Pathways

Chapter 1

The sounds of lockers slamming shut flood the hallway like fish as I fiddle with my lock impatiently trying to get it open. This always happens. Pain seers through me as I kick my jammed locker in frustration. Why won't the damn thing just open. A hand brushes across my shoulder and it makes me jump.

" You want help with that, Anna?" I turn around red-faced and feel the air evaporate. My heart feels like it's searing out of my chest as I witness the beautiful creature standing in front of me. That's what happens every time I see Jake.

" Yes please." I stammer not being able to take my eyes off him. His light eyes furrow down in concentration as he tries to work his way around my locker. I feel my knees go weak as he runs his long fingers through his sandy hair in frustration.

He huffs. " This thing is stubborn."

"Want me to try again-" I start to whisper, but he's already lifting the handle up forcefully and pulling. In a matter of seconds, my locker opens. I sigh in relief and thank him. He smiles and walks back to his locker. Jack really is the best boyfriend.

I pull my backpack out of my locker and frown when something flutters to my feet. A letter. Bright yellow. My favorite color. I take it and stare at it a moment before Jake comes back. He's trotting towards me with his backpack all packed up for the day.

" Ready to head out." He stares at the note in my hand suspiciously.

I zip open my backpack. " Yeah, just give me a second."

" What's that?" He points to the letter in my hand.

"It's nothing, probably something from the office. Or maybe the guidance counselor. I'll open it when I get home." I explain.

My boyfriend just shrugs and lifts my backpack as I slip the letter inside. He carries my backpack all the way to my bus and then hands it back to me. He kisses me on the cheek and tells me he'll see me tomorrow. Jake really is perfect. I sigh.

It's quiet on the bus. I'm one of the first few people walking down the dark narrow aisles. I only see one girl sitting in the front row glued to her phone. I wonder if that's how I look when I sit on my phone. Like a rotting corpse. Unalive and unimpressive. I find a seat in the very back of the bus and put everything down. I like the back of the bus. It feels isolated and peaceful. Just how I like it. I can also open the window and not have anybody complain about the air. Very few people sit in the back of the bus so it's sort of like my time of day to relax and rewind. I'd be lying if I said I didn't fall asleep sometimes. I place my head on the icy glass and look out the window at Jake's figure. He's walking to his car. A black SUV his parents bought him for his birthday last year when we were sixteen. I wish I had a car but my family doesn't have that type of money.

I open my backpack to pull out my phone in search of cars when something stabs my hand. The letter. I watch to see a dot of blood pool from the side of my finger. Picking up the letter I look for a return address. Nothing. I'm not even sure if it's for me. Someone could have mistaken my locker for somebody else's and tried sending a note. But people text nowadays. Letters are old-fashioned which makes me think that the school must have put it there. Regardless of who the letter is from, I open it.

Dear Anna,

Out of everyone else in the world, I know you the best. I know your favorite color is yellow. I know how you hate math but adore biology and environmental science. You want to be a marine biologist when you grow up, and your dog's name is Riley. I know how kind and caring you are. How smart and dedicated you are. How brave you are. But most of all I know how beautiful you are. Yes. You. You have the most brilliant brown eyes I've ever seen and the most gorgeous hair. Every time I think about your lovely hair and how short it used to be and how long it is now I smile. You truly are one of a kind. There is no one else for me. You don't have to write back. I already know the type of questions you're probably asking yourself right now. No matter. I just wanted you to know that I like you. I like the person you are and I've always admired you from afar and I can't take it anymore. I just had to tell you. My Anna, I love you.

Yours truly-?

So I have a stalker. How creepy. He knows me the most in the world. Assuming it's a he. How is that possible? This has to be some sort of prank. What's with the my Anna? I fold the letter nicely back into the envelope and slide it back into my backpack. I put my head back on the cool glass and try to close my eyes. That's when I feel it. Like someone is watching me. I open my eyes quickly and look around. Surely enough nobody is there. It's dark and eerily quiet as I sit in my seat looking out the window. The lights on the old bus are flashing in and out because they haven't been maintained in a while. It's November and it's already snowing outside. I make a circle in the window to see the view outside. Everything is milked white in snow, it seems to endlessly fall from the sky like tears. Watching the snow relaxes me from thoughts of my stalker and I close my eyes again.