Run.

Chapter One

"Come on! I wanna go get popsicles!" I looked over at Mace. He grinned a gapped smile at me, his cheeks puffing up, and his brown hair flopping in his face. "Let's go! It's hot." He complained. I looked over at Joey, to see what he thought. He crossed his arms and pouted. "No! I want to play on the swings!" He ran a few steps to the swing set and jumped around. I looked between the two of my best friends, trying to decide. My bottom lip stuck out as I thought long and hard. Crossing my arms, I looked at my house across the street. I really want those popsicles. I smiled at Mace and screamed "POPSICLES!" He cheered and we ran from the back yard to Joey's driveway. Joey hopped off of the swing and stumbled after us. I slowed down and grabbed Mace's arm. "Wait! We have to look both ways." We swiveled our heads, left and right and left again. I turned as I heard Joey puffing from behind us. "Get me a red one!" He called out, out of breath. I gave him a thumbs up, and we crossed the street.

Still holding Mace's arm, I hurried to my halfway opened garage door. The pale blue paint was peeling off of it, as it was on most of the house. I rushed into the garage, and opened the freezer. "What color?" I asked Mace, grabbing a red one for Joey and a blue one for me. I opened mine, staining my tongue with blue raspberry. His baby fingers grabbed the last yellow one and he shoved it in his mouth. We raced outside, stopping in front of a white van. I grabbed Mace's arm again, to wait to cross the street. I could feel my heart skip a beat as I heard a scream. Joey.

A huge masked man thundered out from Joey's driveway. Joey was in his tree trunk arms. He flew into the van and drove off, screeching out of the neighborhood. I looked over at Mace, horrified. His face was white. He dropped his popsicle. We ran across the street, not looking both ways. Mace sprinted to Joey's house. Mace burst through the door. Mace screamed for Joey's father. Mace told him everything. Mace started crying. Mace talked to the police. Mace described the man. Mace.... 

Never talked to me again.