Chapter 160 – Mistaken Identity – Ellie Daniels

Graduation was only a couple of weeks away. My final year of high school was just around the corner! My time sitting in class felt like it lasted practically forever, but in hindsight it was instant. Summer break couldn’t come soon enough. This school year was a difficult one for me.

My most recent difficulties were the spring exams. As usual, Holly, Opal, and I all planned to study together to make things easier on us. We planned to study at Opal’s house over the weekend, with a few last minute changes.

The first change was because Zara begged us on her knees to let her join our study group. She was behind in all of her classes and desperately needed to pass these exams in order to advance into her senior year without problems. It was hard not to pity her when she was coming to us like this.

The second change was that a new friend of mine was going to join us. Suzy was the girl that the school counselor introduced me to. Like me, her parents recently split up and she was struggling to deal with the fallout.

After meeting her I learned just how worse my own situation could be. Suzy was even more of an emotional mess than I was. She was prone to falling apart and breaking down into tears every time the topic of her family was broached.

My parent’s breakup was quick and painful. Suzy’s parents were going through a more prolonged fight due to the fact that there were 4 kids in the family. Suzy’s entire family was literally going to be split down the middle.

It was harder on her because she was relatively new at our school and didn’t know people outside of class. She didn’t really have a ‘group’ of friends established here.

During one of our therapy sessions with the counselor she talked about just how much she felt like an outsider here due to transferring in during the second semester. I wanted to help her overcome that problem.

I wouldn’t be able to help her with her home problems of course, but maybe I could be there for this girl in this same way that my friends were there for me.

Trying to imagine myself in Suzy’s shoes without Holly or Opal to lean on was just difficult. The thought of bearing everything on my own was painful. Yet this was Suzy’s ongoing struggle. It was no wonder that she reached out to the counselor about this.

The counselor was wise to introduce the two of us. I wanted to help this girl no matter what. She was in a grade below me which inspired something of a big sister mentality inside of me. I introduced her to Holly, Opal, and Zara on the same day that I met her.

It took Suzy a while to get used to being around us. We all stayed over Opal’s place to study during that weekend. Opal’s house was large and there was no shortage of space. She had a guest room right across from her bedroom that Suzy and I used for that weekend.

Holly and Opal weren’t happy that I decided to sleep alone in the same room as Suzy, but I got the feeling that Suzy needed it. The three of us were so used to each other that it was easy to accidentally leave her out of our conversations. I wanted to give Suzy the chance to talk to me alone that night.

From that weekend onwards, Suzy developed an attachment to the three of us. Our three-person group was quickly becoming a four person group as she joined us at every meal and on our walk home after school.

Thus I wasn’t surprised when Suzy said that she wanted to join me for the upcoming school marathon. It wasn’t a full length marathon, just an endurance run around part of our town. The event was being held on the Friday after spring exams.

School was out for the entire day for the event. The starting area of the race was just in front of the school’s main entrance. Everyone was wearing their gym clothes, jerseys, or a simple t-shirt and shorts. The parent-teacher association was in charge of organization along with the student council.

Some people chose not to attend the marathon. They’d be staying inside school while the marathon was happening. There were also some people like Opal and the other members of the student council. They wouldn’t be running either, just staying on the sidelines to help manage things.

And then there was Holly. She was being paraded around by the coach of the track and field club. Holly, like Opal, got stuck doing organizational work. This was less because she was a member of the track team, and more because the coach wanted Holly to be front and center during this track-related event.

“Will it just be the two of us then?” Suzy asked me while we were walking around.

“I guess so…” I said. “It looks like Holly and Opal are too busy. What a shame. I was hoping we could go as a group.”

“Will Miss Zara be joining us?” Suzy asked.

Suzy had an overly polite way of speaking. She spoke like someone who was afraid to offend anyone with even the slightest mistake. Sometimes it was a little weird, but right now it was just amusing. I had to hold back a laugh at ‘Miss Zara’.

“You don’t need to call Zara ‘Miss’. She’d probably go mad with power if she heard any sort of title attached to her name.” I said. “She won’t be joining us. She said she hates things like this and plans to stay inside to watch movies on her phone. Lazy…”

Suzy opened her mouth to say something, but quickly snapped it shut. In the same way that she was too polite, she had the habit of policing everything that she said to the point of second-guessing her every attempt to speak. As cute as I found it, I felt a little worried about her self-confidence.

I wanted to help her be her natural self.

I put a hand on her back and guided her over to the marathon starting line.

“Let’s join the others. We’ll run at a relaxed pace so that we can keep an eye on each other.”

“Thanks. I’m not very good at stuff like this but I’ll do my best” Suzy said.

Suzy was short and a little on the chubbier side. She had thick glasses and a pale, ‘indoor’ complexion. I wouldn’t have been mad at her if she chose to sit the marathon out. When I talked to her about it she insisted on joining me no matter what. Her determination was commendable. Instead of trying to shoot her down, I decided it would be best to run with her and keep an eye on her.

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“If you’re able to do this then Zara has no excuse. I wish she would’ve joined us.”

Suzy shrugged.

“I’m happy to run with just you.”

“Aw, aren’t you the sweetest little thing ever?” I asked with a wide grin.

I tried to ruffle her hair in the same way that my dad always did to me. She laughed and pushed my hand away. That’s when Holly ran up and joined us. Hailey, another member of the track club, was trailing close behind her.

“Ellie!” Hailey shouted happily as they approached. “I haven’t seen you in club lately!”

“I’m taking a break from track and field.” I said.

Hailey folded her arms and gave me a dramatic look up and down. She was trying to emphasize the fact that I was wearing a track jersey as I was saying that.

“This doesn’t count!” I said while laughing. “This is a special school event!”

“Right... You should join us for practice tomorrow! It’ll be cool to have you back!” Haily said before turning to Suzy. “Your friend here can join us. I’m not familiar with this one.”

“This is Suzy!” Holly said, coming over to ruffle Suzy’s hair.

Suzy pushed her away the same way she did to me.

“We like teasing her since she’s so short.” Holly explained. “It’s rare that I have someone who is the perfect height for me to tease like this.”

“Jerks!” Suzy said in a laugh.

“She’s a transfer student.” I said. “She’s going to run the marathon with me. Holly and Opal are both busy so it’ll just be me and her.”

“Actually, I’m almost done with my ‘work’ here. The coach is trying to use me to recruit younger members for next year’s track team.” Holly said. “I’ll catch up with the two of you as soon as I can.”

“Are you sure that you can?” Suzy asked. “It sounds like we’ll have a big head start.”

Hailey laughed.

“Of course she can! Don’t you know? Holly is the biggest star at our school!” Hailey said.

Holly pushed Hailey away playfully.

“Oh come on, stop flattering me! Let’s get our work done so that I can join up with them as quickly as possible!”

“Huh…? You don’t want to run with me instead?” Hailey asked in mock sorrow.

“I run with you almost every day! So no!”

“How mean!”

Holly turned back to wave at me and Suzy.

“I’ll see you two in a few minutes.”

“Okay! See you then!” I said.

Suzy smiled at me when I turned back towards her. She was beginning to enjoy her time at school more and more. She wasn’t always smiling like this when I first met her.

“Come on.” I said. “It looks like the marathon is about to begin.”

We grabbed a couple of water bottles and got in line with everyone else. The route of the marathon was planned out well in advance, with rest stops at multiple places along the route. The route was a circle that would lead back to the school. It was only a few miles, nothing like a real marathon.

The entire event was overseen by the PTA. They’d spread out across the route to be on standby in the event of an emergency. One of the teachers went over what to do in the event of an emergency. We could call the school, and the school would call the nearest parent volunteer.

This was mainly in case there was a medical emergency, but for other emergencies as well. Everyone was supposed to run with at least one partner as a safety precaution. Suzy and I were already set since this was our plan all along.

The marathon began with the thunderous excitement of everyone involved. Even Suzy was excitedly waving at the yearbook director’s camera as we ran by. She began at an impressively fast pace. I had to warn her a few times to take it slow and conserve energy. She didn’t get my meaning…

…Until we made it about a mile down the road.

The poor girl was already panting heavily, which was not a good sign. Compared to the other runners we were at the rear of the pack. I fully expected this, but I could see that Suzy was having some deep regrets. I had to keep myself from laughing or else it would look like I was making fun of her.

“We can take a break if you want.” I suggested. “There’s no rush. We have until the end of the normal school day to finish this marathon.”

“I’m fine… I… I can keep going until we reach the first resting station! We can’t stop so soon after starting!”

“Suit yourself.” I sang in amusement.

We kept running for a few minutes before Suzy had a change of heart. This time I couldn’t stop myself from laughing, but at least she laughed with me. She realized that she was being too rash when she turned down my suggestion to take a break.

“Take as long as you need.” I said.

“Thanks. I’ll just need a sec to catch my breath.”

We were near one of the community’s small parks. This part of the route was scenic thanks to the river running along the forested area here. The road was on one side of this green space, with the riverbank on the other. The sidewalk here ran parallel to the road, mostly. The path diverged from the road from time to time to weave through the trees along the route.

Across the street there were a few small shops that didn’t look busy. The place was empty at the moment. Virtually all the other runners were ahead of us by now. Suzy was taking longer than I expected to fully recover. She was sitting on the ground with her legs spread out amusingly.

By the time she got back up I got a text from Holly letting me know that she was already on her way.

“Want to wait here for Holly or keep running?” I asked Suzy. “She’ll catch up either way so it’s up to you. Do you feel ready to get back on track?”

“Sure.” Suzy said. “I don’t want Holly to overrun us too fast because I took a break.”

I laughed.

“That was probably going to happen either way. Hailey wasn’t exaggerating when she said that Holly is the local track star.” I said. “You should probably warm up with a few stretches. You’re going to be feeling sore later otherwise.”

“Right.”

As Suzy was getting into position to stretch her legs we noticed someone approaching us from the road.

“Hey! Are you two from Cherry Vale Public High School?” The man asked in a worried voice.

“Yes, we are. What’s wrong?”

“One of the girls from your school tripped over something and hurt her knee! She’s bleeding pretty badly... She’s right over here!”

Suzy and I followed after the man as he ran across the street. I started to pull out my cell phone so that I could call the school. They’d be able to summon one of the PTA members from the nearest resting station to help. Only, things took a weird turn as we approached the space between buildings.

A generic black SUV pulled out of the alleyway at a high speed. The man turned on his heels to reach for Suzy, who was the closest behind him. I pulled Suzy out of his reach just in time to save her from being grabbed. The man reached for me instead! He was much larger and taller than me, so there was little I could do. I kicked him in the leg and tried pulling away.

“Suzy, run!” I shouted. “Run and get help!”

Suzy didn’t hesitate as another man jumped out of the vehicle. He ran over to help his friend pull me into the vehicle. I didn’t make it easy for them. I fought and struggled against their hold on me every step of the way. I needed to buy as much time as possible for Suzy.

They were eventually able to overpower me and pull me into their car. They put a black bag over my head the moment they pulled me in.

“Drive!” One of them shouted at another person in the vehicle.

I continued resisting their hold even inside the car. They were up to something criminal and I didn’t want to go down without a fight. I was terrified, but at the same time I had to stall them as much as possible otherwise they might go after Suzy.

“You got the girl?” A guy from the front of the vehicle asked.

“We got her! But she won’t calm down and stop fighting! Stop moving or you’re going to get hurt! Stop!”

I didn’t comply with that. They could hurt me inside this vehicle, but they could do even worse to me in a more secluded situation. At least while I was inside their vehicle there was the chance that another driver could notice the strange activity. My chance at survival was best if I resisted from the start.

“No, you idiot! That’s the wrong girl!”

“What…? She’s the one that was in the picture…!” He shouted at his friend before twisting my arm. “Stop resisting! I’m warning you!”

“No, she’s the wrong girl! This is one of her friends that was in the picture with her! The girl we were after has short black hair and glasses!”

They were after Opal?

“Big deal! We can ransom this one instead!”

“We knew how to contact that other girl’s family! We knew that her parents were loaded! This girl is just a big question mark!”

“So what now?”

“We’ll have to…”

Just as the other man was speaking I managed to pivot myself in my captor’s grasp. I kicked randomly, unable to see where my kicks were actually landing. However, one kick landed against one of the men in the front seat. It was only as I heard the resulting screams that I realized who I kicked.

I kicked the driver in the back of the head.

The vehicle went careening off the road and rolled into a nearby ditch. The bag over my head came off just in time for me to realize what was going on. I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, but neither were the people inside of the vehicle. Everything went dark as my head hit the roof of the vehicle.