Chapter One
The sun was shining on this beautiful Sunday morning. Today was going to be another one of those days, and to top it all off, I had a major headache. Sighing, I forced myself out of bed and nearly tripped over my junk on the way to the bathroom. I did my daily routine, felling like a programmed robot, and almost falling to my doom, walking downstairs. Wasn't this morning perfect? I finished my morning gag with breakfast and headed towards Jayrel's house. There everything would lighten up, hopefully.
"Hey Jay!" I almost sang. He was one of my bestest friends since forever. When we were little no one could say his name right. In the name Jayrel, the 'R' was silent. Finally, we all just called him Jay to make things easier. In high school, you want to make sure your name is short and unnoticeable . . . unless you wanted to be noticed.
"Sup Liz!" Jay replied. My name was harder for people than his was. My name is Alizza. It sorta sounds like Alissa but with a 'Z.' I don't really see how that’s hard, but I guess some people just have issues. I wonder if Jay ever thought the same for his name. So many things to think of. . .
Jay and I talked and I explained how my morning was such a thrill ride. We laughed sometimes, the headache got a awkward silence from us. The headache was rather unusual because I don’t remember ever being sick before and I had woken up from a strange dream with a horrible headache. My head felt like humpty dumpty. It explodes and tries to put it back together again. But no matter how hard I try, I won’t be able to fix it. I didn’t tell Jay because it wasn’t really this big of a deal; it was probably just a migraine or something.
Jay and I hung out at the mall and then I sighed in the middle of him trying to stuff as much slices of pizza he could into his mouth. Sometimes, I think he has the mind of a three-year-old inside a seventeen-year-old body. He gave me this look that was rather funny because his face was all puffed up and pinchy from the pizza stuffing.
"Wahh wong?" he chocked out. I looked at his face to see is he had genuine concern playing in his face, but all I saw was a stuffed face, beautiful light blue eyes (with dark emerald green specks), and dirty blond hair. What I saw was a somewhat immature hot best friend. It was kind of weird to think Jay was hot. I silently scolded myself and shuddered.
"Nothing, just bored," I lied. I had sighed because my headache returned, and the hurt was even worse than before. Growing annoyed, I groaned and clutched my head, massaged my temples. Totally forgetting that Jay was with me, I left the table without a word and that knocked up the pain even more. Jay finished his pizza and tired to walk me out to my car, but then I had this sudden flash of anger and guilt. I slapped his hand away, gave him a glare, and then sat down in my car. Jay gasped like I had just decided to rob a bank and then he gave me his 'what-the-heck-Liz?' expression.
"Ah Liz?" he asked.
"What?" I snapped.
"Your eyes turned red for like, five seconds," he said, his eyes wide. Really? Was he lying? There was no way my eyes did that. I mean how could it? That wasn’t normal eye behavior! Something definitely weird was going on. Why would it start now? I’ve been doing the same thing for the past couple of years, so why change everything now?
I got up from the table and left Jay sitting at the table by himself. My brain’s voice told me to go, leave, and don’t look back. I really did just want to go curl up in my bed and wait for Mom to come home. A nearly sprinted out of the mall and locked myself in my car. I sat there and tried to do some deep breathing or whatever those yoga people did. A voice, not my brain’s, whispered something. It was soft at first and I couldn’t make out the words. Then it got louder and faster, it was then I totally freaked out.
The voice had been a little girl’s voice. She was saying, “Come play with me, I’m waiting. Come play with me, I’m waiting. Come play. . .” Was I going crazy? Then, out of nowhere, the little girl’s voice screamed a blood-curdling scream. I looked around, thinking it was somebody nearby, to convince myself I wasn’t crazy. But no, I was alone in my car, so it was just in my head.
There was a spreading, aching pain all on my back and around my arms. It seemed to pop out of nowhere, like a lot of things lately. Only it didn’t stop, it hurt bad enough that I was sure that I was going to be ripped apart any second. I wanted to howl and scream, but there were people walking by and glancing back at me every now and then. What should I do? Where was Jay? Yes, I finally panicked and yes, people were staring. Well, forget them, I was in pain.
I clutched my body and cried. The pain was beyond unbearable. Of course, as if on cue, Jay came running out. Seeing him, I groaned and then a huge wave of emotions just… just appeared. Guilt, anger, pain, fear, and a pinch of happiness. Just a pinch though, maybe even less. Jay rapped his knuckles on the window and the noise annoyed me. A look of concern flashed on his face and to me, at the moment, it was like pity and I didn’t need his stinkin’ pity. Growing irritated, I sighed and sigh, and rolled down the window.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Oh yeah, I’m absolutely fine if you consider excoriating pain is okay. If you think that a voice in your head screaming its butt off is okay. If you think that getting easily annoyed by one of your best friends is okay, then yeah I’m totally fine,” I snapped. He put his hands up in defeat and I heard myself growl at him. That was NOT Liz behavior!
“I’m sorry Liz; I didn’t mean to get you mad. You know I care,” he murmured. Slowly he slid one of his hands through the open window to comfort me. Before his hand reached whatever he was reaching for, my own hand shot out and pulled the window up. I watch in horror as he howled in pain. Hopefully I didn’t break any bones…
How? Why? Did I just do that? I sat numb in my car thinking about this as Jay was going crazy trying to get me to free his hand. For some reason, I had to forcefully force myself to roll the window down and give Jay back his hand. He sucked on his knuckles like a kid would and gave me a glare. Wow, that’s got me scared! Boo hoo. I gave him a small wave and a reassuring smile. That’s when my eyes betrayed me and I started to cry. Jay looked at me then his hands and decided I was more important. I didn’t want to be near him then so I drove off without a word, and probably ran over his foot in the process. Ouch.
I pulled into the garage and pushed my way through my house. I swallowed some pretty useless aspirin, that didn’t help at all, and stalked, up to my room. A wind blew through my room as I slammed the door. Weird, but then again, a lot of weird things have been happening. Yawing, I realized I was exhausted. Finally, being sleep-deprived, dream land welcomed me.
 

Chapter 2
“Honey, wake up,” my mother, Cathrine called. I groaned an unspeakable language and my stomach growled. At first, I didn’t really notice, but then there was this big blow of pain. It shocked me at first, but it lingered. Of course that’s just my luck. I shoved past my mom and practically into the kitchen. I was hurting really bad and there was nothing anyone could do. All I cared about now was making the pain go away and stuffing food into my face. Making food helped me to forget the pain and so the pain somewhat subsided.
“Alizza? Our new neighbors are finally settling in and I saw a cute boy about your age over there,” she winked, “I want you to give his parents. Okay?” I blushed and tried to roll my eyes, but I must have looked a bit blank because my mom was giving me the ‘hello-anybody-in-there?’ look. There was a little awkward silence, and I really wanted to leave, so I hastily grabbed the envelope and stumbled out of the kitchen. Sometimes, I wish Mom was a little more normal.
Mom was the kind of mom who was into “bonding” with their children. Every Sunday when we go to church and Father starts to talk about angels and devils, she starts to get jittery. My dad had passed when I was born and Jay’s dad had moved out, but we later found out that he was in a car accident leaving him in a coma. He still in the coma and it’s been about five years. Jay’s mom is almost as bad as my mom. Sometimes I wonder if they were long lost sisters and they just don’t want to tell Jay and me. But then…that would mean we were…COUSINS!!! That would be really weird.
In the middle of thinking random thoughts, I ran into the new boy. Great, just great. My first impression with this incredibly hot guy was turning absolutely perfect. How could I be so mindless?
“Whoa,” we both said. I fell on the ground on my butt and he fell on his side. I had dropped the envelope and we both bent to get it and just like in those really old movies, we touch our hands and hit our heads. This was turning out to be fabulous. It took me all I had to not raise my arms and scream into the clouds.
“Uh sorry, umm welcome to the neighborhood,” I stammered. The guy was taller than me and I purposely chose not to look into his eyes because I would probably stand there and drool. I’d probably blush too, and I hate it when I blush. My tan skin turns into a pinkish-orange and personally, I think I look like a little piggy.
“So, uh, do all cute girls attack the new neighbors here?” he asked. Now I blushed. What nerve he had! Already, my headache had come back and I was steaming at him for it. He touched my shoulder and I shot up my head to yell at him. My face was boiling hot and so I guessed my face was also red. I shot up my hands but it was too late. He saw. He touched my nose, and I could’ve sworn that he make a little oink noise. God, he worse than Jay. I crossed my arms and gave him my ‘back-off-I-bite’ look.
“Aww! You blushed!” he laughed. Oh, he thought I blushed. I slowly gave him a menacing grin and he face dropped. Now that was funny. His eyes grew wide, and his mouth drop. My grin grew wider.
“What do I have something stuck in my teeth?” I smacked him. If this is what older brothers were like, then I’m glad I don’t have one.
He rubbed his arm and laughed, “My names Santino, but I really hate that name so call me Mikey or Mike,” finally he burst into a fit of laughter. I gave him my worst scowl. Some guy.
“Don’t laugh! It’s embarrassing!” I joked, “Oh and in case you haven’t already heard, I’m the crazy girl whose name is Alizza. I go crazy when people call me that so everybody now calls Liz.” Maybe I went a little too far. Mikey gave me a strange look and then he smiled. It was a really cute smile.
“Ah-liz-zzzzz-aaaahhhhhh,” he said. I punched him twice. Once in the arm, and the other in his side. He jumped and I crossed my arms. His eyes widened, almost as if he expected something BIG to happen. Yeah. Right. In his dreams. I made a big show of moving my hips side to side and cupped my hands around my mouth.
“Id-io-oooootttttt,” I giggled. That’s when I remembered the envelope. He recovered from shocked, some disappointed, and stared at the envelope with some sort of new found hope. Or curiosity.
How am I supposed to ask this guy to let me take myself to his house to give this to his parent without giving him the wrong idea? Finally, I decided to look up into the most gorgeous eyes I have ever seen. His eyes were green with golden specks, they somehow manage to glitter like stars, and they made me feel faint. Now I’m in trouble.
Mikey was taller than I was, and let me say, I am pretty tall. His eyes were breath-taking, he had beautiful dark honey colored hair, his olive skin set off the gold in his eyes, and I hate to say it, but he made my heart flutter. But only for a second! I finally manage to get my brain to work once more.
“Umm, so can I uhh, go over to your house?” I asked, “To give this to the people you live with,” I added quickly. He laughed again and I took that for a yes. He held out his hand and I didn’t know whether he wanted the envelope, or my hand. So I just there, waited for him to go. Apparently Mikey wasn’t good with rejection. He grabbed my hand and led me to his house.
It was a short walk to his house, but it felt so much faster, like we came too soon. We had talked about nothing important on our way. I had told him how I had no father because he died from protecting my mother and me from an assassin. Mikey told me his dad supposedly died from an unknown sickness (he wasn’t sure). It was nice to know that there was someone else to talk, who understood, but it was also sad that we both had lost someone important to us. We comforted each other and then he asked about the envelope.
“What’s in it?”He asked
“I’m not sure,” I answered truthfully.
“C’mon! You should know what’s in it!” he persisted. I grew annoyed and kept silent.
“Is it a party invite?”
“…”
“Is it a dinner invite?”
“…”
“Is it an invite from you to me? If it is I’ll accept no matter what,” I looked at him. He wasn’t giving up was he? I kept a straight face or at least tried to. It was kinda hard because he had this little hopeful puppy dog look in his eyes. No! Nuh-uh. Nope. Not falling for it. Sadly, I smile and maybe even gave a small giggle. In an attempt to save myself, I rolled my eyes and prayed that that did the trick. I started to day dream that I saw Mikey kneeling down and taking my hand, asking me to go out with him. Only no, I wasn’t dreaming, it was happening! Whoa.
“Huh? What!” I was really confused. I’d just met the guy.
“Well, if I don’t ask you to go with me now, then some other lucky freak will get to!” he explained. Oh. I see. Thankfully his house was in view and we raced for it. Another problem somewhat subside. Nice job. I mentally patted myself on the back.
We reached his place and I rang the doorbell. I somehow knew Mickey was going to speak up and say something pointless.
“Wow! You’re already meeting my Mom. This is going fast. Wow,” he murmured. I could sense that he was enjoying today. Was he always like this? So easy-going, so happy, so …cute? Mickey’s mom, I suppose, stepped out and gave us a menacing glare. I hadn’t done anything but looked at her and already I could tell she doesn’t want me here. To keep her from hating me, I tried to keep my face as emotionless as possible.
“Mikey, hon, I gave you money to leave the house and you come back home with this… girl?” the woman’s voice ran smooth like honey; Mickey grinned as I flinched when she said girl. This girl. She irked me.
“Mom she was the one who ran into ME, on the way to somewhere,” he laughed. Shocked, I looked at him and open my mouth to comment, but I remembered his mom didn’t really like me so I shut my mouth. The lady was staring at me and I could imagine everything she saw. She saw my beautiful, long strawberry honey hair, my blue eyes with green specks, my curved nose, long eyelashes, and athletic body, to my rather large feet. I wasn’t wearing anything fancy either, just a t-shirt, Capri’s, and flip-flops. The lady stopped looking at me and then she saw the envelope.
“Well my family wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood and my mom wanted me to give you this,” I handed her the envelope. She gave me a suspicious glance and opened it. After reading it, she nodded.
“We’ll be there,” she looked at Mikey and me, “Now get out of the house so I can clean.” Mikey rolled his eyes and we left the house.
“She likes you,” he said.
“I’m sure she does Mikey,” I liked saying his name. It was just the feeling I got when I did, I hoped that didn’t mean we were seriously dating though. Well I haven’t really answered him either. Hmm. He held out his hand and I took it. This was nice. I liked it. This could be something Jay would never think to give me. Mikey told me more about him and I told him more about me.
“Where do you want to go?” he asked.
“How ‘bout the mall?” I answered. He shrugged and we set off. It wasn’t very long to the mall but we were walking and…taking our time. I asked Mikey why we should call him Mikey and he said he was called that since forever, plus he dreadfully hated the name Santino. He said it reminded him of something bad, but he didn’t know what. I told Mikey about Jay and me and how he was so immature. Mikey frowned and tsked me so I punched him.
“Oww! I’m not your personal punching bag you know,” he cried, rubbing his arm. I laughed and ran towards the mall entrance. He tried to chase me but an elderly lady on an electric wheelchair nearly ran over him. He gave me the ‘look-at-what-you-did!’ stare. I awkwardly hugged him so he couldn’t stay mad at me. Pushing past random people, we trudge toward Pizza Plazo.
We ordered some pizza and fries and I would glance every now and then to see if San-Mikey would stuff his face full of pizza. Thank God he didn’t. I went to get more soda, when I suddenly thought of Jay.
The pain that had disappeared when I was with Mikey returned when thought of Jay. Think of Mikey. Mikey. Mikey. Mikey. Oh no. I can’t feel this way. I mean I just met him! I excused myself to get more soda and after I got it I saw, my one and only, Jay. No, nonononononono! Not now. Why are you so mean to me God? Hmm? I sighed and tried my best to disappear into the crowd. I heard him call my name but I ignored it. I squirmed in and out of the crowd to where I was sitting. Mikey left a note saying he went to the bathroom. Typical. Then Jay sat where Mikey was sitting. Crap.
“Hey Lizzle,” he said, “Liz?” I turned towards him and made my eyes grow wide. Innocent. I smiled, “Hey Jay!” Crap! This was NOT good. Not at all. The pain came back and that got me mad. Why the crap does this stupid pain keep coming back, especially when I thought of Jay and when he was nearby? This time I forced my mind to fight the pain and I manage to convince myself that the pain was gone for good. Only somewhere deep in my stubborn mind, I knew, it wasn’t gone.
“Oh hey Jay,” I smiled weakly. He smiled a big smile, something full of friendliness. That made me feel very guilty about yesterday.
“Are you alright Lizzle? ‘Cause you were a little…off yesterday,” he asked. It took me all I had not to rip his hair out of his head. “A little off” Hahaha. Yeah. Right. Just a little.
“Yeah fine. How’s your hand…sorry,” I replied calmly, not wanting Jay to know I wanted to kill him then.
“Oh it has a whooper of a bruise… uh how can I help you?” He said. What? Help me? Did he think I was crazy? Some friend he was! Wait, I sorta thought I was crazy too so I can’t really blame him, can I?
That’s when I realized he was looking behind my shoulder. I turned to look, but I already knew who it was.
“Liz is this guy bother you?” Mikey said. They both turned to me. Mikey was acting like my dad would’ve. All authoritive like. Wow, I really miss dad and so now a new pain came, a pain of sadness and loss.
“Ehhh? Um no. Mikey this is Jay. Jay, Mikey” They didn’t shake hands or anything and there was definitely a bad vibe going on between the two. Shoot. I wanted them to be friends. Great. I mentally sighed and worked up a big smile.
“Umm Lizzle?”
“Hmmm?”
“Is this guy your boyfriend?” God I wanted to strangle him. Didn’t he know I was trying to not answer that? Well, actually no, he didn’t, but still!
“I-I-I” I really didn’t know. My headache was back and hurting worse than ever. Now both pairs of eyes were on me. My head was throbbing and the boys kept pushing me over the edge. Rolling my eyes to the back of my head, I passed out.

Chapter 3-Jay’s view
“Here you call 9-1-1,” I shouted to the guy who had stood behind Liz. What an imbecile! He stared at me for a minute and then he whipped out his phone. I ached to stroke Liz’s hair and whisper reassuring thoughts to her. I looked into her face. She was beautiful even in her sleep. Was this guy her boyfriend? I hope not. This guy and I may have some talking to do.
“Mikey?” I snarled.
“What?” he growled back. Joy he wasn’t happy either.
“I don’t like you,”
“I don’t like you either,”
“We need to talk,” I said. Yeah we do. Seriously.
“We already are smart one,” he replied. I glanced over my shoulders to where he was sitting. Yeah people were staring but I really didn’t care.
“Nice socks,” he looked down and I laughed. He gave me a big scowl. Oh! I’m scared now! Hahaha. I decided to be childish and stuck my tongue out. Lizzle moved under my hand. She was coming to. God, why has she been so moody lately? Why him over me? What was up?
“You know, she’s right about you being immature,” he said, trying to get to me. I tried not to let him get the satisfaction.
“I think Liz is mad at you by what she’s told me so far,” he grinned,” Why do you call her Lizzle?” Lizzle was called Lizzle because she can be as mean as a grizzly bear is she wants to that’s why, and I am definitely NOT telling him that.
“Shut up! You don’t know anything about Liz and me!” I bellowed. Yes, I bellowed in the mall and yes more people were staring. Lizzle’s hand patted my cheek and she began to murmur. She must be dreaming of something.
“Hmm, Jay and me…forever…wish…Mikey…hot,” she continued. “Jay and me…forever” is what she said. I grinned a smug smile at Mikey, but wait did she say he was hot or did she mean she was feeling hot? Mikey got up and went to her side. I thought of picking her up and sitting her in a chair, but before I could do anything, Mikey bent and gently kissed her. I would gag if he wasn’t smiling at me now.
“Bet you haven’t ever done that,” his voice hoarse. Glaring at him every now and then, I patted Liz’s cheeks so she’d wake up. When all this was over, I was going to kill Mikey and rip his smug pie-hole off his face. The guy wasn’t good. Well not for Liz anyway.
“Jay?” Liz asked.
“Yes Lizzle?” I answered. I motioned for Mikey to do some good and get her a drink. He got up and fetched something.
“Don’t leave me,” she whispered. How could I answer that? Oh. She must have seen Mikey get up and leave. No, I wasn’t leaving, not yet.
“I’ll always be there for Lizzle,” I whispered. I awkwardly cradled her and whispered happy memories to her. She took a nap and a few minutes later Mikey came back and helped her drink. Liz had a mega bump on the back of her head and then the police finally found us. Finally they took her home because she could stand and I had walked here. Mikey had walked here too, and we both wanted to check on Liz so I led him to her house.
“What. Did. You. Do. To. My. Daughter?” she screamed. We both cringed away from her. Liz’s mom could be horrifying when she was mad. Maybe that’s where Liz gets it from…
“They didn’t do anything Mom, I just passed out, that’s all,” Lizzle said yawning. I glared at Mikey again and I think Lizzle saw.
“Mom, Mikey, can I borrow Jay for a sec? Thanks!” She said, grabbing my arm. Liz had a very strong grip. Was she working out? I looked back behind my shoulder and Lizzle’s mom was asking, well, more like yelling, question to Mikey. Hahaha. He deserves it.
“Jay?” That got my attention.
“Did you mean what you, umm, said atthemall?” her last words were fast. I smiled gently and pretended to know what she was talking about. What should I do now? If I were alone now, then I’d be banging my head on the wall, telling myself I was stupid. It was a yes or no and by the look she had on, she was hoping for a yes, well that’s what I went with.
“Yes, of course,” I replied, acting like I knew exactly what she was talking. Was she talking about when she just woke and ask me if… oh! I’m glad I said yes if that’s the case. She smiled happily and I tried to pull her into a hug but she backed away. Huh?
“Did Mikey do anything?”She flushed.
“Well I hate to tattle but he did k-i-s-s you,” I mocked. She blushed. She was my little oinker. I also knew she hated that.
“Really?” she sighed. What, did she like it? Gross, especially from Mikey, when she was ALSEEP! Ugh, total sleeping beauty moment, but wrong prince.
“…” I couldn’t answer. Not after what she said. I turned away and was fixing on leaving when she turned me around and threw her arms around me.
“I don’t know what to do now. Jay what should I do?”That’s when she broke down and cried. Crap! Really now? She knows I can’t stand it when she cries.
“No, don’t cry, don’t cry Lizzle,” I soothe. Then, I patted her forehead three times, like when we were kids. It was this trust thing. Finally, her tear holes didn’t have any more tears to release. Thank God!
“Remember, when we were five and I broke your toy?” she asked. Sorta, but it was blurry because she broke a lot of my toys back then. I nodded anyway.
“Heh, it was your favorite and you got so mad. I didn’t really mean to, but you weren’t listening and I got so mad…” she continued. Oh! I remember now!
“Yeah, and?” I asked more harshly then intended.
“Nothing,” she looked crestfallen. Good job Jay.
“You hate me,” she started crying again. Wait what? What did I do to have her think that? I glance around her room. It was organized but dirty and everything was in the color of pink, purple, or blue.
“Sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” she sighed. Well me neither. Mikey. Mikey started all of this. I am going to kill that ungrateful wannabe.
“It’s unfair to you,” she whispered. Huh? What? Before I could tell her I was confused, she was already leaning in with her eyes closed. Crap! Uhh… I decided to follow her lead because this was an opportunity I may never get again.
Her lips were unbelievably soft. A fire rippled through my body, and let me tell you, it felt good. All too soon, our breath ran out. That’s when I realized I was staring. Oops. Liz was blushing deeper than she usually did.
“Wha-“I began.
“Shh,” she put her finger to my lips. Okay. I’ll be quiet. Whatever you want.
“Sorry for pushing you to do that,” she started.
“No no, don’t be,” I gave her my ‘just-for-you’ smile.
“Can we go to our Castle tomorrow?” she asked. When was the last time we’ve there. Maybe about a year? I nodded. We said good-bye and she saw me out.
“G’night Jay,” she waved.
“Night,” I left her house and then it hit me. Where was Mikey? Lizzle’s mom probably saw him out. Heh. I went over what happened today. Made Liz mad, made a new enemy, and I kissed Liz. Hmm, I think the last part was the best and I smiled at my thoughts. What a day.
 

Chapter 4- Mikey’s View
After Liz’s mom had seen me out, I waited for Liz’s “best friend” to come out. I walked around the house to see if Liz’s room was on the bottom floor of the two story house. To my luck, it was. The curtain to her room was open and since Jay was in there, I thought it was safe. Not that I was trying to peep or anything, just to check on Liz and see if she’s okay.
Since the window was open at the bottom, I manage to wedge my hand under and slide the curtain over a bit. Glancing up to see if I could see Liz, I saw Liz crying. What did Jay say? Was it about me? Hope not. Then they sat on the bed and she started to lean towards him…and he kissed her! He kissed MY Liz! Not his. No, I asked her out, not him.
Every muscle in my body wanted to jump in there and beat the guy bloody, but my brain said to wait. My brain showed me a marvelous plan to get back at Jay. Yeah, I would wait. I ran around the house back to the front door and sat behind some random red truck and waited for Jay.
The wind blew and I could’ve sworn that the truck was getting ready to fall. It was enough to scare the crap out of me so I stood up and at that moment I saw Jay smiling to himself right in front of where I was standing. I duck so fast even God couldn’t keep up. He began to walk away and I silently followed him.
Maybe it was the wind or maybe it was Jay, but there was humming. There was a feeling I had. Hatred. Pure hatred was what I felt when I was following Jay, and when I saw them… you know. This guy was okay, but Liz was right about him being childish. If he wasn’t going after Liz, then we could’ve been friends. Yeah, that would be interesting.
Jay stopped suddenly and if I hadn’t been paying attention, I would have ran into him. I stopped dead in my tracks. Please don’t turn around. Please, please, please. He shrugged and continued walking. I stalked over to a trees and hid in the shadows continuing to follow him.
“Hey Mikey!What are you doin’ here so late?” he asked still walking. My eyes widened and I stopped. Right then a twig snapped underneath my foot, but I kept silent and hoped he didn’t hear. That was just my luck. I mentally strangled myself and I put my focus back on Jay,
“Gotcha,” he chuckled. He turned and practically crawled to where I was standing. He was slower than a turtle! Deciding to not let him come and find me, I toughened up and stepped out of the shadows. Slowly, I crossed my arms and I decided to do what Liz did.
I made a big show of waving my arms around and I cupped my hands around my mouth, ”Id-it-ooooottttt! Over here morrrr-oooonn!” He gave me a glare and if he had had long sleeves then he’d probably push them up and show off his muscles. Where’s your spinach pop-eye? Heh. His expression was hilarious.
“Do you like someone I know?” I asked him. He shrugged and I gave him a glare that could’ve burned his eyeballs out if he hadn’t been looking at his feet. Ashamed. Heh. He should be.
“Yeah, that’s right, I saw you and my GIRLFRIEND. I forgive Liz, but you should have backed off. She was really emotional or whatever today and so she probably just wanted to make things right or something. So really, that kiss was meaningless,” I told him. I took a few steps forward and whispered “meaningless” in his ear. I could easily tell he was furious by the way his face was red and how he was shaking all over. Good.
“She’s not your girlfrie-“he chocked. I smiled He couldn’t say it. Well, Liz and I just started going out so she isn’t really my girlfriend yet, but it was fun to mess with Jay.
“C’mon say it,” I persisted. I gave him a coy smile and he punched me in the guts. Oh, now he’s resorting to violence, is he? Wait, this is wrong, I shouldn’t be doing this to him. I wasn’t trying to be a jerk, no, I was trying to get back at him, and if he keeps his dirty little paws off of Liz then we could get along. Really.
“She’s not your girl,” he paused, “friend.” I could see he was in pain and I wanted this to stop. This wasn’t right for me to do. He didn’t need this. I mean it’s the middle of the night and he finally kissed… Nope, not gonna think about it.
“Man, I don’t want to fight. I did ask her out and everything and she invited me to go to the mall with her and I took that for a yes. I had no idea you felt…that way about her. Dude, really,” I tried to break the ice. Really, I didn’t want to hate the guy or be a jerk to him, but I did want him to know I thought Liz and I were together.
“Sounded like you did,”
“Just wanted to tell you something after a torture,” I smiled weakly.
“I’m sure,” he said sarcastically.
“Absolutely!” I gave a big smile at this. Jay and I both nodded to each other and went our separate ways.
After maybe five steps I turned back and Jay was gone from view. What the heck am I going to do now? This was not what I was looking for when I moved here. There was something about Liz and Jay that wasn’t quite right, but neither was I. I turned back and headed home whistling a tune from long ago. I came home to the smell of pizza. Yum. So, what was I thinking again? Right, Jay and Liz. Hmm, I’ll think tomorrow, now I needed some rest.
 
Chapter 5-Liz
I could barely sleep last night for many reasons. One: Julie, my friend, wouldn’t stop texting me. Two: I kept thinking about Jay. Three: My bed was just too uncomfortable to sleep on. Confusion started to get rooted into my mind. Jay or Mikey? Who? Today, would be my relax day, my day where I forget everything and just dream all day. At least until I go to the Castle of course.
I set of for Christine’s house. She was one of my best friends, and she’s my eye of wisdom. To make things simple, she was basically awesome. On my way over there I passed Darkness. It was just the spooky abandoned part of town.
About a block into Darkness, I noticed a small house, similar to my own. A light flickered on and off inside. Forgetting about Christine and this afternoon’s plans, I let my feet lead me to the house. What was in there?
I soon found that I had a nauseating feeling knotting in my stomach. Something was obviously not right. Going against my instincts, I reached for the doorknob but paused midway and noticed I was holding my breath. A deadly silence filled the air. Before I had even set my hand on the knob, it flung open and I was roughly pushed into the darkness within.
Being absolutely petrified of the dark didn’t exactly help my situation. A little globe of light appeared above my head and I tried to grab it. Sadly, it disappeared, once again leaving me to the mercy of the unknown lurking in the dark. Great. That was just what I needed today.
Something tapped my shoulder and I screamed bloody murder. What should I do? What to defend myself with? Something tried to grab my mouth to shut me up but I dropped to the floor and crawled from the spot, ready to use my nails and teeth when needed. A little glow about the size of a candle flame flickered in the corner away from where I was. Good.
“Shh! Please calmly tell me where you are so I won’t fall and burn your hair,” a girl’s voice whispered. It seemed somewhat familiar to me.
“O-o-over here,” I whispered. The person seemed not to hear me so I whispered a little louder and more fiercely than intended. Finally, the person tapped my head and seemed to let out a sigh of relief. Who was this person? It seemed to be someone I knew but the voice wasn’t exactly the same. The voice sounded so much like my old friend Caitlyn’s voice. But this wasn’t Caetlyn; I don’t think it was her.
The person managed to find a switch and flicked it on. Whoever this person was, this was definitely not Caitlyn. I mean the lady was so much OLDER looking! Caitlyn and I use to be best friends and all but not anymore. Still friends, just not best friends.
“Who ARE you?” I thought aloud. Stupid! I scolded myself for being so retarded as to give away my thick minded cover. I can be just so smart.
“I’m Caitlyn remember?” she asked, annoyed. I may have well acted stupid because I started off stupid.
“Ooooohhhhh yeeahhh! I so totally remember now!” I put a little peppiness into my voice, but I may have overdone it. The stranger was beyond creepy and her fake smile, that never left her face, made it worse. Her phone rang just when she was about to say something and she cursed at the person on the phone. With her back turned away from me, I seized the chance to make a dash for it. Dropping to all fours, I crawled to the farthest room away. She would probably think that I would crawl to the closest for safety. Finally my smartness came back!
Securing myself in a cabinet above a sink or something, I began to come up with a plan. Quietly, I took my phone out to call Mikey, Jay, anybody really. There were no signals! My mouth opened up to let out my frustration, but I remembered “Caitlyn” was looking for me.
“C’mon girl! This isn’t a time to play. Why aren’t you answering me? C’mon!” she was trying to coax me out. No. Freaking. Way. Somewhere, in a different room, I heard a gunshot.
“Okay, you got me. I’m not your buddy Caitlyn and I’m not here to kill you, just to kidnap you for Boss. Show me where you are and I won’t hurt you,” she said slowly as if I were a dumb child. There was no way I was going to take my chances. I mean, how will I know she will keep her promise?
Okay, she has a gun, she’ll try not to kill me, and she wants to take me somewhere. Crap! Who could this get any worse? Right then my phone rang. It was Jay. Nice timing. I flicked it open, but I was didn’t know or not the lady heard my ringtone. God, help me!
“What! That was HORRIBLE timing! I thought there was no signal,” I whispered furiously into the phone.
“What? Why are you whispering? What’s wrong?” Jay asked. Of course he wouldn’t know.
“Sorry, sorry. But I need help. There’s this person with a gun and she wants to kidnap me. Get help! Hurry,” I whispered, nicer this time, “Oh and I’m at the house that sorta looks like mine. I’ll turn on all the lights so you will able to find it faster.” The lady stomped around closer this time.
“Wait, I’ll be right there!” he answered.
“What? No don’t!” but he was already off the phone. No! He could be so thick headed sometimes. The gun fired again. No! I felt around the cabinet for something that might have helped, and I found a handle near the back in the left corner. Yanking on it, a smaller door opened up and I felt cool air brush past my arms. Something furry ran past and the cabinet door slid open.
The furry was completely black, it looked gel looking, and it was BIG! The thing was bigger than me but it was so much smaller when it first came out. Its body shape was cat like, but face was so much like wolf, but a lot scarier. The woman spotted the thing and aimed her pistol at it. She fired four times and ran out of bullets. The bullets were absorbed and just fell below it. I decided to call the thing Panther.
Panther lunged for the woman’s throat, but she bent back at an inhumane angle. Its paws scraped the floor as it landed and turned at the same time. The lady screamed and slid to her knees as the animal lunged once more but lower. Panther’s jaw locked onto her thigh and he wouldn’t let go. I covered my mouth in horror and fascination.
The lady stuck out her hand and murmured something. A white glow appeared and shot Panther back. Tired, the lady raised her hand and tried to fire once more, but her aim was off. Panther lunged again but dug his claws into her stomach and he began to purr in a loud cat purr as she fell. Screaming, the woman began to fade away.
“Girl, you are safe now. You may come out,” the thing said as the woman completely faded. Slowly getting out, I took care not to anger the thing so I wouldn’t end up gone like the lady.
“Ehh, thanks for that. So who are you?” I asked Panther.
“I noticed you took a liking to call me Panther. I am Panther. I have sworn to protect you, my queen, at no cost what so ever,” it knelt to the ground,” I am at your service.” His face softened and he got up from the ground. What was this thing?
“I am a shape- shifter. I am your protector. I am yours,” he said. Queen? I wasn’t a queen!
“Sorry, but your mind is so much fun to explore,” he chuckled,” but you are in fact a queen, but you will know in the future. Now, come closer and put your hand on my head.” I gave him a scowl for reading my mind, and did as I was told. Slowly, vivid images flashed before my eyes. The blurred so I only saw general items of what seemed like my future.
“This is not accurate, for one choice leads you to another and you may choose something else,” it sighed. My future? Choices? What? I am an ordinary girl who just has a wild imagination.
“No, you’re not normal,” laughed Panther. Taking my chances, I punched him on what seemed like his shoulder. My hand sank in and I freaked out. Pulling my hand out, I stuck my tongue out and indicated my disgust. Panther laughed harder. Already my heart was in love with this creature.
“My queen, something has come up and I must leave, please for my sake stay away from danger,” said Panther. I nodded and watched him shrink to the size of a mouse and scurry back to the door in the cabinet.
Something thumped upstairs in the house’s attic. Trying to stay out of trouble wasn’t a specialty of mine. Really, it was my curiosity that made me go, but hey, Jay was coming. He could maybe help. Going up the stairs, I prayed that there wasn’t any trouble in the attic.
 

Chapter 6- Liz
Remembering that I told Jay I would turn on all the lights in the house, I busied myself trying to find the attic’s switch. To my happiness, there was an easy access light switch right next to door, where all switches should be located. I decided not to wait for Jay to come for me to head up to the attic.
Looking around, I surveyed the area I was now located in. It looked like an ordinary attic filled with junk that the previous owners had had. Something gold caught my eye in the right corner of the room, where huge stacks of ridiculously large boxes were stacked.
This Panther wouldn’t be able to help me because he had to leave. The gold glittered even though the light was dim. How could it do that? I searched the room for an open window, but found no windows at all. Huh. Maybe I should call Jay and tell him to hurry, because this was killing me! What was it?
I whipped out my phone to call Jay, but my phone was dead. Out of batteries? That couldn’t be it because my phone was full of batteries when Jay called me. Beyond weird. Weird, I was still having trouble getting use to; beyond weird? Not so much.
I glanced over to the gold again and heard something skitter somewhere. Rats and mice I weren’t afraid of, but with all the weird things going on, I had to be careful. Who knew what could be there. Shuddering, I hastily retreated down the stairs. Creepy, very creepy. To take my mind off the gold I went searching for the light switch.

~Jay~
I couldn’t wait for this afternoon, so I had went for a walk through the woods. The woods had always managed to find me drawn to it. Don’t know why and really I didn’t care. Some nights, when I should be sleeping, I would be out in the woods for no reason. So, I was out in the woods when Liz called.
She needed my help. The woods wasn’t far from Darkness, but it’d still take a few minutes. Could Liz even last that long? I mean how long would it take for the lady with the gun find her? Liz had a temper and could easily defend herself, but the lady had a loaded gun!
Running, I took off for a house with all the lights on. That was bad for the environment though. Wait- if Liz was in hiding…then that would mean she couldn’t turn on the light. It was so like Liz to go and try and turn on the lights with her life on the line. She could be so empty headed! She would try and take on the lady.
With that thought, I pumped my legs faster and harder, trying to make each step count in saving someone’s life. My legs protested and screamed in agony of me making them go faster than ever before, but I kept at it. Liz could be dying now and it would be my fault. My fault completely! Liz, I’m coming for you, please hang in there.
Before I even expected to arrive, I saw a house that looked similar to Liz’s and the attic light was on. I heard a crash and a thump inside and all the muscles in my body jumped and I tried the door. Locked. Frantically, I ran towards the back, hoping for another door. There weren’t any but by this time everything was quiet. No! A window. I would break through the window. Nobody lived here so it would be okay.
I searched for a window low enough for me to climb through, but there weren’t any. Crap! Running back to the front of the house again and tried the door. It opened so easily, I thought it was a joke. I saw Liz go back up the stairs, mesmerized.
“Liz?” I called softly. She didn’t seem to acknowledge my existence. I tried again and she still didn’t answer. What was happening? I decided to follow her up to the attic.
 

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 17.10.2010

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