Thanatophobia

I spent the next day getting acquainted with the huge house to keep my mind off of school. There were three bedrooms on each floor, a sitting room, a double garage, dining room, kitchen, laundry room, rec room in the basement, and more closets than I could count. This was every girl's dream house, but to me it felt like a prison. I could imagine why Nick felt so lonely in it, too.

There was a bar downstairs, but all the booze were locked up tight. In the kitchen, the medicine was locked in the cabinets, knives, scissors, nail clippers, anything I could have used to harm myself were in the pantry, behind locked doors. I couldn't even get out of the house- all the doors were locked from the outside. "Congrats, Nick," I said to myself, giving up on my exploration and sitting at the bay window in my room. "You're a better babysitter than our own parents."

Of course, there were many creative ways I could kill myself, like I could dive headfirst from the top of the stairs onto the shiny tiled floor in the foyer. I could drown myself in the bathtub or electrocute myself. But that wasn't really fair to Nick.

You'll ruin everyone's lives. The boy's words rang around in my head, sinking in a little. I didn't care about anyone else's well being in my family, to be honest. But Nick was more or less trying his best.

So I was a good girl for the rest of the day, but when morning came, I was livid.

Nick was nowhere to be found, his car wasn't in the garage and he wouldn't answer his phone. On the fifth call, he finally picked up.

"What?" He hissed.

"Um, forgetting something?" I asked with the same hostility in my voice.

"You mean the fact that I should be in class now, but since you're blowing up my phone, I had to take the call?"

I rolled my eyes. "No. Who's taking me to school?"

"You are taking you to school," he groaned, like this was the plan all along.

"Nick, dear," I said condescendingly. "I don't drive. Did Sheri leave that detail out when she was giving you all those instructions on what doors to lock from me?"

He was silent for a moment, and I swear he was blushing. "Shelby, I can't take you to school. Stop being a baby and drive yourself."

My stomach turned. "I'm being a baby? Really?" I spat into the phone.

"Yes, you're being a baby. Your life back on the shore may have been a lot more cushy, what with your driver and maids, but I don't have the means to drive you everywhere. I have school, too. Don't be a spoiled brat like everyone expects you to be."

"When the hell did you become such an asshole?" I screamed into the phone.

"Damn it, Shelby!" Nick fumed. "Just because I'm in charge of watching you doesn't mean you get to walk around like a spoiled bitch who gets everything she wants! You're so full of yourself! Either princess learns to drive, or she walks to school. Sorry Tom's not here to wait on your hand and foot."

"Fuck you," I yelled and threw my phone at the wall. The battery went flying and the screen shattered, leaving shards of plastic strewn across the hallway. I just stepped over it and stormed into the kitchen, where a cordless phone was sitting on the counter. I looked up the number for a cab business and called one to pick me up.

It took twenty minutes for the guy to even get there, then twenty five more before I got to the school. Great, I was late on my first day and it was all thanks to Nick. He was such an idiot.

I had to check in at the attendance office, which was completely deserted. I sat down at one of the cold, metal chairs against the wall and waited for five minutes before someone walked in.

"Hello," the girl sang. She looked like a student, not a secretary, but sat down at one of the desks anyway. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail and she was wearing big hoop earrings. Her pale blue eyes crinkled as she smiled up at me. "And you are?"

I sighed and stood up from my chair. "Shelby Hamilton. I need my schedule."

She started typing into the computer, then suddenly stopped. "Wait," she said with a smile still pasted onto her face. "You're Shelby Hamilton?"

No, I'm George Clooney. "Yeah."

"Like are your parents Lloyd and Sheri Hamilton?" Her eyes were sparkling, like she was meeting a celebrity. And trust me, I was far from it.

"Yeah." My conversational skills amazed me.

"That's crazy!" the girl commented, resuming her quick typing. "My parents love your dad. Well, like they don't love him love him, but they're totally voting for him. And your mom is amazing, like she does so much for our community and--"

She stopped for a second, concentrated on the screen. "Ooh, here it is!" She clicked on something and behind her the printer started up. "I made you two copies, in case something happens to it the first time. Oh, and I changed your lunch so we can sit together. Is that all right? I figured it'd be nice to have someone familiar to sit with."

The girl got up and handed me the copies of my schedule. "I'm Lucy, by the why," she beamed, standing tall with perfect posture. "Do you need any help getting to your class?"

I raised an eyebrow, still in shock by how much this girl could talk. She reminded me of my mother, but Lucy seemed more genuine. Unlike my mother, she didn't have that fake glaze of "I'm happy, can't you tell?" over her eyes. I could understand, though, why she was a role model of Lucy.

She didn't wait for me to answer and led me out into the hall. "So what brings you to Princeton?" she asked.

"My brother lives here, so I just wanted to spend more time with him," I lied.

"That's nice," she said. It was probably the shortest sentence she'd used since I met her.

Behind us, a voice called out. "Lucy!" he shouted. "Phyllis is looking for you!"

"Oh jeez," she breathed. "That old secretary..."

She squeezed my arm. "I have to go take care of this, is it all right if Cameron shows you around?"

"Yeah, it's fine," I said, turning around and finding myself face to face with Cameron.

But by then Lucy was gone, and I realized it was absolutely not fine.

"You're Cameron?" I muttered, mostly to myself.

He ran his fingers through the curly brown hair on his head, out of his brown eyes. "What are the chances?" he asked with a look on his face that probably looked more horrified than mine. "I can't believe you're alive..."

I shook my head, white hot anger swirling around inside me. I couldn't say anything and instead just glared at the boy who saved my life on the cliff.