Save Me One Last Page

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I’VE STARED AT the piece of paper in front of me for 10 minutes. It looked like a call number to me, or maybe it was just some kind of stupid joke those guys at school came up with. 

    I went to the City Library whenever I didn’t have plans, so it felt like a second home to me. If it was a call number, I would be able to recognize it. Then I came to conclusion, a)It was a joke, b)It was a book on the west side of the library, where I didn’t go to that often. 

   After a long time of wondering, I came to a fair conclusion it was not a joke, so I put the paper in my pocket and headed toward the library.

    24 hours ago…

    I opened my locker like I did a million times before, only this time, there was a piece of note left in it. It could be a note from Ryan! Just yesterday, I told him what I thought about note passing. I crossed my fingers and unfolded it.

                                                                      uk. 301. 319. a21

    Alright. Nobody told me we had a secret code of communication. 

    I tried to think. It might be an address, if you ignore the fact that it didn’t have a city or street name.

    I was almost sure that I was over thinking it. It was probably meant for other someone else. I mean, school lockers looked the same, right? It was probably just some other couple with their code language, which I didn’t want to find out about. Even if it was a note from Ryan, he would have called to make sure I got the mysterious message.

    I turned around. The next thing I know, I was staring right into a face I was familiar with since kindergarten.

    “Serena. Serena, Serena!” the voice that I dreamed of having forever called.

    “Yes, good afternoon to you, too. Leah.” I knew what was coming—

    “The performance is tomorrow night! Aren’t you excited for me?”

    How could I not be excited when I have her reminding me every 20 minutes? Leah was the voted the best voice in our school. Just count the awards and competitions she had won for singing in the recent two years! It would take you forever. Tomorrow was going to be the most important performance of her life. She was having a lot of ‘important guests’ coming tomorrow, as she announced. Therefore, I couldn’t really blame her for being so fired up.

     “Of course!” I tried to change the topic, “Want Coffee?”

     “Can’t,” She put on her sad face, “No coffee before singing, remember? No milk, no ice cream. No nothing.”

     “Well, let’s get myself something anyway.” I threw the note away on my way out.

    Starbucks was only a few blocks away, but it definitely took us more time than it should to walk there. When we came out, the sky was as dark as a raven’s feathers. I felt the cold air cut across my cheeks, so I zipped up my jacket.  It almost felt creepy walking on the street alone. When I said alone, I meant just me and Leah.  There were usually more students around here at this time.

    But today, the streets were so quiet that I heard my own breath.

   As we walked, three guys appeared around the corner of a building. They were the kind of guys you see on the dark side of downtown. The dirty side. They were the kind of people who were usually up to no good. 

  Leah gave me a let-us-get-the-hell-out-of-here look. No verbal communication is needed. We sneaked pass them lightly on our feet and tried hard to be as quick as possible.. I didn’t dare look behind us, but from the sound of them walking, I could tell that they were following us.  Suddenly, I felt a tug on my arms, the cold skin sent shivers down my skin.

    I jerked away, wiped my head around. He was right in front of me. 

    “Come on, don’t run. Let’s hav---”

    Before he had the chance to finish his sentence, I threw my coffee cup right into his face.  It hit his eye, He yelped, and covered his eye with both hands, his friends went straight to his side. 

     I ran for my life, dragging Leah along. We were almost out of our breathes when we got into our neighbourhood.

    “So, no coffee for you either, huh?” Leah smiled at me.

    “Oh, shut up.” 

   After a long pause, she whispered to me, “Serena? Don’t forget my performance, please come, I really need you there.” 

    “I will.” I said, and that was all she needed to hear. 

   After we said our good byes, I went straight home. That was enough actions for today.  Tonight was certainly gonna be stuck in my head for the rest of my life. Just like that, I forgot all about the note.  

  And guess what? The next morning, it was in my locker again. Same number, same handwriting. Only, it was written in red this time. It was a warning, and I was being watched.

                                                                       uk. 301. 319. a21