Cellar 33

The bell rang just as Randal and Alice got inside the room. Alice slid into her seat next to Andrew, leaving Randal alone in the back of the room. She felt a tinge of regret for not sitting next to him, but she had to give her boyfriend some attention since this was one of the only two classes they had together.
Randal didn’t mind sitting alone though – it gave him time to think. There were only a few months left to the school year anyway. He didn’t have to pass any classes at this new school because he’d already passed them in his old school. It was just for appearance that he finished high school – it would be useful for him in the end.
It was useful to Randal that the Mr. Melvin wasn’t there either. He had all the time in the world that he needed to think about his situation and new life. He lived with his Grandmother in a beat up house off the beaten path, near the cemetery in town. Randal crumpled up his schedule and threw it on the ground when the thought about his new home.
Cemeteries never sat well with him, even before his father was buried. It was even worse the day he saw his father get buried.

Randal stood away from the crowd dressed in all black like everyone else. Somehow Randal stood out though. He wasn’t crying and didn’t even look sad like everyone else. He was . . . happy. Well inside he didn’t feel happy but he had a smirk that spoke of happiness.
“Why are you so happy?” Morgan asked, his only girlfriend in his old town. “Your father died. And it was all your fault. You’re stupid OCD and that special ability of yours. Of all people you should be upset!” Then she stormed off and he never talked to her again.
For the rest of the funeral Randal stood against a tree and stared off into space, trying to control his attention for detail. He couldn’t help it. It was driving him insane. He found every person that had two different shades of black on and it took him all of his will power to not talk to them.
Everything is all wrong, Randal thought. All he could imagine was what his dad would say if he was still alive. ‘I hate blue flowers. Who picked blue? Why am I in a white coffin? I’m not a girl; give me a brown maple coffin – a real coffin!’
Randal laughed to himself. No one heard him this time. He looked up at the crowd around the headstone and rolled his eyes. All of this for one death, he thought. Sometimes things seemed pointless to him, like funerals or even celebrations for birthdays. Why do humans want to celebrate getting older anyway? It’s just another year closer to death.
Then he just turned away to walk through the forest – there was nothing else for him to do anyway. His father’s death was his fault and he couldn’t bear the pain of being there anymore.

“Go make nice with him,” Alice said, holding onto Andy’s arm. “He needs a friend.” She looked over her shoulder at the slumped over Randal in the back of the room. His eyes were closed like he was fast asleep in the middle of a dream.
Andy shook his head from side to side and then forced a smile when Alice looked back at him. “Alice, I don’t think he wants any friends. Look at him, sleeping back there. I don’t think he wants to be disturbed.” Andy looked over his shoulder too for a second. He almost felt bad for Randal but he didn’t like the way he acted – hanging out with Alice and sleeping in the middle of class. It just didn’t sit well with him.
Alice wanted Randal to feel like he fit in, but Andy wasn’t going to just stop her like that. “Fine, if you won’t talk to him, I will.” She let go of Andy’s arm and slid around in her chair. Andy grabbed her and pulled her back.
“No, I don’t want you talking to him. Let him sleep. Talk him in your next class.” Out of sight out of mind, Andy thought. “Just let him be for now.”
“Fine,” Alice said. She spun around and sat staring at Andy. He smiled and she smiled unconsciously. It was impossible for her to be mad at him for more than two minutes at a time.

Randal stared at Alice and Andrew. What a great couple, he thought. His eyes were set on Alice. He wanted her as his girlfriend, but he wasn’t going to get that with Andrew around. When she looked back at him again, he smiled his best smile, all his teeth showing.
Familiarity – and to think I didn’t want that, he thought. Something was boiling in his mind as he closed his eyes again. As long as it looked like he was sleeping no one would notice his eyes. His eyes gave away everything. Any person in the room could tell he was strange by the way his eyes darted back and forth when he had nothing else to do.
His curse always overcame him in a claustrophobic room with thirty kids. It was times like these where he notice a hair out of place or a spot on the window. But there were also the times when he dreamt about the past and how he could’ve changed it.
Luckily for him the bell was about to ring.

Andy had major doubts about Randal. He looked back at him. Randal’s eyes were open and darting around the room, focusing on one thing for only a split second. “What’s wrong with him?” Andy asked out loud on accident.
“What do you mean?” Alice said, glancing back at him. “The way his eyes dart back and forth. He never looks at one thing the entire time . . .”
Alice’s eyebrows rose. “That’s weird.” She couldn’t help but stare at him. For the last few minutes she sat there looking at the way his eyes just moved almost like he wasn’t controlling any of it. “I wonder why . . .”
And then, the bell rang.