The forest inside me

Chapter 1:

I woke up one day and she was gone. My mother was gone. And not like dead - gone, more like no where to be found - gone. Or maybe even dead, who knows. Dad was devastated at first and refused to believe that he couldn't find her, but eventually we both accepted the fact, that she was gone. It has been a month since she went missing and the police already gave up. I still really miss her, but I know that she would want me to move on with my life. Dad, on the other hand, is still trying to find some missing clues in her documents and refusing to give up. 

Currently I am walking to school. I walk to the front door, where my best friend - Iza -  is already waiting on me. When she sees me, she jumps up and runs towards me and gives me a huge hug. "I've missed you so much," she says. "You saw me yesterday," I reply. "I know, but I still missed you. I have so much to tell you." Than she starts talking about the boy she met on some random party a week ago. She is talking about him all the time. Yesterday he finally asked her out on a date. They went ice skating and she almost fell, but he caught her. OMG... I sooo didn't expect that. That was the whole point of going to the ice ring. But she is a hopeless romantic and can't see that. Thankfully the bell saved me from more of her love adventures.

I have maths. I find it boring, because I get it quickly and everyone else needs so much more time. Usually I finish the assignment and nap till the end of the class. Today is no different. We got some equations to solve. Easy. 

Classes passed quickly and now I'm having lunch. Iza is waiting for me at our table. She is talking to our classmates Avery and Rachel. "Hi girls!" I sit at the table next to Avery: "What are you talking about?" "I was just telling them about my date yesterday. Don't worry, you already know everything," Iza says: "Anyways, as I was saying, we were ice skating and I slipped and I almost fell. BUT he caught me. AND he grabbed me by my waist! It was so romantic. I think we were meant to be." In between her story the girls exchange some Awww's and OMG's. They keep on talking about Iza's date, but my attention is stolen by some student. I don't remember seeing him before. He must be new. He is tall and quite attractive. His hair is brown and it cups his face perfectly. He is talking to my classmate Alex, who is the captain of our school's hockey team, so he must also play hockey. 

Someone snaps in front of my face: "Earth to Rose!" I turn to Avery: "What? Sorry, I zoned out." "You zoned out or did the pretty new boy steal your attention?" of course, Iza is always on hunt for romances. "No...? Who even is he?" Great, that sounded like the exact opposite of no. "He is in my physics class. He was talking to some of the hockey boys. Beth told me that he transfered here, but no one knows where from. She said, that coach immediately put him on the team, so he must really be good, " Rachel says. "Well, he is cute," Avery adds. Iza gives her a look that says she already planned the weding. 

After that we drop the subject and talk about school until the bell rings.

****

After lunch I had three classes left and they were mostly boring. Now I'm meeting with Iza and we're going to her house to study, well at least that's what we said we'll do. Her house is on the same street as our school, so we have like three minutes by foot. Her parents are still at work and we have the house for ourselves for another two hours. "Have you watched the new Spider-Man movie?" Iza cheerfully yells, while we walk. "No, I had a lot of homework last week, so I couldn't. I hope this week I'll have more time to watch it. Why?" I reply. She gets even more excited: "Great, then we can watch it now." She opens the door: "I will go and make some popcorn and you go start the movie." I walk in after her and do as she said. 

I walk into the living room, where their big flat screen is placed. On the couch is her older brother Tristan. He is 19 and is like an older brother to me, too. Iza and I have been friends since forever and Tristan sometimes hung out with us. I know every single thing about them. When Iza and I started high school, he was always there for us and he was quite overprotective of both of us. "Hey, Lia!" "Hey, what's up?" I greet him. "Meh, nothing much. Where is Iza?" he asks. "She's in the kitchen making popcorn. We're going to watch Spider-Man," I tell him: "You wanna watch?" He makes a face and shakes his head: "I think I'll pass on watching Tom Holland shirtless." Yeah, because that is the only reason to watch a movie: "Whatever..." I turn on the TV and not even a minute later Iza walks in with a bowl of popcorn. Tristan is still on the couch, even though he said he won't watch the movie. Iza sits down between me and Tristan: "I can't wait to see what happens." Tristan loudly sighs and takes the popcorn. I swat his hand away: "No movie, no popcorn." He just rolls his eyes at me and walks away. Now, we can peacefully watch the movie.