The Wallflower Ch 02

/// I thank everyone for the support. I would really love for more criticism for this chapter. Write me in the comments what I can work on in the next chapter and even tell me what I'm doing right. I'm mentally prepared that not all comments will be positive, just as long as you leave criticism, I don't mind. But remember there is a difference between mean comments and actual critiquing. I hope you enjoy this story. I will be posting weekly. Thank You and please leave a comment  Have an awesome day///

'I can't believe I'm doing this.'

Lily sighed as she brushed her teeth with the toothbrush borrowed from the woman.

'Hell, I don't even know the woman's name. Yet I borrowed a toothbrush from her.'

She looked out the door at her roommate who had not even moved at all since she got here. Just laid there asleep in his bed all day.

'I don't even know who this guy is. For all you know he could be a rapist.'

She cleaned out her mouth with water to remove the remnants of toothpaste. When she looked back up at herself in the mirror, she frowned.

'Even if he was, he wouldn't want to touch me.'

She gazed at a girl who was too dark in complexion that kept most boys from even considering to date her. The small almond shaped eyes were hidden behind thin spectacles. She had high prominent cheek bones but believed that couldn't save her face from being considered ugly. The only saving grace she considered to be beautiful was her full lips. Her classmates had always said she had a beautiful smile, but she barely did that at all.

Finding the need to escape from her disparaging thoughts, Lily turned off the bathroom lights and walked to her bed. She sat down on her bed and began to undo her pants. With a quick look behind her, she made sure her roommate didn't miraculously decide to wake up before pulling down her pants all the way. Now that she was only clad in a t-shirt and a thong, she got up and pulled back the covers to get in. She looked at Nicholas again to ensure he wasn't looking. She knew he was asleep but...that didn't shake the feeling of someone watching her.

Without another moment of hesitation, she climbed into bed and tried her hardest to fall asleep. She turned over on her side and closed her eyes but sleep continued to evade her. Her weary eyes found their way to rest on Nicholas since she wasn't going to get any rest anytime soon.

Thanks to the slight part in the windows that separated their beds, she could make out only the shape of his body. His body structure was slender, but not so slender to be considered skinny. Unlike other girls, Lily didn't care too much for guys who had a thick body of muscle. Don't get her wrong. It wasn't that she wasn't attracted to guys with muscle. She just wasn't attracted to swole guys that looked as if they could rip their shirt and become the Incredible Hulk. Even though she couldn't tell for sure how big he was under his blankets, she could at least agree that he had a nice slender shape.

His large height seemed to nicely complement his slight t frame. He was so large that he had to scrunch his body in an almost fetal position. Considering the size of the bed, she guessed his height to be about 6"3, maybe even 6"5.

Even though most his body was covered by heavy blankets, she strained her eyes hard to see the sliver of his neck that was exposed to the outside light. It was hard to get an exact idea of his skin tone because the light casted a dark blue hue over his skin. She finally gave up after awhile when she found it useless to make it out in the bad lighting.

"I guess I'll get a better chance to see what he looks like tomorrow," Lily said as she reached over to the bedside table to put her glasses away. She settled in with the covers over her head continuing to think about how her new roommate might look. She had even thought about what kind of person he was in general. Was he friendly? Was he kind? Or was he the kind of guy who would be a jerk and remind her how much she lacked in her appearance. Unknowing to her, her consciousness began to fade...

SLAM!

A loud scream followed.

Lily woke up bolt upright with wide eyes and looked to the door of her room. The slam had come from this room. She knew that. It had to. It wasn't a faint sound from another room or down below. It was thunderous and near. Even though the curtains were still open, the previous light had long left the room as midnight came. She blindly reached over to her bedside table for her glasses, but a pair of eyes stopped her movement.

Where Nicholas was sleeping were a pair of glowing otherworldly red eyes that stared right into hers. The eyes peeked out from the darkness of his hair that made his eyes look predatory. The longer he stared at her, the quicker her heart beat inside her chest until it sounded like a fast beating drum in her ears. She wanted to get up and run but his red eyes held her in place. The eyes seemed to dare her to move. To move out of his control. For her to be recaptured and regain control.

Just as sudden as the eyes had appeared, the eyes drooped slowly back to slumber. Casting the room back into darkness. Lily let out a ragged breath that she didn't know that she had been holding in. After that came another. And another. And another to the point it was full on hyperventilation.

'What the hell? What the hell?! What the hell?!? No! What the fuck was that?!'

She stared back wide eyed at the bed beside hers. She felt the panic rise up in her like bile in her throat as her breathing continued to intensify.

'What am I doing still sitting here?!'

Lily grabbed her glasses miraculously in the dark.

'I need to get out!'

She scrambled out of bed and raced to the door, twisting the door knob with such force it could have ripped the doorknob off. But it didn't. The rattling of a locked door was all she heard.

'No...,'

she thought as she jiggled the doorknob again. She began to bang on the door with her fists in frustration.

'No. NO! NO! NO!'

With one last bang, she screamed, "LET ME OUT OF HERE!" Her chest heaved up and down with each ragged breath ripping out of her body. She closed her eyes and began thinking

'What did I get myself into? What the fuck is Nicholas?'

As soon as she thought it, she heard a slow scratching on the far right wall of the room and could see a light from her peripheral vision. She didn't want to look. She didn't want to see what the cause of the noise was. But her need to put curiosity to rest had to be fulfilled. She turned her head slowly and opened her eyes, expecting to see Nicholas. But it wasn't Nicholas.

'Is this a dagger I see before me?'

A dagger it was. A dagger that scratched itself into an illuminated wall. A wall that had seemed to have no actual light source. A wall that seemed to be scratched with blood.

The sight had made her laugh. What the fuck was wrong with her? This could not be real. This vision was like that of a scene from Macbeth. She had to be dreaming. Or crazy like poor Macbeth. Because such things do not happen in reality.

Who are you?

Those were the words written on the wall. When she was about to speak, more words were written.

Write your answer on the wall.

With that written, the knife floated to her. Waiting for her to grab the knife. She noticed the dried blood stains that covered the whole entire handle. This had to be dream. This wasn't real. She shakingly reached out to grab the handle. And she could feel the undeniable thick layer of blood that had long crusted over.

'This is real. This blade is real. This...ghost is real.'

She stared out blankly across the room to the wall written in blood.

Somehow she got herself up and walked across the room to the wall. She casted her eyes underneath the words and focused all her will on just writing. There was no room to let in the craziness of this whole situation. Her breathing increased once more as she firmly carved the words into the walls.

I am Lily. Who are you?

She quickly placed down the knife and wiped the dried blood off her legs. The knife once again was picked up by its apparitional owner and began writing. She read the next words slowly and out loud:

"I am Nicholas."

She took a look behind her but Nicholas was still there. How could this apparition be Nicholas when Nicholas was lying right there? She picked up the knife again and wrote down shaky letters on the wall.

But Nicholas is sleeping in the bed.

The knife was taken from her hand and the words written next both scared and puzzled her.

So you think.

Then the wall lost its light, casting the room back into darkness.

~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~

Lily couldn't sleep. Of course the hell she couldn't! She just talked to a ghost who claimed to be Nicholas when Nicholas was sleeping in the bed right beside her! It didn't make any sense! How the fuck was that possible?

At least one of her questions was answered. The room was so cheap because you have to share a room with a ghost who loved to talk to people with a knife! And a body on top of that. No one wanted the damn room after one night because there's so much insanity after just one night. She wondered why the woman even bothered to rent this place. No idiot would actually live here voluntarily.

She brought her knees up to her chest and laughed at herself as thought crossed her mind. It was funny how one mystifying question would be replaced with several other strange and unusual questions. Why would this woman put an unrentable room up for sale? Why does a ghost need to use a knife to communicate? Why do the dead claim to be the living?

Thinking of the last question, she turned to look at Nicholas. The answer maybe that he isn't alive. She's never seen him wake up except for that one time, but that can be easily explained by the possibility of a ghost possessing a dead body.

'That's not right, idiot. Ghosts possess people who are alive.'

Maybe. But that doesn't get rid of the fact that he's never physically moved. Not even to roll around in his sleep. She hadn't seen him do any human routines like go to the bathroom or get up and eat. Only sleep.

As morning was approaching, she was able to get a better look at his skin tone. From the glimpse of his neck, he was very pale. Pale as death. The more she looked at Nicholas, the more she believed he was dead. It was possible. She didn't know the landlady. She could be one of those people who sheltered dead bodies. She needed to make sure first.

She crawled out of bed and went to go turn on the lights. She looked back at the body in the bed and walked over. One sign of life was breathing, so she decided to put her finger under his nose. With a sigh, she pushed his messy black hair out of his face. She swallowed slowly as she gazed at him.

This guy was sexy as hell! He had nice flawless skin. Yes, it was pale, but it only added to his attractiveness. She actually thought it was a turn on, depending on the person. He had long black eyelashes that rested against the fullness of his cheek. As her gaze traveled down his slim nose, she zeroed in on his lips. They were the right amount of fullness that made them look normal instead of looking like he had two sausages for lips. He had a nice cupid's bow that made his lips all the more inviting. And they looked so soft.

'Dude, you could be getting wet for a dead man.'

With that disgusting thought, she immediately placed her finger underneath his nose. She let out a happy sigh when she felt air brush against her finger. Letting her hand rest at her side again, she looked again at his face. If she guessed, he had to be about early twenties. She was sure enough that he definitely wasn't a teenager. His facial structure was too prominent and mature to be any age other than his twenty's.

'Maybe I should check if his heart is beating right. Just to check.'

She gingerly pulled down the covers to make sure she didn't wake him.

'I'll just put the covers back once I'm done.'

When she pulled the blankets down to his hips, heat rushed to her face. He was still slender, but he wasn't soft either. He had lean muscles in his arms that lead to veins that stood out on the back of his large hands. His chest may not have been chiseled, but they were well defined. As she began looking down, she noticed the well defined V that led to-

'I thought you were going to check out his heart, not everything else.'

Rolling her eyes at herself, she rolled him on his back as best as she could and positioned herself where she could listen to his heart. The beat of his heart was even and strong. Without a doubt, this guy was very much alive.

"The fuck? I knew I was a pussy magnet, but c'mon." The voice was very deep, masculine, but lazy. And seemed to come from the very person who she thought was dead. The embarrassment of it all made her tense. She dared to look up to find a pair of sleepy gray eyes looking at her. She tried to breathe out very slowly, but all she let out was a loud scream.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Nicholas looked at her annoyed with his pinky finger in his left ear.

"I was just checking your heartbeat!" she shouted back. He raised one eyebrow as he looked at her confused.

"Really? Because it looks to me like you're about to mount me and ride me for all I'm worth." She looked down at herself and realized that not only was she straddling his lap in only a t-shirt and a skimpy thong, but her lower half was pressed against his crotch. And his morning wood was poking right against her bottom. "And feels to me like you weren't going to have a rough ride." A crooked smile crossed his face and wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Lily could only deal with so much humiliation for one day. She quickly got off of him, grabbed her pants off the floor and slammed the door. Behind the door, she could hear him say, "Oh c'mon! I would've let you have a free ride!"

~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~

She finally got out of the bathroom when she heard the door to the room open. There was no sign of Nicholas to be seen.

'Thank God. If I can get out of here without seeing him, that will make my day.'

She looked at the opposite wall and noticed that there was no sign of the blood she had seen last night either. Only a multitude of indescribable scratching on the once golden painted wall.

'Strange.'

She looked down at her palms and noticed there were no traces of blood as well.

'This makes no sense.'

She walked down the stairs towards the kitchen where she heard the clanging of pots and pans.

'All I have to do is tell this woman there is no way in hell I could possibly stay here.'

She let out a breath and walked into the kitchen. The words died in her mouth as she saw the person cooking at the stove.

"Hey there, cowgirl." Nicholas gave her the same crooked smile as before. He still hadn't changed out of his night clothes at all, which only consisted of a pair of boxers.

'So much for leaving here with my dignity.'

"Where's your mom, Nicholas," Lily sighed, already getting annoyed.

"Out."

"For how long?"

"Don't know." He looked back at her and snickered to himself.

God, this guy was annoying! She had only officially met the guy two hours ago and all he did was find away to get underneath her skin. Now the asshole was laughing at her! She glared right into his naked back.

"What's so funny?"

"Your face." He glanced back at her and began to chuckle.

Her mood darkened all the more. "What about it?" she gritted out.

"Hold your horses, cowgirl. I was just thinking how cute you look when you're angry."

'Asshole....he's actually enjoying this.'

"Well could you tell your mom that I decided not to take the room?"

He stopped his movement and looked back at her with an amused look. "I actually was hoping you'd stay. It would be nice to have a roommate into fucking me while I'm sleep." He gave her another one of his perverted crooked smiles.

"Bye, Nicholas." She turned her body and headed towards the door.

When she closed the door, she swore she heard him say, "Bye, Lily."

~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~

Pulling up the curb to her parents' house, she sat back in her seat exhausted. She knew things had to be good to be true. 150 dollars a month for a room. Yeah, for a room that was haunted by a ghost who could only communicate by scratching on the wall with a murder weapon. A ghost that swore he was a living man along with that. Who knows who had possibly been killed in that house – let alone that room. She didn't want to stick around to figure it out.

She was desperate to find a place of her own, but she wasn't that desperate. What was the point of leaving one crazy situation for an even crazier situation? She shook her head of the thought and got out of her car. She noticed a dozen large garbage bags on the curb.

'Maybe its trash day.'

She shrugged and went up to the front door and put her key in the lock. Before she could even fully open the door, her mom came out and slammed the door behind her.

"Don't come in my house," she said low and calm. Lily knew better. It was anything but calm.

"Ma, I just-"She received a sharp push that had her falling down the front steps and landing right on her back. A gush of air left her body. She struggled for breath for a few seconds. As she regained her breath, her mom stood above her, glaring down at her.

"I said, don't come in my house! You can't stay here no more!" Spit spluttered on Lily's face as her mom fought to get the words. Her brown eyes were like smoldering eyes boring into her as Lily let the words sink in. She was getting kicked out.

"Should've done this sooner. Your nothing but cancer when you're around. Doing everything you can to ruin my image in the community. Making me look like a damn fool! I refuse to let you ruin me! YOU HEAR ME! I WORKED TOO DAMN HARD TO GET HERE! I AIN'T LETTING YOU FUCK THAT UP!" After she was done ranting, she let her anger simmer down and become more composed. She looked around before helping her daughter off the concrete pathway. Not because she wanted to. But because she was being watched.

"Last night was the last straw. You were out all night without telling me where you are. You think other people don't notice around here?" She looked at Lily as if to say 'Stupid girl'. "You think I don't know where you were last night? You were sleeping in a room with a grown man." Her voice got hard again. "I don't have whores in my family. And I refuse to keep a slut for a daughter. I don't give a damn if you did come from me. You ain't mine."

Insider Lily's mind was that of a living hell. She did call to say where she'd be. She did say what she was doing. What had she done that was so wrong? So what she slept in the same room as a man. SO FUCKING WHAT?! Because of what it appeared to be?! THAT WAS IT?! Lily wanted to scream it but she was too numb to talk.

"I put all your trash in those bags. You take that and put it in your car and go wherever you want. Don't come back here no more." With that, her mom snatched the house key out Lily's hand and walked back in the house, slamming it behind her. Lily stood there with everything inside her in turmoil. The emotions inside her fought for dominance over one another inside her brain. The words and the curses fought alongside with the emotions which came out as a jumbled mess. All the war and turmoil inside her soon became borderline explosive. Then she finally exploded.

"A WHORE?! A WHORE?! REALLY?! I'M THE WHORE?! THE VIRGIN IS THE WHORE?! YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU'RE THE WHORE!! YOU'RE THE SOCIETY SLUT! YOU DO EACH AND EVERYTHING AND PROBABLY ANYONE AS LONG AS YOUR IMAGE LOOKS GOOD!" she turned around and spotted people looking out their doors and windows. At that point she didn't give a damn. "DON'T BE CONFUSED PEOPLE!! A SLUT LIVES HERE!" Once the explosion was done, the aftermath had followed.