Mistaken - Book One Of The Closecall Series - (PUBLISHED ON AMAZON!)

Ch.1 The walk home 👣

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Dedicated to my sister FeralKitty13

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     "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" The crowd screams at the top of their lungs. A blonde boy named Ethan socks the dark headed Kyle in the nose. Blood splurts out of the boys face and covers the floor and some of the closer students. "Fight! Fight! Fight!" The children chant impossibly louder. Kyle lands two hits to Ethan -one an impressive upper cut- then he wipes the blood dripping from his nose on his sleeve. Ethan pulls his arm back to swing again but a much smaller, prettier, face steps into his path. He glances over her head to see another petite figure standing in front of Kyle handing him papertowels.
     "You have about two minutes before a teacher rounds the corner and busts you two for fighting. I suggest you scram," Megan announces matter of factly.
     "You're bluffing," Ethan accuses, with a smug grin.
     "She doesn't bluff," Caitlin responds, turning around.
     Ethan glances up at Kyle,"We'll finish this later."
     The crowd quickly starts to disperse. "What are you kids doing lolly gagging around? Most of you have SAT's today! Get to your classes. Now!" A teacher shouts through the hall.
     Caitlin and Megan share a quick high five before starting towards their next class, "Eww, Megan! There's blood on your face," Caitlin says, quickly grabbing her by the shoulder.
     "Oh my God! That's gross! I'll meet you by the double doors after class," she says rushing away in the direction of the bathroom.

    Caitlin pushes a few stray strands of long brown hair behind her ear, and rushes to finish her test before the bell rings. As she scribbles down the last couple of answers the teacher stands up and moves to the front of the class.
    "Okay, time's up. Please pass your papers forward. Now that this is over, Monday we'll be..." she continues on, talking about a project that they're apparently, supposed to begin next week.
     Everyone passes their papers forward and immediately start to whisper about the fight before class. Caitlin shakes her head and starts packing her bag. The bell rings interrupting the teacher mid sentence. Everyone jumps up and heads out the door, further proof that no one was actually listening to her. She gives them a disapproving look, but doesn't try to stop them, probably because she knows it's pointless.
    Caitlin stops at her locker and stuffs a couple of books into before grabbing some things out to do this weekend's homework.
     "I saw you break up that fight in the hall earlier. That was pretty cool," a boy says, as she slams the locker closed
     "Thanks," she responds, with a shy smile.
     She watches him walk away then turns and starts down the hall to the double doors. She quickly stops and spins around at the sound of her name. She turns around, her chestnut eyes searching the crowd for the familiar voice, and stop on her blonde headed friend walking towards her. Megan is bubbling over with excitement as she says her name again before finally reaching her.
    "So! I got to borrow my mom's car today because she didn't have work. You want a ride home? I know I've only had my license a couple weeks but it's better than the smelly bus! I promise!"
    "No thanks Meg. I think I'm gonna walk today. I need to work off some of the junk food I've been splurging on," she answers, feeling a little bad because it's extremely obvious how excited her friend is. Megan's smile drops a little, but she quickly tries to hide her disappointment.
    "Definitely next time though," Caitlin rushes out, hoping to cheer her back up. It seems to work a little because her friend perks up and continues on with the conversation as though unfazed.
    "Okay. Your loss. You're just being a chicken any way and using junk food as an excuse," Megan responds snarkily, as they push the double doors open heading into the parking lot.
     Megan glances up at the sky in confusion when she isn't momentarily blinded by brightness. Dark grey clouds that look ready to burst at any moment meet her gaze.
    "You sure you don't want a ride, Caitlin? You're going to get completely soaked if you seriously, insist on walking."
    "I'm sure. It's only a mile or two home, and it only takes me about thirty minutes. They've held off this long I think they'll last another thirty minutes. I'll be fine. If I slack off and get fat I'll fall behind the other girls on the team. I couldn't stand to loose my volleyball spot. Sorry, but thanks!"
    "It's fine, but you're completely crazy. Enjoy your shower," Megan says, with a giggle and roll of her eyes before walking off towards her car, shaking her head the whole way.

    Caitlin would have taken the ride, but she really needed the alone time that the walk would provid. Thunder rolls as she pops her headphones in and heads for home, already too caught up in her own thoughts to notice.    
    Noah, the boy she liked, had sat with her at lunch today and he'd even spoken to her. Then he'd spoke to her again by her locker. Actually he'd more than spoke to her, he'd asked her to go to the movies this weekend! But she was sixteen and he was eighteen, so she didn't know if her dad would let her go. She really hopes he does because her parents have been fighting a lot lately, and this would really help cheer her up.
    About a quarter of the way home the clouds continued their rumbling and eventually broke. They poured big, cold, merciless, drops onto Caitlin's head interrupting her churning thoughts. She continued on a bit gloomily listening to the music coming from her headphones. Thankfully, she had received a waterproof phone case for her birthday two months ago.
    She was quickly becoming completely drenched and hoped the water didn't leak through her bookbag to her expensive textbooks. How dumb she had been not to accept the ride from Megan, but it was too late to dwell on it now.
 Caitlin was about halfway home when she had to move out of the road for a beaten up red truck with faded paint to pass her. She didn't really pay it much attention. Until it pulled into a driveway and turned around, coming back in her direction. Once again she stepped out of the road to let it pass, noticing it had a broken headlight.
    Just as it got around her it stopped and backed up until the window was even with her. The strangeness of what this truck had just done made her a bit uneasy. So she didn't move any closer to it and kept her phone in her hand as she removed her headphones. She really didn't want to stand in the rain and talk, but felt it was only polite to see what this person wanted.

    

Please let me know your thoughts, this is a completed work but I'm occasionally adding in new parts and taking some out. So if you like or don't like something I'd be oh so grateful for any feedback. The ultimate goal is to make it longer.