Alone (Bluford High) (Watty Awards 2013)

Alone (Bluford High)

Chapter 1

Karen heard the pounding on doors on 22nd Street all night. It had been going on for what seemed like hours and she was wondering why no one called the police yet. Her parents were gone for the night on a date. She was terrified on what could occur next. Would they break the windows? What if they broke into the house? What if they tried to kill her? All of these different possibilities were scaring her quite a bit. She was wishing that she was dreaming, but unfortunately she wasn't. She wanted her best friend, Elle Levers, to stay by her side through this heart-pounding horror.  

"Who IS that?" she asked herself.

She certainly wasn't going to investigate for herself. She didn't even want to step outside into the hallway outside her bedroom door. She kept her television on, but the banging noises were distracting her terribly. Then, as she feared, the pounding moved to her front door. Karen didn't dare move and her forehead was sweaty. She didn't have a cell phone and the house telephone was downstairs in the living room. She was on the second floor. Unfortunately, Karen had to listen to it for thirty minutes. The thought of someone invading her home was frightening. She'd heard stories and seen all of those movies of home invasions and never thought that it could happen to her.

The next day, on Thursday, Karen had left home for Bluford High. She didn't tell her parents what happened the night before because they were sleeping when she was getting ready for school. The police had came and investigated and asked people about the mysterious noises. Nobody knew who it was. In Mr. Finnings' class, Karen met with Elle. She was sitting in the front row.

" Hey, Elle," said Karen half-heartedly.

"What's up, girl? You heard those noises last night?"

"Yeah, it scared to me death. Whoever it was, they were banging on my door."

"Me too. Probably some crack-head on the streets. You know people be doin' weird stuff."

"I didn't tell my parents yet, they were sleeping."

" I told mine and my Mom called the police. I'm not 'bout to let no fools break into my house."

At lunch time, Karen and Elle were sitting next to each other eating cold pizzas. They were trying to get over its distastefulness, but it was unbearable. So they threw it away. 

"So gross!" exclaimed Karen. 

"For real!" Elle agreed.

When Karen came back home, her parents, Susan and Michael, were sitting in the living room watching television. Michael was drinking a glass of beer and eating a turkey sandwich while Susan was drifting off to sleep on his shoulder. Rarely, they would do this and usually they would do something active. But today was different. "Hi, sweetie," said Michael.  

"Hey Dad."

Susan greeted her daughter sleepily.

"So, how was school?"asked Michael. 

"Fine as always," Karen answered. 

"Good. Good."

Karen was ready to tell them about the night before. She had chills just thinking about it. It was almost eerie.

"Um," she began. 

" Did you know about the banging that happened last night?"

Her parents looked puzzled and worried at the same time.

"Banging?" said Susan. 

"Yeah. Someone was banging on everyone's doors, even ours." 

"Really?" 

"Yep, the police came cause Elle's parents called them. Nobody knows who it was." 

"Why didn't you call us?" 

"I was too scared." 

"Well, that's understandable. From now on, I want you to come straight home after school. No going over Elle's house or anywhere else." 

"OK."  

"Crazy people out there," added Michael. 

Karen went into the kitchen and made her a bowl of Frosted Flakes. She usually ate that as a snack everytime she came home from school. The incident kept running through her mind.

BANG! BANG! BANG! She was trying to forget it, but it was too distracting. As soon as she finished her cereal, she heard a loud scratching noise from outside the kitchen window.