Heat of History

Chapter 2: Hidden Escape

Piper's POV

I wake up promptly at 5:30 a.m. in order to get myself up and taken care of. I get out of bed and head towards the bathroom. I brush my hair and teeth then put a blue long sleeved shirt on with jean shorts.

When I was eight years old my mother gave me two brown bracelets, one para-cord and the other braided; I wear them everyday on my left wrist.

I walk to the kitchen and make some breakfast, buttered bread with jelly, when I hear Daliah in the living room. I eat my breakfast then go back to my room to get Winter up.

"Winter, wake up. We have to get ready to leave for school." She gets up cooperating with me for once.

I help dress her, then we walk into the kitchen for breakfast. I point to the kitchen table, gesturing for her to sit down.

"Are you sure?... Monday?... I can't do Monday... Can you keep her just one more day?" Daliah says worriedly and loud enough for me to hear.

I hand Winter her breakfast then walk over to Daliah.

"Who were you talking to? You sounded frustrated." I ask, wanting to know what's happening.

"It's nothing you need to bother with." Daliah says sharply then walks off.

What is her deal? All I want is to know what's going on. Is that too much to ask? When Winter and I came to her house she promised she would be very respectful and always tell us what's happening.

I grab my Chaco's and put them on. I gather up my school things, tell Winter goodbye, Daliah takes her to school later, and walk to the bus stop.

The bus stop is not far from our house. As I walk on the gravel road that separates my house from the bus stop, I count the trees as I transpire my way through the thick forest. Then, I hear the bus approaching; I run the rest of the way to the bus and then get on.

I make my way towards the back of the bus to my regular seat; the single passenger seat, when I notice that someone has already sat in it. I make a u-turn and sit two seats in front of it. I take my backpack off and whip out my phone from the front pocket. As I follow my daily routine on the bus, I scroll through social media to see a verity of different posts from people I used to know from different states and foster homes. From selfies to pictures of someone's morning bagel, it's always the same.

The bus has started its way back to the school and has picked up a couple more kids.

I am shaken from my early morning social media scrolling when a nice deep voice says, "This seat taken?"

I look up to see a very handsome boy standing next to my seat; his deep blue eyes match my shirt. I shake my head and move over so he can sit down. As he tells me thank you, I notice his jaw features are so prominent.

"Hi, I'm Jared. I'm new to this school." He says very welcoming, while holding out his hand for a shake; I take his hand.

"I'm Piper." I say timidly not trying to strike up a conversation with this soon to be popular show off.

"Piper? Oh that's a cool name. It's very, uhm...unique." Jared says with a smile.

"My first class is in room 473 with Mr. Simpson. Do you know where that is?" I can tell Jared really needs my help by the way his voice is cracking which tells me his confidence is not very high.

"Ya sure. My first period class is just down the hall from that." I say, gaining confidence.

We talk all the way to school; I learn that he is a 17 year old junior who just moved into the area from Chicago because his father was offered a job promotion.