Desolate

Chapter One

Mae is played by Victoria Justice. Enjoy the first chapter:))

The door of the classroom slammed shut and I was aware of the latecomer that had quietly taken their place behind me. Days seemed to have been getting longer, dragging on until it felt like my eyes had began to ache from glaring at the clock. I had even started noticing the small things around me to prevent boredom but to no avail. For example, the way Kai Floyd would hide all of his disposed chewing gum underneath his desk, the way Stacy Turnman would always bite the end of her pen and the way Charlie Adams would attempt at discretely picking his nose. I could easily say that I wasn't proud of figuring out these new revelations but I honestly couldn't help it.

I didn't mean to be such a downer but it was inevitable to feel so when your life was an endless pattern of school, work and more school. It hasn't always been like this, I used to go out with my best friend Dylan all the time, but recently his uncle had been making him stay at home and do home schooling. It really sucked too as his busy time schedule meant it was rare I could see him as whenever I had work or school, it clashed with his free time. I'm sure he could've made more effort though.

I still had friends, but no one that I trusted to talk to about my life, or even the weird small things I had begun to notice, not just about others but myself too. The feeling of someone staring at my back pulled me from my thoughts but before I could turn around, the loud shrill of the bell rung out.

Chairs scraping across the floor muffled my sigh as everyone began to leave. A boy in a dark hoodie caught my eye as he rushed out, seeming to be quite unfamiliar. I shook out of my thoughts as my heavy bag hugged my back and I briskly left the classroom.

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The warm scent of coffee filled my senses as the familiar, small store came into view. The bell chimed above the door as I stepped in, shrugging off my coat and reaching for my apron. "Martha?" I called out.

The shop seemed empty besides the cute, old couple sitting in the corner. They were regulars and were almost always here on a Friday afternoon. I shot them a smile as I walked into the back.

"Martha?' I breathed out and my eyes widened as I seen her looking very frustrated on the phone and pacing the tiny back room. Her eyes darted towards me at the sound of my voice and by the way she smiled I could tell she was relieved for my appearance.

"Hold on a minute Janice, I'll call you back." She rushed as she ended her phone call and enveloped me in a short hug. I tensed slightly but responded anyway.

"Oh Mae, I'm so glad you're here! Bobby has gone and gotten in trouble in school and I need to pick him up." She spoke quickly after pulling out of the hug. She raced to find her belongings and reached for her coat before looking at me with sympathetic eyes. "You wouldn't mind looking after the shop and locking up would you?"

I couldn't help but feel bad for her. She wasn't exactly a young woman but her younger sister would tend to leave her the responsibility of her 7 year old son, Bobby. It would happen quite often and my heart ached for the young boy.

"No Ofcourse not, it doesn't seem too busy. Keys in the usual spot?" I asked with a small smile before tying my apron.

"Yeah kiddo, same spot. Thanks so much." She sighed out and gave my arm a light squeeze before dialling a number on her phone and walking out. Her voice became muffled and finally disappeared after the chime of the bell.

"Right, back to work." I sighed and headed out to the front room. The old couple were still sat there talking in muffled whispers and my heart warmed at the sight. I set to my normal routine of wiping the tables and sweeping the floor with the occasional customers coming and going. I couldn't help but think about poor Martha and Bobby and why his mother would deprive him of a happy life. I eventually zoned back into my tasks at hand and time flew by.

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The sun had finally gone into hiding when I had finished my tasks and the old couple had left only 5 minutes prior. After collecting my belongings and locking up the shop, my hands resided in my pockets as I took for the quiet streets. I lived in a fairly small town and with the small increase in crime rates it made the town seen empty at night.

I could hear faint sounds of laughter and talks as I passed a local pub before rounding the corner down a narrow, empty road. The first thing I noticed was how extremely silent everything was. The second thing was that there was actually a low humming sound of an engine.

Ahead of me were two large red lights blinding me, and the low growl of the engine made me acutely aware of the presence inside of the car. It didn't really scare me, it was just strange that someone was parked and waiting on the side of an empty street. I approached the car and kept my head down as I passed it.

I noticed how expensive it looked though unfortunately I couldn't name it due to the lack of knowledge I had based around cars. The windows were tinted black but I was sure there was only one dark figure sat in there.

"Boo." A deep voice called and I whisked my head round with a yelp as I came face to face with a tall, hooded man.