As Real As Can Be

Chapter 1 - Not Quite Right

  Getting home from school is tough. Boring, too. Everyone's so curious about my origin. They wanna know where I'm from, why we moved, where my dad is. So I say the same thing. "Oh, I'm from Puerto Rico. Oh, we moved because our old house just wasn't big enough. Oh, my dad is in the army," almost all of which are lies.  Yes, I moved from Puerto Rico. Yes, our house was too small. No, my dad isn't in the army. He's abusive and now he has a death sentence. Honestly, I don't mind. I don't think my mom does either. What do you think, we should accept an appology from our abuser?

  Boarding the bus is terrible. And I mean terrible. It's almost worse than sitting in a room without food, water and technology for over a day. But hanging out with Eliah is better than that. Way better.

  Eliah is one of the cutest girls in school, not to mention one of the popular ones. Everyone's always writing love letters to her, asking her the trick to her beauty, while I'm just following her around like a dumb sponge. "Who's that?", they ask her, glaring at me with disgust in their eyes. The only good part about my day: how she responds.

  "She's my best friend!", she replies, her tone edgy. Soft for me, but sharp towards them.

  That day wasn't quite right. It was.. creepy. Eliah was acting differently, she wore a hood on her head all day, not talking to anyone but me. She would say things like, "Please, just stay away, he can't find you if you aren't near me," or, "Please, run. It's for the best." For a second there, I thought that her parents were abusive and made her go insane. But the next day, she had no cuts or bruises. Not even a tiny scratch. Besides, her parents are really nice.

  I later found out what "He" she meant.

  I had just gotten home. I unlocked the doors with glee looking forward to my labor day weekend. This weekend will be awesome. 'I have so much planned! If you include 'sleeping' as plans,' I thought, as my key made a click sound as I twisted it in the lock. I was so caught up in my thoughts..

That I didn't notice the black figure hiding in the corner of my kitchen.