Lucifer

Draft 2-Chapter 1

Instead of sitting through class, she sits on the yellow, beaten grass. It scratches at her legs and her fingers pluck pieces from the ground. Her backpack is unzipped, yet the girl has no intention of grabbing anything out of it.

"Micky." A voice sounds from behind. A smile finds its way onto Micky's lips as she turns around, her eyes opening. She doesn't say anything as her boyfriend sits beside her. Micky wraps an arm around Joshua and leans her head on his shoulder.

"You don't have to skip class just because I do," she whispers, though she's internally grateful. Joshua turns his head.

"I know." Neither of them speak after that. They sit in silence, both of them waiting for the other to say something.

The ending bell rings from the school and Micky sighs in relief. Joshua smirks over at her, knowing she can't wait to go home. Micky grabs Joshua's hand and drags him to her car.

"Don't want to go home alone?"

"I want to have an excuse as to why my dad can't scold me," Micky corrects. Joshua throws his head back and laughs, the sun catching the bridge of his nose. Micky stares at him then turns away, shaking her head. She wasn't lying.

"Will you drive?" Micky asks, pulling out her car keys. Joshua nods and Micky tosses the keys to him, a ring hanging off of it.

"I can't believe you kept this," Joshua says, "I gave you this ring in second grade." Micky just shrugs and hops in the car. Green trees pass by Micky's eyes and she longs to go in them with her bow and arrow. She could use some more practice before tonight, Micky thinks to herself.

Once the pair arrives at Micky's house, they both hop out of the car and Micky takes the keys from Joshua before they head inside.

"I got a call today," starts Micky's dad as soon as she opens the door. Micky leans her head back and stops walking, but Joshua pushes her forward. "That's the third time this week, Michaela. I'm tired of getting these calls." Micky stops to take off her shoes.

"It's not my fault school is boring." Micky turns around now that her shoes are off. "Can we please not do this in front of Joshua?"

"He's heard this before and he'll hear it again. You need to go to school," Micky's dad scolds, "And you need to stop skipping with her." The last part is aimed at Joshua who looks away.

"Yes, sir." Joshua knows that he will continue to skip anyway.

"Dad, I need to practice for the hunt tonight." That's all Micky says as she walks away, Joshua silently following. She hears her dad sigh and knows that he is shaking his head, but all she does is roll her eyes.

"Where did I go wrong?" her dad says in despair. "If only..." Micky shuts the door before he finishes his sentence, her jaw clenching as she knows how he finished that sentence.

Micky grabs her bow and slings the bag of arrows over her shoulder. Joshua knows the routine so he sits on her bed. She'll be back in a few hours.

Micky's fingers run along the curve of her black bow, then make their way back to the drawstring. The string is rough-a huge contrast to the smooth curve at the front. Micky's black, skin-tight shirt sticks to her body while gloves cover her hands. They disguise the pale color of her skin while the dark and thick plants help to hide her from the animals in the forest.

Micky reaches into the black bag that is strung diagonally across her body to grab an arrow. She lines up the arrow with the drawstring and places the front on the tiny ledge. Now she waits until an animal comes into view. As she pulls the arrow back, her mind floods with memories of her mom braiding her hair when she was young and teaching her proper technique. Then Micky remembers earlier, and how her dad wishes that her mom was still alive. How her dad doesn't know what to do with her, but if Micky's mom was alive, she would. Micky thinks about how perfect everything would have been if her mom stayed in that night with her.