Acteon Syndicate

Chapter 3: Allis

Allis wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her gray sweatshirt and walked with the flock of students. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and looked up, the boy she'd bumped into earlier was watching her as she walked. Their eyes locked, and he shuffled away. That boy gave her a bad feeling.

"And as the cell moves..." The teacher's words were nothing as she sat, lost in the thought of Annalee.
How could she lose hope like that? Allis thought. She was the one who pressed me to pursue this in the first place.
Allis ran her thumb over the wallpaper on her phone screen, wiping away a single tear from the picture of Annalee and Allis on their first day of senior year.
She's my best friend, yet she's abandoning the most important thing to me.

"Mr. Richards! May I go to the nurse?" Allis's teacher glanced at her and nodded. Rather than walk to the nurse's office she shuffled towards the door until the final bell rang. She left the high school, just as people tore out of their classrooms.

Not in the mood to return home, she sent a quick text to her father and sat in the park, listening to birds chirp and people chat. Dogs barked and children played. As the sun set and night fell, it was silent, save for the noise from some rowdy teenagers out on a Friday night.
Why is Annalee acting so... different? She thought. She shook her head, picked up her phone and dialed Annalee.
"Hey, Lissi. Look, I really can't talk right now."
"Ann? Is that... gunshots?" Allis asked, panic rising in her voice.
"Yeah, I'm playing a game. I have to go!"
There was a click, followed by silence. Allis dialed her friend twice, only to get her voicemail. Allis shoved her phone into her pocket and ran home.