Stalker

Hazel

        I woke up with my arms wrapped comfortingly around April. She must have had a bad dream or something because this always happened when she did. I sat up and got dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, making my way to the kitchen. My stomach was too upset to eat the breakfast on the stove so I drank a glass of orange juice and stood there looking out the kitchen window.

        Maybe it was all some big mistake. Maybe I had just dreamt the murder. Maybe April had a bad dream about something small. The murder couldn't of possibly happened. We couldn't of gotten interrogated. The party never happened.

"Are you okay, Sweetie?" Mrs. Grace spoke behind me.

I jumped and took a deep breath, "I'm fine, Mrs. Grace."

She looked me over, "Sit down, Hun."

I sat down and took a deep breath.

She spoke up again, "When I was in highschool a lot of kids got into car recks. A couple died. I remember though that a young girl, she wasn't that popular, an outcast, was murdered. It was by her dad. Everyone in school was very upset. I was the most upset though. She was an outcast. Someone who had gotten beat up constantly and bulled everyday of her life. I could have helped her I remember saying. I could have become her friend instead of having my head in the clouds. I didn't though."

        She was trying to comfort me. Even though she was trying to make me feel better it still told me that what happened wasn't a dream. What happened was very real.

"What are you getting at?" I spoke looking down at the table. My heart was pounding.

"You and April are going to feel guilty. Dont feel guilty. It wasn't your fault." Her voice was soft and sweet.

I huffed, "I was there. Right there when it happened. I just walked back inside."

"April saw it happen."

I froze, "What?"

"April saw it happen while in the bathroom, but she couldn't help him. She went to go yell for help but fell and got knocked out. She feels horrible."

I blinked, "Wow..."

        My phone beeped on the table in front of me and I picked it up, looking at the name of the person who texted me.

Nick: Rollerskating tonight?

        I stared at the message for a couple of minutes before finally typing back "yes". I stood and made my way into the bedroom, stopping as I saw April sitting up with her head in her hands.

"April?" I moved towards her worriedly.

She looked up, "What?"

I gulped, "Hey, are you okay? Your mom just told me you- you saw it happen."

She laughed nervously, "Yeah... I did. I don't know why I laughed... I just... I dont know. Its just shocking for me."

I sat down beside her and held her hand, "We have experienced something not many people do, okay? We have to push through it and smile."

She laid her head on my shoulder, "Thank you, Hazel."

"Nick wants us to go roller skating with him tonight." I smirked, nudging her gently.

I heard her giggle, "Its been a long time since I have rollerskated. I will probably fall a lot."

"Oh come on. We were great rollerskaters!"

"We were also fifteen!" She laughed and smacked my arm.

I smiled, "Okay then! Let's do this then!"

"First, you need to call your brother."

"Huh?"

"He texted me this morning saying he wants you to call him."

"He knows how to message me himself!"

"He's twenty, you know he's stubborn."

I pulled out my phone and quickly dialed Finnick's number.

He picked up, "Hey, Hazel."

"What do you want, turd!" I smiled.

He chuckled, "Just worried about you, Sis. Mom called me and told me everything."

"Of course she did."

"Well, Dad also wanted to know what's going on."

"Dad lives in the same house as Mom."

"You know how Dad gets, Hazel." His voice was serious.

I sighed, "Your right. I'm fine though."

"Well, I just wanted to say to be careful."

I felt confused, "What? Why?"

"Well, for one, someone died because someone protected you. Someone protected you by killing. Its like something out of a scary movie." I could hear the joking in his voice.

I rolled my eyes, "Are you trying to say I'm being stalked?" I laughed.

"Aye now! I had a girl in 10th grade who always followed me around. Not only did she ask me to the dance but she snuck into the gym locker room and took a pair of my shorts." He was fighting laughter.

"Amanda was weird okay. Listen, I gotta go, I was gonna go hang out with April and-"

"Nick." He finished my sentence smoothly.

"Yeah." I raised my eyebrow.

"Go for it."

"What, Finn?" I raised my eyebrow.

"All I'm gonna say is go for it. Now, if you excuse me, I have a hot date here in about ten minutes."

"If by date you mean wrestling naked on a bed in a puddle of hormones-"

He laughed, "Geez, you got me."

I laughed and hung up, smiling. It had been a while since I talked to Finnick but, damn, when I did he made me smile.