(New Light?) {On Hold...}

Chapter 5

           "How was your evening with your father?" my mom asked as I walked through the doorway. "It was great, we went to a park and had a really good picnic." she looked up from her job of washing the dishes. "Sounds fun. Who was that young man who was with your dad?" she asked. "That's Nick, my dad's friend's son. He's staying with dad for awhile." I said casually. "Doesn't he go to school?" "Yeah, actually tomorrow he is going to enroll in my school and I plan to show him around a bit." My mom's expression grew complicated. I wish I knew what she was thinking, but as I thought that she put on her normal face. "Well it sounds really fun honey. Just be careful, okay?" Careful? What is she talking about? "Okay, sure thing mom. I'm going to head to my room now, okay?" My mom relaxed, relieved. "Okay thanks Kay." she said.

          Once I was in my room I closed my door and tossed my bag on my bed. I looked over at my laptop on my desk. The screen glowed in my bright room. Weird. I thought I turned that off before I left for school this morning... I walked over and sat down at my desk. I had a new email. I clicked on it to open it. It read: 

                                           Be careful, people are

                                         not always as they seem.

Huh? What in the world is that supposed to mean? I thought. And why is everyone telling me to be careful? I decided to ignore it and go to bed. I had a busy day planned for tomorrow. I would worry about the email later. I climbed into bed and shut my eyes thinking about the next day.

          It had been a rushed morning. My alarm didn't go off and had almost missed the bus again. But thankfully I didn't. The bus stopped at a new stop, in front of the forest. A boy got on. I grinned, "Nick! Over here!" I waved him over. "Hey Kay, you take the bus too?" he asked as he walked over, smiling. "Yep, at least I do when I don't miss it." He laughed. "Yeah, the house your dad bought is right on the other side of those woods. There was a path leading over here through them." Wow they live pretty close to my house then! I wonder if he knew that when he bought the house? I must've had a shocked expression on my face or something because the next thing I knew Nick was laughing. "Yeah pretty close to your house, I know. He knew you lived in this area, but I guess he doesn't realize how close to your house we are." I laughed. Of course dad would at least try to find the area I lived in. I thought and I smiled to myself. I chatted with Nick about the school and our town until the bus pulled into the school.

          Nick and I stepped off the bus and Christian and Chloe walked over. "Hey Kay. ..." Christian trailed off and narrowed his eyes at Nick. I tapped his shoulder, "Uhm, Chris, this is Nick, My dad's friend's son. He's staying with my dad for awhile." Christian's gaze softened into a friendly smile, "Well, in that case." Christian stuck out his hand, "Hi, I'm Christian, but you can call me Chris. And this is my sister, Chloe." He gestured to Chloe standing beside her who waved at Nick. "Hi." she said and smiled at him. "Hey, I'm Nick, glad ta meet cha." Nick said and smiled his model worthy smile. The warning bell rung. "Oh, looks like we better get to class. See you guys at lunch?" I asked. "Yes, definitely!" said Chloe enthusiastically as she ran off to class with Christian.

          Nick had pretty much the same schedule as I did aside from one or two classes. We walked into our first period classroom and took a seat in the back. Just then I saw Ethan walk in. I froze and prayed he wouldn't notice me. He did. He saw me and grinned. "Hey." he said as he walked over. Nick must've noticed how I had froze up because he scooted his desk closer to mine and asked if I was okay. "F-fine." I managed to get out. "I-I'm good." I said as I glanced over at him and smiled reassuringly. Ethan sat down in the seat next to mine and slid his desk over. "Hey. How are you doing?" he asked, completely oblivious to Nick. "Great." I said avoiding looking directly at Ethan. I had meant to say it sarcastically, but it had come out shaky instead. Nick's eyes opened wide. "Karoline? You sure you're okay? You've suddenly gone really pale..." he trailed off and put his wrist to my forehead. "You're really clammy too." he said. I nudged his hand away. "I'll be fine. Really. I'll let you know if that changes." I said. Nick smiled at me, "Okay, I trust you. Just don't let me down, okay?" I smiled and gave a breathy laugh. "Okay." Ethan was just looking at Nick, his face cold and emotionless. Nick finally noticed this and his smile disappeared. His face became an expression void of all emotion. Both of their expressions, just so cold, full of hatred, so... I was brought back to reality by the slap of a ruler on both Ethan's and Nick's desks. They both jumped in their seats and looked to the owner of the ruler. It was Mr. Tygunda, our history teacher. "I will not be having any fights or anything of the like in my class. Is that understood?" Nick and Ethan both nodded and said they understood. "Good. Now, I understand we have a new student if I heard correctly." He said as he strode back to the front of the room. He looked at a slip of paper on his desk and said, "Would Nicholas Ross please stand up?" Nick looked around him and slowly stood up. "Welcome to NorthValley High school. I hear you're from quite a ways away, is that true?" Nick fidgeted with his pencil as he replied, "Yes that's correct. I'm from Tennessee." Mr. Tygunda's eyebrows shot up as if he had just noticed, or realized something. "And where in Tennessee, might I ask, are you from?" "Nashville. Nashville, Tennessee." he said. Mr. Tygunda nodded. "I see. Well, it's good you're here, you may now sit down." Nick sat down with a look that said relief all over. I looked back at Mr. Tygunda and his features read curiosity and a tidbit of distaste. "Would everyone please pass their homework to the front of the class." With that statement the school day finally began. The only thing I found odd was that Mr. Tygunda had only introduced one of the new students. Wasn't Ethan a new student also? I wondered to myself.

          Later on in the day a bell rang, announcing class was over and it was time for lunch. Nick and Ethan followed me out into the hallway and outside to the place where Christian, Chloe, and I usually met up. When we got there I saw that my friends had already arrived. Chloe saw us and her eyes bulged. "What?" I asked her. "No fair. You always get the cute ones." she laughed jokingly. I was confused. I tilted my head to the side and she laughed more. "I mean they always follow you." I looked behind me, "Oh." Now Christian spoke, "So you guys wanna go somewhere for lunch?" I silently thanked Christian for changing the subject. "Yeah, sure. Where to?" I asked "Uhm..." Christian trailed off. Chloe gaped at him. "Don't tell me you never thought this far ahead after asking us that." Nick laughed and Chloe looked at him. "Okay, okay. Not laughing anymore." he said. "There's a new diner in town, maybe we could go there." I suggested. "Okay, sounds great, we can take my car." said Christian.

          At the diner we sat in a small booth near the door. Nick and I sat on one side and Christian and Chloe sat on the other. We had all agreed on getting a large basket of fries to share, so that's what we did. "So," Chloe asked, "how has it been with your dad in town?" The question took me by surprise. "Well, it's been a lot of fun." I replied. I really wasn't sure how else to answer that. I looked out the window, a storm was starting to roll in. "Sorta foggy out isn't it?" Nick asked, looking at me. I looked at him and replied, "Yeah, something you learn after being here a while is that it can be sunny and warm one second, and then stormy and just plain awful the next." Lightning cracked outside. "Well, to me it sounds like the weather here is bipolar." Nick said grinning at me. We all laughed at that. "We should probably be getting back to the school about now." said Chloe. We finished our fries, paid the bill, and left a tip for the server. We walk outside to the car, as we are climbing into the car, the little voice in my head decides to come out again. 'Stop! Don't get in the car!' The message surprised me with its force and tone and I faltered. "You okay?" Nick asked touching my elbow to steady me. "Yeah, just lost my balance for a second." I gave a quick smile to reassure him. He said okay and climbed in the car. I climbed in after him, puzzling over what the voice had meant. Christian pulls out of the parking lot and starts heading back to the school. Nick and Chloe are talking about something, but I'm not quite sure what exactly they were talking about, since I was lost in my own thoughts. 'What was it meaning? Why did it tell me to not get in the car? Why did the voice sound so urgent?' The questions kept coming and it was starting to give me a pounding headache. We were probably about halfway to the school when it happened.