Guns & Roses (WATTYS 2017)

seventeen - back & forth

Clear rain droplets slide down the slightly fogging window of my last period class, Biology. I follow each droplet with my eyes, the path they leave imprinting in my mind, creating a canvas over the window like some runny watercolor painting. 

"Earth to Katya." Ester's hand appears in front of my face, her black nail polish breaking my focus. 

I shake my shoulders slightly, blinking fast, my watering eyes creating fake tears in the corners of my eyes. 

"Sorry, I really need to sleep." I groan, rubbing my eyes with the backs of my hands. 

"Seriously, what's up with you? You look like a ghost."

"Gee, thanks." I yawn in the middle of my sarcastic comment. 

"You would tell me if something was going on wouldn't you?" Ester asks, placing her cold hand on my forearm. 

I stare at her for a moment, from her dark lined eyes to the sharp peak of her eyebrows. She had a kind face, but a face that hadn't seen enough to be called mature. Almost like a child, innocent of the world around her. 

"Of course." I lie. 

She smiles, and my stomach drops a few levels lower. How the hell am I supposed to have friends? How do you live lying to people day after day?

The buzzing of my phone interrupts my thoughts, and I pull it out, swiping it open quickly. 

And my stomach drops an entire building. 

"Unknown Number: Clock is ticking, Katya. You better open your pretty little ears this time or you'll lose them." 

I stare and stare at the lit screen of the phone, refusing to blink but scared to keep my eyes open. 

"Phone, Katya. Put it away." The teacher's voice at the front of the class rattles around my skull before it registers. 

"S-sorry." I stutter, lowering the phone to my lap below the lab bench. 

Clock is ticking. 

So much had happened in the past few days that I had almost forgotten about my mysterious stalker. The stalker who knew about my mother. Anger bubbles in my chest and my fingers begin to fly against the keyboard. 

"Whoever you are, this isn't funny. I don't know how you know about my mother and I don't care. Just leave me alone." 

And I hit send. 

My mind is racing. 

It has to be someone from my old school, or my old neighborhood. Someone who knew my life and knew what connection my mother had to my father. 

Or it could just be a joke, a lucky guess. It could be nothing. 

But could also be everything. 

My phone buzzes again and my eyes fly to my lap. 

"Unknown Number: Come on, Katya. Don't you want to know where your mother is?" 

My fingers shake as I begin to type a response. 

"Who are you, and how do you know about my mother?" 

The response is almost immediate. 

"Unknown Number: My dear, it doesn't work that way. You give me what I want, and you might find your mother's body in one piece." 

My entire body is pounding with blood rushing to every corner of me. 

"Unknown Number: But that can wait. I want to play a little game, Katya. Your little boyfriend knows more that he lets on, and that's why I need you to stay away from him. Or you'll never see mommy dearest again."