Wings in Alabama

Chapter 9

I pedaled faster. I heard Ashton yell something in the distance, his breaths coming in layers. He was panting, which meant he was following me. Aww, that's so sweet, I thought, then the reality side of me got a grip and reminded me that it just wasn't gonna work. Another tear trickled down my face and I finally heard his footsteps stop.

I breathed a sigh of relief and slowed down. I looked quickly behind my shoulder. He had stopped and was now turning around to answer something Lucy had said. The tear fell onto my shoulder and I turned my head back to pedal harder. I didn't stop till I turned onto aunt Kat and uncle Mike's driveway.

I drew my hand over my eyes to wipe away the tears. I knew that my eyes were red and puffy, but I didn't care. I dropped the bike and ran inside.

"Hey Rylee, some one tried to..." Emily started to say. She walked toward me with my IPad in her hands. "Um, Rylee? You okay?"

I didn't stop running, but I did hear Emily walking after me. Her bare feet tapped against the ground, but the sound was lost in the heavy thumps of my Nike's. I flung the bedroom door open and collapsed on the bed in a mass of tears. So self-conscious about my own tears, I didn't hear Emily creep back in with my IPad.

"Rylee? Are you okay?" She repeated. I could feel her anxious gaze staring me down. She laid my IPad on the comforter. I sat up and leaned on my hands. I squinted at her through my puffy, red eyes and sniffled some more.

"What happened?" She asked. "You left here all smiles, and now you're all sad. What's up?"

I wiped my face with my arm before answering. "Nothing, just... nothing."

Emily crossed her arms, but didn't say anything. I leaned back into the pillows, wincing at the pain. I then realized I hadn't felt pain when I was with Ashton, or when I was crying my eyes out on the way back. I rubbed my eyes again. "So, what were you doing with my IPad?"

"Someone tried to send you a message. I don't know who."

I picked the IPad up and hit "messages". Ashton. I quickly hit "delete" to forget him. To exclude him from my IPad message system. I beamed and thanked her whole heartily for not answering to him.

Emily looked around like she was lost. "Huh?"

I smiled as my IPad chimed. It was Steph. Ry? Wat happend?! U just dissapeerd!

I chuckled. Steph and I misspelled things on purpose, and we both laughed at eachother's messages. Yeah, I faintd.

WAT?!?! Was my 'LOL' 2 awesom?

Nah, I haz issuez

No duh

:p

So, y'd u faint?

IDK

weirdo

I rolled my eyes and put the IPad back down. I sat in silence for a moment. Nope, didn't think I was gonna faint. I sighed again and fell back on the bed.

˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•٠·˙

The rest of the day flew by quickly. I was still upset after my chat with Steph, but I was probably taking this too seriously. Right? I mean, come on, a hot guy like him would never so much as look at me.

Now, I sat in silence in my bed. The sun had set fast today, and now the glow of the moon was my only light source. Once, again, I could not sleep. I searched the room for a weapon, still traumatized by what had happened last night.

My eyes stopped on uncle Mike's bat, the one he'd left in here when I threw the alarm clock against the wall. I guess he'd dropped it and forgotten to put it back. I slowly climbed out from the warmth of my covers and made my way to the bat. I rubbed my hands up and down my arms, trying to give myself heat.

Emily turned in my direction, and I froze in my tracks. I dropped like a stone to the ground and looked up at Emily. The moonlight cast an eery shadow on her pale sleeping face. I sighed with relief and crawled toward the bat. I gently picked up the bat by the handle.

I could tell the bat was old; the thing was wooden. Who honestly used a wooden bat anymore, unless you were trying to knock someone out. I dragged the bat closer to me and used my left hand to balance it on the tip. I felt something engraved on the side, but the dim light of the moon would let me see very little. I held the bat protectively as I tip-toed silently to my bed.

My right hand held the bat in the middle while my left hand pulled the covers over my body. I snuggled closer into the bed for warmth, the bat now at my side. I rubbed my eyes wearily and looked around the room. Now I wished I hadn't thrown the bat; it felt late, around the time the creep had showed up, and I didn't know what time it was.

I felt like a nerd for thinking that, even though I was basically alone. I turned onto my side and traced the bat with a finger tip and yawned. The creep probably wasn't even coming, so why bother with it?

I pushed the bat off of the bed. I sighed dreamily and looked in Emily's direction. Suddenly, the pale moonlight glowing on her face was gone and replaced by a dark shadow. My eyes widened and I gasped.

I jerked into a sitting position and my head whipped to see what it was. A figure stood in front of the window, reaching for me. I instantly bent over as fast as I could to get the bat and face my attacker, but suddenly, I felt a larger pain in my shoulder-blades and everything went black. The last thing I saw was Emily's face, and my hand reaching down desperately.