Books I Hope To Write

The Dangerous Admirer

The Letters (Prologue)

It was a rainy cold afternoon in the usually sunny city known as Scranton. I had just gotten out of school and was taking a slow walk home enjoying the autumn breeze.  Sadly, my best friend couldn't walk home with me today because of football practice. He had promised to walk home with me every day until I felt safe enough to be alone. I had to become fine with the idea of walking home alone very quickly. Football practice was extended by an extra 2 hours because of the football game that had been scheduled for the following 2 weeks.

The game was against their biggest rivals and the last thing anybody in our school wanted was for our team to lose.

I didn't pay much attention to the cars passing by or the other kids on their way home too. I was too busy thinking if there'd be another letter or gift waiting for me in my mailbox.

My name is Nina Gonzales, but I go by a few different nicknames, depending on who I'm talking to. I'm sixteen years old and pretty short for my age. My plain brown hair flows down my back and stops around my waist, always flying around as I do things last minute. Being top in all my classes can be very stressful. I once had a social life, but my grades and school work seem to consume all my time every single week.

I turned the corner onto my street and took my headphones out. I prayed over and over again in my head that there wouldn't be another letter. I stopped at the mailbox that's at the end of my driveway and received the mail that the mailman had left. I went through the mail in a hurry checking to see if I had gotten another letter from my "secret admirer" as my teasing brothers like to call the person sending me letters. I like to refer to the person as a stalker. My racing heart beat started to slow as I noticed there wasn't one waiting in the pile for me today.

I let out a breath not realizing I had been holding it in. I skipped happily to the front door of my home holding the mail in my hands. The closer I got to the door I noticed a familiar red color on the door. I stopped dead in my tracks and dropped the mail onto the driveway and stood there frozen.

On the door someone had taped a dark red envelope.

I squinted my eyes and gasped as I saw the familiar writing that was on the back of it, "To my Sweet Nina." I couldn't stop myself from shivering as fear took over me. I rushed to pick up the mail I had dropped and ran inside, quickly grabbing the red envelope on my way.

"Mom!" I shouted as I quickly closed the door, "Where are you?"

"I'm in the kitchen sweetie" my mom's voice called back

If I wasn't so terrified I would have noticed that my mom had taken down the Halloween decorations in the house. The once spooky house was now welcoming with candles lit, the fire place on and the smell of my mother's homemade snicker doodles in the air.

I raced up the stairs, past the living room and ran into the kitchen. I pushed open the swinging white door very hard making it swing open fast. My mom was standing at the stove stirring a boiling pot while talking in a baby voice to my five year old brother, Max. I noticed the jars of sauce next to her along with a loaf of bread. Pasta must be for dinner.

"Mom?" I said getting her attention. She looked up at me and smiled. My mom is thirty five years old but looks no older than twenty four. She has short black hair and light brown eyes. I'm a mixture of both my parents when it comes to facial features. Mom is very loving when it comes to my siblings and I. She made sure to create a special bond with each of us.

"Nina how was your day?" My mom greeted me. I stood there breathing heavily probably looking a mess. She instantly frowned when taking in my appearance. "Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"