The Ponytail Stranger

Bad news

A few months later-
I walk to the kitchen and grab out a can of beef ravioli. Not the best beef ravioli but it wasnt that bad either. I open another cupboard and take out a bowl. I open the can and dump the ravioli into the bowl. I throw the can in the trash and take the bowl to the microwave, puting it in and pressing the buttons to set a time for it to be in there. I press the start button and walk over to the kitchen island, and lean on it. I grab out my Tabe and scroll through my apps. I press the media app, usually it had news, both worldwide and local. It even had school news and gossip, and neighborhood news as well. Anyone could post about upcoming events or news. There were filters for different types of news though, news posted by official news company's were seperated and marked as official. I scroll through the social media news, thing posted by random people, alot of them local, but some not. I scrolled down uninterested in most of the posts. Alot of them were just random and pointless. They didn't have anything that could effect me. I stopped scrolling, I looked at the picture, it was Neveah and her girlfriend, they had been dating for a while now. The picture made them look like just friends of course. But it was still very cute, because if you were in on the secret of their relationship, you could see little things hinting at the underlying love. The sparkles in their eyes, the way they were hugging eachother, even their smiles gave away how they really felt. No one who didnt know would have seen those small hints. But as someone who knew, I could tell they love eachother so much, and they were happy. I smiled and read the message she posted with the picture.
"Hanging out with my bff again! We can never be separated! ^w^"
My smile widened and I scrolled down more. The beeping of the microwave lulled my attention away from my Tabe. I put it down on the island and walk to the microwave. I put my hand on the door of the microwave, it popped open and I grabbed the bowl, waving my hand over the door again. It closed, and I walked back over to my Tabe. I picked it up, and poked my fork into a piece of ravioli. I scrolled some more, still mostly uninterested. I was considering sending a message to Jay, to see if he wanted to go to the movies or something. My eye caught on a post. I read the post in my head.
"I can't believe Neveah was like this the entire time and no one knew. Its really absolutely disgusting I used to think she was a good person. Its horrible what shes done, I hope the colony's EMBER finds her soon."
Put my fork down and go to the local official news tab in my media app. I click the first post, its was posted mere hours ago.
"Local student Neveah Banks and Katharine Fern found to be in an intimate relationship, The colony's EMBER's say they are on the run, no one knows where they are as of now but the EMBER plans on taking them to the high commission for judgement as soon as they are found. If anyone has information on these two and where they are please contact your colony's EMBER."
I exit the media app as soon as I read the post, and switch to my communication app. I click on Jay's contact.
"Meet me at the hill." I text him. He replies with a simple "Okay". I switch over to Neveah's contact, I typed out as quickly as I could.
"Where are you? Whats going on?" I sent the text and send my Tabe away. I abandon my half full bowl of ravioli and run up to my room. I pull on my red hoodie and run back downstairs. I go to the front door and slip on my shoes. I open the front door and pause in surprise.
"We have a few questions for you please. It won't take long." There were two Embers in front of me. They were both dressed in the usual uniform, fitted with the fire emblem on their chest.
"Why? What happened?" I pretended to be clueless. At this point I was pretty good at hiding things. I have been dating a guy for months, so I'm pretty sure I could fool these two for a few minutes.
"I'm sorry to inform you, but your friend Neveah and Katherine have been dating for who knows how long, and are now on the run." The female one nods her head in disapointment and disgust. I cover my mouth and fake a expression of surprise, mixed with sadness and a little disgust. We were taught to think that the rules were above everything else, and that anything that opposed the rules were disgraceful and unacceptable. One of those rules happen to have been that we cant love the same gender, it was taught to us as being unnatural and wrong. It was taught to us as one of the worst crimes you could commit. There were even levels to how much affection you could show to the same gender. If you looked a little too affectionate towards someone of the same gender, than you will be questioned, then let off with a warning if it was just a simple "mistake". But if you married someone of the same gender secretly, you could be executed. It was scary, but sometimes you can't help how you feel, even if it means certain death.
"Its okay, we will find them. But we need your help. Do you know somewhere they might go to hide?" The man asked, taking out his Tabe. It was a fiery red color, but slightly opaque like all the toher Tabes were. He put out both his hands and expandes his Tabe out to be larger. It wasn't super big, just about the size of a notebook. His hand hovered over the Tabe, ready to take notes.
"I-I'm not sure..maybe the school? I havent hung out with either of them outside of school much lately." That wasnt a complete lie, it was true I didn't hang out with them outside of school quite as much, but I did know a few places they might hide.
"Do you have their contacts, and if you do when was the last time you contacted them?" The woman asked me.
"I dont have Katharine's contact, but I have Neveah's. I haven't sent her a message since last weekend." I nodded my head and looked down, faking sadness.
"Okay, we will contact you again if we have more questions, this should be fine for now." The man said as he re-adjusted his Tabe and sent it away. Its pixels seperated and fizzled away.
"Okay." I replied blandly.
"I'm sorry about your friends." The woman said, the man turned and left, but she stayed. I gave her a confused look.
"Find my daughter. Protect her," She whispered. It was only then that recognition kicked in and I realized that this was Neveah's mom. I nodded, she smiled sadly at me.
"I will." I said with conviction.
"Also-make sure she doesn't come back. I wish she could, but you know just as well as I do that she can't," Neaveah's mom whispered quickly.
"I know. But dont worry, I will make sure she is safe." I whispered.
"I have to go. Good luck." She said and left swiftly. I watched them as they were both enveloped in pixels and disappeared. As soon as I saw all the pixals disappear I ran out of the house, closing the door behind me. I run towards the forest without slowing down. I got to the edge of the forest and kept running. I ran through the familiar setting and didnt hesitate at any turn I made. I got to the edge of the clearing and stopped, looking at the hill. There were two figures, I narrowed my eyes to see them. I realized their identities and ran to them. They turned and saw me. At first they were alert, but once they realized it was me, they were relieved.
"Jay is on his way. I hope you dont mind." I hugged Neveah and Kathy.
"You should have contacted me right away." I pulled out of the hug.
"Are you two okay? I have a first aid kit at home if you need it. My mom isn't home, so we wouldnt need to worry about other people being around." I said frantically.
"We are fine. But uh- no one followed you right?" Kathy said, looking behind me.
"Dont worry, I made sure no one saw me. Also..Nevaeh, you mom said she wanted me to find you. To get you out of here. She will miss you." I said sadly to Nevaeh.
"I know. Tell her I love her next time you see her, okay?" Nevaeh sighed. I nod, I hear my Tabe bing. I open it up and look at the message Jay sent me. He said he was almost here. I replied and sent my Tabe away.
"Jay is almost here, when he gets here I expect an explaination on exactly what happened." I said sternly to the two of them. They both sat down, I guess they probably felt a little more safe with me here. They could defend themselves to an extent. But I was alot more capable of defending them against the Embers, since I had alot of fighting experiance. I hadnt gotten in too many fights since I started dating Jay, since I wasnt as angry and grumpy as much anymore. With him around almost all the time, it was hard to be angry and grumpy. I always had an attitude and was very snappy, which got me into alot of fights. So if someone found us and we were attacked, I could help Nev and Kathy.
I heard rustling from the forest. I put my guard up, I know it's probably Jay, but I wont take any chances. Jay popped out of the forest and looked at me. I smiled, relieved. I hug him and we walk over to Kathy and Nev. We both sit down across from them.
"So, what happened?" Jay asked, leaning on my shoulder. This forest wasnt really a popular place to be, no one ever really went in it. No one knew about the clearing, so it was safe. Even when I used my Tabe to go here, I had to put in the longitude and latitude, it wasn't marked online.
"Well, we were on a date at the park, and we didn't think anyone was around. So we kissed, and then we saw Damian." Nev grumbled.
"I hate Damian." Jay said grumpy, I chuckled.
"Yeah, me too." I said.
"He saw us kiss, and immediately contacted the Ember and the local news media. We ran here immediately and have been here ever since." Kathy said and sighed sadly, pulling Nev against her.
"It happened last night, at around ten-thirty." Nev said and cuddled against Kathy.
"What are we going to do now?" Jay asked, looking at me. I paused, thinking.
"Were going to help them get over the wall." I replied, they all looked at me in surprise.
"Anyone who has ever gotten over the wall has never come back." Kathy said fearfully. I look her straight in the eyes,
"Thats the point."