A Hooded Boy and An Isolated Girl

Chapter One

Emily was looking at herself in the mirror when she heard the doorbell ring. She waited until she heard her dad walking toward the door before she went back to unscrewing the screw that held the razor blade in the cheap pencil sharpener she stole from her teacher at school. She didn't normally steal, but this was the only way to get what she needed without drawing too much attention to herself. Her dad was a dick and he did this to her. He was the one who pushed her mother away, pushed her so far that Emily hadn't heard from her in over five years. After her mother left, Emily slowly became withdrawn from her friends at school and other family members; it was just her and her dad. He drank, and when he drinks he gets mean, mean enough to hurt Emily in more ways than one.

Emily was deep in thought, blade in hand when a shout from the kitchen startled her.

"Em get down here!"

"Yes Sir, I'm coming."

Emily stashed the blade in a tampon box and pulled her sleeves down over her scarred wrists. She walked downstairs towards the kitchen dreading more with every step she took. When she finally rounded the corner into the kitchen she saw her dad standing by the table, beer in hand, looking down at the table where there was a small box.

"You ordering shit online? You know you're not supposed to be buying anything without my permission."

"No Sir, I didn't order anything I swear."

"What is this then? Huh? I'm talking to you young lady, don't make me repeat myself."

"I don't know dad, I promise."

"Fine, whatever, take it, I have somewhere I need to be. We can talk more about this later on. Tonight."

Emily shivered with the thought of talking to him tonight. She tried to push the thought away and grabbed the box. The box had her name on it in blue block lettering, but that was it so it had to be hand-delivered. Emily lightly shook the box next to her ear to try and figure out what it was before she opened it but she couldn't make anything out. She started to walk back upstairs slowly, eyeing the front window where she could see dad starting to drive down the driveway. When Emily finally got to her bedroom she closed her door softly and locked it, a habit she picked up after her mom left. She placed the box on her bed and just looked at it. When she finally worked up the courage to open it, all that was in it was a polaroid picture and a note.

You are so beautiful, I just wish you would smile more.

She glanced from the note to the picture and stood there wide-eyed. It was a picture of her. It must have been at the library after school one day because she had her backpack on the table she was sitting at. She started to shake. She stuffed the note and the picture back into the box and put it under her bed. Emily walked to her window and glanced out trying to notice anything that stood out. It was almost December so you couldn't be hiding behind trees, and there wasn't really anyone on the streets.

Emily tried to forget about the box and the contents that came with it and go on with the rest of her day. She did her chores and finished her homework. She very nervously went grocery shopping with the daily allowance that her father gave her for stuff like this. By eight o'clock her father rolled back into the driveway and hit the garbage can, he had clearly been drinking. When Emily heard the car hit the cans she practically ran to her room locking the door behind her and she even put her desk chair under the handle just as a precaution. Emily sat on her bed as she heard her father walk in loudly slamming the door. He was talking loudly to someone on the phone. In moments like these, she just locked herself in and tried to stay as quiet as possible so she didn't attract any attention to herself.

Emily's dad finally passed out at four in the morning, so taking the chance, Emily took a quick shower before getting ready for school which she had to be at in an hour and a half. She got ready, which just involved throwing on a pair of faded black skinny jeans with rips in both knees and a baggie hoodie over her sports bra. The hoodie just barely brushed over the new lines that danced along her pale skin. She threw her long black hair in a sloppy bun and set on the three-mile walk to school.

It started raining on the way to school so when Emily finally reached her destination she was soaking wet and shivering so hard she was convinced that the whole school could hear her teeth chattering. Emily slowly made her way through the crowded hallway, inching her way to her first-period English class. There was only one other person in the classroom when she got there, his name was Zach and all she really knew about him was that his parents died when he was younger and he's had it pretty rough since. It was only when Emily sat down in her seat a couple of chairs down that Zach looked up and over at her. Emily shivered knowing she was being watched, she grabbed a book from her bag in hopes of easing her mind when she noticed Zach slowly starting to walk towards her. She tried to ignore him, anxiety building inside her until he was standing right next to her.

"Hey, do you know if the paper was due today?" He was staring down at her, his eyes were dark.

She looked up quickly and then back down towards her hands which had started tugging at the cuffs of her hoodie without her even noticing.

"Uh, I am pretty sure just the rough draft is due today. I think the full paper is due next week."

"Cool, thanks." With a nod, Zach turned around and walked back to his desk.

The bell rang shortly after that and more kids started filing into the classroom. First, it was Amber, who was the head cheerleader. Amber was the only daughter of the mayor of the town and the girlfriend of the quarterback of the school's football team. Following Amber were her two best friends, Robin and Beth. The two followed Amber around like lost puppies trying to stay in the queen bee's good graces. The next people in were just normal middle-class students, Emily didn't know them but they were all familiar. Finally, the teacher came in, her last name was almost impossible to pronounce so she just had everyone call her Miss Janie.

The class was pretty slow, Emily spent most of the time doodling in her notebook and trying to figure out how to get out of giving a speech at the end of the semester.

It was still raining when Emily walked home, thinking about the homework she had to get done. Despite the rain, there were still little kids playing at the park she passed every day. She smiled to herself, remembering the days when her mother would bring her to the park. The car wasn't in the driveway so Emily had some time to herself. As Emily walked up the driveway she saw something on the front doorstep. When she got closer she could see a lily, still wrapped in the signature paper from the store in town. Under the lily, was a letter with the same blue lettering as the package she got the day before.

I saw this and thought of you. Lilies are your favorite, right? I can't wait to see you again.