Run

Chapter 2

I walked out of class and headed to my locker. It was lunch now and I was going to go meet Alex. I found him at his locker and we walked to the cafeteria.

" So I heard what happened earlier today. Pretty brave of you." said Alex.

" Thanks, and sorry for not telling you earlier. I thought it would slip by." I replied.

" Nah its alright. Lets hurry up, i'm starving."

I nodded in response and we kept walking.

" There she is!" Shouted someone when we entered the cafeteria. Applause and cheers broke out amongst the students. I rolled my eyes and took Alex's hand and we walked to get our food. On the way there, people complimented me on how I had stood up to Asher. I just gave them fake smiles and left. From the corner of my eye, I could see Asher giving me murderous glares causing me to gulp.

" Hey! When did you become more popular than me?" Asked Alex jokingly. I playfully rolled my eyes at him and nudged him. We laughed and walked to a table. I had just taken a bite of my sandwich when someone tapped on my shoulder. I turned around to see that it was a group of the popular girls.

" Hey Martha! We want you to come sit with us." Said Tiffany. She batted her eyelashes and I gave her a disgusted look.

" No. And its not Martha, its Mara." I said, looking her in the eye. She looked stunned at first but kept pleading me.

" I said no. You wanna hear it in Spanish? Noh!" (Teen Wolf reference😉)

I heard Alex snickering but he covered it up with a cough once he earned a glare from Tiffany.

" C'mon Martha! Plea-"

" Oh my gosh. I SAID NO! You wanna know why? Because you've never been nice to me before and you're only doing it now because i'm somewhat 'famous'. So i'm gonna say it one more time. No. Goodbye." I said cutting her off. She looked shocked and walked away. I turned around to see Alex with an amused look on his face.

" What?" I asked.

" Nothing just... Wow." He replied. We laughed and ate our food.

" So did you hear the news today? About the secret society forming." Asked Alex.

" Seriously? You believe that crap?"

" Maybe. What, you don't?". I shook my head. We finished our food and headed off to class. We both had geography together so that was good.

-
( After school)

School had ended and Alex and I were going home. We hopped on his bike and rode off. Once I was home, I hugged him and we said our goodbyes.

" Mom! I'm home!" I shouted. I went over to the kitchen to get something to eat after dropping my bag onto the couch. At the dining table, something caught my eye. It was a letter and had my name on it.

To: Ms. Mara Hepburn
From: The Official Leaders System ( OLS)

I grabbed the envelope and ran to my room, shutting the door behind me. The OLS sent me a letter? But why? I thought to myself. My fingers brushed over the words on the envelope and I opened it.

Dear Ms. Mara Hepburn,

My name is Mrs Miller, Secretary of our leader, Mr Jackson White. Mr White has been observing children around your age and has chosen some of them to participate in an experiment. You are one of these people. Tomorrow, two OLS representatives will be picking you up to bring you to our headquarters. Your school and parents have been notified of this earlier today. You will no longer attend your current school, but rather our private school. You will also be living here until our experiment is complete and the results are successful. Do note that this is indeed compulsory and we hope to see you soon.

Yours sincerely,
Mrs Katy Miller.

After reading the letter, my mouth fell open. Did they really expect me to leave my family and friends for some experiment? This was just stupid. And worse, I had no say in this! It was compulsory. Angry tears started forming in my eyes. I stormed out of my room and found my mother sitting with Abby. They both looked sad.

" Mom what's the meaning of this?" I said while giving her the letter.

" Sweetie sit down. Abby got the letter as well."

WHAT?! How could they expect two children to leave their families? What was wrong with our government?!

" Honey i'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. You and Abby are gonna be leaving for who knows how long. I really don't support this but we don't have a choice." Replied my mom, with sadness in her eyes. I looked at Abby. At least I would have some family with me.

I don't know when it happened but I lost it. I ran out the door and to the one person who I knew I could trust. Alex. I entered from the loose board and knocked on the door. His parents probably weren't home right now. I had started crying, streams of tears flowing out of my eyes. What if Alex didn't get the letter? I would have to leave him and I couldn't do that. He was my best friend. Heck, he was my only friend.

Alex opened the door and before he could say anything, I ran and hugged his waist, crying into his shoulder.

" They're gonna take Abby and I away."

Alex brought me inside and we sat on his couch. I told him everything from the beginning.

" I know, my cousin got the letter too. He just called." Said Alex.

" Did you-"

" No, I didn't get the letter" he said almost reading my mind. His face saddened and I hugged him.

" What am I going to do? I'm gonna lose you and my parents." I cried. He hugged me tighter.

" Hey, I wont forget you M. You're my best friend since we were in diapers. That's a friendship that's gonna last forever. " he said softly, that made me cry even more.

" Shh its okay" Said Alex repeatedly. We stayed together for about an hour . I had finally calmed down and we were watching a movie. It was his idea to spend as much time as we had left together.

Sitting with him reminded me of my childhood. Sometimes, Alex and I would make a blanket fort and watch movies and eat popcorn. One time we even camped outside in a little tent.

Soon his parents came home and I decided to leave since my mum must be worried about me. I went back home and started packing for tomorrow. I heard a soft knock on my door and Abby's little head popped in. I smiled and gestured her to come in. She sat on my bed and pulled her legs up.

" What's gonna happen to us?" She asked timidly. I sat beside her and pulled her closer.

" I don't know Abbs. But these are good people so nothing bad will happen to us.". My voice came out almost like a whisper.

Could we actually trust them?

I didn't know. I must have been thinking for long because Abby had fallen asleep. I picked her up and tucked her into my bed.

" Sleep tight Abbs" I said, before kissing her forehead lightly. I finished packing up and sat by the window. My eyes slowly closing as I struggled to keep them open. Just then, I heard a tapping sound on the window. Someone was throwing pebbles up. I opened the window to see Alex standing there.
He waved his hand for me to come down. I had an emergency exit in my near my room. It was just a stair case from the second floor to the first but it was hidden. As soon as my feet hit the ground, Alex closed my eyes and started dragging me.

" Alex what-"

" Shh you'll see"

He came to a stop, causing me to almost fall over. Then he removed his hands.

My mouth fell open. He had built a blanket fort just like when we were kids. There were fairy lights strung around it and it was stuffed with pillows. I couldn't help the goofy grin that crept its way up to my face. I tightly hugged Alex.

" Air! I.. need.. air!" He said between gasps. I giggled then let go. He pulled me into the fort. I saw he had left the roof open. We laid down next to each other, nostalgia filling my heart. Soon, I fell asleep but before I did, Alex said something.

" This isn't goodbye forever."