Wish Upon A Demon

7.

CHAPTER - SEVEN

I could feel demon boy’s presence next to me.

I could hear the light snapping of his fingers, the slight shifting of the bed from time to time, bored sighs coming out of his mouth every now and then, I could hear and feel everything. One of the main reasons I wasn’t getting sleep today night as well. And then something fell to my side of the bed, sliding down my comforter and onto the floor. I couldn’t tell much about what was it that fell, but then, I saw it after squinting and hoping that he didn’t notice that I was awake.

A mask.

I could tell from the minimal light shining through my balcony that the thing that lay on the floor was a mask. It was a black mask. The mask the demon wore every day when he came to ‘check up’ on me.All of a sudden, due to the budding curiosity, I found myself turning and sitting up in bed within a fraction of a second. I blinked. Before I even got the glimpse of half his face, the demon had pushed me off the bed, had taken the mask from underneath me, muttering curses under his breath. I grunted as I got up, and when I looked at him, there he was, with his mask on, shielding his face.

“Don’t. Ever. Try. That. Again.” He warned. And something about the growl in his voice and glint in his face made me want to never make the same mistake again. I got up from the bed, pointing towards the open doors of the balcony which he obviously left open when he came in through. “If you’re done, get out,” I said. Of course, I was scared, even more after what happened a few minutes ago, but I would never accept that. I would never appear as a weakling.

“What did you say?” He asked. “Get. Out.” I repeated, almost immediately. Without seeing whether he left or not, I pulled the comforter over myself as I slid into the bed. I turned to the other side. It was unlikely that he would listen to what I said. I didn’t care if he would hang me upside down on a tree branch while I’m asleep, but he had to know that disturbing my sleep every night wouldn’t be taken lightly.

However, when after a few minutes of silence, I turned to the other side, pretending to be sleep, I saw that the balcony doors were closed and the demon was nowhere in sight. And despite an unknown feeling nagging me, I forced myself to go to sleep.

I closed my eyes.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

Jennifer S. Clank stood with her hip cocked outwards, eyes skimming through her manicured nails, her heel clad foot tapping against the tiles, and chewing gum as she leaned on my locker. I approached her.

She was blowing a bubble when I stepped in front of her. Her eyes trailed up my figure before she burst the bubble.

There was a time when she was the transfer student. She had been better then, and also my classmate. However I pushed her away as I did with others, and soon, the girl who once wanted to be friends with me became someone I didn’t really favor. But who was I to comment, I wasn’t less fake either. In Jennifer’s case, she worked and changed over the summer, while I threw packets and bottles of chocolates and Nutella into the trashcan after eating them up.

And one day, I just randomly made a wish which came true because of a demon, who I also didn’t favor much.

“As much as I would be doing anything than talking to you right now, -” Oh, believe me, the feeling is mutual. I listened as she continued, “-Nolan wants me to let you know that you’re invited.” She said, the tiniest bit of jealousy masking her features.

“Invited to what?” I asked. “The party.” She said, rolling her eyes, chewing on her gum harder than usual. “What party?” I asked. “Why, Nolan’s birthday bash of course.” She said, not believing that I didn’t know that there was something like that.

I wasn’t going to lie, but I did know about Nolan’s parties. Wild, crazy were some of the words used to describe them. What surprised me was why I was invited to this ‘birthday bash’ of Nolan when I didn’t even converse with the guy properly. Actually, I had never even seen the guy close up since he’s always surrounded by his lackeys.

Nolan J. Shaw was the type of guy who never personally interacts with anyone. Sure, he had a group of his own friends, but from what I had seen, he never talked to them much as well. He hosted parties, he seemed like the typical bad boy, and he was the ‘King’ of our school, with Michael coming in second. “I-” I started, but Jealous S. Clank cut me off. I raised an eyebrow. “Nolan won’t take no for an answer.” She said and then continued, “It’s Friday night, at eight. Don’t be late.” She said, walking off, her heels clicking against the floor.

“Are you excited?” Someone piped in.

I turned behind to see demon boy looking at me, hands kept behind. “Why do you care?” I asked, opening my locker, and taking out my books. Classes were over, and I wanted to go home, but it was difficult because of someone who was in front of me. “I think it’s obligatory for me to ask how my ‘pet’ feels on being invited to her first party, right?” He asked. “No, not really,” I mumbled, slinging my bag over my shoulder, and walking off.

“What was that?” Demon boy asked me. “Well, would you not follow me for once if I go?” I asked. “No, not really.” He mimicked my previous answer. I threw my hands up in frustration and sighed. When I raised my eyes, I saw Michael walking towards me. His expression was a mixture of confusion and amusement. God, the boy probably thought that I was mad, considering how I was talking to someone no one can see.

“That boy is always up to no good.” I heard the demon mutter. “‘Always?’ How do you know him?” I mouthed. “Come on, let’s go.” My hand was taken in the leather glove-clad hand of the demon as he ran, pulling me along with him. I looked back to see Michael standing there, more confused than ever.

When we reached outside and at a safe distance from the school, my limbs were aching and I was running out of breath. This could be because I had never run that much in my entire life, and now, this demon shows up, and he makes me run like I’m in the Olympics. Demon boy looked at me. I could imagine him grinning at my expression. And then he spoke, after making me wait for five minutes since he was fixing his hair and jacket.

His answer wasn’t an exact response to my previous question.

“One day, you’ll despise that boy as much as I do.”