“A lie never lives to be old”

-Sophocles

Alianna woke up at 5:30 am that Friday morning to start getting ready for school. She had so much to do before seven o'clock. There was a lot of preparation to make herself look as good as she had yesterday afternoon. Her Mom was already up, and she had had to call her into the bathroom a couple of times to help her get her hair right and the makeup straight. By 6:45 they had everything perfect. She spun in front of the full mirror on the back of her door, and couldn’t find anything that looked out of place. For the first time in over a year, she felt excited to go to school. She barely touched her food, she was so nervous. She had to eat something to take the pill the Dr. had given her. So she forced a half of an English muffin down and then took the pill. 7 am came and she heard her Dad’s truck start up. She looked up at her mom, her eyes filled with worry. Her Mom clasped Alianna’s face in her hands and kissed her on the forehead.

“You’ll be OK Ali. You are beautiful on the inside and the outside. God made you to be just as you are, and God doesn’t make mistakes.”

Alianna smiled and hugged her mom. She had been wondering that for a while now, wondering if God had made a mistake when he made her. Mom’s had a way of washing away the lies that you had convinced yourself were true.

As she was walking out of the garage toward her Dad’s large truck, he got out of the drivers side and came around to get the door for her. He then lifted her up effortlessly and gave her a big hug.

“Always remember Ali, no matter what life throws at you, we love you very much. God never told us life would be easy, just that He would be with us through it.”

Tears began to form at the corners of her eyes, and she had to bring all of her will to bear on not letting them come out because of the damage they would do to the makeup.

“I’ll remember that Dad, I love you too.”

He squeezed her tight once more and then set her down in the seat.

On the ride to school he asked her about the mall again, specifically if she had liked Ellen’s daughter Olivia. She told her dad how much she had enjoyed the time they spent together and that Olivia had been nothing but nice to her. She also told him that she hoped they could be friends.

“Well, your mom and I are going to try and help with that. We talked with Olivia's parents last night and we're going to try to get together more regularly and give you a chance to hang out, if that is something you would want to do?”

Alianna started bouncing up and down with excitement.

“Get out Dad, are you serious? That is so awesome!”

Excitement, joy, love, all flowed through Alianna, this was shaping up to be the second best day she’d ever had.

When they got to the dungeon her Dad closed his hand around hers.

“No matter what happens Ali, your Mom and I love you and we’ll do everything we can to turn things around for you.”

She squeezed his hand and felt herself begin to get teary again. “Ah, Dad, stop your going to make me cry, which will make my makeup run.”

“Where’s it going to run too?” Said her Dad in mock confusion.

These bad jokes that her father told always made her groan on the inside, but this time she began to laugh.

“Good one dad.” She said through her giggles.

Her dad looked shocked for a moment that someone had actually laughed at one of his bad jokes, but then laughed with her.

She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek and as she sat back in the seat she noticed something in his eyes. It was as if he was straining against something.

“What’s wrong dad?”

He was surprised by the question. He had forgotten how his daughter had always had a knack for noticing the littlest details.

“It's nothing Ali, just a problem that I haven’t found a fix for yet.”

“Maybe I can help?” She asked with just a hint of concern at what level of problem could bring a hint of frustration to her dad. If it was one thing her dad knew it was how to fix things.

He smiled at her response.

“We’ll talk it over later, but you gotta get going in there now and I gotta get to work.”

“Oh..OK Dad, later then.” She was a bit in shock, her parents had never sought her opinion or advice about anything before.

“Later.” He said as he smiled.

She smiled back at him then opened the door and jumped down to the sidewalk. She reached back into the truck and grabbed her bag. She stepped back with her right hand on the outside of the door and waved at her Dad with the other. He waved back. In that moment there was a prick of pain deep within her heart. Something wasn’t right about this, she began to feel an emptiness.

Her confidence faltered.

“Dad” she said with a quiver in her voice. “I’m scared.”

Her Dad reached across the seat and closed his hand around hers. She could feel his strong grip and the callouses that came from years of hard work.

“It’s OK to be scared Ali, everyone gets scared, even Keri Bellows. It's what you do once you become scared that makes the difference. You want me to walk in with you, maybe we’ll see some of these hooligans and I can give them my patented Dad-glare?”

The pang was receding, and was replaced by a decent amount of embarrassment as her cheeks reddened at the thought of what it would look like if her dad walked her into school.

“No way Dad, none of the other kids' parents walk them in.”

She saw his face fall a little at that, so she quickly added.

“But, keep that glare handy, next time they hurt me like that again, you can glare them into the ground.”

This brought a big grin to her Dad’s face.

“That’s my girl, now you're speaking my language.”

She laughed at that.

“Have a good day at work Dad, I love ya.”

“Love you too Ali, Remember you're not alone.”

“I will Dad.”

With that she shut the door and stood back as the F250 pulled away from the curb and headed down the street.

She watched it go till it was out of sight, and then took a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm her nerves.

When that didn’t work, she just gave up and turned around to face her fate.

There were hardly any kids around the front of the school. Usually there were many small clusters of them, laughing, talking, reading, praying. But there was only one small group sitting on the stone rails near the entrance. It was a group of seventh grade boys.

She spent a moment trying to figure out why there weren’t more kids outside, when it hit her. It was like ten after seven, she didn’t usually get here till seven forty five. She’d never really been to school this early before.

She laughed softly at her blond moment as her mom called them, and then used every ounce of will and determination she had to take that first step toward the school. She did take that step though, her Dad had been right, even though she was scared, she needed to take that step forward or else she’d be stuck on this sidewalk for the rest of her life. She didn’t want that, she needed to be in the game, even if her team was loosing.

Each step became easier. By the time she reached the group of boys there was even a hint of confidence in her step.

Then the oddest moment of her life occurred. The chatter among the boys died down to a murmur and all their heads turned toward her. She almost stumbled, the shock almost overwhelming her.

“Oh my gosh what are they looking at? Is my hair shooting out in all different directions, did my make up start to run, did I put it on wrong?”

Ice began to flow through her body, beginning to paralyze her.

Then, the only thing that could have made this moment more stressful happened.

“Hi, hey there..uh..new girl.”

It was Jim Kurtz, she’d had a crush on him since sixth grade.

She sucked in what air she could and then let it out. She turned around to face the death of one of her dreams.

There was Jim walking over to her. He had this quiet cool about him. He didn’t get into fights or say all that much, but when he did speak, everyone listened. He was also one of the most popular boys in the seventh grade. Of course that meant that he sat at Keri’s table. The only point of light on that day that Alison had gotten to sit there and Alianna hadn’t was that Jim had been out sick that day. She would have died right there if he had been there to witness that embarrassment.

“Hi, I’m Jim Kurtz, welcome to St Pious. It is a dungeon, but it is our dungeon so it ain't so bad. What’s your name?”

Her mind locked up, this was too much for it to handle. Not only was he talking to her, but he didn’t know who she was. Which for most people would have been an affront, but with the reputation she had received over the past year, someone not recognizing her was a blessing from God.

She knew as soon as she said her name they’d start laughing, and she knew that seeing him laugh in her face would see her begging her parents to put her in another state.

So she did something she always tried not to do, but she saw no other way out of this predicament, she lied.

“My name is Emily, Emily Savits” Emily was her Mom’s name and Savits was her mom’s maiden name.

“Wow, no way!” He pulled out his iphone and began scrolling through one of the pages. “It looks like I finally found Emily.”

That was not the expression she had been expecting.

“I’m sorry?” She said, acting like she hadn’t heard correctly.

His head raised slightly and one eyebrow raised as he looked at her. “Not a Simon and Garfunkel fan then I'll take it, not a problem.” He pulled out a set of air pods and took off the rubber buds on them and put on a fresh pair. He reached up and made a motion to to her to see if it was okay to put them in her ears. She was taken aback at him thinking forst of how she felt about it and smiled and nodded. He smiled and placed the Air pods in her ear. She felt a shiver go down her neck as he did this.

“Here have a listen. The song is called “For Emily, Wherever I may find her.” He pressed play on his phone. She listened, becoming enraptured to the beautiful song that sprung into her ears. She closed her eyes and imagined the scenes that were sung about. She imagined herself in a crinoline dress covered in a burgundy felt fabric and them both hand and hand walking on frosted fields of Juniper and Lamplight.

This time she was unable to catch the lone tear that escaped her eye as the song ended, describing what she felt could only be the truest description of love.

She opened her eyes and wiped away the tear that had formed, and removed the ear buds. She prayed that she hadn’t wiped away her makeup in the process.

“Way to go Jimmy, ye made her cry.”

“Yeah it was probably that crap you listen to, I told ya, girls like the heavier stuff, you should have played some Guns and Roses.” Came the voices of a couple of the other boys.

Jim merely shrugged and turned to them over his shoulders.

“That tear means she either hated it or she loved it. 50/ 50 is still good odds.”

She placed the headphones back into his hand. This made him turn back to her.

“I loved it. It was the coolest song I’ve heard in awhile.”

She groaned inwardly. “Coolest song I’ve heard in a while! He’s gonna think I’m a complete loser.”

“Hear that losers, she likes the heck out of it.”

For a moment she thought he had actually called her a loser, but then it caught up to her that he had been talking to the others. He pushed the air pods back into her hands. “Keep them, I got two other sets for Christmas, plus, then I can show you a few more songs later if you want.”

She looked down at the expensive equipment and her mouth dropped open. “Wow, I don’t know what to say Jim?”

“Say thanks.” He said with the most amazing grin that turned her to mush.

“Thank you.” She said softly and smiled at him.

“You’re alright Emily, you come sit with us at lunch today. Keri shouldn’t have a problem with it.”

He must have taken the look of utter shock on her face for one of confusion because he went on to explain.

“Well, ya see, technically the table belongs to Keri Bellows. She is Queen of the table and so she’s got final say as to who sits there, but she likes that song too, and you're cool, so you should have no problem. Plus, I’ll vouch for ya.” He said, smiling confidently.

“Thanks, that'd be great. I’m looking forward to it. I…I better head inside and find my locker.”

“I can help you find it.”

“No!” She said a bit shrilly.

He withdrew from her a little.

“Sorry, first day nerves, I meant thanks, but they showed me where it was when I visited last night. I’ll be OK, I don’t want to take you away from your friends. I’ll see you at lunch.” She said fast enough not to let him get a word in, then she waved at him and turned sharply and walked very quickly into the building.

Her heart was racing at a million miles a minute as she went into the middle hallway where the seventh grade lockers were. There was, thankfully, no one else in the hall. She opened her locker and started throwing the books she’d need for the afternoon into it.

“What did I just do! Lie to the one boy in this school who isn’t as immature as a fourth grader. Oh man, he’s going to tell everyone about some new girl in school and when I get to the lunch room everyone else will recognize me. Why couldn’t I just tell him the truth and be done with it?”

Home room and first period were down in the Art Room for her. Since she spent her first period study hall there anyway, Mrs. Shafer had made a deal with Alianna’s home room teacher that Mrs. Shafer would give Alianna the announcements and send a roll call sheet to the office for her each day. The deal hinged upon her grades staying fairly good, and so Ali worked as hard as she could. An hour secluded away from the other kids was worth any amount of effort from her.

At least it would give her and Mrs. Shafer sixty minutes to figure this mess out.

Before she shut her locker she noticed that the one next to hers was empty. A pain stabbed at her heart. She had tried to forget that Alison had gotten her locker moved closer to the other seventh-graders in Keri’s group. She bit back the anger and opened the door to Alison’s old locker. She thought that if anyone saw her at her actual locker, who she really was would get back to Jim, so she decided to use Alison’s for the day.

She felt terrible about lying to him, but what else could she have done. Jim Kurtz would have laughed in her face if she had used her real name. That was something she knew she could not have endured, not after what happened on the bus. She couldn’t let this get back to him. She’d frizz her hair out and put her glasses back on and be back to plain old Alianna on Monday, but this was picture day. If she could just have one perfect day, and a picture to remember it by, it would be enough to get her through the next few years.

She took her books out of her locker and transferred them to the empty one. When she stood up from stacking the books on the bottom shelf she saw something written on the back of the locker. She leaned in further to read it. It was written in sharpie, in Alison’s handwriting.

“I’m Sorry.”

Alianna scratched her head at that.

“What in the world could she be sorry about. She couldn’t be talking about what she did to me could she? Humph, if that little traitor thinks an apology will make up for the hell she’s put me through, she can forget it.”

That thought hit her like a brick. Even in the moments when her depression was the worst, and all she could hear was Alison’s laughter following her down the hallway, she had never let such a hateful thought into her head.

She looked back at the Sharpie apology and sighed.

“Maybe someday Ali.”

She whispered as she gently touched the writing.

She thought of the beginning of sixth grade , they had just gotten new diaries and for the life of her she didn’t remember which nickname was her’s at that time Ali Walt or Ali Saly. She assumed it was Ali Waly because that was what they called her, and so she assumed Alison’s was Ali Saly She couldn’t bring herself to lift the sticker at the beginning of the diary to see which name was hers and which was Ali’s, deep down she kept holding out hope that there would be a time in the future where they would reconcile and be able to switch the diaries back again.

She held her hand there for a moment, and her mind went back to another time to the sleepover they had had at their 12th Birthday, the last time they would exchange diaries. She had just written down the dream she had had the night before. A dream where it was the scene from her Nana’s book, where the Knight had just rescued the princess and she leaned in to kiss him. Except in the dream she was the princess and Jim was the Knight. The Dream had ended before they kissed however, her unconscious mind having no real experience to draw from.

The chill running down her spine brought her out of the memory.

“God, It’s Alianna, please, please, please erase that page from the diary, in fact could you erase the entire thing. God please don’t let Alison find that entry, she’ll show it to Jim and then, well then I’d be seeing you pretty soon after, because I would die from embarrassment.”

She closed her eyes tight, trying to push that prayer up to God with all her might.

After a few moments she opened them, sighed, and shut the door. She prayed silently that no one would look in that locker or take her books, but she was also starting to fear that no one was listening.

She headed down to the lowest level of the school and nearly ran to the Art room. It had only been a day since she’d been in it, but it seemed like a lifetime. It was her favorite room in the world. All the murals and sculptures were so fascinating. The physical manifestations of the imaginations of classes that had gone before her.

She bobbed up and down with excitement, and then knocked on the door.

A few moments later it opened and Mrs. Shafer looked down and smiled.

“Good morning. Can I help you? Are you new to St. Pious?”

Alianna started to laugh as if Mrs. Shafer was joking with her.

“Ah.. Come on Mrs. Shafer, I don't look that different do I?”

Mrs. Shafer’s face drained of color for a moment, as the pink started to return her hand flew to her mouth.

“Ali? Ali is that you? Saints protect us, Alianna Oaksen how is this possible?”

“Yup, it's me, just plain old Ali.”

She twirled around so that Mrs. Shafer could see her outfit.

“Ali, this is truly amazing, you look so pretty. Where are your glasses, and is that make up?”

She giggled “Yup, and contact lenses!” She squealed.

Not a few tears formed in Mrs. Shafer’s eyes as she embraced Alianna.

“Oh, Ali, I was so afraid for you yesterday, I left early so that I could stop by your house and check on you, but no one was home. It is not right what they did to you, and if I had half a mind, I’d have all those children in here cleaning paint trays, this room and anything else that I could think of!”

Alianna pulled away looking confused.

“What do you mean Mrs. Shafer, who did what to me?”

“On the bus home on Wednesday…” She stopped as she saw Alianna’s cheeks go bright red, and the rest of her face turn green simultaneously.

“It's all around school then, what a spaz I was on the bus…” she trailed of in a whisper.

“Oh, no dear, as far as I know not a word has been said in the halls about it.”

“Then how did you know?”

Mrs. Shafer took a deep breath and then put her hand on Alianna’s back and led her into the Art room.

She motioned to the chair next to her desk and then sat down. Alianna sat in the blue plastic chair and looked up at Mrs. Shafer, her normal color starting to return.

“Now Ali, I’m only telling you this because I know you won’t give me a moment's rest till I do. A boy came down from Mr. Dullus’s room yesterday. He was bringing me back some books that I had lent to Mr. Dullus. Hs name was…”

“Please don’t say Jim, please don’t say Jim!” she began repeating the mantra in her head.

“…Jaius McFarlan.”

“Jaius? Oh no, that’s right, he was on the bus he saw the whole terrible thing.”

“He was quite concerned for you, it seems that the others don’t treat him very well either.”

Alianna shook her head. “No they don’t Mrs. Shafer.”

“How long have you known that they don’t?”

There was an odd tone to Mrs. Shafers voice that set Alianna on edge.

“Since sixth grade, Mrs. Shafer. I never joined in, Alison and I mostly kept to our…”

“I’d ban you from my class Alianna Oaksen if you had told me you had joined in with the others in tormenting that poor boy. I am, however disappointed that after the others started treating you badly, that you never went over and talked to him. Tried to be his friend, It could have helped you both out a lot.”

She had never heard disappointment in Mrs. Shafer’s voice before, at least not directed toward her. She felt waves of guilt start to rise up in her. And a little anger. What did Mrs. Shafer expect, her to double what she got by being seen with someone who got picked on even more than she did. She never would have survived.

Some of these things must have shown on her face because Mrs. Shaffer sighed, and the reached over and squeezed Alianna’s hand.

“I’m sorry dear, I didn’t mean to lay that burden on you, I get so frustrated with how much teachers' hands are tied nowadays. Back when I was in school, if I had behaved like the kids that have been harassing you, then I would have been paddled by a sister that would…” She paused as she leaned in and spoke in a whisper. “…That would have made Sister Justina cringe.”

“That’s not possible. Mrs. Shafer, Sister Justina isn’t afraid of anything.”

Mrs. Shafer laughed a little at that.

“We're only human Ali, and yes Sister Justina is human, and so we are all afraid of something.”

Alianna seemed to chew those words over in her head for a few moments, when she was done she looked back at Mrs. Schafer.

“What are you afraid of Mrs. Shafer?”

Mrs. Shafer dropped her mouth open a little, as that was not what she expected Alianna to say.

“I suppose my greatest fear is that something bad might happen to one of my students. I can’t have children Ali, and so I guess I’ve kind of adopted my students as my kids. I love you all, even the bad ones, and I want you all to succeed in life.”

Alianna blushed a little as she said this.

“I don’t know if the other kids feel this way or not, but I think you’re the best teacher here, I really love coming to your classes.”

Mrs. Shafer smiled at that, and gave Alianna a big hug.

After the separated, Mrs. Shafer looked down at Alianna and smiled.

“So Ali, how has the first day as the new you been going?”

Alianna tried to keep the quavering from her voice as she spoke

“Great, Mrs Shafer, a bunch of boys near the front doors didn’t even recognize me. They were staring at me in a weird way, it was so unsettling I almost tripped. I thought I had put the make up on wrong, or that my hair had frizzed out. I still haven’t figured out what they were staring at. Do you see anything wrong with my hair or Make up Mrs. Shafer?”

Mrs. Shafer became very uncomfortable as Alianaa asked her question. She cleared her throat before speaking.

“Hem. I…I don’t see anything out of place Ali, you look perfect.”

Mrs Shafer started fiddling with some paint brushes that were in a large cup.

“Ali, you seemed to hesitate when I asked you how everything was going today. Are you sure that it is going well?”

Alianna’s face had adopted the scrunched up look that it bore whenever she was bending all she had to solve a problem. She was so focused on trying to figure out what the boys had been staring at, that Mrs. Shafer’s question caught her completely off guard. So much so that the truth came rolling out before she could stop it.

She told Mrs. Shafer about Jim coming up to her and about how he thought she was new to the school. She also told her about her new name.

“Oh Ali, you didn’t! How in the world do you think you're going to be able to walk around this school pretending to be someone else. Ali, it will never work.”

Alianna found herself getting defensive of her plan.

“Yes it can Mrs. Shafer. I’ll get through today, and then this weekend I’ll sit down with my parents and we’ll set it up so that they withdraw me from the school, and then my Aunt Karen can bring me to school and say that I’m her daughter, Alianna’s cousin and then enroll me. It would only be for five years and then I can graduate, and no-one will know the difference.”

“Ali, I’m not your mother, but I feel fairly safe in saying that they won’t be too supportive of this Idea.”

Alianna’s face fell at that.

“I can’t go back to how things were just two days ago Mrs. Shafer, I’m not strong enough.”

Mrs. Shafer knelt down in front of her.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Ali, you are strong, so very strong. You’ve endured more than a lot of grown ups had to. If the Bellows had had to go through what you have, they would have folded under the pressure months ago. I don’t know why these things are allowed to happen child, but I believe that God is never far from us, and that he is holding us up in our times of need.”

“I am definitely in need, Mrs. Shafer. Why doesn’t God do something to stop Keri and Trudi? Why does he let them torture me?”

“I don’t know Ali, we just have to trust that he knows what He is doing.”

“It's starting to get hard to do that Mrs. Shafer.”

Mrs. Shafer placed her hands on Alianna’s shoulders.

“Ali, I know that it is hard, especially when you see people acting inappropriately and seeming to succeed where you seem to fail. I know this more strongly than anything else Alianna, no matter how great their lives seem, the rug will be pulled out from under them one day, and they will have nothing firm to stand on. If you trust God Ali, you will not fall when the rug gets taken away.”

“Huh?”

Mrs. Shafer smiles.

“He will hold you up during the troubles that knock people like the Bellows down.”

“I think I get it…I’ll try to keep trusting Mrs. Shafer.”

“That’s my Girl. Well homeroom is almost over, I’ll send to the office that you are here.

Icy fear gripped Alianna’s heart, if the office thought that she was Alianna then she would have to say that she was present in all of her other classes today. Why hadn’t she thought of this. She has a third period with Jim, Mr. Dullus’s History class, he’d find out she’d lied to him. Her life would be over.

“The movie starts after this first period Ali, It’s the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe I believe. I bet you're glad to have a short day.” Said Mrs. Shafer from her desk.

Alianna’s breath left her in a rush. She started choking as the muscles that had been constricting her throath lossend. Mrs. Shafer looked up in alarm.

“Ali, are you ok?” She said as she jumped up from her chair.

“M..Movie?” She croaked.

“Yes dear, Picture day is always a shortened schedule. They show a movie during the morning classes and then lunch and then the rest of the afternoon is pictures. It's just like it was last year. Goodness gracious Ali, you gave me such a fright.”

“Sorry, Mrs. Shafer, I had forgotten about the schedule for today.”

Relief flooded through her. A movie, it would be dark, and if she was cautious no one would recognize her. Maybe even Jim would ask her to sit with him.

“Jaius said he really liked your project Ali.”

“Huh? Who? Did she say Jim liked it?”

“Jaius, the nice boy who brought the books back to me yesterday. He seemed to be particularly fascinated with the background, where the light of the fires rises up from behind the mountains.”

Alianna turned and looked at her project. She focused on the mountains in the background. The light of catastrophe rising up behind them. She had often wondered what lay beyond those mountains. What land had just seen its last day, what were its people like?

“I wonder what he thought of it. Mrs. Shafer is right, I need to be strong and make friends with Jaius, there is strength in numbers, and really what more can they do to us?”

She spent the first period working on her project and talking to Mrs. Shafer. As she was heading out the door to head toward the Auditorium, Mrs. Shafer called out to her.

“Alianna, I haven’t forgotten what you told me about lying to that boy.”

“Drat, I thought she had let it slip her mind!”

‘I need you to promise me, Ali, that you will tell him the truth. I know it seems like the end of the world, but it really isn’t and you never know Ali, he may just respect you for it.”

“Is she crazy! He’d laugh at me everyday for the rest of my time in the Dungeon.”

For the second time that day Alianna did something that was totally unusual for her, She lied. She noted also that it became easier to do it once she started.

“I…I will tell him the truth Mrs. Shafer.” She said, mentally crossing her fingers.

“Lying will only make the situation fifty times worse Ali, believe me I know.”

----------------------

Jaius got off the bus and headed toward the main entrance. There were groups of children scattered around the front of the building. The A crowd, the B crowd, the Jocks, the computer geeks, the Goths, the Kids in the advanced classes. All of them could have existed in another dimension for Jaius as there was no way he would ever be included in any of those groups. He waited by the front door, scanning the kids coming off the buses, and out of the cars, trying to spot Alianna. He kept checking his iPhone. He watched as the minutes clicked ever closer to 8am. At 7:55 an outside bell rang and the kids let out a collective groan and started filing toward the entrances. Jaius really began to worry, how would he find her in this throng.

“I have to get to her before classes start, she can’t go backstage!”

A large pair of arms shot out from the crowd and shoved him into the bushes next to the entrance.

“Oops sorry Pious, didn’t see you there.” Said Steve Pennington with a chuckle. Followed by a chorus of laughter from the kids that witnessed it.

Jaius landed in a heap. The branches from the bushes scraped against his cheek and arm. When he regained himself, he first checked his iphone for damage. After confirming that it still worked he checked himself for damage. There was a cut on his left arm and he felt something warm running down his cheek. At first he thought it was tears, but as he pulled his hand away and saw red, he felt the nausea begin. The sight of actual blood, especially his own, had always made him queasy. He thought it was extra weird, because he could watch the Terminator movies and have no problem with the fake blood.

After a few minutes of pulling himself together, he stood up and leaned against the wall of the building to regain his balance. He then made his way slowly inside and headed for the nurses office. He didn’t want to bleed all over his new outfit, his Mom would kill him. He wasn’t much impressed with what she had picked out, dark blue, plain jeans, and a plaid shirt. He thought he looked like a loser, but with no say in what he wore, he had little choice.

The nurse looked up from her desk. Her name was Sally McCormick, and she was an LPN, whatever that was. She was working her way through the rest of her schooling by patching up the kids that the dungeon ground up and spit out.

Sally looked up at Jaius as he staggered into her office.

“Oh My, Jaius, what happened to you?”

He had been to see Sally many many times this past year. Being thrown into a locker is not a very safe profession. She must think he is the biggest klutz in the world. He had to keep telling her these injuries were the result of his own awkwardness or else she would have to report the kids that hurt him and then his life would be officially over.

“I tripped as I was walking into the school and fell into the bushes.”

Something in her look said that she was starting to doubt that all of these occurrences were his own fault.

“Tripped Huh? Jaius, are you telling me the truth?”

‘Yes, Ms. McCormick, I stumbled over my own feet.”

She sighed heavily. “Ok Jaius. Hop up on the bed and I’ll clean those cuts. Then you rest here till the movie starts, you said last time that blood makes you queezy. I’ll tell your homeroom teacher that you are here.``

He felt the tension ease from his muscles. He had forgotten that today was a shortened schedule. Movie, then lunch, then pictures then home. He loved days like today, they severely limited the time he had to spend with his classmates.

Sally began wiping the cuts with iodine, which sent pain raging through his arm and cheek. He sucked in his breath and squinted his eyes shut.

“Sorry Jaius, it’s the best thing for cleaning out the cuts. It will go away soon.” She got some band-aids from a carton and laid them next to him on the exam bed.

“So, Jaius, have you seen the movie that is playing today?”

“Is she serious?”

“Which one is it?”

“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”

“N…No, Ms McCormick, I haven’t”

He was in shock, a movie he hadn’t seen, is that possible?

Ms McCormik began to describe Narnia to him and as she talked he began to remember the movie.

He had read the synopsis on Disney+, but thought it had looked lame, no explosions, or spaceships, or swords. But as she talked more and more about it he decided that he might actually enjoy it.

The hour went by fairly quickly, and as he was heading out the door to the auditorium, Ms. McCormik called after him.

“Jaius, if there is ever anything you want to talk about, about what might be causing your miss-steps, my door is always open. Maybe there is something we can figure out on how to fix the problem.”

“No way, they’d destroy me.” he thought.

“Sh..Sure Ms. McCormik will do.”

------------------------------

Alianna entered the main hall on the first floor through the middle doors. She saw the throng of other kids ahead of her, waiting to get into the auditorium. She felt relieved that there would be no one coming behind her. She would sit in the very back, and no one would know the difference. The movie would give her time to plan how she would handle lunchtime. She wanted so much to sit with Jim at the A table, just one day in the sun. What about Alison though? Ali would recognize her immediately, and then the gig would be up.

She was so wrapped up in worrying over this new problem that she didn’t notice it when someone joined her at the end of the line.

“Hey there Emily, how’s your first day going?”

“Oh my gosh, its Jim.”

“Oh, hello…um..Jim, right?”

“Hey, yeah, you remembered. Cool. Hey I saved ya a seat for the movie, if you want to join us that is?”

This couldn’t be happening to her. How could a little makeup and contacts change her entire life? Jim Kurtz, the boy who every girl in middle school had a crush on, just asked her to sit next to him. She didn’t let her nerves show through though. She used the techniques she had learned at community theater to portray calmness when there was a storm of nerves raging just below the surface.

“I’d love to, Jim.”

“Sweet! Follow me, I got someone saving us two seats.”

He took her hand in his, which sent chills running up and down her arm. A boy had never held her hand before.

She followed along after him, half in a daze, and before she knew it he stopped before two open seats in the front row of the auditorium. Jim sat down in a seat next to one of the boys that had been in the group with him that morning. The boy looked up at her and then at Jim and elbowed him in the arm and began making noises and nodding up and down. Alianna had no Idea what that was about, but Jim gave him a sour look and told him to shut up.

Alianna looked at the empty seat next to Jim and then to the one next to it to see who she would be sitting by. Mandy Ferlon, her red curls smushed against the back of the chair as she sat reclining in it, was in the seat next to the empty one.

Mandy looked up at Alianna, she squinted a little in the low light, and a smile began to spread across her lips.

“Oh, no! She recognized me.”

Alianna began to raise her head, so that she could identify the nearest exit.

“Hi, I’m Mandy, Jim said there was a new girl at school today. You’re Emily right?”

The tension left her so quickly that she almost fell over, but she used all of her strength to keep her poise.

“Yes, Emily Savits.” She sat down and turned to look at Mandy.

“Its nice to meet you, Mandy.”

“I know it is.” She began to laugh as if she had made a joke.

Alianna hesitated only a moment before joining in.

“You're pretty funny, Mandy.”

“I know, it's what everyone else tells me. I get it from my dad, he’s a professional comedian. He’s playing a show in New York City tonight, he’s pretty famous.”

“No way, oh man I’ve always wanted to go to New York, I hear they have the coolest shops.”

She’d never gone anywhere but the Bon-Ton for her clothes , but she thought it might be an okay conversation piece.

Mandy nearly squealed. “I know, right! Macey's, Sacks, my dad said he would take me there this summer for a few days while he did one of his shows. Said he would take me shopping. Hey, you want to come, I was going to see if some of the other girls wanted to go, and I figure if you're cool enough for Jim to talk to, you're okay to hang with us.”

This made Alianna’s head spin. Just like that, Mandy Furlon was inviting her on a trip, just because one boy had vouched for her. Was it that insanely simple to break into the “in” crowd?

“Sure, that would be awesome!”

Just then there was a tapping on her shoulder. She looked over and Jim was pointing to his phone. It had a screen that said Spotify on it and a list of song titles.

“ You liked that song I played for ya this morning right?”

Alianna nodded her head and smiled.

“Well here is another great one. It’s called Kathy’s song. These guys that wrote it sure knew a lot of girls.” He said as he shook his head. He then leaned in and whispered in her ear. “Plus, Mandy will literally talk your ear off, and I didn’t want you to think that I hang out with annoying people.”

Alianna laughed a little at that, and smiled when she heard him chuckle too.

She took out the Air Pods he had given her and put them in and listened as the acoustic guitar began. This song was as amazing as the earlier one. She had to download this Spotify App and get this album..

“These guys are great Jim, I am going to download these when I get the chance.” She said.

“It's true, you just don’t hear the guitar played like this anymore. I play, by the way, in the school's jazz band. Do you like the Guitar?”

“Oh yeah! I’d love to learn how to play someday.” She said, feeling a bit better in being able to tell the truth about something finally.

“Awesome, I’ll teach ya, it's really easy.”

“That’d be great!” She said sincerely.

“So do you play any sports Em, you don’t mind if I call you Em do ya?”

She smiled and shook her head.

“Not at all, it's what most of my friends call me.” She paused, knowing that he had asked her a question somewhere.

“Oh yeah, I play soccer.” She began to think that she could make up for the lies she had told by telling the truth about certain things.

“Sweet. I’m the captain of the boys middle school team, and my Mom is the coach of the girls team. I'll talk to her tonight, I’m sure you’ll have no problem getting on the squad.”

Something deep inside her felt like things were getting way out of control with the charade, but she also felt another force pushing her onward into more and more complex lies.

The movie began before they could continue the conversation. He gave her a wink of his eye and then he sat back and turned toward the screen. She smiled at him and then sat back too. She looked up at the screen feeling happier than she ever had in her life. There was no stress in the A crowd. These kids had no cares in the world. They just drifted through the days at the dungeon on the wings of their own coolness. No matter the price, she was going to find a way to make this new life her permanent one.

As she watched the movie the coolness of the A crowd and her new life faded into the background and the Old Ali made an appearance. She had read the Chronicles of Narnia at least ten times. She would lay on the bed for hours reading about Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy, and the wondrous world they got to go to. She had wanted so desperately to be able to go to Narnia, to get away from this world where she was unable to fit in anywhere.

Before she knew it the lights were coming up and she had to push down the Old Ali and let the new one back to the fore.

“Oh no!” She thought to herself. “ I was supposed to spend the time during the movie coming up with a plan for lunch. What am I going to do about Alison?”

----------------------

Jaius had intentionally sat at the very back, so that he could be the first one out the doors. He’d wait in the stairwell near the auditorium and watch for her to go by. Then he’d pull her into the stairwell and warn her about what was going on. He grew very nervous as the doors to the auditorium opened and the voices of hundreds of kids echoed down the hall. If anyone from Keri’s Click saw him drag her in there, and then she didn’t show up for their surprise, they’d know that he somehow tipped her off. It will be the end for him at the Dungeon, and might just be the end of her too.

He peered out the window in the door at the kids as they passed. No Alianna so far. He did get distracted by one girl however, because he had never seen her before. She had shoulder length blonde hair that framed her face, and for a moment he thought it might be Alianna, but this girl looked totally different. Plus she was walking with Jim Kurtz, Mr popular himself. There is no way that he would hang out with Alianna.

As the last kid passed by him, and there was still no Alianna, some of his anxiety lessened. She would have had to have been in that crowd if she were here today, and he hadn’t seen any sign of her. She must have stayed home again. This was great news. Now he would have the entire weekend to figure out a safer way of alerting her to the danger.

He let out a sigh of relief and in his euphoric state he opened the door and walked into the hall without looking first.

“McFarland! What are you doing in that hallway?”

He froze, as if paralyzed by some death ray. He didn’t have to turn to see who had spoken, it was the Justinator. What was he thinking walking into that hall without looking first?

Slowly he turned to face her. As that lone eye bore down on him, he began to stammer.

“Sis…sister Justina, I…I…was…just…just…keeping….”

“Keeping away from that Pennington boy were you? Hiding from your problems McFarlen will only allow them to grow. I saw what he did to you this morning and believe me he will not like what I have in store for him. Well it is a blessing I found you here, it saves me having to walk around the school to find you. We are going to go visit Mr. Pennington in the cafeteria, and there I will invite him to join us in my office. I’ve found that a little dash of embarrassment works wonders in getting the truth out of a student. Now, to the cafeteria McFarlan, I will be right behind you.”

Fear like he had never known before seized Jaius. Not only had he been caught by the Justinator, but she had seen Stephen push him into the bushes. She was going to out him in front of all his friends, and with Jaius standing next to her it would be impossible for Jaius to convince him that he hadn’t told on him. There would be nowhere for him to hide on Monday.

Sister Justina had to prod him a few times to make him start moving. She also had to yell at him a few times for dragging his feet. He now had full knowledge of what a person on Death Row feels like as they are walking down that final hallway.

---------------------------

It felt to Alianna that she was walking into the cafeteria for the first time. Walking next to Jim, seeing every head turn to look at them. Some of those faces had looks of awe or wonder on them, some of them were soured by jealousy, but all of that came from a respect and desire to be in her shoes. It was a euphoric feeling that she couldn’t describe, but she never wanted it to end.

“Was this what Keri felt like all the time?” She mused to herself.

Jim led her to Keri’s table and set his bag on the seat to the left of where Keri sat at the head of the table. He then grabbed a chair from a table nearby and set it on the corner between him and Keri’s seat.

“I talked to Keri before as she was heading into the movie, and told her all about you. She thought you had potential so she is all good with you sitting with us. I knew there would be no problem, she always says I got the best eye in the group for picking out the cool ones.”

“I’m glad you approve, I wasn’t sure I’d find a crowd cool enough to hang out with at this school.” Said Alianna, hoping that was a cool thing to say. She had read a lot of books that take place in middle school and that had popular characters in them and was trying to emulate one of the character who was supposed to be the coolest one in the school.

“Look no further, Em, cause ya found the best in PA. We’re far cooler than any kids at your other school.”

“I’m beginning to see that.” She said with a smile.

Jim then led her over to the lunch line.

She reached into her purse for the five dollar bill her mom had given her, but Jim placed his hand on top of hers.

“Uh-uh, its your first day, and lunch is on me.”

“Why thannk you Sir” She said in her best southern accent.

He grinned and then put his fingers to his brow and tipped an imaginary hat to her.

“Not a problem ma’am.”

She got a salad, and a chicken sandwich, he took the meatloaf and a double dose of mashed potatoes.

He took her tray before she could pick it up and carried them both back to the table. Her anxiety returned anew as she saw that the table was now fully occupied. Keri was sitting at the head of the table, reading a book and eating some of those mini-carrots. The others were either eating or, texting, talking to the person near them, or both. Then she saw it. An empty seat across from Mandy, Alison’s empty seat.

“Oh my gosh, she’s not here. How can it be, she wouldn’t miss Picture day. I can’t believe this, it's like someone is orchestrating this, setting all the pieces just right so that I can leave my old life behind and start a new one.”

Then, before she knew it they were back at Jim’s seat. And she was less than a foot away from Keri. She looked up at Alianna from over the lip of her book.

She studied her for a moment then put the book down and put on her best smile.

“Emily, right?”

“That’s correct, and Your Keri, Jim has had nothing but good things to say about you.”

“He has, has he? Well, he has had nothing but good to say about you as well. I understand you like Mr’s Simon and Garfunkle, I find the older classics to be much more intellectually stimulating.” Alianna smiled. “I’m becoming a fan, very quickly. My mom and dad listen to a lot of the older music, I like it a lot better then some of the stuff that is around today.”

“Oh really, what is your favorite of the older bands?”

Alianna put her finger to her lips and turned her eyes upward. The part about her parents liking the older bands was true. They had one CD or the other playing most of the day at the house. Her dad’s favorite was Rush, and she liked a lot of their songs too so she went with them.

“I’d have to say Rush, Red Barchetta being my favorite of theirs. Neil Pert has got to be one of the best drummers ever.”

Keri raised her eyebrow as Alianna spoke. If Alianna had to guess she would have to say that Keri was impressed, but then felt a bit uncertain as she stood up.

Keri reached out her hand and lifted a strand of Ali's hair with her finger. “Love your hair Emily, where did you get it done?” Relief flooded her, one because Keri still seemed impressed and two because she didn't have to lie again.

“At the mall in Wilkes-Barre. My mom's good friend Eleine is really good at what she does.” Keri smiled at that. “Maybe you can introduce me to her. I really need to brake up with my stylist, she has just fallen way behind the times.” Alianna nodded. “Definitely Keri, I know you'll love Eleine.”

Keri smiled and nodded and then looked down at Jim. “You were right Jim, I think Emily here will fit in just fine.”

“Like you always said Keri, I got a talent for picking them.”

Suddenly Keri grabbed her head and began to wobble.

Alianna reacted without thinking and grabbed her to steady her. She helped Keri back into her seat.

“Are you okay Keri?” Alianna asked. She was surprised by the genuine concern in her voice.

“Wow, I think so, the room just started spinning and my head started hurting.”

Trudi plucked an un-touched water bottle from Amber Crawly’s tray, opened it, and placed it into Keri’s trembling hands. Trudi then looked at Alianna. Alianna could see a deep concern in her eyes and she thought she also saw fear.

“You're quick Emily. Thanks for helping her.”

Alianna smiled.

“It was nothing.”

She moved away to give Keri some room and sat down next to Jim.

Jim leaned near her.

“Your in Em, it's going to be a great time next year, keep impressing Keri and she might make you Queen of the Table at the end of the year.”

That image took hold in her mind and seemed to blot everything else out. She imagined her sitting at the head of this table and Jim sitting next to her, like a king and queen ruling over their domain.

A strange noise disturbed her reverie. It was the distinct sound of the shoes the Nuns wore. Alianna looked over her shoulder and saw Sister Justina walking down the center aisle of the cafeteria, and walking with her was that Jaius kid.

“What are they doing here?”

Sister Justina began to turn away from Keri’s table, heading toward where some of the jocks sat. A boy she thought his name was Stephen was leaning into the table talking to one of the other boys. Alianna almost let out a sigh of relief, when sister Justina stopped and the clap her shoes made on the floor when she stopped sounded like thunder. She turned on her heel to face Keri's table. Her lone eye bore right into Alianna.

She turned toward them and walked over and scrutinized Alianna.

“Hrm, very nice Oaksen, I almost didn’t recognize you. Carry on.”

She turned on her heel once more and marched back to where she left Jaius. Who was also staring intently at her.

Jim got a very disturbed look on his face.

“Why’d she call you that Em?”

“I…” She was unable to finish as a hand gripped her by the cheeks and whipped her head to the right. Keri’s face was inches from hers. Keri was amazingly strong as she turned Alianna’s head left and right. Then she let her go and made a noise of utter disgust.

“It is her! Alianna , I can't believe this. I didn’t think even you would sink this low.”

“Whao, Keri what are you talking about.” Said Jim, his cool definitely shaken.

Mandy Ferlon sat forward and looked more closely and started to laugh and point at her.

“It's her, Jim, Alianna Oaksen. A little makeup, and a haircut and contacts and she fooled all of us, made us think she was some new girl. Hrmp, If Alison hadn't called off today she never would have gotten this far.”

Keri turned back to Alianna.

“You planned this didn’t you, you planned to weasel your way into our good graces and then wait till the right moment for revenge right. Revenge for that piece of junk book that I threw out the window. Isn’t that right Ali.”

She just about spat the last part of that.

“No, no its not true, I didn’t mean to lie, I… I just.”

“Just shut up Ali Wally.”

When those words from that voice reached her ears, Alianna’s whole dream died inside her, and her heart wasn’t far behind. It was Jim that had spoken those words that pierced through her like a bullet.

She turned to him, tears beginning to form. She looked up at him, pleadingly.

“Jim, I’m so sorry, I didn’t want to lie, I…”

“Lying I could ignore, all these wannabes lie to try and make themselves look better, but you’re the one who made fun of Keri and Trudi when she was in grade school. You tormented her and Trudi, Keri told me all about it. You are really the lowest of the low, a true loser, trying to come in here and hurt them again. Get outta here Ali Wally, you’ll never be one of us.” Alianna moved away from the anger she saw on his face and caught out of the corner of her eye a satisfied grin on Keri’s face.

Everything fell apart at that moment. Her dreams, her heart, part of her mind. It was too much to take, she had had a taste of freedom and then was tossed back into the cage.

“I think you better leave Ali. I know, why don’t you go look for the little pieces of that second hand romance I tossed out the window, I’m sure you might be able to find a page or two.”

Keri began to laugh, and soon they were all joining in.

She had heard the phrase “Seeing red” but she never thought she would experience it. Her vision was clouded by red, and her blood pounded in her ears.

She stood up and grabbed her bag, and then bent in near Keri, who stopped laughing, and looked back at her with ice in her eyes.

“I hope you die, Keri Bellows!” She said through clenched teeth. And then, tears breaking forth like water from a damn, cries starting to escape her throat, she ran straight for the doors that led to the back stairwell. She ran up the stairs to the main floor and began opening the door that led outside when She heard someone shouting from inside the Caff.

“What's wrong with her?”

Then Alianna was outside and sprinting at full speed.

Her home was many miles away, but distance didn’t matter now, she knew where she was headed, and it wasn’t her house.

After a few blocks her bag began to slow her down. She dropped it on the grass in someone's front yard, she wouldn’t need it anymore. Unburdened, she picked up speed. She never had any problems running. She was the only one on her soccer team who could finish all the suicide sprints they did at practice. She had run in a 5k charity race with her mom last year and placed in the top 10. Running was a second nature to her.

--------------------------

Jaius started on in horror as he watched the scene unfold at Keri’s table. He had heard Sister Justina call that new girl sitting next to Jim Kurtz, “Oaksen.” As soon as she said it, it was like a veil was lifted from his eyes, and he recognized the girl as Alianna. He couldn’t believe it, she looked so different, and from the sound of it, the A crowed didn’t like the charade she had put on. Then everyone at the table started to laugh at her. Alianna leaned in twoward Keri and everything got quiet. So much so that Jaius clearly heard Alianna say “I hope you die, Keri Bellows!”

She then grabbed her bag and ran from the room.

Sister Justina was already in motion, heading for the door that Alianna had just run through, when more then one someone let out a scream from Keri’s table. Sister Justina stopped and turned to see what the problem was, and Jaius took a step back as he saw her face go pale and her mouth drop open.

“What the heck could make Sister Justina go pale.”

He turned his head back toward Keri’s table just in time to see Keri’s eyes roll up in the back of her head as blood was pouring out of her nose. She began to fall out of her chair and would have crashed to the ground if Jim hadn’t of caught her. He eased her down and put her head in his lap.

“Help, so.. Someone help!” he yelled

Trudi tossed Keri's chair out of the way to get to her sister, and most of the girls at the table had their hands over their mouths and were screaming “What’s wrong with her?” as they ran over to where Jim sat holding Keri.

Jaius tore his eyes away from the garish scene and back toward the stairs that Alianna must have run up. He had to go after her. She was a damsel in distress too, and Keri looked like she had enough people to support her, and it looked like even sister Justina had forgotten Alianna, for the moment.

He ran behind Sister Justina and pushed open the stairwell door and ran up the stairs two at a time. As he got to the main floor he saw the door that led outside just clicking shut.

“Ah, crap, where they heck is she going.” he grunted as his breathing had already become labored.

He only hesitated a moment before making up his mind and pushing open the door.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the bright sunlight, but once they did he began to look around for her. He saw her straight ahead running on the sidewalk. She tossed her bag onto someones lawn and took off at a dead sprint.

“Where the heck did she learn to run like that? I’m never going to catch her.”

Then he saw it, in the yard where she ditched her back was a bicycle. It was pink, and obviously a girls, but it was they only way he could even hope to keep her in sight.

He ran over to the bike, and got on. He then began to peddle as fast as he could, stopping only to grab her bag and dump out both of their school books hoping that he can get them later.

-------------------

She ran, and ran, and ran. She let the rest of the world slip away, it was just her, her legs, and the tatters of a life gone wrong. How had it gone so badly, even in her nightmares things had never turned out like this. She tried to recall what curse she had called down upon herself that morning, but everything before the movie seemed to be inaccessible to her. It was five miles to where she was headed, but she took more side streets than normal this time. If the school had called her parents, they might be heading there now, and she didn’t want them to see her, she couldn’t let herself see them. If she did…well, she just couldn’t.

Finally she saw her destination come into view. She had no Idea how long she had been running, an hour, two, time seemed meaningless right now. As she slowed in front of the railing that looked over the little creek where she had cradled her Nana’s book just days before, she began breathing heavily. The adrenaline that had been coursing through her body began to fade and her lungs began to burn. She had pushed too much even for her, and her body was not happy about it.

She put her hands on her knees and sucked in breath after labored breath. It only took her a minute to recover enough to stand upright again. She had to get word to her parents, but she couldn’t call them, even if she had a phone, she wouldn’t be able to go through…

“How can I get a message to them?” Then she patted her jeans pocket and felt the phone her mom had given her. “I put Olivia’s number on it. Olivia would be able to get my message to my parents.”

She pulled the phone from her jeans pocket and pulled up the contact list. She selected Olivia’s name and hit send.

It rang three times before she picked up.

“Hello?” Olivia's hushed voice.

“Olivia, it’s Ali, I know your probably at school, but I really need a favor from you.”

“Hey Ali, hold on, .”

Ali waited for three minutes until Olivia picked the phone up again.

“Sorry about that, had to get away from the noise at the lunch table. So what’s up Ali, hows the first day of the new you going?”

Alianna couldn’t stop it, the laughter came unbidden from somewhere deep inside her, followed closely by deep sobs.

“Ali? Ali, what happened whats wrong? Shh.. Shh, It will be OK. Alianna please, please just talk to me. What happened…”

Olive kept trying to soothe her, Alianna could hear panic begin to twinge her new friend's voice.

“Oh Ali, please tell me what happened.”

She was finally able to bring herself under control, by which point she could hear Olivia crying softly. When Alianna spoke, she even surprised herself at how even and controlled her voice had become.

“It's over Olivia, my life is officially over. Olivia, thank you so much for being so kind to me. I need you to do something for me. I need you to tell my parents that I love them so dearly. Tell them that I tried, I tried so hard to make it through this, but I’m just not strong enough. Please tell them that for me.”

Sheer terror was evident as Olivia spoke.

“Ali… Ali stay right there, stay on the phone with me… Oh God please , please keep her right there. Ali, it is going to be OK. Please Ali.”

Alianna heard a door open and she heard Olivia breathing heavily and her feet pounding on the floor. Alianna knew she was running for help, she needed to end the call now.

“Thank you Olivia, I’m glad I got to hear a friendly voice before…”

She couldn’t go on any more.

“Ali! Don’t go, Ali Please!”

Alianna gently set the phone down on the sidewalk and then moved over to the bank above the creek and began following it into the woods.

-----------------

Jaius was huffing and puffing as something familiar came into view ahead. He had lost sight of her a few blocks back when he had to stop to catch his breath. He had passed many side streets that she could have gone down, but he was too tired to venture down them. He just kept going forward hoping that she hadn't taken any of them. Now he saw the metal railing that he had seen Alianna leaning against the other day. He could hear the creek trickling along its course.

As he got closer he saw something laying on the sidewalk near the railing. He hit the brakes on the bike and looked down. It was a cell phone, He could hear someone crying on the other end. He got off the bike, adjusted his backpack and hers, and picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Oh…Oh Ali, Oh thank God you picked up I…wait, who is this?”

“Jaius, who is this?”

“Who in the world are you? And where is Alianna.”

Screamed some girl on the other end.

“Like I said, I’m Jaius, and I was looking for her too. Do you know where she went.”

“No!” She screamed. She reminded Jaius of Sis when she yelled at him on the phone.

The girl took a few deep breaths and spoke a bit more calmly.

“I’m sorry, Jaius, I didn’t mean to freak on you. Look Ali is in some major trouble. I think she might try to hurt herself. You have to find her now, Jaius. I’m at my school's office and the secretary is calling my Mom. My mom knows her mom and so we are going to be sending help. You have to find her though, find her and keep her talking. Where are you?”

“Black Canyon.”

“I know where she lives, you…”

She growled in frustration but was very calm when she poke again.

“Where in Black Canyon are you standing right now?”

“Oh, heh, sorry. On Reid street, where the creek is.”

“what is the closest cross street?”

“Huh?”

“Arrrrgh…The closest street that crosses over the one your on?”

“Oh, Bennett Street.”

“Okay Got it. Now, go find Alianna. Take the phone with you and stay on the line with me. If you find her, get this phone into her hand as quickly as possible.”

“But you told me to talk to her.”

“Just do it!”

“Sheese, alright already.”

Just then a strong wind blew through the trees on either side of the creek. The wind was so strong that Jaius was knocked back a step. As he regained his balance he heard a loud snap in the woods that flanked the creek, and a girl scream.

“Crap!” he said as he headed into the woods toward the noise.

“Crap, what do you mean crap. Jaius what happened?”

“I heard a noise in the woods and then heard her scream. I’m trying to get to her.”

“Hurry!”

Jaius began to run, stumbling on something in the underbrush every few feet.

He ran and ran, but didn’t hear anything else ahead. Deeper into the woods he ran. After a few minutes he came into a clearing and there was Alianna standing by the edge of the creek. She was on her knees, there was a large branch right behind her. She was rubbing her shin and looking back at the branch. The creek was wide and deep here. He had heard of kids going swimming here in the summertime. While she was looking back at the branch she saw him standing there. She stood up and looked at him.

Before he could figure out what to say, that strong wind got stronger. It whipped Alianna’s hair in a straight line to the right. It stirred the water in the creek and it made him stumble. He dropped the phone on the ground.

Jaius couldn’t worry about that right now, because this odd tingling was running through his body. Alianna must have been feeling it too, because she began rubbing her arms. She turned around and Jaius could see fear playing across her face. She opened her mouth to say something but the wind drowned out anything she might have said.

Then as soon as it had come it was gone.

“Jaius…Jaius what..” The girl’s voice disappeared from the phone and was replaced by silence