Riddle Me This

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I woke up the next morning in a slight daze. Had I imagined everything that happened last night? Were we all really in danger? 

I sat up swiftly and threw my comforter off of me and onto the floor. I ran to my closet in search of the jeans I was wearing yesterday. When I found them, I dug my hand into the back pocket until my fingers encircled the familiar parchment. My heart fell.

As much as I wanted this to be another one of my dreams, I knew it wasn't. It had happened and now we were in a run for our lives. It seems like a nightmare, but it's certainly my new reality; A reality that no one could ever dream of; A reality that no one would ever want; A reality that I am now living in, and may die because of.

I walked over to my window that overlooked my street. I half-expected Blake's old Toyota to be parked there as it was all last night. I fell asleep to the calming rumble of his engine outside my window. Blake insisted on watching out for me over the course of the night as a precaution. It was calming to have him there, but I knew he wouldn’t be there all night. Sooner or later, he had to go back home to Dakota and his mom.

I quickly took a shower, too scared to savor the calm moment peace as the warm water ran down my body. Once I finished in record time, I threw on a pair of ripped skinny jeans and a t-shirt. I grabbed my backpack off my wooden desk and sauntered to the kitchen. When I reached the entranceway into the kitchen I stopped.

To my surprise, Blake was sitting at our dinner table. He was mindlessly stirring a cup of coffee, obviously waiting for me. Next to him, my mom was once again madly searching the papers. She seemed to be in a joyful mood as her slender fingers flipped to the next page. When I walked into the kitchen, her eyes flicked up at me.

"Hey, darling. How did you sleep?" My mom asked me. Blake's eyes lit up at the sound of my name. When my gaze met his, he gave me a crooked smile.

"Good." I lied as I threw my backpack on the counter. I knew I slept restlessly due to the crick in my neck but I couldn't risk my mom asking why I had slept so badly.

"That's good," my mom responded cheerfully. "Oh, and Blake was here early so I just let him in."

"Yeah, I noticed." I gave Blake a warm smile.

"'Morning." He said as he picked up his coffee and brought it to his lips.

"Good morning, Blake." I said. "Shall we go?"

Blake made movement to get up but my mom stuck her hand out restricting him from getting out of the seat. "Alisha, you haven't even eaten yet."

I scanned the counter and grabbed a banana from the bowl. "There. I'll eat on the way to school." I said twisting the banana in my hand.

"Sit down and eat it. You still have time." She told me, pulling out a chair.

I sighed and took a seat next to my mom. If it were any other day, she wouldn't make me sit down with her. Today, I knew something was up. When I spotted the front of the newspaper, I knew what was causing her joyful mood. 

"So, anything today?" I casually asked nodding toward the newspaper.

A large grin wiped across my mom's delicate face. She slid me the newspaper and said, "They found him. They guy that stole my Paul from me."

I looked at the newspaper and sure enough, there was a picture of Johnny. My heart dropped a little when I saw his happy face. The last time I saw him, he had a slight burn going across his distressed face. I pushed the paper back to my mom, but Blake reached up and took it.