Chapter 10

The lessons had passed and Regan was driving. She was grateful that the literature teacher didn't find out of her undone essay, and nothing big had happened to Olivia's hair. Still, it was illogical of how did her hair caught on fire.Some bad songs that Vesper was listening inside of the car, were ruining Regan's mood. She was annoyed of the bad taste that her friend had. When she'd reach home, she'd hang out at Vesper's house to watch a movie. Her house was so near, that just past three houses after Regan's one."Who even listens at these songs?" Regan smacked her forehead."What?" Vesper acted like she didn't hear."Your songs are terrible, you've got a bad taste, my friend." She stated the fact.Vesper's eyebrows furrowed and she sighed."Oh, so what kind of songs do you prefer, my friend?" She asked with a high pitched voice."Rock and classical."Vesper burst out laughing, "The one who's got really bad taste here is you, my dear. Classical and rock?! They're just like day and night." She taunted."Still a thousand times better. So...what am I going to do in your house?" Regan asked, changing the topic with her eyes straight on the road."We are going to watch a movie," she exclaimed."I know that. But what kind?" Regan asked. As much as a picky reader she was, she was also a picky watcher."I'll tell you later when we get there.""Shouldn't I go to my house and rest first?" Regan suggested, and hoped she'd accept."NO, because I know that you'll be lazy if we do so," Vesper replied."Okay," Regan said helplessly.***The car stopped near Regan's house. She left her bag inside and locked the main door."Come on." Vesper yelled annoyed.They walked together to Vesper's house. It had two floors and a garage space. Is was surprising that Vesper didn't have a car. Regan knew she had a high income.They entered inside and Regan got a strange and not so pleasant feeling, but didn't act upon it. They came across the living room which was weirdly furnished. The walls of that room were plain and brown colored. Two couches were in front of each other, in grey color. On general, the furnitures were expensive."So, where are we going to watch that movie?" Regan asked."Right here," the other replied, pointing at the flat screen TV.Regan didn't want to stay there and couldn't wait to get out. It wasn't that she didn't want to hang out with her friend, it was just this house having a peculiar aura.She sat on the sofa and looked around the room with a better view. On the corner of the wall, there were a lot of shelves, a bookcase and a study table. The study table had a computer on it, while the wooden shelves held weird souvenirs. There were no words that the wise girl could describe them.She had never seen them before, most of their materials were made of wood and their shapes were irregular.Her attention shifted away when she saw Vesper, who came with bags of chips, threw them on the sofa carelessly and started to rummage through CD's and USBs. She looked satisfied after she found what was looking for and put the disk inside the device of the TV."Will you tell me now what is this movie you were so obsessed with?" Regan asked annoyed."It's a romance movie!""Romance? Only romance?""Yes, why?"Regan wasn't in mood for these kind of movies, neither did she like them but, she was expecting at least, to not be only romance but also something else like horror or thriller."Romance movies are trash," she stated and Vesper frowned pushing her bangs out of her face, "why don't we watch something else, like action?" Regan suggested."My house, my rules." Vesper snapped and walked to the kitchen mumbling something under her breath.She turned back with drinks and sat on the couch, beside Regan, putting her long legs on the table, and waiting for the movie to start."Didn't I tell you I don't like romance movies?" Regan asked more like having the answer in it.Vesper threw her an angry look and mocked, "As if you like anything."It really hit. It wasn't like she liked things easily, or even liked them at all. As for romance genres, she had read sorts of books, but they never reached her preference. She was complicated, like the intricate patterns of her mind."Better not like anything than have bad taste," Regan said in defense and folded her arms."Just shut up, you don't even know what it's like, you've never seen it before and you're judging already." Vesper said, rolling her eyes.Regan sighed and after that, the movie opening started. Vesper kept eating her chips and told Regan to do the same. The girl did the same because this was practically the most enjoyable thing to do there.Vesper kept her eyes glued to the movie and Regan was constantly on her phone. She would die from boredom and cringe if she kept watching the movie that her friend chose.Regan also didn't miss the plot of the movie. Vesper would comment about it second by second. It was apparently about a girl who fell in love with a man who had a girlfriend and then left his girlfriend for her. And the worst was that this film had embarrassing scenes that Regan couldn't stand or see.

She surfed on her phone and waited impatiently for the movie to end.

"This movie is so terrible and cringe." she said tucking her hair behind ears, "what do you even like in there?" Regan asked and put a pillow in front of her face."You don't understand so shut up." Vesper snapped not even moving her eyes from the screen."Whatever."A random thought came in Regan's mind: does Vesper live alone?She had told her that her parents weren't in town and her sister was in university. It meant that Vesper stayed alone all that time?"Do you live alone?" The girl asked out of thoughts.Vesper stared at the girl weirdly and sighed."Yes, I do.""That must be challenging." Regan said."Why? You're not someone who wants to be around people.""That's true but it doesn't mean that I want to stay alone without the ones I care about. It depends on who the person is.""Whatever. My sisters suck. We fight every time for everything. It's annoying and a brain kill. However I can't wait to get back." Vesper complained and looked around, just like she forgot about the movie.Regan noticed how she said "sisters"."I thought you have only one sister?""Yes? Did I say otherwise?""Uhh...okay," she mumbled.Vesper's attention turned back to her dear movie, while Regan's, to her phone.When the movie finally ended, Regan got up from the seat ."Where are you going?" she asked when she saw what her friend was doing"I'm going home," she answered."I thought we were going to do something else other than watch a movie." Vesper said untying her hairs from her ponytail."My neck hurts a lot and I'll go sleep." Regan half lied. Her neck didn't hurt much. But she needed to find an excuse to leave."Okay then...see you Reg." she waved at her."See you Vesper." Regan replied, annoyed by the nickname.Regan got outside and released a breath. Vesper's house had something strange after all. It was heavy furnished but Regan wasn't feeling safe at all. Or maybe this was because she was not in the best mood that day.She turned to her own house and surprisingly found her aunt's car too. Monica must have come early.Regan wasn't going to explain herself a lot. After all, Monica knew were the girls would hang out."Hey auntie!" She said when she found her cooking on the kitchen. Whenever Monica would cook, she'd only cook foods according to her diet, which were soups.Regan didn't had to ask what she was cooking. She leaned in to see it was broccoli, which she hated. The problem was that whenever Monica cooked, she made sure that Regan would eat it."It would be such a crime if you feed this to your lovely niece." She said with puppy eyes."So dramatic.""Oh, come on!""No, the last time, I listened. This time you'll listen."Regan's face crossed an annoyed frown and Monica chuckled. The girl went upstairs to her room and did part of her homeworks. She had to hear Monica's voice again. She knew that this time,she was forced to eat the hated soup.The girl went downstairs again,washed her hands and sat on the table with a grumpy look. She had to admit, Monica's bakings were good but soups and other dishes...no.Regan forced her self to eat, encouraged by her aunt. By time,the plate was finished she thanked her aunt. As they were talking about Monica's work as a manager, suddenly she asked:

"Did you dye strands, Regan?"

"Huh? What strands?" Regan asked confused."I meant your hair, there is a red strand.""Red strand?" she looked down at her hairs, with the corners of eyes ,"no I haven't dyed anything." She admitted."Maybe paint fell on it?" she raised an eyebrow."I guess so, I'll see it later." The girl replied."Okay."When the girl got up from the table, she went to the kitchen to wash her hands and then went to the bathroom to see at the red strand that Monica mentioned.Regan looked at her reflection and directly saw the red tint in her hair. It was a very small one, but still visible. The tint started from the root and had a short length. Then her hair was just black.Regan frowned in disinterest. She considered it as a paint that had fallen in her hair accidentally, maybe in school, maybe in her house. She tried to wash it out but nothing changed.That's were it started to get weird. The red color didn't wash out. Regan got bored by trying and assumed that it was from some red hair dye. It looked weird and she thought to put her hairs into a ponytail.As the girl searched for the hair tie, she noticed a red rose on her study table."What the hell?" she muttered, furrowing her eyebrows. Why was her aunt so obsessed with bringing roses to her. It was getting on her nerves. They were just like the ones in her dream and it drove her crazy.After she did her homework, she ate and read. When it passed midnight, Regan was in her room and pretended to be asleep. She was scared to sleep. Whenever she closed her eyes, she saw the cold eyes of the guy with the name of one of the most brightest stars in the sky.So that way, Regan avoided to sleep. She hated to admit that the reason was: fear. had never been so scared before.As her frustration and fear reached its peak, she went to the kitchen to drink coffee. She wanted to increase stamina and decrease fatigue. But it seemed like they didn't work, because the scared girl was still tired.It was weird. She hasn't ever been a sleepy person. She had passed countless nights of rolling and tossing, of trying to sleep. And now, when she didn't want to sleep, It was like something was trying to lure her to.She played a game on the laptop but its battery died, then she used her phone, but her eyelids felt heavy.If she was going to sleep, she wondered where to. For some reason, Regan didn't feel safe to sleep in her room. She could sleep on the couch, but didn't had a blanket. And sleeping with jeans on, wasn't comfortable.She knew that what she did wasn't the best, but she dragged herself to her room and changed into pajamas.Then, she put her phone on charge and the bed looked oddly comfortable to sleep. Regan was mad at herself for not following the rule she made. To not sleep. But it wasn't her fault. She was tired.