"Jay! Did you even hear a word I just said?"

I looked up from starring at the ground to see a very annoyed Kyla. I nodded my head but she didn't seem impressed. "You haven't heard a word I said have you?" She crossed her arms and lifted her head up as if waiting for me to argue.

At first I was listening, but somewhere towards the middle I couldn't help but drift off. I can't help myself it seems like the past week my mind has been elsewhere. I guess I have a good reason though. I haven't gotten a lot of sleep. Most nights I just lay in my bed and stare at the ceiling, or I sit next to a window and look at the stars. I haven't been able to eat, I'm not hungry and I can't even seem to remember that I have to eat. Even paying attention in school has become extremely difficult. No matter what I am doing or who I am with my mind goes back to the letter.

It has been almost a week since I got the letter, and I don't know who it was. The day after I got the letter I asked Kyla if she knew anything. "Where did you get the flowers?" I had asked when she bucked into the passengers seat.

She stopped and looked at me. She tilted her head. "What are you-? Oh! You mean the cupcakes with the flowers on them?" I didn't answer her. "I made them because I was bored, but I think my dad at the last one. Why? Did you want one?" I shook my head and tried to ease the fear and confusion that had oozed around me. I could tell Kyla had no clue what I was talking about. She was never a good liar.

At school I asked everyone, but no one knew anything. It's a weird feeling to know that someone in the world has invaded my privacy and I don't even know who. I just want to disappear and forget it, I want to forget this feeling and I just want to be able to go home and not have to worry about someone breaking in. I just want to be completely alone.

I kicked a rock and ignored Kyla's question. The rock flew a couple feet in front of us. "Hey! Come on, this is important."

"I'm listening. You said something about Grey."

Greyson Reed is one of our close friends. Kyla had introduced me to him a few weeks after I met her. He is the type of guy any girl would fall head over heels for. I guess apparently before I knew Kyla or Grey they were in a serious relationship. They had been dating since sixth grade, however broke up only a month before Cathy was adopted. It's weird to think about them being together now, but I guess it explains how close they are to each other. Grey lives close to us, however goes to a different school. We text a lot, but I haven't seen him in a couple weeks.

"I was thinking tomorrow we should go to this party he is having? He said it was cool if we spent the night." Kyla said as we turned the corner and her house coming into view.

I thought about it for a minute but just shrugged my shoulders. "Dude, why not? You need to get out of the house. It's not healthy." She pushed me a little to the side causing me to stumble a little into the grass. I smiled and stepped back onto the sidewalk.

"I get outta the house all the time." I mumbled knowing it was a lie.

"Oh really? Name the last place you went to that wasn't to my house." She pulled out her key once her house came into sight.

I smirked to myself. "What about you cousins birthday party last month?"

She stopped walking and looked at me with a harsh glare. I just continued to smirk, and avoided her eyes. "I'm sorry are you talking about Rico's party? Because if you are he is six and the only partying that happened was when they brought out the Elmo piñata."

"What are you talking about! Your aunt knows how to throw a party. That grape just seriously had me messed up man!"I started to giggle at my sarcastic remark.

She started walking again and jogged a little to meet me. I opened the gate to her house and walked up to her porch.

"Okay you know what?"

"What?"I took a sip from my water bottle not really listening to what she was saying.

"I am picking you up tomorrow and we are going to his house. You have no say you smart-ass." She grabbed the water bottle from my hands and took a sip. I rolled my eyes.

"What about your car?"

"I get it tonight." She unlocked her door and walked inside. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Kyla, I just can't. I have to stay with Cathy, I haven't seen her since she got back from her trip." I said nervously.

"Cathy is going to a friends house this weekend, meaning you have no excuse. And don't give me any bullshit about school. I am worried about you, and seriously you need to let loose for once in your life." She said while grabbing my hand.

I felt uneasy about this idea. It's not like I have never been to a party, I just always end up never knowing who to talk to or just standing awkwardly around people. But, getting out of the house right now might be good. I don't care where I go, I just know it's becoming harder for me to go home with out becoming anxious.
"Okay, but if I want to leave you can't stop me."

She smiled brightly before giving my hand one last squeeze. "Don't worry it's not that many people, plus if you wanna crash early he will let us stay over!"

I shrugged my shoulders and nodded my head. I felt something off about this weekend but wasn't sure what. I didn't have much to worry about, we were on fall break, Cathy was okay, and I was getting out of the house. I shouldn't feel like this, should I?

We said our goodbyes and I drove back to my house. I have been so busy these past few years, that I have forgotten everything about myself. I don't know what I like, I don't know what my hobbies are, and most importantly I don't know how to even make friends. It's odd, but I have moved so many times that making friends was never something that crossed my mind. I didn't spend the weekends with friends or hanging out, I spent that time with my sister. I don't regret it at all but now thinking about it I have no idea who I am. What's even scarier is soon high school is going to end, and I am going to be left alone and in the real world. I am completely lost, and I have no idea how to be found again.

I took a deep breath and pulled into my drive way. It was still light out but over the top of the trees I could see the sun slowly going down. I closed my eyes just trying to forget everything, just trying to for a second be alone with my thoughts. Once I reopened my eyes, my attention was directed towards a light inside my house.

I flung off my seat belt and ran to the door. I quickly unlocked it and ran into the kitchen where I saw the light on. Before I left I made sure to turn off all the lights. When I entered the kitchen I stoped and held my hand to my mouth covering the sobs that had instantly escape. I didn't think I would ever feel this feeling again. It wasn't a feeling of being used or hurt but it was a feeling of having no control. I started to shake and tears poured, not giving sign of stopping.

Sitting on the island in the middle of the kitchen sat a brown paper bag, and next to it a note. I couldn't help the shaking and I felt like I was going to pass out. Who is in my house? I don't care if it is harmless, someone feels like it's okay to walk into my house when ever they feel the need. What if they do hurt me? What if Cathy is here? I couldn't live with myself knowing someone hurt her.

I picked up the note not daring to look into the bag. I carefully opened the note.

Angel, please get some sleep. Please, eat something, I am worried. I love you and want to see you healthy.

                                                       P.s. I'm sorry for hurting you.

I dropped the note and let it slip towards my foot. With shaking hand I began to unroll the top of the bag. I was half relieved and and a little startled when I saw what was inside. Stacked inside were two of my favorite books. I pulled out the two books, The Great Gatsby and The Power of One. I scanned them with wide eyes and set them on the counter, continuing to see what else the bag contained. I am not going to lie it's a little exciting to see what is inside, but when I think about it it is startling. This person knew I liked those books, those books are not just random. I read them whenever I have spare time, I have read each of them too many times to count. If they were just random books it wouldn't scare me as much, but this person knew that's what I liked. They knew me, and that thought is what makes me want to puke.

I the pulled out the last item in the bag. When I pulled it out I was almost comforted by the familiar box. I looked at the logo, knowing what was inside. On some weekends I will go to Bumbles Bakery, it's close to me and they have the best homemade chocolate chip cookies. I opened the sides of the flimsy cardboard box to be revealed with eight homemade chocolate chip cookies. I pushed it away terrified at the sight in front of me. The tears that had stopped came back and I could barely see. I hit a wall and slid down to the floor crying into my arms.

This should not scare me as much as if should have, if it was from anyone I knew it would be considered a sweet gesture. But the problem is I don't know this person, they obviously know more about me then just some random kid at school. This person knows what I like, what I do, and I can't even stop it. This was suppose to be the time on my life when I had gained control again. Where I had a family, and friends, and would finally do what I loved. Since my parents passed away I haven't had any control, I had to move and move, and change so many times that I didn't even have control over who I was. I had felt control finally after all those years, that maybe I could control my life, that it wouldn't go down the drain. That I could at least make my parents proud, but sitting here on this floor crying, I now know that I have once again lost all control.

•••

I am not surprised. This is the exact reaction I knew I would get. I guess somewhere deep down I thought the whole US army world come to my door step and protect me. But the only thing I got was a unsatisfactory, ten minute, phone call. After I had stopped crying I had decided the most rational thing to do was call the police. Of course they told me it was probably just a friend and I shouldn't worry. They said I can't prove it's not just one of my friends pulling a prank, but what they don't know is that none of my friends knew that stuff about me. And I know none of them left those notes. I would tell Kyla about this but I know she would tell her parents, and I don't want my problems becoming there's and affecting Cathy's life. That's not fair to her, this is just something I have to deal with alone.

I shook the thought and decided I should just live in the moment. As Kyla drove mindlessly singing to the songs on the radio, I started to fidget with my fingers. The houses soon became bigger and the lawns started to look much greener as we got closer to Grey's house. When I was younger I was never popular, but I wasn't a loner either, I just kind of blended in. In school there are always these kids that you look up to, that deep down you wish you were them. They seemed to have the perfect life, they were insanely smart, were on the top of teachers list, and just seemed to fit in where ever they went. They were the nicest people when you talked to them, and they were always extremely good looking. I use to crave to just see what went on inside these groups, I wanted to know what they did for fun, and what they talked about. Grey was this type of kid. He was in everyone's mind the perfect son, the perfect student, and the perfect friend. His parents are not rich but compared to most families they were well above middle class. Sometimes I wonder if he is only friends with me because I'm friends with Kyla. But Grey has always been the greatest guy to me, so I try not to think about it too much.

When we got the Grey's house Kyla walked in without knocking. She strolled through the house as if she lived here. She stopped and looked around. "Hey! Guys, out here!" A familiar voice called from outside.

We walked towards the back door where we had heard Grey. We walked outside to see him surrounded by a couple of other people. They all sat in a circle using the lawn chairs from the in ground pool. I felt familiar with the setting. One of the first times I came here Grey was having a pool party, it was awkward at first but after a while we all sat outside watching the stars and talking until six. I smiled and waved at the group of people all smiling and laughing together. I recognize some of them. They all waved back and started conversation with us without dropping a beat.

Kyla sat down next to Grey and a guy named Tyler made room for me to sit down next to him. He gave me a bright smile and looked me up and down. It took no time for me to get lost into his bright blue eyes. If I was going to say I had feelings for a guy it would be Tyler. His black hair, and bright smile was a plus but Tyler also had a great personality. He would always make me smile and sometimes he would whisper things into my ear that I couldn't help but laugh at. He gave me a short wink and I felt myself turn red. I looked away and pushed a piece of my hair away from my face.

"You can't be serious!?" A girl sitting next to Kyla yelled clutching her stomach laughing. I have met her before but I forgot her name.

"Okay it's not that funny, it was a accident!" Grey yelled playfully punching her in the shoulder. He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"And you didn't think that it tasted funny? Or you know looked funny?" Tyler laughed closing his eyes tightly, while shaking his head in disgust.

"Greyson! You were eating that cheese for a week!"Another guy, Morgan, chimed in.

"I know this! I thought it was just like a different kind of cheese! How was I suppose to know!" Grey said throwing his hands into the air with defeat.

"Well why did you keep eating it? Didn't it taste bad?"Kyla laughed and grabbed onto his should for support from laughing.

"Listen, I was hungry and didn't think much of it. How the hell was I suppose to know it was expired!" We all laughed together, Morgan even started to tell another story about how this wasn't the first time Grey had done this.

This was what I needed. Something to take my mind off things, and everyone here were so happy and joyful that I couldn't help but become happy myself. I was consecrated on the story Morgan was telling when I felt Tyler's arm move to my knee. Tyler didn't look down or even look at me as he made contact with my leg. It wasn't creepy or awkward, I just didn't know how to react. Tyler didn't seem phased by this at all and continued on like nothing had happened. I shrugged it off and let Tyler's band hold my knee.

When Kyla told me there was going to be a party I thought she meant a party, like the pool party at the end of junior year. This was one of the best moments of my life, no one seemed worried about anything, and we all just focused on having a good time. When it got cool outside we all decided to go inside. It was starting to get a little late, so Grey turned on the tv to watch a movie. All six of us found a spot of the couch. When the movie got boring the boys decided to throw popcorn in our hair. It got dark outside and soon everyone slowly fell asleep. The movie was only a couple minutes away from ending and I was the only one still awake. I can't fall asleep till it's over, and something inside me tells me like most nights I'm not going to be able to fall asleep.

I jumped in fright when I heard a loud 'thump' noise. I looked over to see Tyler had fallen of the couch and landed onto the floor. I laughed to myself quietly and pulled the blanket on top of me off. I tip-toed into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. I took a glass out of the cabinet and put it under the faucet.

"Hey."I turned around to see a drowsy Tyler rubbing his face. He ran his other hand through his hair and let out a loud yawn. His voice was deep. "What time is it?" He asked me walking closer.

I looked at the clock on my phone. "Three twenty-one." I said and took a sip from my water. "Also that was one hard fall you took. "I said giggling to myself.

He smirked up at me and folded his arms. "We you watching me sleep Jay?" He asked with mischief.

"Oh please. Don't flatter yourself, I just found the snoring and drool pretty funny." I smirked back up at him and set my glass down.

"I do not drool."

"Oh yes you do!" I lied while smiling to myself.

"I bet it's pretty sexy then." He said pretending to flip hair from his shoulder in a dramatic way.

"Really? For all I know there could be herpes or some other weird disease in that drool of yours." I rolled my eyes. I looked up to see how close he has actually gotten. He placed both of his arms the counter trapping me between him. My heart started to pick up and I felt extremely nervous.

"Hm...want to find out?" He flirted. His head got closer to mine and I finally realized what he was going to do.

I was in shock. I liked Tyler a lot but truthfully, he was not anything more then a crush. He was attractive, and funny, and smart and the nicest guy ever, but deep down I knew I couldn't have strong feelings for him. I knew this but I didn't want to stop him. Maybe it was wrong for me to think this but I am eighteen years old and I have never been kissed, I should get it out of the way. It's not like I don't like Tyler but, I just don't ever see anything more happening between us. I was lost in actions and didn't know what to do. Tyler was close to my lips, not even a inch away. I closed my eyes waiting for it to happen.

But it never did, and I realized it was because my phone had started to ring startling Tyler. I quickly pulled my phone out of my pocket and looked at the number. It was a unknown number. I declined and set my phone back onto the counter. Tyler smiled at me and I smiled back, we both ignored the interruption and leaned in. We both jumped again at the noise coming from my phone as it started to ring again. I looked over at my phone and grabbed it. I declined it before it could wake anyone else up.

I was annoyed with whoever was calling me but that soon changed into fear as my phone began to ding with messages. The messages were coming in fast that I didn't have time to read them before another one popped up. My phone vibrated rigorously in my hand and I pushed Tyler away slightly so I could read the messages.

When I opened the messages I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Unknown: Jay stop!
Unknown: I'm not joking, step away from him!
Unknown:Jay
Unknown: I am being serious
Unknown: Answer me!
Unknown: right now!
Unknown: do not let him touch you!

The messages came in one after the other and my hand shook holding the phone.

"What is it?"I looked up at Tyler to see his confused expression.

"It's nothing, I just need to use the bathroom." I said this trying not to come across as worried as I actually was.

I walked quickly passed him and walked passed the stairs almost running into the bathroom. I locked the door and started to hug myself. Someone was watching us, someone was watching me.

I looked down when I heard on last ding from my phone.

Unknown: Jessica, answer me.

That is the sentence that flipped my whole world around.

***

Here it is guys!! Chapter two! It is definitely longe then chapter one but I had fun making this! I hope you liked it and hope u share and vote and whatever! Thanks for reading, love you guys!