Ten Days

Nine

Brooke-

When the police left last night after helping themselves to the cheap pizza, me and my family settled into an uneasy silence. We voiced our speculations about what happened, but we were all confused by the end of our discussion.

I tucked Hope into bed and climbed into the top bunk. I closed my eyes, but images swam through the darkness. The beautiful stalker, the wrecked apartment. I knew he was related to what happened somehow.

Bentley snorted sleepily from his bed on the floor. I smiled.

I lay there awake for hours, until my father came home. Through the thin walls of the apartment, I heard him and my mom discussing.

"Do you think it was him?" My mom's voice was muffled and laced with fear.

I could almost see my dad shake his head in a confused way. "I don't think so, for all we know he died in jail."

"Jonathan, we need to protect Brooke and Hope. We have to live with our choices, but they shouldn't."

He laughed. "I'm not sure when it became our choice. As far as I can remember, i'm the one who turned him in."

"It's always been our choice, Jon. You turned him in for me."

There was a muffled noise -a kiss- before my father responded. "For you, for us, for the future."

When the voices stopped, I fell into an uneasy sleep.

The next morning I woke to bright green eyes staring into my soul. I jumped, and Hope giggled. "Get out of here, you brat," I laughed as she jumped down. I quickly dressed and headed to the train station so I wouldn't be late to school.

The train was ten minutes late. I sighed. It was the fifth time this month that I was late. They would finally call my parents. When I boarded, it was as packed as yesterday. I looked for a seat, and found the only one was beside the stalker. I huffed. "Are you seriously stalking me? I could call the police and get you arrested." I sat beside him, deciding that I would rather argue with him while sitting.

He flashed a perfect grin. "I'm not stalking, I swear. I just moved here from California."

"Likely story." I grumbled.

He mocked hurt. "Ouch. Listen, i'm not a stalker. Yesterday I was a little... out of it."

I pulled my headphones from my bag and plugged them into my phone. "If that's what you call stalkerish, then I agree." I put my earbuds into my ears, and drowned out the world.

The peace only lasted for a second, because he pulled out one of the earbuds and stuck it in his ear. "What are you listening to? Is it 'I'm too shy to talk to this incredibly hot guy beside me'?"

I turned off the music and stared at him. "Has anyone ever told you that you're full of yourself?"

A girl with long red hair turned to me. "Yes actually, I tell him everyday."

My heart sank a little. So he has a girlfriend.

She looked at my face and grinned. "This is Carteret, my brother. I'm Renesmee." She put her hand out for me to shake.

"It's nice to meet you."

The train reached the station, and I hurried off so I wouldn't be late. They ran beside me.

When we reached the school door, I was out of breath. I glanced at the siblings and saw they looked like they hadn't even ran. "Listen," Renesmee started, "could you show us around? We're pretty lost already." She laughed and stared at her surroundings.