The blue moon

Only 30 minutes to go.

I stared at the clock suppressing a yawn, just like I had been doing for the last ten minutes. 

Chemistry was never my cup of tea and especially when I had to learn about it at the end of the day.

I looked around, everyone was busy in their own world, gossiping, doodling, taking notes, or staring at their books, I turned my gaze towards the sky, looking at the clouds how they were floating aimlessly in the wide blue sky. 

It was until I heard a whisper, "Eleanor."

I turned my head towards the left to look at the source of the voice, "What?" I asked in a whisper.

"Are you coming to the party tonight?" my lab partner, Anna asked, her green eyes shining with excitement. 

I was never a fan of parties, I enjoyed the silence and the company of my books. But Anna was a whole different story, ever since I got to know her, she was always talking about going to the party, the only problem was that she rarely got invited to one. I could understand the reason for her excitement but that's not how I planned to spend my weekend. I could not take the risk of getting bad grades, it was the final year and my chance of getting away from everyone. I had everything planned for my perfect life.

I gave her a small smile, "I am sorry, Anna. I can't, it is supposed to be family weekend."

She scoffed, "Your family weekend must mean spending time in some luxurious place," she whispered writing chemical reactions in her notebook.

Ignoring her comment, I looked towards my nearly empty notebook, making small animals on the corner to pass the remaining time.

I was not exactly popular in the school but I was not invisible as well. People knew me, or rather they knew my parents. My family was one of the oldest families in the town, they were known by everyone, they were respected by everyone.

I preferred being invisible.

Finally, the bell rang pulling me out of my thoughts, and I picked up my bag not wasting another minute. I could hear the footsteps of Anna behind me, but I increased my speed.

.

.

Opening the door, I was welcomed by the silence. The silence and the emptiness were not new feelings for me, it was something I got used to with time.

"Eleanor, would you like to eat something?" asked Olivia with a smile on her face, wrinkles forming around the corner of her eyes as she smiled at me.

She stood in the living room, hair tucked neatly in a low bun.

"No thank you, I am not hungry," I gave her a smile and walked towards my room.

I plopped on the bed that was in the middle of my lavender room and closed my eyes, wind chimes ringing softly on the window. A faint tinge of purple spreading in the room from the light passing through the curtains. 

I enjoyed the silence with the company of my thoughts, it was until the ringing of my phone pierced through the room.

It was Faith, my sister.

"Hey baby sis," came her loud voice from the other end.

"That's a surprise, getting a call from my lovely sister at weekend."

There was silence from her side for a while, "I am sorry, El. I know I was supposed to be there but you know..."

"Yeah, you got some work at the last time," I replied before she could complete her sentence.

"Mom and dad will come back next week," she tried to change the subject, which did not help at all.

Mom and dad were vising Faith, they wanted to see if she was doing okay at her new work. 

"Okay, cool," I gave a curt reply, not in the mood to continue the conversation.

"El..."

"Faith, I am tired right now. I will talk to you later," with that I disconnected the call.

Faith was the perfect daughter my parents always wished for, she was smart, she was beautiful, she was the perfect lady my mother raised her to be. Everyone liked her, when she was around every eye would be on her, she had a charm, she knew how to talk to people in the proper way. I, on the other hand, always became a nervous mess whenever I was around too many people. It was one of the reasons I always avoided the fancy parties, Faith kept rambling about.

I opened my laptop and started working on the assignment that was due in 4 days.

Faith and I were close as kids, she was my best friend but everything changed once she turned fifteen, our parents one day announced she would live with our grandmother. It was not easy for either of us, but we knew better than to argue with our parents.

They had rules, the rules we had to follow, never talk back, always maintain the family's reputation, and do not bring friends in the house. 

After working for almost two hours, the growling of my stomach reminded me that I hadn't eaten anything.

Making my way to the kitchen, I took the food out on the plate and walked to the dining room that had ten chairs around the table, I took a seat on the corner and started eating my food slowly.

With a sigh, I put the empty plate in the kitchen and instead of walking to my room made my way towards the front door.

The moon was shining brightly in the dark, illuminating everything with its light, there was a faint glow everywhere. 

My feet started moving in a random direction, I kept walking for almost 15 minutes, enjoying the feeling of the light breeze on my face.

I stopped walking when I realized I was standing in front of a park, it was the same park where I used to play as a child. Walking towards the swing I sat there, gazing at the moon with a smile playing on my lips. 

I sat there without the knowledge of time, that was until I heard shuffling from the dark corner. 

Some bushes of rose were visible under the faint light of the moon, but there was something or rather someone else there. A silhouette of a man was there beside the bushes. 

My heart started beating like a hummingbird's heart when my eyes fell on the sharp glowing blue eyes of the man.

Unable to move I froze in my position, he stood there watching, without blinking his eyes. Finally, I gathered my courage and ran, I ran with everything I had until I saw my home.

Quickly I locked the door, closed all the windows while still gasping for air. When I was sure everything was locked I sat on the couch of the living room taking deep breaths to calm my nerves.

"Are you okay?"

With a scream, I looked at Olivia. she was looking at me with concern on her face.

I shook my head giving her a small smile, "Yes, I was just outside and saw a cat."

She nodded and passed me a glass of water, I took it mumbling a thank you.

"You should not go out at this hour," she said sternly, "especially today, it is a special moon."

I put the glass back on the table and stared at her with a frown, "What are you talking about grandma?" 

Olivia took care of Faith and me ever since we were born, we started calling her grandma after that.

"It is the blue moon, El. Creatures of the night roam freely tonight, it is their night. Some worship moon tonight, while others look for finding their missing pieces."

I sat there listening to her words carefully, grandma always used to tell us stories. As kids we loved listening to her stories, we would finish our homework to hear those stories she used to tell.

Then as we grew older we started realizing those were just stories, like the fairytales where the princess meets her prince charming in the end, but the real-life was far away from a fairytale.

"Go to sleep, it is late," she chuckled.

"Good night, grandma."

I shut the curtains tightly, giving one last look to the moon. It was just another story of grandma, I repeated in my head.

Maybe I imagined everything, I closed my eyes with a sigh.

It must be the light playing tricks with my brain, I tried to reassure myself.