Preface
She was awakened from a deep slumber by a noise outside her window. There was an ear-shattering blood-curdling scratching sound scraping the window. She shot up out of the bed, flinging the sheets off her bed and across the room as if they were made out of tissue paper. She slowly crept toward the sound and carefully pulled back the curtains. The window revealed nothing but an old oak tree; its branches convoluted and twisted, leaning towards the window as if it were a sunflower reaching for the sun. But attached to the tree was a small pink Post-It. It read “You’re Next” with scrawny angry letters in black marker.
What could the note possible mean? Was someone out to get me? She thought, and darted to the kitchen, attempting to the lights on. Maybe my neighbors have a phone I can use. She grabbed her coat, and an ounce of courage. She opened the front door and ran halfway across the street. Before she could make it, a car blinded her, its lights distracted her as she stood like a deer in headlights, then everything went blank…

Chapter One: Teenage Nightmare

“It’s not what you know, it’s what you can prove.”
Denzel Washington Training Day

High school. It’s the place where enemies are made, and friendships are destroyed. Everyone dreams of meeting the love of their life in high school. Liliana Leigh and her sister Charisse walked down the hallway of River View High School. The freshly painted salmon pink walls reminded them of prison. The icy cold stares of the students melted away their freshly tanned skin. With a school population of 3,000, it seemed that every inmate at River View High was there to watch the entrance of the two new students from Hampshire, Illinois. Liliana was a junior, and her sister Charisse was a senior. They both inherited fiery red hair and emerald eyes from their mother. Even dressed in uniforms, you could tell the two apart. Charisse, the older one, always wore clothes a little tighter, a little brighter and a little lighter. Liliana’s style was a little more toned down. She always wore pink or black. She never wore make-up and people always complimented her natural red cheeks and lips, ultra thick eyelashes, and child-like large eyes.
“What a great day this is turning out to be.” Isadora stated, referring to three girls now approaching them.
“Hi, I’m Bibiane Adams.” Said a perky blonde with blue eyes. “This is Avian Clark and Malory Lee.”
Avian was very tall, almost Isadora’s height. She had puffy brown hair and dark eyes. Malory was short and had a birdlike appearance. Her brown eyes pour into Liliana’s like a vulture, and her pointed nose was pointed up. She looked at Liliana with disdain and ignored her.
Charisse began a conversation with the girls and Liliana looked around at the students in the hallway. The students had to wear uniforms and were a blur of white polos, and black pants. But one boy stood out to Liliana. He had frightening ice blue eyes and jet black hair. He continued to look at Liliana and a smiled played on his face. It looked as if he was about to walk up to Liliana, but he turned around and bolted off, in the other direction.
Malory noticed the boy and whispered something to Bibiane.
“Ew, that was Jamanj Reklats.” Avian stated. “Stay away from him.”
“Why?” questioned a curious Charisse.
“He’s crazy. Always having meltdowns in class and yelling at teachers.” Bibiane told her, rolling her eyes as the bell for the first period class rang.
Liliana’s first class was Chemistry. Her sister Charisse followed Bibiane, Avian, and Malory down the hallway. Most of the students continued to stare at her and Charisse as if the both wore a sign labeled “New Student”. The strange boy, Jamanj was there. He continued to stare at her and then turn away. Liliana took a closer look at him and he appeared to be less creepy than she once thought. The scowl he had on his face now appeared to be a frown.
The Chemistry teacher introduced her to the class and explained the assignment to her. They were doing an experiment today and she somehow got paired with him.
“I’m Reklats-Jamanj Reklats” He stammered, shaking her hand.
“I’m Liliana.” She said, pulled away from his handshake, after an awkwardly long time.
“Your hair…. It’s so beautiful.” He began to touch her curly red hair.
“Thanks.” Liliana turned away and walked over to the experiment set up.
The assignment was to mix together two chemicals to see if there was a reaction. Liliana read the instructions as Jamanj stood very close by, the smell of his cologne conquering her senses.
“Here.” Jamanj Reklats handed her a test tube, his rough hands brushing against hers.
They mixed together the two chemicals. One had a strong and overpowering smell and was black, the other was weak and a red fuchsia color. Jamanj Reklats stole glances of Liliana whenever she wasn’t paying attention. She was recording the observations, and Jamanj continued to stare at her emerald green eyes.
“Ok Reklats, so the result is that when the two are mixed, the icky black liquid takes over the reddish one, even when there is more of the red.” Liliana observed.
“Yeah.” He responded, his husky voice giving Liliana goose bumps.
The bell rang, and they both headed off to their next class. Liliana sped off ahead and looked around fanatically, hoping to see her sister. When she turned around she ran right into Jamanj. Her books fell out of her hands, and so did her schedule.
“Sorry.” Jamanj Reklats scurried to pick up her books.
“Um… thanks.” Liliana received her books, and hurried off again. She couldn’t find her schedule, but she remembered all of her classes.
The next few classes Liliana had, were with Jamanj. He was always there, like an ominous rain cloud. Liliana began to feel weird sitting by him in almost three classes in a row. She sat in front of him in English Language and Composition. She was almost sure that his ice blue eyes were staring at the back of her neck the entire time. She never said one word to him, because she wanted to be nice. Jamanj would occasional ask for a pencil or a piece of paper, and she complied. When the bell for the last class rang, she leapt up out of her seat and absconded to her car. Her sister Charisse was walking and talking to Avian, Bibiane and Malory.
“Hey Liliana, what’s up?” Her sister walked over to the driver side of the car and opened the window. “You’re here pretty early.”
Liliana shook her head. “I just had to get away from that creepy guy.”
“What guy?” Charisse started to laugh.
“I’m serious. Jamanj Reklats. All of my classes are with him.” Liliana looked around to see if he was nearby. “And he’s always staring at me.”
“Maybe he just likes you or something.”
Charisse began to drive toward their new house. Liliana was pretty sure someone was following them. Behind them was a black BMW, with tinted windows. The car veered every time they turn left or right, and sped up whenever they went through a yellow light.
“Actually Charisse. Let’s go out to eat. I’m starving.” Liliana stated, in hopes that the car would not follow them there.
“Where do you want to go?”
“Let’s go to the Flat Top Downtown.” Liliana knew that there were like millions of cars in downtown Chicago.
Charisse now drove to Lake Shore Drive. There were hundreds of cars there, but Liliana could easily pick out the black BMW. When they exited at Randolph, the car faded back into obscurity, and she could not see it anymore.
“Let’s go.” Charisse opened Liliana’s door and they entered the restaurant.
Flat Top was pretty empty, except for a half dozen people there. The tables were spotless and the windows had shades over them. If the black car had followed them here, she would not be able to see it. The waiter came over to them and offered them drinks. Liliana looked around frantically, hoping to spot someone that looked like they would drive a black BMW.
“Come on Liliana. Let’s go get our food.” Charisse grabbed Liliana’s arm.
Liliana walked with her sister and spotted a guy that just walked in. He had on all black and a hood pulled over his head. She couldn’t make out his face because he had large aviator glasses on his face. Liliana could tell that he was asking the waiter something about them because the waiter glanced at her, and then back to the guy.
“On second thought, let’s go.” Liliana told her sister, as she looked back at the guy who was now seat at a table adjacent to theirs.
“Why?” Charisse went back to the table and grabbed her purse. “Well let me get some dessert to go.”
Liliana sat down on one of the benches near a sign that read “Take Out”. She noticed her surroundings. There was a big creepy plant by the doorway that someone could easily stand behind. Liliana moved further away from it and looked for her sister. Charisse was talking to the waiter and the guy that was sitting at the table next to theirs, was gone.
She decided to check her phone. Liliana had one text message. It was from her mom.
“Where are you?” It read.
Liliana quickly texted back, and her sister was now ready to go.
They hopped into their car and started driving back home.
“Guess what?” Charisse asked.
“What?” Liliana was hoping that Charisse would say that she noticed someone following them and they were going to stop, or go to the police.
“I think your acting a little crazy today Maybe it’s because of the move.”
“I’m not crazy!” Liliana huffed and turned her back to her sister.
“You keep looking around like someone is following you!” Charisse shook her head. “That sounds very crazy to me.”
Liliana didn’t say a word to her sister on her way home. She noticed the black car was absent on the roadway. Maybe she was crazy and she was seeing things. Maybe that’s what kind of effect Chicago had on small town people.
The house that the Leighs were currently residing in was a large mansion. It was painted a light blue on the outside, with titanium white fixtures, and greenery graced the garden. There was a front and back yard, both currently covered with furniture, boxes, and moving supplies. A week before the move, Liliana’s mother had an interior designer decorate the rooms. Charisse and Liliana were expecting a fully furnished house, but when they entered the house there were a lot of moving men reorganizing the furniture.
“Liliana! Charisse! Good thing you’re here.” Their mother ran over to them with a paint bucket in one hand and a roller in another. “Sorry about the mess! I thought we would be done by now.”
Mrs. Leigh handed Charisse the roller and Liliana the paint bucket.
“We’re just finish up the living room.” Their mother began to fix her messy red hair into a ponytail. “You two have visitors by the way.” She turned around and pointed to the kitchen.
Charisse’s face lit up, as if she was expecting someone. Liliana followed her sister into the kitchen, not sure if she should be scared or worried.
“OMG! Gage!” Charisse ran over to a tall guy and gave him a hug. “Liliana this is Gage Parker! He’s in my homeroom class.”
Liliana took in the sight of Gage. He was very tall, probably a foot taller than her six foot tall sister. Gage had light brown hair with natural golden highlights. He was wearing his uniform with a jade green Aeropostale jacket that matched his eyes.
“And this is Jamanj Reklats.” Charisse pointed to the boy, and whispered to Liliana. “I heard you mention him earlier and thought I’d invite him.”
Jamanj Reklats stood awkwardly with a glass of water in his hand. His icy blue eyes still frightened Liliana and she wished that her sister was joking about inviting him over. She could tell that Gage did not like him. When Charisse left the room, Gage whispered something to Jamanj and started laughing. Jamanj appeared upset and began clenching and unclenching his fist as if he was considering punching Gage.
“Hey Gage,” Charisse walked into the room. “Come help me unpack something.”
Gage’s face lit up, and he turned to scoff at Jamanj.
“I’ll help you unpack too.” Jamanj Reklats began running up the stairs toward her room.
“Wait!” Liliana chased after him.
He walked into her room and began rummaging through her boxes. She wanted to tell him to get out of her room but didn’t want to offend him.
“Your room is very pretty.” He indicated the bright buttery Naples Yellow paint on her walls, along with the matching bed spread, and TV.
“Your favorite color is yellow?” He questioned.
“No.” Liliana looked down to avoid looking into his intense eyes. “It’s pink.”
Jamanj continued to go through her clothes, and sit them on her bed as if they were the most precious gems in the world. Liliana noticed that he would delicately fold her clothes as touch the fabric as if he never saw jeans before.
“I’m going to go get some snacks.” Liliana wanted a reason to leave.
“Ok.” He stated, staring at a picture he pulled out of one of the boxes.
Liliana went to the kitchen and grabbed a few bags of chips and water bottles. She was upset that her sister would put her in a situation like this. Liliana did not want to entertain an unwanted guest in her house. Especially not some creepy weird guy that seemed like he could not control his actions.
She went back to her room and Jamanj Reklats was sitting on her bed, a handful of her blanket in his hand. He had an unperturbed look on his face and looked as if he was daydreaming. When he noticed her at the door, he stood up as if he was startled.
“I brought chips.” She uttered and sat the bags on top of her dresser.
“I have to go.” He bolted out of her room, nearly knocking her down.
“Um, okay.” Liliana looked confused.
She didn’t understand why he was acting so strange. One second he was helping her unpack her things in her room, the next minute he couldn’t stand to be near her. Liliana walked over to her box with picture frames. She rummaged through some of the pictures and a few were noticeably missing. Her graduation picture and her picture she took at the mall with her sister were both not in the box. Liliana thought maybe she skipped pass them and decided to look for them later.
She went over to her armoire and took out her favorite new pajamas. They were pink with hearts all over them. Liliana began to feel that someone was watching her. She quickly changed and went over to her window. The curtains were slightly ajar and there was a creepy decrepit tree outside that look as if the wind was the reason it was leaning toward the house. Liliana thought she saw a shadow outside and went to go check it out.
Taking two steps at a time, Liliana quickly ran downstairs. Her sister’s door was closed and her mom was probably already asleep. She knew that she could not tell them; they probably already thought she was losing her mind.
Once Liliana got outside, she didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. The bushes were cut perfectly and there was no one hiding behind them, the trees didn’t betray or convey anything out of the ordinary, and there were no fresh footprints on the dewy grass.
Believing that her mind was playing tricks on her again, Liliana decided to go back upstairs. She had left the window open when she ran downstairs, and went over to close it. That was went she noticed the photograph. It appeared that someone was outside her window when she changing into her pajamas, There was a picture of her, on the window sill, of her in her new pajamas.

Chapter Two: I Love The Way U Try

“….Like a billiard ball, which can have no relation with other entities except that of collision.”
Frederick Hart Three Servicemen

“What is this?” Liliana was surprised and shocked that someone took a picture of her.
She dismissed it as a joke, maybe her sister was messing with her. Charisse seemed to always take things to far and she was the only one that knew Liliana thought someone was following her. Liliana crumpled the picture up, tossed it in the garbage, and went over to her dresser where her diary was. This was her way of venting and talking about her day since she found it difficult to talk to her ditzy sister and nonchalant mother. Liliana picked it up, turned to a clean page, and whipped out her pink Hello Kitty pin. The last entry was two days ago, and she had wrote with her bubbly script how nervous she was moving to a big city like Chicago and making new friends.
Liliana used the glittery pink pen and began to write about her day. She wrote about everything from the classes to Jamanj. Especially that strange feeling she kept having that someone was watching her. She closed her diary and skipped down the spiral staircase to the dining room. Liliana’s mom had picked out a beautiful wallpaper that was the color of coffee. The granite countertops glistered due to the lack of use and the stainless steel refrigerator was fingerprint- free and fully stocked with Ice Mountain water.
“Hey Liliana!” Charisse called from the table. She wore a pair a silky satin pajamas and her bright red hair was pulled into a tight bun. “Guess what?”
“What?” Liliana asked, unenthusiastically.
“I got a date!” Charisse shot out of her chair, like a rocket, and started jumping up and down with glee. “I’m so happy! Gage Parker asked me out on a date!”
“That’s great.” Liliana knew her sister always went on dates with random guys. This would be no different. Before they moved, Charisse had dated pretty much everyone that attended their high school, and it appeared she wanted to keep up that reputation here in Chicago.
“I’m going to need you to take me to the mall.” Charisse was now smoothing out her hair and staring at her reflection in a compact mirror. “We’re going to the mall.”
“I guess I’ll take you.” Liliana really did not want to leave the house. She felt that she should just go upstairs and watch a movie, avoiding the possible Peeping Tom that followed her today.
Charisse squealed again and bolted upstairs. When she came back down, she was wearing a short green dress and buckets of makeup. Her green eyes were surrounded by heavy eyeliner and mascara caked on her red eyelashes. Charisse attempted to lightly dust her cheeks with blush, but it looked as if someone had pinched her cheeks.
“Let’s go.” Liliana grabbed her mother’s car keys off the counter and headed to the garage.
“Liliana, I really think you should date that guy.” Charisse was adjusting an earring in her ear. “He seems really into you.”
“About that….” Liliana bit her lip. “I think that would be a good idea.”
“Why not? He’s kind of…..cute.”
Liliana put the keys into the ignition and pulled off in her mother’s black Range Rover. How could she explain to her sister that Jamanj was definitely not her type. By her type she was referring to creepy and scary looking. Despite having all the same classes as him, Liliana felt as if he was distant and removed from her. He was a black sheep and she noticed that no one really talked to him. In fact, it seemed they avoided him at all costs.
“He gives me the creeps.” Liliana shivered just thinking about him, and the way her looked at her when they first met.
“I think he’s just a little shy Liliana.”
They were now pulling into the parking lot of Lincolnwood Mall. The lot was pretty empty, except for a couple of cars. She pulled into the side where the restaurants were, and Charisse jumped out and ran over to where Gage was. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and the scurried inside of the restaurant. Liliana had a an hour or so to kill so she headed for the shopping part of the mall. She went inside a Kohl’s to buy more uniform clothes, then the Waldenbooks store to check out the new Richelle Mead novel and decided to go to Wet Seal.
“Welconm to Wet Seal!” A perky blonde greeted her. “Let me know if you need help picking out any clothes or shoes.”
Wet Seal was a store that many teen girls loved to shop in. Liliana and Charisse preferred shopping at one of the four B’s in New York City: Barney’s, Bergdorf, Bloomingdales and Bendel. Hopefully Chicago had at least two of those department stores. There were mountains of shoes and racks of dresses in the little store. She eyed a pretty pink fuchsia dress with rhinestones trailing the hem. Liliana quickly took in the dress and decided she wanted to buy it. Always the thoughtful one, Liliana put the dress back and contemplated looking at the other items to see if she could find something to buy her mom. She stepped outside the store and walked over to the benches. A guy with a dark blue sweatshirt on ran into the store. Quickly dialing her mother’s number, Liliana texted to ask if she wanted something from the store, but her mother responded instantly saying no.
Turning around and going back to the store, Liliana looked for the dress she just saw.
“Sorry, I think that dress you are looking for has already been sold.” The blonde walked passed Liliana and restocked the rack with shirts that said “I Wear My Sunglasses At Night”.
“Are you serious?” She questioned, a little disappointed.
Liliana decided to leave, and ran head on into Jamanj. He was walking very fast as if he was in a hurry.
“Liliana, just the person I was looking for.” He rubbed the back of his neck and concealed a blue bag behind his back. “Charisse told me to meet you here.”
“Why would she do that?” Liliana demanded. She didn’t understand why her sister was constantly trying to get her to spend time with him.
“I was just shopping for my mom.” Jamanj looked around as if he was avoiding eye contact. “But if you want………Maybe we can go somewhere…..Like out on a date.”
She didn’t know what to say. Liliana couldn’t understand why he was so persistent to hang out with her. Every second she spent with him felt like an eternity and her stomach was in knots, and twisting as if it were trying to escape from her, or get away from Jamanj.
“I’m sorry--I cant.” Liliana stammered. “I have to pick up my sister.”
She brushed past him, leaving Jamanj confused and upset. He shoved his hands into his pocket and walked in the opposite direction. Liliana knew he was definitely angry because he kicked one of the blue recycling garbage cans and startled a little kid.
To avoid running into Jamanj again, Liliana ran to the car. After sprinting the entire way to the parking lot, she began taking deep breaths. The look on his face………It registered sheer disappointed and rage. Jamanj looked as if her wanted to kill something, or someone. That look was not and expression she every wanted to see again.
When she go to the car she noticed rose petals surrounding the Range Rover.
“What the hell?” Liliana put the keys in the ignition and sped off to the restaurant her sister was at. Luckily Charisse and Gage were just leaving. Gage’s hair was disheveled and he was holding hands with Charisse who had a big grin on her face.
“Charisse!” Liliana waved frantically to get her sister’s attention. “Over here!”
Charisse staggered over to the car and offered to drive the rest of the way to their house.
“Gage was the perfect date, isn’t he cute?” Charisse began gushing about how much of a gentleman he was. “He is so hot!”
“You do realize you’ve only known him for like six hours right?” Liliana knew her sister always fell head over heels when she meet a new guy. Or should she say heels over head….
Before they pulled out of the parking lot, a black car weaving back and forth through traffic beamed their high beam lights on them.
“I can’t see!” Charisse tried to gain control of the steering wheel. Their car spun around three times before completely stopping. Charisse hit her head against the windshield and Liliana immediately checked to see if she had a pulse. Liliana pushed backed her sister’s red hair, revealing a small trail of blood. Charisse’s eyes fluttered open and she grabbed hold of the wheel again.
“Are you okay?” Liliana was concerned for her sister and then checked herself to make sure she was not hurt. Surprisingly, she didn’t have any scratches or gashes.
“I’m fine. I should be able to drive.”
Liliana recognized the car that was behind them. It was the same car that she saw earlier. They speed off to the other entrance and almost hit another car. Liliana began to doze off, but when she woke up, they were at home. Liliana could smell the fresh dew on the grass and the sunflowers greeted her along the walkway. The rose bushes appeared to be moving as something black shuffled around.
“Charisse look!” Liliana pointed her index finger toward the bush. “There is something in there!”
“Liliana you are just paranoid because of the car accident. Go upstairs and get some rest.” Charisse suggested as she rubbed her head.
Liliana dragged her feet up each step, as if they were made out of lead. She was exhausted from her long first day of school and the series of events that unfolded today. Her Mac computer was on and she checked her Facebook. As soon as Liliana logged in. she immediately got a message from a user name she didn’t recognize.
I love LOL. It read.
Who is this? She quickly typed in, but they didn’t respond. Liliana waited to see what they would say next.
Why are you so mean? The person answered, avoiding her question.
WHO IS THIS??? Liliana inquired once again.
Check your closet. The user was now offline.
Liliana slowly crept over to her closet and opened the door. She was expecting her sister to pop out, playing a prank on her but instead a body with red hair fell out and she let out a scream.


Chapter Three: Meet Me Hallway
“But she still couldn’t bring herself to tell him the truth.”
Cecily von Ziegesar The Carlyles

Liliana couldn’t believe this. A body had fallen out of her closet. She quickly ran over to her bed. Realizing that the person could be her mother or her sister, she picked it up to identify the person, and noticed it was a doll. It was one of those human size life like dolls, and it was wearing the outfit she had picked out at the mall. How could someone have access to her room and do that? Charisse was with her the entire time they were in the car. She could not have enough time to go to her room before she arrived, and Liliana began to believe that someone else was messing with her. Her sister liked to play pranks but this would be taking it war too far. Charisse did not have the brains to do something like this and she would never play some sick joke.
The doll also had angry black lettering on the forehead. In capital letters, it read “JR”. Liliana’s hair mirrored that on the dolls, and the delicate features of her face uncannily matched that of the doll. The shade of the doll’s eyes glistened and were as bright and beautiful a green as her.
If Charisse was to blame, Liliana felt that she needed to confront her sister and tell her to stop with the insensitive jokes. She slid on her shoes and crept to her sister’s room.
Charisse was sound asleep. Her clothes were still in the boxes; her uniform draped across the chair at her dress. The alarm clock on her dresser said midnight in bright crimson letters. Liliana walked over to her sister, and shook her lightly to wake her.
“Charisse, wake up!” Liliana continued to shake her, as her sister mumbled incoherent words. “Can you please wake up? It’s very important.”
“Liliana!” Her older sister sat up in her bed abruptly. “Go back to sleep! It’s very late and we have to get up early in the morning.”
Defeated, Liliana stood up and walked away as her sister continued to shoo her out of her room. She definitely was not the one who put the doll in her closet, but who did? Who would want to scare Liliana or make her upset?
It was really late at night and Liliana decided that she would try to go to sleep and forget about her strange first day at school. She closed her eyes and tried to forget all about the black car that followed her when she and her sister went out for lunch. As her eyelids became heavy, Liliana tried to wipe her mind of the doll she discovered, and the anonymous instant message she received on her computer. When she realized she was dreaming, she had forgotten all about the creepy Jamanj Reklats and his strange mannerisms at school, her house and the mall.
When Liliana’s alarm clock woke her up in the morning, her arms and her back ached. She felt like she had run a marathon or had tossed and turned all night long. Beads of sweat covered her face, drenched her body, and she once again had the strange feeling that someone was watching her. She couldn’t believe that someone would be after her but she knew that someone was in her room last night. There were large footprints on her carpet, that revealed the culprit was probably male and wore those shoes outside because there was mud on the new carpet.
Liliana also believe that the person had stood over her as she slept. She could hear someone mumbling things to her while she was asleep, and she saw a face. If asked to identify the person, Liliana knew she couldn’t because she could barely make out the features. All she knew was that the person had dark color long hair.
“Liliana are you getting dressed?” Charisse began banging on the door. “Hurry up! We’re getting a ride to school today.”
She pranced over to her closet and grabbed a white shirt and black pants; quickly dressing for school.
“I’m ready!” Liliana called out as she ran down stairs to her mother and sister.
They were both eating breakfast, talking about the Channel 7 news and their life in Chicago so far. On the television screen, was a woman with blonde hair reporting about the economy and the stock market.
“How’s school?” Her mother sat in front of the TV with a spoonful of Honey Comb suspended midway between her mouth and the bowl.
“It’s great mom.” Liliana lied through her teeth. Truthfully, Liliana would rather be back in their small town. “I just love this big city.”
“That’s great to hear.” Mrs. Leigh smiled. “I though you would have a hard time moving to such a big city. Charisse told me you meet a nice boy at school. Is he that boy that came to help you unpack yesterday?”
“It’s nothing mom.” She answered quickly, knowing that her mother was referring to Jamanj. “I think she’s over exaggerating.”
A horn outside sounded, and Charisse jumped up and ran to the window to see who was outside. She let out a squeal and ran to grab her book bag and coat. Chicago weather was harsh and unforgiving, and it was September, meaning one day it was cold outside and the next day it would be really hot.
“Liliana! Our rides are here!” Charisse pointed to a black Ford car and a Toyota trailed behind it. “Let’s go.”
Charisse followed her sister outside and Gage Parker honked his horn impatiently in the black Ford.
“I don’t have all day!” He shouted with a smiled playing on his face. Charisse ran over and gave him a kiss on the lips.
“Jamanj is here for you.” Charisse pointed to the Toyota as she hopped into the passenger seat of Gage’s car. “I guess I’ll see you at school.”
Dreading the moment she would see his ice blue eyes, Liliana slowed her pace, hoping Jamanj would drive off or maybe turn around. He looked happy to see her and instead of walked to the car door, she walked over to his window.
“So, you’re here to give me a ride to school?” Liliana asked, avoiding his stare. She wanted to stall for time because she hated the moment getting into the car.
“Yeah, your sister called me.” He turned down his radio and got out to open her door. “Let’s go. You don’t want to be late for school.”
“I don’t know.” Liliana took a step back. “Maybe I should walk to school today. I get……car sick sometimes.”
“Come on.” Her ushered her toward the door. “You’ll be fine.”
Liliana complied and climbed into the car cautiously.
“I think we need to talk Liliana.” Jamanj slowed down as they can to a stop sign.
“About what?”
“Us.” He combed through his hair nervously.
“Us?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry Liliana.”
“For what?” He was acting really weird around her again. Liliana wondered why he was apologizing.
“Everything Liliana. I’m sorry for what I did to you. You know what I’m talking about. I can be ….impulsive sometimes. I’m so sorry for what I did, and what I have to do.”
The car pulled up to the school parking lot. Liliana didn’t know what to do. Except his apology? Get out of the car and run away? How did he expect her to react. She pretended to not hear him, and turned up his radio.
When he unlocked her door, she quickly hopped out his car, grabbed her book bag and ran into the school building. She pushed past several confused teenagers, including Charisse, Avian, Bibiane, and Malory.
“Hey Liliana!” They all called out in unison as she sped walked to her locker.
She was beyond scared. What was Jamanj apologizing for? Was he the one that followed her? Was he the one that sent a message to her? Liliana was so confused. She hurried to open her locker and a dozen roses fell out. They were red roses and on the card were the initials J.R. As she was about to throw them away, she noticed Jamanj next to her locker.
“Do you like them?” He asked. “I thought they would brighten your day. They are a beautiful red like your hair.”
Liliana shook her head. She could not bring herself to tell him that she didn’t want him around. The flowers, and the car ride were enough, and she didn’t want him doing things like this everyday.
“Jamanj, I’m flattered but-” She bit her lip. “We can’t be together.”
“Why not?” He demanded, balling his fists as the bell rang.
“I have to go to class.” Liliana quickly slammed her locker and replaced the locker.
“No we need to talk now.” Jamanj Reklats barked as he grabbed her wrist.
“Okay.” She tried pulling her arm back, but his grip was to strong. “I need to go to class. Let me go before you get in trouble.”
“You might not realize this Liliana, but we belong together.” He slowly loosened his hold on her wrist, but not completely. “I feel connected to you. Don’t you feel the same as I do?”
Liliana shook her head. He was really starting to scare her. His eyes bore into hers as if he was really trying to read her soul. His hand held her tiny wrist and she was backed into a corner while he leaned over and talked to her.
“I don’t feel the same.” She whispered inaudible.
He continued to rant. “You are the most beautiful person I have every laid eyes on. We need to be together. Your eyes, your hair; they are so pretty Liliana. Do you realize that? Don’t you feel that we should belong together?”
“I don’t know what to say.” Liliana looked down again.
“Fine, I’ll decide for you. Go to the school dance with me tomorrow.”
“I don’t know if I’m going.” She was trying to figure out a way to tell him that she did not feel the same. Would her understand?
Jamanj’s eyes lit up, as if they were on fire. Her grabbed both of her wrists and slammed her against her locker. “I’m getting very impatient Liliana. Go with me to the dance. We‘ll have fun and we can be together. Say you‘ll go with me to the dance.” He slowly ran his fingers through her hair.
“I’m sorry I gave you mixed messages.” His grip tightened as she spoke.
“That’s not the right answer.”
Jamanj pushed her hard against the locker and kissed her on the lips. Liliana stood helpless as he forced his lips against hers. He held her face in his hands as she tried to turn away. His lips felt cold and foreign against hers, like a virus, as she knew this was wrong. Liliana knew that she did not want him to kiss her, but there was nothing she could do about him.
Slowly, he pulled away. His eyes lingered on her and then he stopped and walked away as Liliana leaned against her locker scared, confused and dazed.

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Publication Date: 02-14-2011

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