❖ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴏɴᴇ;; ❖
❝ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ's ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴡᴀʏ ᴛᴏ sʜᴏᴡɪɴɢ ᴛʜɪɴɢs, ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴛᴏ sᴀʏ sᴛᴜғғ
An icy chill was set to the air, and my mind was blurred as I heard my hollow footsteps carry along the path. A bundle of thick papers rested within my tightly hugging arms. Homework. Of course. If teachers weren't twiddling their thumbs and marking work, they were shoving essays, papers, and homework in your face. Maybe I could just secretly throw it in the trash can and say my dog ate it. But showing things were way easier than saying stuff. I wasn't the happy-go-lucky type, but I definitely wasn't one of those snippy, trash girls you see around. Let's just say, I don't let people judge me. If you do, you'll never see the end of it. End of what, you might ask? Yeah, that's the question. Just don't ask it.
A wavy lock of my dark brown hair blew in my face, sending glitter and sparkles fluttering down to the sidewalk. I was almost home. Sadly there wasn't any high school buses in Fairfield. But I was used to it. Just not the cold wind of late Fall. It was October 26th, and Halloween was only five days away. Just my luck. I guess you are very curious of why I hate Halloween, but it's complicated. You won't get it, anyway.
As my eyes caught the familiar site of a black van, I raised my head from it tightly digging into my chest and turned to go up my medium length driveway, with a huge house waiting at the end of it. My feet smacking the pavement, and I gripped the black railing to steady myself as drops of rain splattered onto my black felt-feeling coat with the large buttons running down the middle. I took a deep breath as a rested my foot on the railing, but a hand slapped against my shoulder, pulling me back behind the bushes. A glowing orange light from the street lamp was the only thing helping my view of sight, and I held back a scream of fear as I tumbled to the ground.
I held out my hands to break my fall, sending my stack of papers flying to the ground. I landed on the ground with a painful 'thud!' and rolled sideways. After a moment of just laying there with the rain getting heavier and heavier, I raised my head and looked around. A shadow caught my attention, and a teenage boy, about 18, around three years older than me, came into view. "They're after you, Echo. Get yourself to safety!" Wait. How did he know my name? Gripping my side, I stumbled to sit up to where he was crouching. His eyes were wide, and the way he was looking at me made a shudder travel down my spine. But my curiosity was stronger.
"...Wait. Who's after me?" I stammered, my leaf green eyes lifting to see his face, but it was hidden in the shadows, so I could only see his glittering blue eyes and dripping hair. I ignored the heavy, drenched feeling of the rain tugging at my body and looked at him longer.
But the boy turned his head and shot off, his footsteps fading away into the night.
: : :
As I shut the door as quietly as I could, without trying to make a sound, my mother and younger sister, the age of 15, a half a year younger than me, rushed around the corner. My mother rushed forward, while my sister hung back, her eyes dark. My Mom gripped me, saying, "Oh my god, where have you-" but then pulled back, shaking the water off her arm. "Why are you soaked? It just started raining and you just got here..."
I shook my head, shrugging. "I don't know. I guess where I was, it...rained?" My mother sighed, turning and calling over her shoulder, "I'll go make you some Hot Chocolate!" and disappeared into the kitchen. I opened my mouth and turned to my sister, Tara, but she shook her head quietly and went after my mother, her golden hair flashing behind her back. Confusion tugged at my brain, but I heaved a sigh and dropped my school bag in the middle of the foyer and climbed the winding stairs which were right in front of me.
My mind felt completely blurred as I staggered into my bedroom and slammed the door shut. My drenched clothes dripped and my body felt weighted heavily down by the weight of the rain. But as I stripped off my clothes slowly to replace them by my blue tank pajama top, and my silky purple pajama pants, the memory of the boy flickered back into my mind. His dripping hair, and his wide, fearful eyes. Maybe it wasn't a joke. Maybe someone was after me. But...who would be after a fifteen year old girl? Oh, I don't know, maniacs? How did that guy know me, anyway? Is he like a stalker? Huh, well, news flash. I don't need one!
I blinked heavily, suddenly feeling the tug of sleepiness in my brain. Glancing at the clock and seeing the green numbers glow a bright 5:48, I realized I might as well snooz a bit before dinner. I flopped down onto my queen sized bed and shuffled beneath the purple and black covers. As I rested my head onto my soft, cushiony pillow, I slowly drifted off to sleep.
: : :
"Echo," a voice called. "Echo!" I was shaken awake by the familiar voice of my sister, who was leaning over me at the side of my bed. Letting out a moan, I rolled over and threw of my covers in a sloppy manner. When I blinked open my eyes, the bright green letters of my alarm clock glowed a bright 7:08. What?! I had only been sleeping for about an hour and ten minutes? It had felt for at least twenty four hours tops. "Hey, Echo! Dinner's ready, okay? Mom says that if you don't come down in 5 minutes, you'll have a frozen dinner. Now come on!" Tara shoved me once more and disappeared out my door. Huh. That was friendly.
About 3 minutes later, I was downstairs, my pajamas still on, but my face washed and hair brushed. The sweet smell of dinner wafted into my nose, and I quickened my pace and set my hair into a sloppy brown bun, with settled my hair elastic with glitter, and entered the large dining room. My mother was sitting on the right side of the table, with my dad at the head of the table, and my sister on the left side of the table, with an empty chair seated next to her. I headed over to my places beside her and sat, looking at the fresh plate of stir-fry placed before me. "Mmmm," I murmured. "It smells delicious."
My mother nodded, taking a slow and neat bite of her mixed noodles, vegetables, and meat. Then she glanced back at me, eyes curious. "Where were you, Echo?" she asked. As she said that, my father and Tara turned to look at me. It felt as if someone was shoving food down my throat, clogging it up so I couldn't speak. I opened my mouth to speak, but Tara cut in for me.
"Huh. Well, I think she was at her boyfriend, Cameron's house, doing it," she snipped. I snapped my heads towards her, and I saw her right eyebrow raise and a small smirk place across her face. My face turned a bright red. How could I tell my parents that that wasn't true, without having to tell them what really happened to me? My mother looked at Tara, then back to me, her eyes blazing with her eyebrows raised.
"Is this true, Echo?" she asked, her tone tight. This time I didn't hesitate.
"No, it's not!!!" I screamed, pushing up from the table, which sent my chair knocking back onto the ground. My father narrowed his eyes and pushed back his chair, letting out a rumble from deep beneath his throat.
"Don't talk to your mother that way, young lady!" he snapped. I whipped my hand sideways, sending my glass of water shattering to the floor.
"You don't understand!" I yelled. "It's not what she says!" I glared at Tara. "None of you will ever understand! Ever!" I spun around, slamming the dining room door and disappearing from sight.
I really liked it, and I could visualize everything perfectly! You did a great job with this one, though I did notice there were a few more spelling mistakes in the second half of the chapter, just to let you know 
Can't wait to read more!
