1 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:14,439 Speaker 1: Summer Rains was a fascinating character at Richel Middle School. Yes, 2 00:00:14,679 --> 00:00:17,359 parents with the last name Rains actually named their daughter Summer. 3 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:20,039 From six to seventh grade, she was a blonde hair, 4 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:22,920 blue eyed, bespectacled band kid, and somewhat of a wallflower. 5 00:00:23,559 --> 00:00:26,440 She mostly went unnoticed. I don't know if it was 6 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:29,199 puberty or what, but Summer Rains changed during the break 7 00:00:29,239 --> 00:00:32,079 between seven and eighth grade. She shured up on day 8 00:00:32,079 --> 00:00:34,600 one of class with contacts and jet black hair, wearing 9 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:36,759 an earthly green shirt, on top of which dangled a 10 00:00:36,799 --> 00:00:40,479 necklace of colorful stones. The gossip train moved quickly. We 11 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:42,679 all know in Summer was now all about crystals and 12 00:00:42,719 --> 00:00:46,119 ours and healing energy. She acted cool about it, though, 13 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:49,079 Soon other girls around the school started dressing in earthy 14 00:00:49,119 --> 00:00:52,280 tones and wearing crystals around their necks. A few boys 15 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:55,560 did too. Summer eventually convinced a bunch of athletes that 16 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:58,000 tiger's eye and jade would help them perform better in 17 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,960 the field. Once they started wearing stone bearing necklaces and bracelets, 18 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:04,920 the trend was set. Summer had prime most of the 19 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:08,319 eighth grade class of twenty seventeen to believe anything. Summer 20 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:10,359 and I were not friends at the beginning of the story. 21 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:13,640 We weren't anything yet. I'm not sure if we had 22 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:16,760 exchanged a single word before random Monday in April, on 23 00:01:16,879 --> 00:01:18,959 my way to the restroom after lunch, I passed the 24 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:21,599 history room where my next class would be. I heard 25 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:25,000 Summer whisper boop and stopped, mostly hidden behind the door. 26 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:26,560 Some are beckoned me into the class room of the 27 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:31,079 secret of gesture. Dubiously provoked, I slept inside Riley pears 28 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:34,319 somehow slipped and immediately behind me. Riley and Smer lived 29 00:01:34,359 --> 00:01:36,799 next door to each other, so were natural best friends. 30 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:39,560 Riley fit with their original version of some are better, 31 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:42,400 but post transformation, some are never asked or pressured rarely 32 00:01:42,439 --> 00:01:46,680 to change. In fact, Riley was openly skeptical of Summer's claims, 33 00:01:46,799 --> 00:01:49,920 yet her contradicting views did not harm their friendship. That's 34 00:01:49,959 --> 00:01:51,680 what I mean about some of being cool about all 35 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:54,439 the wo woost off. She genuinely didn't care if any 36 00:01:54,439 --> 00:01:57,120 one else accepted her beliefs, but she shared them anyway 37 00:01:57,239 --> 00:01:59,680 in hopes that they might close the door. Some are 38 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:03,120 said to Riley, you'd better hope he's quick. Riley growled 39 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:06,599 back through clenched teeth. She closed the door. I act 40 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:10,680 quick at what what is this? This is justice? Summer announced, 41 00:02:10,759 --> 00:02:13,479 chin turned upward. Her eyes were half closed, as if 42 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,199 quinting at a brighter future. I had a massive crush 43 00:02:16,199 --> 00:02:17,919 on Za Mare, though I was still too sheepish to 44 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:20,400 admit it, even to myself. Some are pointed at the 45 00:02:20,439 --> 00:02:23,360 chalkboard behind her and asked, d'ye see a face? Besides 46 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:26,560 a few ras or smears, the board looked empty. Riley said, 47 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:29,960 you're really going to have to try, Marcus, it's a stretch. 48 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:33,319 Summer rolled her eyes and circle three dark stains near 49 00:02:33,319 --> 00:02:35,759 the middle of the board with her finger. The natural 50 00:02:35,759 --> 00:02:37,319 oil of her skin left to ring a round, two 51 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:39,520 stains that looked like eyes, and a third that could 52 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:42,000 have been an open mouth. I could actually see all 53 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,120 the potential details in the stains, too, wrinkles and that 54 00:02:45,199 --> 00:02:48,000 sort of thing. I'd been drawing since forever, and learned 55 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:50,199 through the years how to utilize unique features of the 56 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:52,879 canvass at hand, be it pavement rock or an old 57 00:02:52,879 --> 00:02:55,680 beat up chalkboard. My talents were known by a few 58 00:02:55,719 --> 00:02:58,280 select individuals in the school, namely kids from the litter 59 00:02:58,319 --> 00:02:59,759 to club who I thought might want to ride a 60 00:02:59,759 --> 00:03:02,039 graph novel and need cover art for a book someday. 61 00:03:02,719 --> 00:03:04,599 Some are said, I want you to turn those stains 62 00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:09,000 into her face draw something really creepy. Why is this 63 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:12,759 some new like ritual you're trying, I asked, stupids, the 64 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:15,599 adding I don't want to do anything. I don't know evil. 65 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:19,960 Some aer rolled her eyes no like I said, it's justice. 66 00:03:20,479 --> 00:03:23,000 Missus Maston failed me on my history paper because she 67 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:26,360 says I didn't cite credible sources. Well, sorry that your 68 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:29,319 so called credible sources conveniently ignore all the evidence that 69 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:33,280 the CIA killed Martin Luther King Junior. Missus Maston. Anyway, 70 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:35,800 I'm going to make a question everything she knows. Next period, 71 00:03:36,439 --> 00:03:38,120 I just need you to turn those stains into a 72 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:41,080 face and make it as creepy as you possibly can. Sure, 73 00:03:41,199 --> 00:03:43,840 but I still don't get why, I admitted, Wiley said, 74 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:47,120 don't think about it too hard. Personally, I don't really 75 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:49,639 get it either. But the next period starts in three minutes, 76 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,400 so you'd better get started. I had nothing to gain 77 00:03:52,439 --> 00:03:54,759 by helping them and nothing to lose by just walking away. 78 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:57,240 But when some returned and looked at me like some 79 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:00,840 kind of hero. When she barely orderbly whispered please, I caved. 80 00:04:01,479 --> 00:04:04,919 I imploded. I was crushed, you might say. I drew 81 00:04:04,919 --> 00:04:07,159 the face in two minutes and thirty two seconds, and 82 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:09,639 it looked like it. I turned those stains into a 83 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:12,800 gone visage of desperate fright. I aimed for scary and 84 00:04:12,879 --> 00:04:16,079 landed on scared about half way through. If I'd realized 85 00:04:16,079 --> 00:04:17,759 my face gave off the wrong vibe and blood the 86 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:20,160 edges of the mouth to give the impression of limitless expansion, 87 00:04:20,399 --> 00:04:22,480 like it might keep growing large enough to swallow you. 88 00:04:23,079 --> 00:04:25,279 I decided to apply this effect of the eyes as well, 89 00:04:25,319 --> 00:04:28,360 except for their tiny peoples. I never envisioned a nose, 90 00:04:28,399 --> 00:04:31,079 so did not include one. At the very last second, 91 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:33,519 I added a detail which seemed totally opposed to Summer's 92 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:37,879 original vision, but seemed to fit perfectly with my accental creation. Tears. 93 00:04:38,399 --> 00:04:41,000 I chalked long tears running down from the terror stricken eyes. 94 00:04:41,759 --> 00:04:44,439 Then worried I ruined the whole thing. I turned to Summer. 95 00:04:45,079 --> 00:04:47,040 She looked confused at first, but then a hint of 96 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:49,319 a smile twitched in the corner of her mouth. She 97 00:04:49,399 --> 00:04:52,160 clapped her hands together and said, not what I was picturing. 98 00:04:52,399 --> 00:04:55,639 But you just gave me a way better idea. It's perfect, Marcus. 99 00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:59,040 Thank The rest of the class started filing in. Missus 100 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:01,639 Maston walked naught after most of the students sucking honest 101 00:05:01,639 --> 00:05:04,240 smoody straw. She held her cup in one hand and 102 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:06,560 her phone in the other, on which she texted furiously 103 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:09,560 with one thumb. Thus distracted, she did not notice my 104 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:12,519 drawing on the chalkboard. The class body found this quite 105 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:15,560 funny and whispered amongst themselves, stiving giggles until the bell 106 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:18,759 rang for the start of the period summer. Riley and 107 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:22,079 I abstained from the chatter. After the bell, Missess Masson 108 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:24,480 put her phone in a desk drawer. She opened a 109 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:27,040 binder on her desk, studied it a moment, then picked 110 00:05:27,079 --> 00:05:28,720 up a piece of chalk and turned to the board. 111 00:05:29,399 --> 00:05:32,079 She stopped. She locked eyes with the face and put 112 00:05:32,079 --> 00:05:33,839 her empty hand on her hip, then turned back to 113 00:05:33,879 --> 00:05:37,519 the glass. Anyone want to claim this, she asked, her 114 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,040 tone applying it might not be a wise idea. The 115 00:05:40,079 --> 00:05:43,600 class stared back at her. No one, well, just as 116 00:05:43,639 --> 00:05:47,480 a reminder, School policy considers obscene drawings on chalkboards as vandalism, 117 00:05:47,759 --> 00:05:49,920 so even though maybe this isn't technically ob seen. She 118 00:05:49,959 --> 00:05:53,240 trailed off, questioning whether it actually might be, before continuing, 119 00:05:53,399 --> 00:05:55,560 let's all just agree that drawings like this belong in 120 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:59,240 your notebooks. Okay. Turning back to the board, Missess Maston 121 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:03,199 erased rushed work over Missus Muston's shoulder. Everyone watched as 122 00:06:03,199 --> 00:06:05,319 the ghostly remnants of the haunting face the stains, which 123 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:08,879 had inspired Somemer's idea, defied the eraser. One student at 124 00:06:08,879 --> 00:06:11,079 the front shushed her giggling neighbor and pointed at the board. 125 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:13,959 Some are uttered a small gasp and pointed as well. 126 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:17,879 She nudged Riley, who refused to participate. It's still there, 127 00:06:17,959 --> 00:06:21,040 Assess Maston, Somemmer said. After the teacher commenced writing her 128 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:24,839 lesson on the board, what, Missess Masson asked, turning to 129 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:27,839 look at her, noticing dumbstruck as looking past her, She 130 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:30,439 turned back to the chalkboard stout, then tipped her head 131 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:34,000 back slightly, nonverbally exclaiming ah. She tried to scrub at 132 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:36,519 the stains, found they were permanent and gave up. She 133 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:39,160 shrugged at the class and dropped the eraser on her desk. 134 00:06:39,879 --> 00:06:43,160 I don't remember those being there before, Somemmer said she stood, 135 00:06:43,879 --> 00:06:45,639 She actually stood like we were in a movie, and 136 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:48,480 turned to address the class. Do any of you remember 137 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:51,839 seeing them? I feel like we would have noticed. I mean, 138 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:54,519 don't they still look exactly like a face? This was 139 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:57,240 an obvious stretch, but nods of agreement still rippled away 140 00:06:57,279 --> 00:07:00,399 from her. That's how much influenced the new Summeranes had 141 00:07:00,399 --> 00:07:03,279 gained that year. Mutters of I don't remember, did you 142 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:06,720 notice them? And I never saw them before repeated throughout 143 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:10,879 the room. Missus Maston looked Riley for help. Wiley slatched 144 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:14,839 back with her arms crossed, shrided apathetically. Well was it sympathetically? 145 00:07:15,439 --> 00:07:18,240 You could never tell. With Riley. The only thing anyone 146 00:07:18,279 --> 00:07:20,079 knew for sure is that she would back up Summer 147 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:23,399 to the end. Summer asked missus Marston. Do you keep 148 00:07:23,399 --> 00:07:26,839 any smoky quarts of black turmoline around? Actually? I might 149 00:07:26,839 --> 00:07:30,680 have a smoky quartz. That's all right, Summer, I'm sure, 150 00:07:31,399 --> 00:07:34,720 Summer interrupted her back. Sorry, but I wanted to say, 151 00:07:34,759 --> 00:07:37,079 I actually felt something really negative when I came in 152 00:07:37,079 --> 00:07:39,879 here today and that face, just looking at it, it 153 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:43,439 felt like a warning, like an omen you know, Somemmer, 154 00:07:44,079 --> 00:07:47,839 missus Maston warned an omen of what the boy near 155 00:07:47,879 --> 00:07:50,319 me asked. He could have been serious or not. I 156 00:07:50,319 --> 00:07:53,399 couldn't tell. Did you see how it was crying? It 157 00:07:53,439 --> 00:07:58,240 looks gayed right, missus Maston said, please sit, Summer. Summer sat, 158 00:07:58,279 --> 00:08:00,759 But she kept talking. I think there might be something 159 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:03,079 bad in here, and maybe that face how it was crying, 160 00:08:03,199 --> 00:08:06,079 it was trying to warn us. She pointed again to 161 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:09,160 the dark stains. Even I, knowing the true origin of 162 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:11,560 the face, now thought the stains created a sinister illusion, 163 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:15,560 a vague insinuation of malevolence. Some arraigns. That is enough, 164 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:18,720 the teacher scolded. Some are stopped, putting her hand to 165 00:08:18,759 --> 00:08:21,240 her lips and shock. But thisppression only cast favor on 166 00:08:21,279 --> 00:08:24,639 Summer amongst the student audience. Suddenly, those who could not 167 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:27,120 remember whether the stains had been present or elier remembered 168 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:30,000 quite clearly there had been no stains. When the bell 169 00:08:30,079 --> 00:08:31,800 rang at the end of class, Summer rose to her 170 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:36,000 feet before anyone else. Loudly, she said, sorry, missus Maston, 171 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:38,519 a but earlier, but watch out for more omens. Okay, 172 00:08:39,279 --> 00:08:41,759 I think something might have attached to you. Many of 173 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:44,279 us slowed our exodus to listen to the ensuing interaction, 174 00:08:44,519 --> 00:08:47,759 but missus Maston waved us out to Summer. She said, 175 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:50,559 come here please. I waited by the door but didn't 176 00:08:50,559 --> 00:08:53,840 hear much. Some had to fill me in later. Some 177 00:08:54,039 --> 00:08:56,799 told me. She approached the teacher's desk. I saft with concern. 178 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:00,879 Missus Maston said, some aer, please be honest, what are 179 00:09:00,919 --> 00:09:04,120 you doing? Because I appreciate you have some unique beliefs, 180 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:06,519 but I think you are taking this too far. I'm 181 00:09:06,559 --> 00:09:10,120 not doing anything. Some alied, feigning shock, she said. Missus 182 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:13,919 Maston rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. O ka, eh, well, 183 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:16,799 no offense, but I think I'm safe from any bad oments. 184 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:20,559 Look at these stains up close, will you? She ushered 185 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:23,519 somewe to the chalkboard. See, I'm pretty sure they're just 186 00:09:23,559 --> 00:09:27,600 oil stains. Then how'd they get way up there? Summer asked. 187 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:31,200 Missus Maston softened and asked, who knows how anything around 188 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:33,919 here happens? Do you know who really drew that face? 189 00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:36,120 I'm not trying to get them in trouble, but I 190 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:39,440 would like to know. Some are, said missus Maston. If 191 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:41,440 you're a word about I'm not word Some are. I 192 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:43,320 just want to know in case other students ask me 193 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:46,000 about it. There are some sensitive kids in your class. 194 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,480 Whom might you know? Kids your age are impressionable end well, anyway, 195 00:09:49,519 --> 00:09:51,919 you really don't know. Some have pulled a piece of 196 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:53,840 smoky quarts out of her pocket and dropped it on 197 00:09:53,879 --> 00:09:57,320 the edge of Missess Maston's desk, then stepped back. As 198 00:09:57,360 --> 00:09:59,799 mysteriously as an eighth grader can be. She backed toward 199 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:03,200 the or, saying, stay save miss sus Maston. I honestly 200 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:06,000 hope you're right. Well, that didn't work as well as 201 00:10:06,039 --> 00:10:08,080 I'd hoped. Some are admitted to Riley and I in 202 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:10,879 the whole way afterward. Such an admission was far out 203 00:10:10,879 --> 00:10:14,039 of character for the new Summer Rains. I probably should 204 00:10:14,039 --> 00:10:15,840 have distanced myself from her for a while, but I 205 00:10:15,879 --> 00:10:18,279 saw my participation in her Knocky's crime as an ane. 206 00:10:18,799 --> 00:10:20,519 I wanted to be close to her, and this was 207 00:10:20,559 --> 00:10:24,679 my chance. She didn't buy the omen thing I asked. 208 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:28,039 Some are said, she thinks they are oil stains, aren't 209 00:10:28,039 --> 00:10:32,799 they ask Riley? Some aside, I don't know, but the 210 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:34,519 whole point was to make her doubt and wonder and 211 00:10:34,559 --> 00:10:37,159 get scared. I just wanted to show her she doesn't 212 00:10:37,159 --> 00:10:39,840 know everything you know. I think it worked better on 213 00:10:39,879 --> 00:10:43,279 the class, said Riley. Everybody was watching those stains on 214 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:45,639 their way out of the room, I said, I heard 215 00:10:45,679 --> 00:10:48,200 some other kids talking about them too, like they were scared. 216 00:10:49,399 --> 00:10:52,840 This was true. These were naturally anxious kids that I overheard, 217 00:10:52,879 --> 00:10:56,360 But still they sounded genuinely nervous. Some are said, P 218 00:10:56,480 --> 00:10:59,120 S s H. Big deal. I'll figure out some other 219 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:02,159 way to get back at Miss s Maston. Constant questions 220 00:11:02,159 --> 00:11:04,480 and mentions of the stains cause missus Maston to cover 221 00:11:04,519 --> 00:11:06,159 them with a world map post to the next day. 222 00:11:06,799 --> 00:11:08,960 If anyone tried to bring them up anyway, she immediately 223 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:11,759 shut down the conversation, saying, this is util middle school, 224 00:11:11,919 --> 00:11:15,279 not Hogwarts. There are no magical spirits running around here. 225 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:19,480 Magical spirits to hear a teacher mentioned spirits of any sort. 226 00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:22,200 Keith's spirited discussions amongst the student body, and many of 227 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:25,320 the conversations made their way to summer. Kids approached her 228 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:27,679 in the whlways asking for confirmation of their theories, trying 229 00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:29,440 to win one over on a classmate or friend with 230 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:33,039 a contradicting hypothesis about the stains. Sorrow told them all 231 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:35,240 she didn't know what was going on, affecting a tone 232 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:37,720 which she defted she very much knew exactly what was 233 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:40,639 going on. I asked her why she insisted on leading 234 00:11:40,639 --> 00:11:43,279 these per students along, creating chaos which did not seem 235 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:45,600 to be reaching or hurting Missess Maston, and she said 236 00:11:45,639 --> 00:11:47,360 one of the most honest things she ever told me, 237 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:49,679 I'm not sure what I'm doing with this yet, and 238 00:11:49,759 --> 00:11:51,720 it's too Bads she didn't figure it out more quickly, 239 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:53,559 because in that strange way a mob can come to 240 00:11:53,559 --> 00:11:56,720 her unanimous consensus. When the logical people standing upart failed 241 00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:59,080 to theotol student body scene worked at their own theory 242 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:01,240 behind the stains and the mysterious face which had left 243 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:04,600 them behind. The main story that sparked the student's hypothesis 244 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:07,399 came from a classmate of mine named Gerrett Lafferty. I 245 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:09,799 sought him out personally in order to listen to his story. 246 00:12:09,799 --> 00:12:13,440 First hunt. It went like this. Garrett arrived early to 247 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:17,240 track practice after finishing a sixth period Examinerarily, he collected 248 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:19,120 his uniform from his locker and went to the locker 249 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:21,159 room to change, planning to hit the track and ge 250 00:12:21,279 --> 00:12:24,399 some extra warm ups. As a side note, Garrett obsessed 251 00:12:24,399 --> 00:12:26,840 over his sport. He could run an eight hundred meter 252 00:12:26,919 --> 00:12:29,000 in two hundred thirteen, but the school record at the 253 00:12:29,039 --> 00:12:31,720 time was two hundred eleven. As an eighth grader, it 254 00:12:31,799 --> 00:12:34,080 was going to be his final season, his final chance 255 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:36,480 to shave off those three seconds and snag the new record, 256 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:39,240 but Garrett would not run a single meter that day. 257 00:12:39,799 --> 00:12:41,840 When he entered the locker room, he found a cloudy 258 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:44,799 with steam. Some one was in the showers and apparently 259 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:47,240 had been for quite a while. Grret said he didn't 260 00:12:47,279 --> 00:12:49,320 even know the showers could get hot enough to create 261 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:52,120 so much steam. He said, I suppose if he let 262 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:53,759 it run long enough, turned all the way up, he 263 00:12:53,799 --> 00:12:55,600 could get there. But usually we're in and out so 264 00:12:55,639 --> 00:12:58,799 fast a waters barely room temperature. He changed his clothes 265 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:00,720 and tied his shoes, then went to the mirror to 266 00:13:00,799 --> 00:13:03,440 check his hair. The hot cloud stuck to the mirror, 267 00:13:03,519 --> 00:13:05,360 making it impossible for him to see more than a 268 00:13:05,399 --> 00:13:08,240 blow of himself. He stepped closer to wipe it clean, 269 00:13:08,399 --> 00:13:10,480 and his shoe made a sucking swetch in the tiles. 270 00:13:11,159 --> 00:13:14,039 Looking down, he saw water trickling between the tiles, running 271 00:13:14,039 --> 00:13:16,840 streams along the grout. He had never seen the showers 272 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:20,320 overflow before. Yoed you good in there, he called out 273 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:23,600 to whoever must have been boiling themselves alive. No reply 274 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:26,440 came to him. Shrugging, he reached over the sinks and 275 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:28,240 wiped a window in the moisture with the side of 276 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:30,559 his hand. I had to take Garrett at his word 277 00:13:30,559 --> 00:13:33,559 about what happened next. In his defense, I'd never known 278 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:36,440 him to lie before. According to him, when he wiped 279 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:38,480 away the stream, the face had drew on the chalkboard, 280 00:13:38,519 --> 00:13:42,000 the gaunt, gaping, terrified expression appeared outlined in water droplets. 281 00:13:42,559 --> 00:13:45,120 A few droplets ran down from the eyes, recreating and 282 00:13:45,159 --> 00:13:46,759 bringing life to the tears that had added at the 283 00:13:46,799 --> 00:13:49,919 last second on the chalkboard. Garrett said, the tiny pupils 284 00:13:49,919 --> 00:13:51,799 in the middle of the face's enormous eyes were trained 285 00:13:51,799 --> 00:13:54,279 directly at him. He squeezed his own eyes shut to 286 00:13:54,279 --> 00:13:56,480 clear at them and wipe the mirror again. When he 287 00:13:56,559 --> 00:13:58,799 opened his eyes, the face was gone, but as the 288 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:01,000 steam clouded the mirror one once more, the outline of 289 00:14:01,039 --> 00:14:04,120 the face emerge again, Only this time the people seemed 290 00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:06,159 to be staring past him, right over his shoulder at 291 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:09,039 the showers, Kat said, he reacted to this the same 292 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:10,759 way he would have if a real person had been 293 00:14:10,759 --> 00:14:13,399 standing in front of him and looking behind him. That's 294 00:14:13,399 --> 00:14:16,159 how life like the visage appeared to him. When he turned, 295 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:18,519 all he saw behind him was the brick wall separating 296 00:14:18,519 --> 00:14:21,360 the showers from the rest of the locker room. Feeling tricked, 297 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:24,159 he quickly turned back to the mirror. The watery eyes 298 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:26,440 remained trained in the showers, and the dripping tears had 299 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:28,799 become streams running down the mirror, pulling at the bottom 300 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:31,720 and dripping on the counter below. Assaulted by feelings of 301 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:35,919 fear and dread, Garret called out again, Hey, who's in there? Again? 302 00:14:36,039 --> 00:14:38,399 He received no answer. Bund by a mysterious conviction, he 303 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:40,639 walked through the cloud to investigate. When he rendered the 304 00:14:40,679 --> 00:14:42,720 corner to the showers, the steam was so dense he 305 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:44,960 almost couldn't see the shop posts. But there, laying across 306 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:46,519 the drain in the middle of the floor was the 307 00:14:46,519 --> 00:14:48,720 body of a teenage boy in a swimsuit. Hot water 308 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:50,960 sprayed down upon him from one of the nozzles, splashing 309 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:54,159 off of his red and skin. He wasn't moving. Yert 310 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:56,320 yelled for help and rushing to help the unconscious boy. 311 00:14:56,919 --> 00:14:59,080 After shutting off the water, he grabbed him by the 312 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:01,639 shoulders and with grin rydiff it rolled him onto his side. 313 00:15:02,159 --> 00:15:04,159 The drain gurgled as it sup the hot puddle down, 314 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:07,080 Wiping sweat from his eyes. Garrett let the boy fap 315 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:09,440 onto his back. He leaned and to see if he 316 00:15:09,519 --> 00:15:12,039 was a waker, at least. Breathing the boy's face made 317 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:14,960 him scream, puffy and purple. The boy's face had not 318 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,799 been recognizable at first, but when he got close, Garrett 319 00:15:17,799 --> 00:15:21,279 recognized himself. The unconscious know the dead boy his feet 320 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:24,279 was him. He looked slightly larger and mildly older, though 321 00:15:24,279 --> 00:15:26,480 it was hard to tell fru the swelling and when 322 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:29,159 Garrett the living Garrett fell back against the shower wall, 323 00:15:29,279 --> 00:15:31,440 he noticed an anomaly on the wall across from him. 324 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:34,480 Three massive dry spots defied the shower spray and steam 325 00:15:34,639 --> 00:15:37,919 were remaining impossibly dry. He told me, those three spots, 326 00:15:38,039 --> 00:15:39,639 I don't know how they were there, but they looked 327 00:15:39,639 --> 00:15:44,360 exactly like the stains on Missess Maston's chalkboard, like exactly Macus. 328 00:15:45,039 --> 00:15:46,840 I've been back in her room and looked under the 329 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:49,320 poster to check Gyerret said he ran out of the 330 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:51,879 locker room for help. He bumped into the track coach 331 00:15:51,919 --> 00:15:53,480 in the way and brought him into the showers to 332 00:15:53,519 --> 00:15:56,279 shew him the body. Already, he was doubting what he 333 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:59,200 had seen. How could he have found his own drunk corpse. 334 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:01,480 It must have been another boy who just looked a 335 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:04,919 little bit like him, he thought. The cloud of steam remained, 336 00:16:05,519 --> 00:16:07,799 the tiles and groat were still sulking wet, but the 337 00:16:07,799 --> 00:16:09,639 body and the giant dry spots in the wall were 338 00:16:09,679 --> 00:16:12,559 all gone. Concerned, the track coach called Garrett marm to 339 00:16:12,559 --> 00:16:15,120 take him home. She chalked the whole thing up distress. 340 00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:17,480 Garrett did not tell the coach or his mother he 341 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:19,600 thought the dead kid was himself, or about the dry 342 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:22,759 spots either. He didn't share these details with any adults, 343 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:25,200 only other students, and he told a lot of students. 344 00:16:25,879 --> 00:16:28,559 Every one who had been fearfully speculating about the stains 345 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:31,039 on Missus Maston's chop wood now had a solid reason 346 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:33,879 to believe our school was haunted by something, something that 347 00:16:33,919 --> 00:16:36,799 may be wanted to hurt us. Two days after Garrett's 348 00:16:36,799 --> 00:16:39,000 locker room incident, the buzz around his story had droned 349 00:16:39,039 --> 00:16:42,360 out everything else. Riley almost literally drive me away from 350 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:44,240 my friends at lunch to go sit with her. In Summer. 351 00:16:44,279 --> 00:16:45,879 At the end of the table closest to the back 352 00:16:45,919 --> 00:16:49,039 of the cafeteria, Riley shoot away three students who had 353 00:16:49,039 --> 00:16:51,200 tried to sit next Summer in her brief absence to 354 00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:53,399 ask about the chalk bore doomen and what happened to Garrett. 355 00:16:54,039 --> 00:16:56,440 Everyone wanted to talk to Summer about it, and she 356 00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:59,519 was more than willing to share her dramatized thoughts. Keeping 357 00:16:59,519 --> 00:17:02,000 other kids away from Summer during passing periods and lunch 358 00:17:02,039 --> 00:17:05,640 became Riley's full time job. It's time, guys, Riley said, 359 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:09,079 we need to come clean. We can't. Some are replied 360 00:17:09,079 --> 00:17:12,000 to a mufful of ham sandwich. I said, why not? 361 00:17:12,799 --> 00:17:15,200 I think Riley's right. It was just supposed to be 362 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:18,400 a stupid prank. Right. Principal Gear might be mad, but 363 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:20,640 maybe he'll get it if we just tell him what happened. 364 00:17:21,319 --> 00:17:25,720 Summer Swallow looked at me and asked, what did happen, Marcus, Sorry, 365 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:29,000 what happened? That is our fault. Riley inserted, Well, I 366 00:17:29,039 --> 00:17:33,440 didn't really do anything, but you were there. Summer pointed out. Okay, eh, yeah, 367 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:36,839 I was there, but that's it. That doesn't matter. This 368 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:39,920 whole thing was your idea. He made Marcus do the drawing. 369 00:17:40,079 --> 00:17:42,119 Then you got the class all freaked out about the stains, 370 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:44,599 and hm, I don't think I've freaked out the class. 371 00:17:45,039 --> 00:17:48,799 That was missus Maston. Summer interrupted again. I appreciated that 372 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,519 Riley's had Summer made me do the drawing. I felt 373 00:17:51,599 --> 00:17:53,039 like she would back me up if we did end 374 00:17:53,119 --> 00:17:55,279 up in trouble, but it still wasn't ready to betray Somemmer. 375 00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:57,480 I would have been willing to come clean to the 376 00:17:57,519 --> 00:18:00,000 teachers and principal gear, but only when Summer felt ready. 377 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:02,880 I felt fullish, honor, bound to protect her secret, the 378 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:06,559 secret we shared. Riley got more animated as she grew flustered. 379 00:18:07,119 --> 00:18:10,279 You think, misses Maston Summer, you stood up in front 380 00:18:10,319 --> 00:18:12,799 of every one and told them she was cursed. She 381 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:14,920 told them all to go find some black marble or 382 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:19,720 black tomline. Some are corrected, okay, whatever, it doesn't matter 383 00:18:19,759 --> 00:18:22,920 what kind of oswokee quots. Some are added. Riley gritted 384 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:25,279 her teeth. I decided to cut in before the two 385 00:18:25,319 --> 00:18:28,119 of them fell out. We needed to be United Front, 386 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:30,759 or else we would all go down. I said, Hey, 387 00:18:30,839 --> 00:18:33,920 it's not like anybody's gotten hurt, right, Yeah, it's all 388 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:36,759 freaked out, But is that really our fault? What are 389 00:18:36,799 --> 00:18:39,160 they going to punish us for drawing on the chalkboard? 390 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:43,200 It is considered vandalism bascule policy. Some are reminded us 391 00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:46,200 taking another bite of her sandwich. Riley and I were 392 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:49,359 not eating. Her too angry and me too nervous. All 393 00:18:49,359 --> 00:18:51,759 the talk of getting in trouble tied my innos in knots. 394 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:54,519 I had a question burning, and my gut too, further 395 00:18:54,599 --> 00:18:58,640 dampening my uptight. Hey, sum Are, I asked, sorry if 396 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:01,319 this is a stupid question, but I mean he didn't. 397 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:03,680 What I'm wondering is, do you think Garrett actually saw 398 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:06,079 what he says he saw? He made it up? Summer 399 00:19:06,119 --> 00:19:09,640 answered flatly, Really, he doesn't seem like the kind of 400 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:12,839 kid who he's suddenly mister popular. Isn't he look at 401 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:15,359 all those girls sitting with him right now, He'd think 402 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:18,319 he has brain cancer or something. Summer had a point. 403 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:21,839 His castmates, particularly the girls, had been showing Garrett with 404 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:25,119 constant attention since his return. Any time I passed him, 405 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:27,799 I heard him reelaying his story to someone. I suppose 406 00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:30,240 I was one of those someones, but it's not like 407 00:19:30,279 --> 00:19:32,759 Garrett had been, and nobody like me before his purported encounter. 408 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:35,279 He was no Summer Raigns, but he was a star 409 00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:37,400 athlete with lots of friends and a new girl friend 410 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:40,279 every couple of months. I wouldn't think he needed to 411 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:45,000 his parents split up, Riley said, Ah, I asked, thinking 412 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:48,839 she meant they split up over his story, so Summer asked. 413 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:52,279 Then I figured out what Riley actually meant. The target 414 00:19:52,319 --> 00:19:55,759 audience for Garrett's act out wasn't anyone at school, but Summer, 415 00:19:55,839 --> 00:19:58,079 I said, when Riley didn't answer her, I've heard other 416 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:00,400 kids talk about seeing the face. I drew to. Gerret's 417 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:02,359 story is the most dramatic, but he's not the only 418 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:06,200 kitch who says he's seen it. Dripping sarcism, Riley said, yeah, 419 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:09,200 and I ran into Zenda at the Mall of America. Whatever, 420 00:20:09,319 --> 00:20:11,640 if you trust Garrett, But would you really believe every 421 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:15,279 one of these losers? She asked, gesturing around the cafeteria. 422 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:18,599 I said no, but why are so many kids talking 423 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:21,559 about it? A few makes sense, but it's like everyone 424 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:26,319 it's a creepypasta, Summer said. She took another bite or 425 00:20:26,319 --> 00:20:30,880 what I asked? Riley said, I thought that was like 426 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:34,119 an internet thing I should chewed. Some are nodded thoughtfully. 427 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:37,839 She swallowed, then said, yeah normally, but why can't it 428 00:20:37,839 --> 00:20:40,240 happen in real life too? I still don't know what 429 00:20:40,319 --> 00:20:44,799 creepapasta is, I said. Some are said, not creepypasta, a creepapasta. 430 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:48,000 It's basically a scary story somebody puts online that goes 431 00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:50,079 viral and makes a lot of people believe in it. 432 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:55,240 Ever heard of Slenderman, or smiled dogg. Slenderman's sounded familiar, 433 00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:59,200 and I said as much. Well, that's a creepypasta. Somebody 434 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:00,920 made it up and it got so big. A girl 435 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:03,640 actually stabbed her friend because she believed slenderm and wanted 436 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:09,039 her to sir Esa, Riley asked. Someone nodded, I think 437 00:21:09,079 --> 00:21:11,759 we accidentally created a creep past to hear and I mean, 438 00:21:11,799 --> 00:21:14,799 as long as nobody gets hurt, it's kind of fun, right, 439 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:17,759 I don't know, I said, a lot of kids are 440 00:21:17,759 --> 00:21:20,440 really scared. And didn't you just say some girls stab 441 00:21:20,519 --> 00:21:24,480 her friend over one of these stories? Riley added. Summer 442 00:21:24,559 --> 00:21:27,039 said yeah, in a country full of millions of kids. 443 00:21:27,119 --> 00:21:30,839 One girl went crazy, big deal. All I'm saying is 444 00:21:30,839 --> 00:21:32,720 that we can neither rita ourselves out and get in 445 00:21:32,759 --> 00:21:35,000 trouble over nothing, or we can just have fun with it. 446 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:38,440 I doubt it'll last long anyway. Something else will come 447 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:41,880 along and make everybody forget. The conversation more or less 448 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:44,960 ended there. I wanted more comfort, I think from Summer, 449 00:21:45,039 --> 00:21:47,240 but the bell was going to ring soon. We all 450 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:49,640 had class with Missus Maston after lunch again, so we 451 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:53,079 walked there together, but did not talk. Instead, we listened 452 00:21:53,119 --> 00:21:56,519 to the voices around us. As we neared the history classroom, 453 00:21:56,559 --> 00:21:59,519 I looked at Summer. Her parcelin face had a bluisher 454 00:21:59,559 --> 00:22:03,000 and express wordless discomfort the summer rains. Walking beside me. 455 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:05,000 Was not the girl who beckoned me into the history 456 00:22:05,039 --> 00:22:09,200 room days before. She had lost herself assured certainty. Our 457 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:11,880 eyes met, and she quickly looked away at suddenly restoring 458 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:14,440 her stoke facade. But I could tell it was only 459 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:17,960 an act. We settled into our desks, Riley and Summon 460 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:20,000 next to each other, miss slightly behind them to the 461 00:22:20,079 --> 00:22:22,440 rainboard outside, hard enough to hear through the thick windows. 462 00:22:23,079 --> 00:22:25,680 It trickled down the glass in distracting streams, the sort 463 00:22:25,759 --> 00:22:29,480 that can hypnotize young students. Before the official start of class, 464 00:22:29,519 --> 00:22:32,039 the student walked up to Missess Maston's desk and whispered 465 00:22:32,039 --> 00:22:35,200 something to her. I watched Missess Mastons glance over her 466 00:22:35,279 --> 00:22:37,480 shoulder at a well map poster covering the stains on 467 00:22:37,519 --> 00:22:40,960 her chalkboard. She quietly dismissed the student with an expression 468 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:44,200 somewhere between sympathy and frustration. When the bell rang, she 469 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:46,960 stood to address us. All, O K class, we need 470 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:49,359 to have a chat about these. She writ the poster 471 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:52,079 off the chalkboard, exposing the infamous stains to us. All. 472 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:54,799 She said, I gather these stains have been causing some 473 00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:57,759 rumors to go round about some kind of haunting. Well, 474 00:22:57,799 --> 00:22:59,440 I think it's time to put those rumors to bed, 475 00:22:59,559 --> 00:23:03,359 don't you. I actually found out where these stains came from. Yes, 476 00:23:03,599 --> 00:23:06,599 we teachers talked to mister Gowns knew exactly how the 477 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,319 chalk wood got stained. It's been a couple of years, 478 00:23:09,319 --> 00:23:11,240 so maybe you don't remember, but this used to be 479 00:23:11,279 --> 00:23:13,920 the art room before the new wing was built. Mister 480 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,359 Gowns said during a unit on oil painting. He hung 481 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:18,720 paper on the board and did a technique demonstration, without 482 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:20,799 realizing the oils from his paint would suck through to 483 00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:23,799 the board. He noticed pretty quickly and stopped before it 484 00:23:23,839 --> 00:23:27,200 got any worse. So there you go. The stains have 485 00:23:27,279 --> 00:23:29,440 been there for years, but you all didn't notice until 486 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:32,599 somebody decided to draw attention to them. She looked briefly 487 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:35,400 in my direction, and I tried not to squirm. Did 488 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:37,480 she know it was me? It easily could have been 489 00:23:37,519 --> 00:23:40,240 a coincidence, so I tried not to look guilty. Her 490 00:23:40,279 --> 00:23:42,480 gaze passed by, and I readjusted in my seat to 491 00:23:42,519 --> 00:23:45,240 release some of the tension. I'm sure whoever drew that 492 00:23:45,279 --> 00:23:47,160 face a few days ago meant nothing by it, But 493 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:49,079 maybe that person would like to come forward to help 494 00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:51,799 calm everyone down. I think we would all feel better 495 00:23:51,839 --> 00:23:54,559 of a piercing bell send us all into a frenzy. 496 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:58,680 Above the door, the fire alarm flashed. The student I 497 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:01,759 could not see, said, calm down, people, It's probably just 498 00:24:01,799 --> 00:24:05,000 a drill. But Miss sess Maston sounded nervous when she said, 499 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:07,880 leave you things at your desk. Can get in line, remember, 500 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:10,279 single file straight down the hall and out the gin door. 501 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:14,160 Is it a drill? Wiley asked. I didn't think the 502 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:16,440 teachers were allowed to say, but if that was true, 503 00:24:16,599 --> 00:24:19,920 wasssess Maston disregarded the rule. She looked at Riley and 504 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:22,759 subtly shook her head. We followed prode call to the letter, 505 00:24:22,839 --> 00:24:24,880 having done at least a dozen fire drills in our years. 506 00:24:25,039 --> 00:24:27,359 To a middle school, we and the students from other 507 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:30,480 classes lined the hallways, all nervously filing out of the building. 508 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:33,160 Those who tried to whisper to each other were instantly 509 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:36,799 silenced by teachers standing beside their classroom doors. Due to 510 00:24:36,799 --> 00:24:39,000 the heavy rain, Principal Gear ordered us on to the 511 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:42,279 parked buses for shelter. The fire department arrived on scene 512 00:24:42,319 --> 00:24:45,079 as we all loaded up. We were all soaked, students 513 00:24:45,079 --> 00:24:47,279 and staff alike. As we waited for the fire marshal 514 00:24:47,319 --> 00:24:50,039 to clear the building. There didn't appear to be any fire. 515 00:24:50,759 --> 00:24:52,279 No one had smelt smoke in the way out of 516 00:24:52,279 --> 00:24:54,680 the building, so we weren't surprised to learn whoever pulled 517 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:58,119 the fire alarm did so without cause. An angry search 518 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:00,279 for the culprit began and ended with a seven greater 519 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:03,440 named Kelly, whom I'd never met, but hearing her story, 520 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:06,400 I realized I was a true culprit me summer and 521 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:09,519 that crewe facer drew on the chalkboard. Shelley had sheltered 522 00:25:09,519 --> 00:25:11,039 on the same bus as me, so I got to 523 00:25:11,079 --> 00:25:13,720 hear her story first, and before the faculty apprehended her. 524 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:16,480 She had been sitting next to the window in English class, 525 00:25:16,599 --> 00:25:19,359 gazing out at the following rain. Hundreds of rain drops 526 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:22,920 started the glass, Some ran down the windows like streaking tears. 527 00:25:23,599 --> 00:25:26,079 Kelly made this comparison in her mind and noticed two 528 00:25:26,079 --> 00:25:28,759 parallel streaks that appeared to consistently run down the glass 529 00:25:28,799 --> 00:25:31,680 without zigging and zagging as they contacted other droplets. This 530 00:25:31,759 --> 00:25:35,160 bizarre consistency captured her attention, and she watched the two streams, 531 00:25:35,279 --> 00:25:37,079 waiting for even one of them to break off and 532 00:25:37,079 --> 00:25:40,160 behave normally, or to dissolve into droplets again. But as 533 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:43,119 she watched, she noticed the second anomaly. Above each of 534 00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:46,400 the two streams, large circular dry patches defied the dampoor. 535 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:49,119 In the center of these dry circles sat one droplet 536 00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:51,960 in each, like the tiny peoples of enormous eyes. Then 537 00:25:52,079 --> 00:25:54,720 the rest of the face took shape. The shape of 538 00:25:54,759 --> 00:25:57,880 a face I have already described so many times. Telly 539 00:25:57,920 --> 00:25:59,680 knew Garrett's story and how it had begun with him 540 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:01,480 spot in the face in the steam on the mirror. 541 00:26:02,039 --> 00:26:04,000 The obvious similarity to what she now saw in the 542 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:07,319 window caused her to flinch away in alarm. The teacher paused, 543 00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:10,359 and most of her classmates turned toward Kelly. She smiled 544 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:13,279 awkwardly and pretended nothing had happened, which convinced every one 545 00:26:13,279 --> 00:26:15,880 else to do the same. She rubbed her eyes and 546 00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:18,960 looked back at the window. Still the face remained, and 547 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:21,359 she felt certain those quivering rain drop pupils were trained 548 00:26:21,359 --> 00:26:24,319 directly at her. Kelly interrupted her teacher to ask to 549 00:26:24,319 --> 00:26:27,359 be excused to the restroom. Despite his obvious irritation at 550 00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:29,880 second disruption from her, he gave her a hall pass 551 00:26:30,359 --> 00:26:32,599 without looking back at the face. Telly hurried out of 552 00:26:32,599 --> 00:26:35,000 the room after shutting the door. She took a few 553 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:37,799 steps away and collected herself. With space in the door 554 00:26:37,799 --> 00:26:40,440 between her and the window, she felt much safer, but 555 00:26:40,519 --> 00:26:42,680 she found herself afraid to go to the bathroom like 556 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:45,400 she said she was going to. The bathroom is too 557 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:48,200 similar to a locker room, and Garrett's story remained fresh 558 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:50,680 on her mind, so she stood in the middle of 559 00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:53,200 the hallway, unsure of where to go in next. When 560 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:54,960 she looked down the hallway, she noticed the door to 561 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:57,480 the teacher's land because of a strange light flashing erratically 562 00:26:57,559 --> 00:27:00,160 behind it under the bride fluorescence in the hall way. Wait. 563 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:02,599 The flashing light was hard to discern, but she noticed 564 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:05,319 it all the same, and it made her curious. Anything 565 00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:07,680 to distract her from the face and the window. She 566 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:10,880 walked toward the door, listening for any approaching footsteps and 567 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:13,119 preparing to divert to the restroom if a staff member 568 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:17,119 discovered her closer. Kelly started to smell smoke. Is it 569 00:27:17,119 --> 00:27:19,480 a strange order, not like a bonfire or a grill, 570 00:27:19,559 --> 00:27:21,839 but a sort of sire rubbery tinge like one too 571 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:25,079 much hair got stuck in a vacuum cleaner. Kelly moved faster, 572 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:28,160 now concerned there might be a serious problem. A flashing 573 00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:31,960 now flickering light, the smell of smoke. Was there a 574 00:27:32,039 --> 00:27:35,200 fire in the teacher's lounge. She arrived at the door, 575 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:37,920 next to which the three square glass windows stat vertically 576 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:41,279 posters touting of Chol's coal valleys mostly obstructed them. From 577 00:27:41,279 --> 00:27:43,680 inside the glass, but the posters had not been printed 578 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:47,079 to the window's excise. Kelly closed one eye and peeped 579 00:27:47,079 --> 00:27:49,519 through the half inch of clay glass bordering the middle poster. 580 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:52,400 A girl about the same size and build, wearing a 581 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:55,359 back hack identical to hers, although more tarnished, was standing 582 00:27:55,359 --> 00:27:57,640 next to the lounge's kitchenette with her back turned to Kelly. 583 00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:00,480 This seemed strange because students were not loud in the 584 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:03,680 teacher's lounge, but fortunately there did not appear to be 585 00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:07,519 any fire. Still curious and pleasantly distracted, Kelly spied on 586 00:28:07,559 --> 00:28:09,960 the girl in the lounge a moment longer, as if 587 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:13,519 sensing eyes upon her, The girl started turning slowly. As 588 00:28:13,559 --> 00:28:16,440 she did, one of her backpuck straps broke. The back 589 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:18,720 swung away from her back, slipping off her other arm, 590 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:21,400 and fell to the floor. She made no attempt to 591 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:23,759 stop it. The sleeve of her pulse so sure it 592 00:28:23,759 --> 00:28:25,720 appeared to be melted onto her skin, which could have 593 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:29,359 explained the burning smell. Had the student suffered some terrible accident, 594 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:31,720 but why would she be in the teacher's lounge and 595 00:28:31,759 --> 00:28:34,880 not the nurse's office. She kept turning until Kelly could 596 00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:37,519 finally see her face, or what was left of it. 597 00:28:38,039 --> 00:28:40,480 The girl's trod skin barely clung to her skull any more. 598 00:28:41,079 --> 00:28:43,240 Kelly could see the white of her bones through her burns. 599 00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:46,039 There remained only enough of her features for Kelly to 600 00:28:46,039 --> 00:28:48,519 realize the girl in the lounge, now staring back at 601 00:28:48,519 --> 00:28:51,759 her for empty eye sockets, was herself. She looked taller, 602 00:28:51,799 --> 00:28:53,960 and her hair, which had been burned off in the front, 603 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:56,519 looked longer, but otherwise she could have been Kelly's twin. 604 00:28:57,039 --> 00:28:59,440 Kelly covered her mouth and stepped back from the window 605 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:02,319 in horror. As she did, the windows glowed orang behind 606 00:29:02,319 --> 00:29:04,599 the posters, and black smoke started billowing out from the 607 00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:07,000 top of the door. A poster in the middle frame 608 00:29:07,079 --> 00:29:10,119 caught fire. The flames ate three holes in it, which 609 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:12,599 expanded rapidly until they made the familiar pattern of the 610 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:15,880 stains on Missess Maston's shore board. The holes were outlined 611 00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:17,920 in flame, but stopped growing at a certain size and 612 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:20,599 proportion to each other. The upper two seemed to stare 613 00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:22,880 at Kelly, and the low one appeared to be screaming 614 00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:25,920 at her. She could hear her own voice screaming in agony. 615 00:29:26,559 --> 00:29:29,160 Then she realized the voice she heard was literally her own. 616 00:29:29,799 --> 00:29:33,039 She hadn't even realized she was screaming. Without another thought, 617 00:29:33,079 --> 00:29:35,319 she ran over to the nearest fire alarm and pulled it. 618 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:38,200 Prince Pagear called Kelly's dad to take her home, and 619 00:29:38,279 --> 00:29:40,559 the rest of us attempted to finish the school day. Normally, 620 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:43,799 no one, not even the teacher, seemed able to focus though. 621 00:29:44,359 --> 00:29:45,920 At the end of the day, I gathered my things 622 00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:47,720 from my locker and made my way out of the school, 623 00:29:48,319 --> 00:29:50,960 passing Missess Mauston's class room with the door cracked open 624 00:29:51,039 --> 00:29:54,200 just slightly. I heard whimpering sobs and stopped. I gave 625 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:56,400 the door a small push, opening it just enough to 626 00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:58,680 see into the room. There up at the front, I 627 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:01,759 saw Riley in Summer, A powerful stink of ammonia sat 628 00:30:01,799 --> 00:30:04,440 heavy on the air. Raleigh was holding a spirit of 629 00:30:04,519 --> 00:30:06,759 bottle and the rags she must have swiped from the janitors, 630 00:30:06,799 --> 00:30:08,880 and Summer was standing on a chair with another rag 631 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:11,640 in hand, scroping furiously at the stains on the chalkboard. 632 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:14,519 They heard me and look of my way. Riley's face 633 00:30:14,559 --> 00:30:17,839 looked stoke in a little angry. Summers was streaked in tears, 634 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:21,759 blackened by her mascower snuck coated her upper lip. She 635 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,880 was a wreck. I entered the class room and wordlessly 636 00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:27,519 took Riley's other rag. Then I climbed up on the 637 00:30:27,599 --> 00:30:30,440 chair behind Summer and helped her scrub. Just as no 638 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:32,519 one ever found out who drew the face on the chalkboard, 639 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:35,279 no one besides me, Riley and Summer ever learned how 640 00:30:35,279 --> 00:30:38,640 the stains vanished from the board. Some one, Summer insured 641 00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:41,119 a new rumor spread that the curse had ended. It 642 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:42,839 took a few weeks for talk of the stains to 643 00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:44,839 die away, but eventually a new gossip took over the 644 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:47,000 minds of the student body and her tools. Little creep 645 00:30:47,079 --> 00:30:50,559 pasta was forgotten. Summer, Riley, and I all believed for 646 00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:53,000 years that Garrett and Kelly's stores were simply the result 647 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:55,079 of the histeu that took over us gold during those 648 00:30:55,119 --> 00:30:57,920 few days. But years later we would all have to 649 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:00,960 question the validity of that stance. It started with the 650 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:04,039 tragic news of Garrett's death in a freak birting accident 651 00:31:04,079 --> 00:31:07,400 during spring break our senior year. Garrett drowned, and less 652 00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:09,759 than a year later, Kelly's house caught fire while she 653 00:31:09,839 --> 00:31:12,680 was home alone. Sadly, she did not make it out. 654 00:31:13,279 --> 00:31:16,440 After Kelly died, Summer and I met up. Riley had 655 00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:18,759 already left for college, and Somemer said she had stopped 656 00:31:18,759 --> 00:31:22,039 talking to her. Summer was blonde and wore glasses again. 657 00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:24,839 Over the years, she had tried to distance herself from 658 00:31:24,839 --> 00:31:27,200 the person who beckoned me into Massessa Stun's glass room 659 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:30,200 that fateful day. We talked for a long time, mostly 660 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:33,599 me trying to comfort her. She felt understandable guilt about 661 00:31:33,599 --> 00:31:36,680 Garrett and Kelly. I assured her their deaths, tragic and 662 00:31:36,759 --> 00:31:39,920 unexpected as they were, might have just been coincidences. Other 663 00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:43,039 classmates had also died, after all, from car accidents, cancer, 664 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:46,440 and other illnesses, both physical and mental. I still had 665 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:48,400 feelings for some out, which made it so much harder 666 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:50,759 to lie. Although I don't know what we could have 667 00:31:50,799 --> 00:31:52,480 done or how we could have done it, I worry 668 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:54,640 we might have actually brought something terrible into the school 669 00:31:54,720 --> 00:31:57,960 that day. Did it kill Garrett and Kelly and perhaps others? 670 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:00,799 Or was it simply an omen provided warnings of already 671 00:32:00,839 --> 00:32:03,599 fated events. The latter is what I told some It 672 00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:06,440 probably was, but I don't think she believed me, and 673 00:32:06,559 --> 00:32:08,720 why would she when I'm not sure I even believe 674 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:11,440 it myself. I'm just glad I never saw that face 675 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:13,440 after it was a race, except for in my mind, 676 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:15,400 it will haunt me there forever