new kid / h.s

15

K A T

When I woke up again, it was Thursday. I was in the comfort of my own room, and my phone lay safely on the bedside table next to me. It was like all that gang drama with Harry never happened.

I unlocked my phone and scrolled through my messages in a haze, only to find that there were no traces of the anonymous texter. Harry's contact wasn't even saved in my phone.

"Harry?" I called warily, but no answer.

I slipped on my house shoes and walked downstairs, only to see a note on the fridge signed by mom. She would be out for groceries and dad was working late. What a surprise. But where was Harry?

That day I went to school in sweatpants and a tee. I just felt in a funk, like something was wrong and out of line all of a sudden. Like I was missing a piece of my memory.

I sat in the cafeteria in the morning, alone. Weird, because Caitlyn would usually sit by me. But then I remembered what she did and I just felt empty. No tears.

Harry wasn't in class, either. It was like he had almost...

Disappeared.

They, whoever they were, wanted me to believe that Harry was never a part of my life. But I wasn't that foolish. I wouldn't believe.

He was in trouble.

"Excuse me, Mr. Schmidt." I said in the middle of class and before even getting his permission, I bolted out the class and down the halls.

I had no idea where to look for Harry. But I knew what kind of people I was dealing with, and that they wouldn't mess around and waste time with him. If they wanted to do something, it would be done.

I tried to think of clues that would lead me to him.

The first thing that came to mind was his locker. I remembered the combination and everything. It was 30, 5, 19.

I opened his locker, only to find an address. It read:

louis:
8493 grover lane

There was no denying that it was sprawled across the paper by Harry in desperation. He must've been a hurry to go there, or maybe he knew that's where he was going to be taken.

I was starting to run out of the school in all its entirety, but Caitlyn stopped me. "Hey!" she called, and started running towards me in her high heels. That had me at an advantage, and I tried to get as far away from her as possible.

When I got outside, I hid behind a bush. That completely threw her off, because she saw her boyfriend Benny in the distance and walked off. Thank goodness for that.

I took a walk down the street and borrow a bike from a stranger, using my phone to track the address. It was a five minute ride from where I was, and I was there in no time at all.

The only problem was getting in.

There were vineyards crawling up the sides of the building, so that looked like my only option. But conveniently, the vines led right to an open window.

I tried to be as quiet as I could in climbing, but it wasn't an easy task. I was taking a blind lead here, scaling the side of a house. The only thought going through my mind was, "how did I get here?"

But it was too late for that. Because I got to the window, and crawled in.

Then I was hit upside the hit with something sharp, and the world quickly faded away from me.

*

It was almost funny how much waking up I had done for someone my age for the past few days, but I woke up this time without my phone and a piece of duct tape over my mouth.

And when I glanced over my shoulder, Harry looked like he was in the same position as me.

Whoever tied me up was obviously not smart enough to tie my hands, because I ripped the tape straight off my mouth without flinching. Harry's eyebrows raised and he did the same when he realized he could.

"Idiot." I muttered with a slight grin. "All this time with tape on your mouth and you could've ripped it off. Who's doing this to us?"

He stayed silent. Something was wrong.

"Harry, maybe we should get out." I suggested but he didn't even offer a nod. He just sat there, helpless and staring at the floor.

"There's no use." he finally said. "Because I was hired to trick you."

First Caitlyn, now Harry? He was right, I couldn't trust anyone. And that was my warning before I fell into his trap.

Well, too late.

I actually believed that he liked me. That I had made and picked my own friends for once in high school, and that my friend thought of me as a friend too.

I was always the victim. And I hated it.

"There's no way out." he sighed, looking ashamed. "At first I was down for it because I was getting money but then I started catching feelings--"

"Oh, save it Harry!" I snapped and shut down. All I could do was sit there and breathe. Focus on the only function that was keeping me sane. "Just kill me already like you've been told to do. That'll hurt more than how you just stabbed me in my back and managed to break my heart all the same."

He didn't say anything. "I'm not going to kill you, Kat. Because I gave up the job."

I stayed silent.

"You're not the only one who's about to die."