in one breath amused her a bit.

"Well, thank you,” Blair says, giving her a genuine smile.

“It’s what I do, honey. I’m Rita, by the way.” The lady smiles, her smile all wrinkly, but it didn’t hide her perfect cherry lipstick and flushed rosy cheeks.

“Blair” Blair tucks her red hair behind her ears.

She says her last goodbye before walking down the road Rita had directed her down.

-

Almost getting to her new direction, which seems secluded and dark, despite the blaring morning sun, the road had thicker trees that created heavy shades, blocking out the sun and allowing just the wind.

Blair stops on her tracks and feels herself shiver.

The road is creepy, and there is no way she’s going to walk down the path just because of school.

Shaking her head, the wind gives Blair a little toss around her back, making her feel something empty behind her.

And then follows the sound of a heavy footstep.

“Uh… hey? Your backpack is open."An unfamiliar, closed-in, and subtle voice takes up the small space behind her, and a hand reaches for her backpack, zipping it up before she can do or react to anything.

Are all the people in town privacy invaders? Not that she minds.

Blair turns around and gets a feeling of deja vu.

But instead of an old lady, she sees a tall, pretty girl around her age, also with a backpack, dressed in a brown knit sweater and heavy blue jeans that cover parts of her black boots.

“Th-thanks?” Blair chokes on her words.

“It’s nothing.” The girl beams, “I’m Cairo.”

"Blair,” Blair says, pursing her lips.

Two introductions on her first day outside.

Well, that’s a first, because, if Blair could recall, she’s really bad at making friends.

“Do you go to Marina? Wait, Marina is the only school in Freevilely, so of course."Cairo rolls her ocean-blue eyes, yielding a smile.

“Yeah. I’m on my way to Marina. I’m kind of new in town,” Blair shrugs.

"Yeah, I know; everyone knows,” Cairo scoffs.

Blair's social anxiety kicks in immediately.

“Wait what? How?"

She’s never walked out her door since she moved into Freevilely; today’s a first.

“It’s a pretty small town; we know everyone that goes in and out,” Cairo shrugs.

Cairo is really pretty, and Blair can see that. Such overflowing golden blond hair that can get your eyes hooked on it and just want to enchant you to strum it, and a dimpled smile that covers her steep cheeks.

Blair suddenly starts to feel that low-blow inferiority complex.

Nobody told her the kids here would look too good.

Pretty people are intimidating.

“But what are you doing in front of the B-road?” Cairo asks, glancing at the horrible road engulfed by trees.

“Oh.. I saw this lady, Rita, and she told me it’s the path to school and the shortest, but is it? Because it looks a bit dark and creepy. And it’s called the B-road?” Blair holds her breath.

"Yeah, bad road; it’s hella’ creepy; a lot of things happen there. Nobody takes that way to school. This is where everyone takes it.” Clairo's voice is crystal clear as she points to the first path Blair’s phone map had assigned to her.

Blair scoffs, “I swear I was going to take that road until this Rita lady told me about this creepy B-road.”

Clairo smiles, seeing the frustrated look on Blair’s face.

"Well, count yourself lucky. I go to Marina. I was born in Freevilely, and I know this town like I know my name. So we go that way.” Clairo slips her hand around Blair’s shoulder, redirecting her feet to the other road.

"Well, thank you again.” Blair breathes a sigh of relief.

“You’re welcome. What are friends for?” Clairo beams.

Friends? Now that’s something Blair never saw coming.

And she thought making friends was going to be hard.