Chapter 2
I ran across the street to Lisa’s house, almost getting hit by a car while doing so. I slammed into the chest of a police officer who was standing near the police car. Instead of yelling at me or arresting me for assaulting a police officer or something, he stretched out his arms and pulled me in for a hug.
“What the hell,” I shrieked and pushed him away. For the first time, I actually looked up at his face. It was Jonathon Reid, Lisa’s boyfriend. He pulled out a walkie-talkie and said, “Found her,” over the static.
“Oh, God. Did you guys, like, start a search for me? Don’t you have to be missing for a full day or something to do that?” I asked.
“Yeah, but I got them to start early. Lisa was hysterical. You can’t do this, Scarlet. She’s very fragile,” he explained.
“Yeah, I’m sure she is. Check who you’re talking to,” I exclaimed. His eyes nearly popped out of his head.
“Gosh, I’m sorry,” he began. I merely walked away and into the house. I was greeted by the tear-streaked face of Lisa.
“Sweetie, I’m soo sorry. Wait, where are you going?” she cried.
“To my room. Calm down, I’m fine,” I coldly told her. She sadly nodded and wrapped her scarf tightly around her thin frame. I proceeded to my room and looked out of the window. I saw Lisa walk out to Jonathon and kiss him briefly before returning to the house. I sighed. I really should be nicer to Lisa. After her vacation from work ceased, she would never be home. She worked for a sales company and traveled the country every month.
Turning around, I looked around the small room. There was a small bed in one corner with a black and white flower pattern comforter. Placed next to it was a black wooden desk. Directly across from that was the closet that held my few belongings. The walls were painted a pale pink. It was a plain room, but I had grown quite fond of it in the two months that I had spent here. Glancing over at the clock, I realized how late it had grown. It was nearly one in the morning and I had to go to school tomorrow. Walking over to the full body mirror in my room, I examined myself. I had long, wavy dark brown hair and brown eyes. I was quite pale and that provided a nice contrast to my dark locks. I was indifferent about my looks; my mother was absolutely beautiful and compared to her, I was plain.
Stripping off my clothes, I jumped into my bed and laid there for what seemed like hours. But, I must have dozed off because I woke up to Lisa shaking me roughly. It was still dark outside.
“Wake up!” she screamed. I opened my eyes and stared up at her.
“What the hell is happening?” I yelled.
“Your school burned down! And so did Ace Reconstruction High. And it wasn’t an accident. Classes are cancelled, and will continue when the school is repaired. You’ll have to go to school through the summer depending on how long the repairing takes,” she said in one breath. I blinked at her. Assuming this was all some kind of messed up dream, I closed my eyes again, and re-opened them. Nope, this wasn’t a dream.
I leaped up and pulled on my jeans and tight green sweater.
“Where are you going?” Lisa questioned.
“To my school,” I called back. Grabbing the car keys, I ran outside and hopped in the car. I drove the ten minutes to school and saw that it was six in the morning. My huge three story school was now a black and charred stump. The fire trucks were gone and I was alone. At least I thought that I was alone. When I looked around, I spotted someone in the darkness. He looked up at the same time. Without hesitation, he began sprinting toward me. My heart sped up and I suddenly became afraid. He neared me and I instantly recognized him. He was the beautiful boy from the woods. His eyes looked worried.
“Did you see what happened? Wait, you’re the girl from the woods,” he recalled.
“No, I actually have no idea,” I replied. He was holding onto my wrist.
“Good, okay,” he told me.
“I’m Scarlet,” I informed him.
“Will. Will Curtis,” he said to me. He turned to walk away but stopped dead in his tracks as laughing tore up the crisp air. The laughing was loud, and sounded cruel.
“Shit,” he muttered to himself. A group of boys appeared in the clearing. He quickly ran back over to me.
“Do you trust me, Scarlet?” he asked, alarmed.
“Not really,” I replied honestly.
“Too bad,” he murmured and grabbed my arm. He pulled me over to a large truck and shoved me into the passenger seat. Before I could understand what was happening, we were speeding down the highway, away from the scene.
