𝑶𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝑶𝒇 𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 ✓

Chapter One

IT was a warm, sunny day.

Mal smiled to herself as she stared at the scenery from the other side of the window, then continued to write her thoughts in her hardcover notebook.

"Hey, Mal, wanna go get ice cream?" her twelve-year-old step brother, Jackson, asked with a tone of enthusiasm, running towards the table she was sitting on.

She gave him a small grin and nodded.

"Sure thing, but wait for me to finish this entry, okay? We'll go right after."

He nodded happily, then ran towards the kitchen to tell their mother. Step-mother.

Mal stared for a minute at where he used to stand, and turned her sight back to her notebook.

Then frowned.

She realized that she lost her inspiration in a matter of seconds. Mostly, it took her a lot of time to find inspiration, and if someone interrupted her, she would lose it for a while. Unfortunately, Jackson didn't know that.

She continued to stare at her notebook, then huffed in annoyance and closed it in one swift move.

To her dismay, she heard the sound of the doorbell ringing, announcing someone's entrance in the famous restaurant they were staying in for the day. She looked up, expecting to see a random costumer.

But it wasn't a costumer.

Standing by the door was a boy who looked about seventeen years old, with ginger hair and small freckles spread over his slightly red cheeks, and bright chocolate brown eyes.

It was her boyfriend, Thomas.

She waved at him and stood up, walking towards him to wrap her arms around him in a tight hug.

"Hey, Thomas."

He hugged her back. "Hey, baby."

As soon as they let go, Thomas sent her a random smile. "I missed you. A lot."

"I missed you too, babe. How have you been?"

"Um, actually, there is something I need to talk to you about. Are you free right now?"

She nodded. "Yeah, Jackson and I are going to get ice cream. Want to come with us?"

"Yeah. Sure."

Jackson came out with a small backpack on his back a few minutes later, jumping up and down in pure excitement. He greeted Thomas quickly and got out of the restaurant. The pair soon followed, closing the door behind them.

-

"So what did you want to talk to me about?"

She asked, taking a spoonful of her ice-cream.

"Uh, well, it's about Griffin."

She stopped and turned to him almost immediately, furrowing her eyebrows.

"What about him?"

Jackson then spotted a friend of his across the lawn of the park. He turned to his step-sister, eyes full of hope.

"Mal, can I go see Eric over there? I won't go far!"

"Sure, Jackson. Come back to us after a while."

He nodded and sprinted across the lawn, then reached to his friend and the two began to talk.

"So what about Griffin?"

Thomas ran his hand through his soft hair.

"Uh... I don't know. He has been acting weird, I guess."

She stopped walking.

"That's it?"

"Yeah."

She shook her head in dismay. "Thomas, I actually thought there was something big going on."

"No, no, I know! But..."

"Thomas, you know I don't like Griffin anymore." she spoke seriously, taking another spoon of her bowl.

"I know, babe. But... He's still my best friend. I guess I'm just worried about him."

She sighed, shaking her head. She didn't like seeing her boyfriend worried, especially about someone like Griffin. She had her personal reasons not to like Griffin Gluck, but she didn't want to make Thomas feel as if she was controlling him. That was the last thing she wanted him to feel.

"Okay, fine. Tell me what's going on."

He gulped a little, then took occasional glances at her as he explained. "Well, he... I don't know how to explain it. He seems off. He's not being himself."

"Can you try to explain a little more? Why do you think he's acting weird?"

"He's... Freaked out. We were together the other day and he kept his eye out for something he didn't tell me about. He told me that he was scared of something, and once again, he didn't tell me what it was. I don't know much about this, except the fact that he wasn't himself."

She took a look at his handsome face, only to find the familiar, blank expression.

"Was someone following him? Paparazzi?"

"I don't think paparazzi make us feel so scared like that."

"Okay, was someone stalking him?"

"He would have told someone. Right?"

Mal sighed. "How about you call him and ask him about it? Maybe he will tell you what's really going on."

Thomas let out his phone from his back pocket, then scrolled through it for a few minutes. He put the phone on his ear, listening to it ring.

"Odd. He's not answering."

That was when Mal knew that Thomas was serious.

____________________________