The Text

Chapter 15

It's been three days since my dad said he was coming up with a punishment. I'm terrified of what his horrible brain has come up with. He's been smirking at me in an evil way here lately and my mom has been avoiding me more than usual. I just wish he would get it over with already instead of making me drown in my own pool of nerves. I think he's enjoying watching me squirm day in and day out. Seems like something he would do; torture me with the amount of time he's making me wait on the punishment. I seriously hate that man.

It's Friday afternoon and my mom sent me to the store for milk and coffee. This is more than likely the last time I'll ever be able to do this so I'm taking a mental picture of everything. The way the birds sing their little hearts out, the way the flowers are a rainbow of colors, the way the leaves on the tall trees flap in the wind, the way the sky is like a magnificent portrait painted for us to delight in. It's all so breath taking. There's so much in this world for us to explore and I've only seen this horrible place I live in. One day, I want to travel the world, see what God has blessed us with. You can add that to my list of dreams.

I found out who that mysterious guy is I've been seeing around school. I believe it's Hayden. I thought it was an idiotic idea at first, but I convinced myself. From what I could see of him, his features looked like that of Hayden's in the pictures he posts on Instagram. I haven't had the guts to ask him if he goes to the same school as me. I'm afraid of the answer. I also think the paper I had to grade in Mrs. Smith's class about the persons biggest fear belongs to Hayden. His fear was being judged by everyone before they even get to know the real him, which would explain why he made such a huge deal about it when we were texting. The character(or should I say characters) he chose to represent his fear is all of the famous people out there. That wasn't what he was told to do so I had to deduct some points. I understand where he's coming from though. People like Miley Cyrus and Ariana Grande are judged by the whole world. Some of us say they're bad people who have no manners while the the rest of us say they're great people who have an amazing talent. We go by what we read on the Internet and hear on t.v. We have no idea who they really are. We shouldn't judge them based on their appearance or what sleazy reporters say. That's what he wrote about. It was a very good paper, well executed. I loved it so much, I only took away five points, giving him a ninety five A. He better be grateful that I'm the one who graded his paper. I drew a smiley face and a 'good job' at the top, making sure he knew it was great. Mrs. Smith feels the same way about him. Apparently, he's the best student in her eighth period class, but she never mentioned his name. So it could be Hayden and it may not be. If it is, not only does he go to the same school as me but he's in the same grade as me and he is a good writer, meaning we have something in common. I may not know him as a person, but so far, the way he's treated me gives me the impression that he's a jerk. He says he doesn't want to be judged but yet he contradicts that by coming off as a bad person and judging everyone else. I can't help but to judge him in return.

Walking by the park, I noticed a familiar face that sent shivers down my spine and my stomach in knots. He was at the park, less than thirty feet away from me. Not wanting him to notice me, I started to jog away but to no avail. Hayden noticed me and he's coming my way.

"Adams? Adams, is that you?" He asked, getting closer by the second.

I didn't reply. I just stood there, rooted to the ground. I probably looked like some mute who can only communicate through text message.

"Hey yo, Adams! It's me, Hayden." He stated, waving his hands in front of me.

"It's Chloe. Not Adams."

"Adams is your last name." He said, smirking at me.

"Calling me by my surname is rude unless there's a Ms. in front of it. My first name is Chloe and that's what you are going to call me."