Missing Numbers

Chapter 3- Savannah

At times, I realized what an idiot boys were capable of being. Then I realized that there was Nolan, my so-called "best buddy", being the biggest pain of all.

After school, I wanted to talk to Hannah about what I saw at the cafeteria. I could have sworn the mystical shadow was Harper, but what Nolan said was right. She was dead, and the thought itself was insane. All I could do was either sit all day and get nowhere with this, or ask Hannah for help.

I saw Hannah walk home as her long, blonde, curly hair bounced on her back. I tried to catch up to her when suddenly a firm hand grabbed my shoulder. I turned around and saw Nolan with his bright teeth and messy hair.

"Seriously, Nolan? You have detention today afterschool, don't you?"

"Well, the handsome face and charming personality helps when-"

"Oh, shut up. Did you follow me here?"

His brown eyes couldn't meet mine as he whistled and suddenly became interested in the trees around him.

"Whatever, just follow me. You're going to want to hear this too." I pulled Nolan by the wrist until we caught up with Hannah.

Hannah heard the clicking of my high tops and turned around with a serious look on her face. She seemed to be ready for an ambush, but her face softened when she saw us. "Hey guys, what are you two doing here?"

Nolan turned bright red and looked away when he saw Hannah, but Hannah either didn't notice or didn't care. She grinned as her eyes crept over to our hands that were still entangled with each other. She let out an unusually loud cough. I let go of Nolan's hands immediately then went straight to asking what I came for.

"Please tell me that I'm not the only one that saw Harper in the cafeteria." Hannah's smile disappeared and grimaced.

"Was it really Harper who you saw?"

I replied with all of the confidence that I could muster. "Pretty sure of it." Hannah looked like she had just confirmed her worst nightmare.

"Well, that's pretty much who I thought I saw, but it's impossible. Harper died, and everybody in the entire town knows that. If people hear about this, they're going to think we're insane."

"Which is exactly what I think of the two of you." Nolan had cut Savannah off and answered Hannah's suggestion. "It's pretty crazy, you know."

Hannah shrugged her shoulders and let out a big sigh. "Yeah, Nolan's right."

"Well yeah, of course I'm- wait, Hannah- did you just say that I'm right?" Hannah rolled her eyes but had a playful smirk on her face. "Yes Nolan, for once, I think you're right. We are not mentioning this again. It's for the best, okay?"

"Sure," Nolan said as he trudged off. I gave one last uneasy glance at Hannah, then slowly walked towards my house across the street. Hannah had made it clear that she didn't want to talk about this, but I knew that something was going to go extremely wrong if we didn't do anything about it.

As the days passed, it seemed as if everybody forgot about the "Reliving-Harper Moment". It was nothing for me to complain, just because I deserved a normal life for once. With all of the online shopping, I had no room on my plate to think about anything else.

But apparently, I had room to think about the weirdest things.

Nobody, I mean nobody knew about this, but I had the biggest crush on Wesley Fields since the sixth grade. I had never mustered up the courage to even tell him. Wess and I had been friends since junior high, but every time I tried to strike up a conversation, I either messed up or some other girl messed it up for me. Maybe taking the risk was part of the reason why I liked him so much.

Our school was famous for the football team, and Wesley was captain. But that wasn't the only reason that literally every girl in Milwaukee High fell for him. It was because underneath that charm and great sense of humor was a really smart kid with a really smart brain. I had never seen Wess even flirt with other girls at the school, which I truly appreciated after being with Nolan for way too long.

But there was a catch. Which meant there was an exception.

Hannah.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the girl. We had never been closer to each other than we had been with anybody else. We were interchangeable, inseparable. But it just had to be Hannah who Wesley was falling for. I mean, everybody could notice it. They seemed so comfortable with each other that it was crazy insane for me to not get jealous.

I was writing in my diary during the middle of advisory when I saw the eerie shadow again. I knew that I probably didn't have another chance to find out whether this lurking creature was Harper or not, so I decided to do exactly what I wasn't supposed to.

I followed her.

After making a silly excuse to Mrs.Boggs, I skittered out the blue, metal door that could have crushed me if I hadn't be quick enough. I scanned a 360 around the school campus. I trotted a little more toward where my instincts told me exactly not to go.

The clicking of my red, shiny heels echoed through the empty hallways. There were pieces of trash and cafeteria leftovers blowing in every direction. I was careful that I didn't get any flying pudding on my coat.

I was about to give up and go back when I saw a figure. The figure. I craned my neck to see who it was, and I saw a glimpse of a girl with ivory black hair and pale skin. The young girl looked straight into my eyes and was startled. She started running away. I wanted to catch up to her when the bell rang, releasing a herd of wild animals, also known as high schoolers.

I should have been frustrated. I should have been screaming. The girl saw me, and she wasn't coming back again.

But I wasn't frustrated and I wasn't screaming. I stood there until the winds were making my lips crack and my hair a tangled mess, but I didn't move an inch from where I froze. I knew better that seeing more wouldn't help with the situation. The main reason being, I had already seen enough.

A pair of piercing, blue eyes staring right through me.