Have We Met?

Chapter 8

"Oh, I'm meeting my friend," Chloe said in a shaky voice. Well, its true, right? She was gonna meet Lauren. And that's not counted as lying.

Mrs. Hilton raised an eyebrow. She didn't know whether to believe or not. Instead, she just nodded and headed upstairs to sleep. Chloe heard a door slammed. She breathed a sigh of relief. "That -- was so close,"

She turned the knob and tiptoed outside the house. Not wanting to wake her neighbours. She took one big step and then another until she reached infront of the drive way. And then she stopped. She scratched her head and crossed her arms.

"How am I ever going to reach school," she thought while tapping her left foot on the floor. Her eyes scanned at her surrounding, finding something useful. Her gaze stopped at her Mom's car. Her eyes lit. "Perfect!"

She headed toward her Mom's car and she tried to open the door. But it wouldn't budge. "Oh great, its locked,"

Chloe ran toward the front door, turned the knob and searched for the car keys. Luckily, she found it hanging on the wall. She grabbed it and saw her sling bag beside it. She took that too and return to the car. She clicked the 'unlock' button and there was a Beep! sound. It was kind of loud so she panicked a little. She hoped her neighbours didn't hear. She didn't want them to think this is some sort of hullabaloo or something. She climbed into the drivers seat and shut the door. She inserted the key in the ignition and the engine roared. Then she thought about something. "Shit! I don't have a license,"

She just shrugged and started to drive. She left the driveway and suddenly the car stopped. The fuel had ran out. "Oh great! This is just great," Chloe slammed her fist at the stiring wheel before climbing out of the car. It was right infront of the house and she can't just leave it like that. Her Mom will go ballistic if she sees the car there. And Chloe will be her first suspect. Her father died several years ago in a car crash. So it leaves only Chloe who drove the car infront of the house.

To avoid her Mom from being suspicious, she pushed the car until its at the drive way. It took about ten minutes to push it since its so heavy -- obviously. Her hands turned red and hot because of the pushing. "This is getting better than I thought," she said sarcastically.

After she thought about how she'll reach school, she just decided to run. And she did! She ran passing her neighbourhood, turning into the main street. She took a rest on a bench right under a shady tree. She took her water bottle in her bag and drank it because she was totally exhausted. After drinking it, she shove it in her bag and continued the journey.

Suddenly, it started to rain. She ran as fast as she could toward her school, stepping on big and small puddles. The water splashing to her clothes, her face, everything. She used her bag as an umbrella avoiding from being wet and smell all musty after her clothes dry up.

When she reached school, she was panting. The first thing she did was finding Lauren. And then she saw her. Crossing her arms, eyebrows merged as she tapped her finger at her arm. Her eyes a little droopy, maybe she just woke up from sleeping. She looked at her watch, just a signal that Chloe was being late.

"Where the hell were you?" She yelled at Chloe in outrage. "You did not even reply my messages,"

Chloe was clueless. What messages? She opened her bag and fished for her cellphone. She glanced at her screen and it read "10 messages received". Chloe nodded as soon as she read them all. "I got all 10 of them here," she smiled sheepishly.

"And what's with you asking me to meet here?" Lauren shot her a curious look.

"I want to know who the guy on ChatZ is," she explained while checking something in her bag. Then she looked up and smiled.

"What's in there?" Lauren jabbed a finger toward Chloe's bag. But Chloe just shook her head, lazy to answer her question.

Chloe checked her watch. She widened her eyes. "There's not much time," Chloe reminded as she grabbed Lauren's hand by the wrist. She raced toward the hallway to get to her locker. Lauren struggled to break free. Finally, Chloe let go of her wrist. "Ouch!" she rubbed her arm.

"See if anyone's watching us," Chloe instructed. Lauren shrugged and scanned the hallway. Nobody's there. She turned to face Chloe who's turning the lock combination. She raised and eyebrow and asked, "What're you trying to do?".

"Nothing," Chloe snapped. "Just keep an eye on anyone who's coming,". said Chloe impatiently. Lauren just nodded and leaned her back against the locker beside Chloe's.

When the locker turned open, Chloe fished something in her sling bag. She took out a camera and placed it gently in the locker. Again, Lauren turned around to face her. "Seriously Chloe, what're you doing?"

She switched her gaze to Lauren. She took a deep breath and explained. "I want to record who's been putting notes in my locker,". She slammed her locker shut.

"Open it back," Lauren instructed.

"What?"

"I said, open it back,"

"Fine,"

Chloe turned the lock combination and waited for Lauren's reaction. "Cover the camera with some books. Make it hidden," said Lauren while pointing at the books beside the camera.

"I've never thought of that. You're genius!" Chloe praised as she took a few book and stacked them infront of the camera, leaving a space between the lens. Finally, she closed the locker.

"Stop it right there!" someone shouted at them. He was holding a flash light at his left hand and a bat at the right.He was probably the guard.

Chloe and Lauren glanced at eachother before they yelled. "RUUUUUUUUUNNNNNN!"