A Day Earlier...

I rub my eyes, my cold fingers trying to remove the blurriness that taunts my vision. Right now, I'm sitting at my desk, staring at the blank page that's supposed to be my completed homework. So far, I only had one sentence written of the short story I need to compose for English, which is rather unlike me because I love to write.

My black Samsung phone, which lies beside me, vibrates loudly, shaking the table and the things on it. I cringe, since it's one-thirty in the morning and Mom think I'm sleeping, and swipe it off of the table. Squinting at the bright light emitting from the screen, I check the message that my best friend, Laura, sent me.

Laura has been my only true friend since we were in the first grade. She is a nicer person than I am, which isn't saying very much, considering it doesn't take a lot for me to snap at someone. Maybe it's because of the fact I was born with a temper, or the fact my father left when I was only two.

'You up?'

I frown before answering. I'm wondering why she is awake at this late hour, but I would be a hypocrite if I ask her. I mean, I'm still up.

'Yeah, what's up?'

I carefully place my phone on the surface of my desk again before returning to staring at my paper, trying to think of some good ideas. I sometimes wonder how authors can actually finish full books with how tough it is for me to come up with a measly paragraph. They must have some type of superpower or something.

My mind flickers back to the latest episode of one of my favorite crime shows 'Criminal Minds' I had seen. Yes, I am a big fan of watching gory crime shows, just don't tell Mom. I'm almost positive that she would freak out if she ever found out.

Then, I have what most people call an epiphany. I have always loved the kidnapping and stalking episodes of the show, for some weird reason, so why not write a short story about that?

As I write, my mind flows with ideas, which completely takes over my mind and causes me to jump in my chair when my phone vibrates again. I drop my pencil, glancing down at what I had just written. The whole page is filled with my messy scrawling. It's surprising how much a person can come up with when they get the inspiration for it.

Biting my lip, I pick up my phone again and look at the message Laura sent. Only, it isn't Laura, who sent the one I read. My breath catches in my throat as my eyes scan through the message over and over again. Out of instinct my head whips around to the open window across my small room. Shaking slightly, I drop my cell and walk as quietly as I can to the window, which is covered in tiny raindrops from earlier this evening when it had rained.

As I look around, I can't see anyone; our street is empty. The only thing illuminating the area is a street light down the road, near the corner of my neighbor's house. Shuddering, I pull the drapes closed.

I then tiptoe back over to my desk to look at the message again. I'm not sure if I should reply, so I just leave it. It's probably just some idiot trying to scare me.

If so, they are doing a pretty damn good job of it.

Running a hand through my tangled brown hair, I turn my phone off before I'm tempted to reply to the odd message. I don't really care if Laura had texted me back at the moment. I'll see her later at school anyway.

My stomach churns as I think about the contents of the text. I know it's meant for me, because it clearly states my name, but I know I'm probably overreacting about it. One of the boys from school probably got my number from someone and decided to play a prank on me.

Yeah, that's all it is!

I wrinkle my nose when I look down at my paper. I've suddenly lost the interest to write anymore for tonight, so I take the story and stuff it into my binder. That way, I can finish it later. I don't think I can continue doing homework after what I had been sent.

Yawning, I glance at the clock sitting on my bed and curse under my breath. It's two in the morning and I have to get up at six to make it to school. Nothing seems to be in my favor tonight.

Sauntering over to my bed, after flicking the light off, I crawl in and pull the covers over my face, trying to drown out the voice that is telling me that someone is outside and waiting for me to open the drapes again.

•••

Let us just say I hadn't slept a wink last night.

When my alarm clock buzzes at seven in the morning, I can barely climb out of bed. Another long day of school is ahead, and I haven't even finished up that short story. I hope that my English teacher will give me more time to work on it...

I pull the covers from my body, yawning. The rays of sunlight peeking through the curtains, blind my eyes for a moment, at least until I look away.

"Melanie, get up!" I hear Mom order from downstairs. The clanking of pots and pans that come after her yell tells me she is in the kitchen, probably cooking breakfast.

Rubbing my eyes, I reply to her with more than a hint of annoyance in my voice, "I'm coming Mom. God!"

I stuff a pair of warm blue slippers on my feet before heading downstairs. Yes, my favourite color is blue, which is kind of ironic since my eyes are the same color.

As I step out of my room, the sweet aroma of pancakes fills my nostrils, and I lick my lips in anticipation. Mom rarely prepares anything but toast and cereal, except for special occasions. It's a shame, because her cooking is probably the best I've ever tasted.

"Smells good," I say as I enter the room.

Mom looks up from the stove, smiling softly. Strands of dark brown hair fall out of the messy bun she had carelessly put up earlier. Faint wrinkles line her eyes as she smiles at me. "Hey, Mel. Did you sleep well?"

I pull out a chair from the small dining table and sit down. She turns back to the stove as I answer her. "No, not really."

Mom snorts. "I should just take that damn phone out of your room at night. You get so distracted by it that you never sleep."

I immediately jump to my phone's defense, just as any normal teenager would. "I didn't touch my phone last night. I was working on homework that's due today."

Technically, I'm lying, but she doesn't need to know everything I do. I think every teenager in the world would agree with me on that.

Mom scans my eyes, trying to detect a lie she isn't going to unearth before turning back to the pancakes, which are sizzling against the heat of the pan.

I watch her with a watering mouth as she flips them onto a plate with ease and hands the dish to me. As I wolf them down, she sits down beside me and stirs her cup of herbal tea, but doesn't take a sip for five minutes. She only stares at the contents, looking like she is about to break down.

"Mom, are you alright?" I finally ask after gathering the courage to speak.

She looks up, startled. "Yes, I'm fine, Melanie."

I purse my lips in concern as I analyze her behavior some more. "You're not fine. What's going on?"

Mom lets out a sigh. I know she's apprehensive about telling me, but I can't just let her mope around like a lost puppy when I don't know what's going on.

She stirs her cup as she speaks. "My boss is threatening to fire me after that person I trained earlier screwed up a bunch of orders. I guess he thought it was my fault."

Mom works as a low-paid waitress at one of the family restaurants downtown. Ever since Dad had left, she hasn't been able to get a better job to pay for our essential needs. I've had to work a few days a week after school to help her out with the cash flow problem we'd been experiencing for as long as I can remember. I love Mom, and it isn't her fault she married a low-life jerk who never cared about us.

Anger flares up inside me when she finishes speaking. "That's so unfair! It isn't your fault he hired an idiot!"

She shrugs, shaking her head disapprovingly. "There's nothing I can do about it, Melanie. If he fires me, then I guess I'll find another job somewhere more decent."

I can't seem to find the words to answer. My eyes drift to the clock, which says seven-forty, so I stand up and grab my school bag. "I better go. I shouldn't be late for school."

She nods. I bend over and kiss her on the cheek before slinging my backpack over my shoulder and heading out the front door.

As I start down the street, I grab my phone from my pocket to text Laura. I bite my lip when all of my conversations from the night before come up on the screen. Looking up to make sure no one is around, I click into the message I received last night.

I shiver as I read it. Over and over again, I read until I begin to feel sick to my stomach as I did last night. If this is a prank, I am going to kill whoever is behind it. I swear I will.

'Hello sweet Melanie. You look so beautiful...and I can't wait for us to be together.'

____________________________________________________________________

You have no idea how long I spent writing this book, and I'm still writing it! The editing involved was just outrageous! XD I've been working on this book for 3 months, and only 5 of the chapters are completely edited! XD

371 reads after posting the prologue. What the heck you guys? This is amazing! :D Thank you for all who have read and supported it so far!

Chapter 2 comes Friday!

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