Treachery

Chapter 1

I felt the warm, autumn air roll down my arms. I took a sip of my coffee and held the pencil between my fingers. I could hear the sound of cars pass by me. People quickly walked on the sidewalk, talking quickly or not at all.

I pressed my lips together, and outlined the boat, casting a shadow onto the water.  I drew the sun setting in the background, my pencil tip getting dull. Finally, I sank back into my seat and sighed. I wrapped my hands around the small, white mug, the heat transferring to my hands. I looked around and realized that it got busier. More people were sitting around me, talking quietly among themselves.

The leaves on the trees nearby were slowly turning colors; red, yellow, and orange surrounded the streets. I heard the creak of a chair sliding out, and looked back across my table. A girl with long, black hair and porcelain skin was sitting across from me. She had a small nose with big, brown eyes that had a slight curve in it, clearly defining her nationality.

I smiled and sat up, still holding my mug. “Good morning.” The girl rolled her eyes at me and sank down in her seat and crossing her arms.

“More like Good Afternoon,” She muttered, looking around as if she was hiding. I grinned and sat my elbows on the glass table.

“Did prince charming run away?” I joked. “Or are you hiding out here to avoid working your shift?” The girl’s head snapped back towards my direction, glaring at me.

“I knew I should’ve signed you up to work today,” She playfully replied. I smiled and took a drink from my mug.

“It can’t be that bad, can it? I mean, it’s busy, which is good.” I shrugged. She rolled her eyes and groaned, resting her head on the table.

“You should be thankful that you’re not working today,” She pouted. “You don’t have to be running around in five inch wedges trying to serve food and coffee to people who clearly can get it themselves.” She pulled out her leg to the side, looking at her shoes. The wedges were tan and closed toe. The white laces were strung tight. They looked painful to walk in, especially if you had to walk for six hours straight.

“Why did you pick those to wear today?” I asked, eyeing the shoes. They were cute, but looked like they costed a thousand dollars. She blew out a loud breath and tilted her head to the side, gazing at her shoes.

“They’re cute,” She replied easily. “And they’re pretty attractive too.” She shrugged. I laughed and shook my head.

“That probably costed you a thousands dollars just to buy those pairs,” I said, looking back at the shoes. She shook her head and smiled.

“For your information, they were actually 65 dollars,” She smiled, looking at me. “ I couldn’t pass them up.” She said cheerfully. I groaned, a small smile tugging at the corner of my lips. I grabbed my purse by my feet and sat it on my lap.

“What do you got there?” She grabbed my sketchbook and examined it like it was a foreign product. “Oo, a beach with a boat and a dock? That’s lovely.” I lean over the table and snatched the notebook out of her hand. I stuffed it into my purse, my pencil case shortly following after.

“It’s a project,” I rushed out. “It’s not really finished.”

“But it still looks amazing,” She told me. “If that doesn’t earn an A, I’ll go kick your teacher’s ass.” She finished. I smiled and grabbed my mug, taking a sip from it.

“Alright, Jasmine. I’ll remember that.” I grinned and sat the mug back on the table, my hand wrapped around it. With my other hand, I played with my necklace that was around my neck. It had a thin chain that held an golden, autumn leaf pendant. It was a gift from my mother. Emma told me that she wanted to give it to me personally, but died before she could.

“Hey,” Jasmine said, leaning over the table. “What are you doing tonight? We should go to that club that’s downtown. What was it called … Blue Blaze? That sounds about right. Anyways, let’s go check it out. I promise it’ll be fun.” Jasmine kept her voice down. I pressed my lips together and shrugged, crossing my arms and leaning back into my chair.

“I don’t know,” I frowned. Just thinking about it gave me a headache.

Jasmine groaned, annoyed. “C’mon, just ditch for one night; it won’t hurt anyone.” She tried to convince me. I shook my head and wrapped my hands around my mug.

“I can’t,” I bit my lip. “Emma will found out eventually, and she will not be happy about it.”

“You’re no fun,” Jasmine pouted. I pressed my lips together and looked away, avoiding eye contact with her. I always did this with Jasmine, and it was the same answer with the same reaction from her.

“I’m sorry, but next weekend we can do anything you want. I promise!” I replied, trying to redeem myself. But I already knew the answer before Jasmine could speak.

“Whatever, it’s fine.” Jasmine muttered, looking out towards the street. I frowned and felt guilt punch me in the stomach. Before I could say anything else, I heard someone yell Jasmine’s name. We both turned our heads to the cafe at the same time. A woman with black, short hair stood in the doorway of the cafe. She was wearing a white t-shirt with a green apron wrapped around her waist. The lady threw out words at Jasmine, and Jasmine groaned.

Jasmine replied quickly in Japanese and stood up, getting a few weird looks from people around us. Originally 5’9”, Jasmine towarded over the table, but with her five inch heels, she was almost 6’1”. And with that height, Jasmine could easily pass as a model with no difficulty.

“I have to go,” Jasmine sighed. “See you tomorrow?” Jasmine gave me a small smile. I grinned and nodded.

“See you tomorrow.” I replied. After she was gone, I pulled out my cell phone. I checked my messages and saw a text from my aunt:

WHEN ARE YOU COMING HOME?

I quickly texted back: RIGHT NOW. WANT ME TO GRAB LUNCH?

A few seconds later, I got a reply: SUBWAY PLEASE.

I smiled and looked at the time in the corner of my phone. It read 1:36PM. I drew in a sharp breath. I arrived at the cafe when it opened, which was around 10 AM. I’ve been here for three and a half hours? I tucked my phone in my bag and wrapped it around my shoulder. It couldn’t have taken me that long to draw a picture. I sighed, and stood up, walking away from the table and into the busy sidewalk.

As I was walking away, I heard a small laughter coming from behind me. It sounded as if it was close, but still far away. I looked around, trying to see who laughed. I bit my lip and kept walking to my car.

Just as I was about to unlock my car, I saw someone across the street. I stopped in my tracks, a weird vibe going through my body. The figure had a black hoodie over its head, the shadows covering their face. The big, tall build told me he was a boy, but was a little over my age. He stood in the middle of the busy sidewalk, people passing him by as if he weren’t even there. I opened my car door, and threw my purse on the passenger seat, chills climbing up my spine. I made my way around my car without looking across the street. I heard soft chiming in the back of my head, and tried hard to ignore it. It’s probably just some chimes that’s hanging outside someone’s townhouse, I convinced myself, but I knew that wasn’t true. Once I got in my car, I looked across the street to look at the figure once again. But once I looked, he was already gone.

A confused look crossed my face. But he was just there a minute ago …

I shook my head and got into my car.  Once I got the engine running, I turned up the music, some country music softly playing. I pulled out of my parking spot and headed for Subway, looking into my mirrors every few seconds, hoping he wasn’t following me.