Missing Numbers

Chapter 1- Hannah

I knew that something was wrong when I walked into Mrs. Montgomery's English class, but I couldn't be sure of myself until the lunch break of the first day of school.

As a senior at Milwaukee High, I didn't really mind much of the first day. There was no point in "getting excited" or "taking pictures". High school was high school, no better or worse. I learned this the hard way in my freshman year. For the most part, high school was easy and smooth, and I had my annoying friends to help me out.

I walked over to the lunch table where my friends always were. Savannah, one of my closest and most popular friends looked back and waved at me. She smiled as her straight, brown hair flipped to one side, landing on her perfectly-tanned shoulder. Although she seemed like a gorgeous model, once people got to know her, Savannah was an absolute weirdo. I smiled at her and sat down next to the skinny figure. "How was the first day, Hannah?" she asked. I laughed and we teased about Mrs. Montgomery's new boyfriend dilemma.

Soon, Conner Evans came walking toward our table. His tanned skin made him look darker than ever before in his orange striped polo. He slid his tray across and sat down in front of Savannah. He flashed a grin. "So what's the deal with this talk?"

"Oh, be quiet, Connie!" teased Savannah. Connor's facial expression immediately changed as his playful grin melted. He stared daggers at Savannah until she blushed and went back eating her grilled cheese sandwich. Connor always hated the nickname we got him since Day One. We had to be careful when we were joking around with Connor. I decided that the best thing to do was break the tension.

"So- did you have math, Connor?"

Connor's flaming eyes reluctantly looked away from Savannah.

"Yeah, um- yeah. Mr. Watson was so horrible! He wouldn't be able to teach calculus in a million years."

I stifled a laugh as Nolan Terence walked toward the table. His charming, crooked grin attracted the entire attention of the group of girls. He slouched down next to Connor and started to eat. Nolan had dark hair and sparkling eyes, but neither Savannah nor I ever fell for his features. We knew Nolan since the first grade, and although he may have seemed like a typical boy, Nolan was a troublemaker. He was what we affectionately nicknamed, a "walking disaster."

"Hey Nolan," I said casually, not even looking up from my plate of disgusting school lunch. I made a face while poking at it with a fork. With a quick glance, I looked up to see his reaction. It was pretty dicey to start a conversation with Nolan. He was so erratic that I never really knew what he was going to say.

"...I want pie." Nobody commented on that note. I was going to leave that social endeavor alone. It felt like trying to talk to a tree when he was being especially uncommunicative.

The original crew began to strike up a conversation about the random events that would happen in school. Still, I felt an uneasy chill creep up my spine. Something was wrong, terribly wrong. I glanced over toward the door to the main hallway and saw a silhouette. I craned my neck further to get a better view, but the figure was already gone.

With an uneasy feeling, I went back to the conversation.

"So Hannah- what colleges did you apply to?" asked Conner casually.

"Harvard. Yale. Stanford. Columbus. You know the drill Conner, why ask twice?"

Conner rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah, of course. How about that modeling, Savannah?"

Savannah, apparently distracted from something, seemed as if someone had jolted her back to reality. "What?" She was facing the main entrance.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's just that I thought I saw-"

Savannah couldn't finish her sentence. The lunch bell had rung and we all stood up. Savannah quickly said her goodbyes and walked toward Geometry with the clicking of her heels trail behind her.

In an attempt to calm my unstable consciousness, I thought of the teachers there, all competent adults that were fully capable of protecting us. Unfortunately, that didn't comfort me much. I left to my next class, but I still felt the same, constant feeling of uneasiness. One thing that I was sure of was that the silhouette I had seen in the front entrance was someone I felt as if I should know. And I was sure that I wasn't the only one who noticed this.