Selene and the Moon

10- Nowhere left to hide

A shiver runs down my spine as I close the cover of the diary and turn away.

I flip the page of my notebook and try to write down how, where and why.

How: Assuming the mystery writer is keeping... tabs on me, it's not that hard to come to the conclusion that they would have snuck into my bedroom and inserted something into my bag.

I gasp.

Jadan. He knew where my house was. A logical way to think about this is that he would've waited outside (possibly behind the long shrubbery that lines the border between the houses) instead of leaving like I had assumed, and followed me to school, creeping up behind me and opening my bag to put the diary in my bag.

But, in that case, why would he write the name Artemis?

I take a big breath, facing my fears, opening the diary once again, and flip to the front page.

There it is. It is her handwriting. The familiar scrawl of my sister- my twin. I'd recognise it anywhere. I smile, seeing it hasn't changed after all this time. Call it a twin's intellect, but right now, at this moment in time, I am sure it's not a forgery.

The other thing is that although the first page is 100% pure Artemis, the second page of the diary  is full of stuff that just shouts, 'I'm a fake.'

First of all. Artemis would've included flounce. This piece of absolute fake-ness just cuts straight to the chase. Also. Artemis was always one to fantasise about being a secret agent. I'm sure she would've hidden her favourite word, espionage, somewhere in it. Just to be sure, I scan through the entry again. 

I check the first letter of each word:

TSMMITABTOBAEBTA5DBL

No, there is no hidden meaning. I try taking off every second letter.

TMOATBET5B = TMO- Tomorrow; AT- at; BE- Block Elaine; T- Time; 5- 5; x-(kiss).

In other words, Tomorrow at Block Elaine, time: 5 (kiss)

Oh my god. The code translates into the original message? Could be a coincidence but URGH they should stop playing around with my head. I slam down my pencil, and check the time.

It's already eleven in the night. 

I throw myself into bed, too lazy to take a shower, and close my eyes, but I don't fall asleep until an hour later.

When the alarm rings again, I roll over halfheartedly in my bed, press the 'stop' button on my phone, and rub my eyes. I don't want to wake up but I still manage to pull myself out of bed. It's only when I catch sight of the diary when it all comes rushing back like a splash of cold water. 

Now I'm truly awake.

How did this happen? It's not like I'm a character in a fictional book- but I sure feel like one. Two days ago, I was just a normal kid, exception being that I had water magic . Now, I'm still a kid but with a boy creeping outside my window in the morning, a kid being followed as soon as she leaves the house, a kid getting shady messages in her bag, a kid who's lost her sister for her name and handwriting to mysteriously appear in a diary from who knows where, a kid who- I'll stop now before I go on any longer. But, you know, I've made my point.

No, be positive. Yes positive, I think. You can do this! You have magic and have had it for thirteen years! You can do this! Two more days until the weekend! You can do this, Selene. You can!

Still, despite my hyperactive thoughts, I can't help feeling slightly discouraged.

What am I supposed to do? It's not like I can tell Dad. I pull out my notebook, ready to list out all the possible things I can do, when I realise there are only ten more minutes to 

1. Brush my teeth

2. Eat breakfast

3. Brush and tie my hair up

4. Get my oyster

5. Change into my school uniform

6. And GET OUT OF THE DOOR.

Sighing, I tell myself that I can  always do my neatly laying out thing when I come home from school.

I march out of my bedroom resolutely and go to the bathroom to find my stupid toothbrush.

Going to school feels like a chore nowadays, but that doesn't stop me from feeling frightened for my life, or my blood once again resuming its haphazard attempts to play with me (including making me vomit blood, not a pleasant experience.)

As soon as I step out of the door, I look around to make sure nobody's following me. When I decide there's nobody there, I start walking. I can't afford to be late so I walk quickly until I hear an extra pair of falling feet behind me. Gasping, I whip around. My bag's open. Inside's a piece of paper that I don't remember putting in my bag this morning. I look around.

But there's no one there.

At school, Verity keeps complaining about Jadan, who today shares nearly every lesson with me and Verity. Apparently she still thinks that him and I are a couple and tries to discourage me from being with him. I'm to distracted to correct her so I let her blabber on pointlessly.

"Seriously, S. He doesn't deserve you," is what she's saying now.

I mumble back a "Yeah, yeah."

I'm completely tired and exhausted.

Can't Verity understand that? 

All I can say is that I'm glad when we're told to go home. I know, I'm a bad friend and whatnot, blah blah blah. I DON'T CARE.

I trudge back home, pinching my nose because of the constant nosebleed.

It's great to be me, huh. Just adding (extreme) blood loss to the list makes me feel a whole lot better.

Don't judge. I'm a teenager. Moodiness is the norm, guys.

Then I remember. The note in my bag.

I stop, and take it out.

On it, in clear blue BLOCK letters (it's handwritten) are the words 'Hate everyone. -Lonely peeps x

My heart leaps into my throat.

Because the first letter of every word-

T-they spell out HELP.

That's it. I'm going to Elaine Block.