Under the Radar

Trouble Part 2: Mia's POV

Monday. The day EVERYONE hates. Everyone was usually quiet and lazy, not wanting to do anything. Key word: usually.

Today, everyone was jumpy, on guard, or upset about something. Seriously, was it me, or was everyone acting weird? I swear, when I got to school everyone either avoided eye-contact with me or gave me a guilty look or some even gave me a hug!

I was sitting in my fourth period class, and May walked in happier then a leprechaun with gold. She bounced into the classroom, twirling her blonde hair around her finger. Her eyes caught mine and she burst out laughing before finding her seat and turning away. What did I ever do to her? We were literally friends a few weeks ago!

Molly and Charlie charged into the classroom, pushing their way through other students frantically. They scanned the class until they found me. Charlie shoved a boy out of the desk next to me and Molly sat in front of me. Molly dug into her bag and pulled out her phone, typing away. Charlie just stared at me, no emotion, and grabbed my hand. I rose an eyebrow. "You guys okay? Everyone's acting weird today." Molly froze and looked at Charlie. Charlie shook her head 'no'.

Class went by fast. Charlie kept glancing at me every ten seconds and Molly texted away on her phone. When the lunch bell finally rang, I went to get up but was stopped by Charlie. Andrew then fought his way through the crowd to get in the room. "Mia!" He shouted.

Molly, Charlie, and I all stood up and made our way to the door. Molly linked arms with Andrew and followed as Charlie tried pulling me the opposite direction of the cafeteria. "Mia, why don't we go out for lunch? I mean, it's senior year. Let's have fun with it!" Molly pleaded nervously.

I laughed and kept walking. "Maybe some other time guys, but I brought my own lunch today." I showed them the brown paper bag. Molly squeaked and nudged Andrew.

"Then we could eat outside! We could have a picnic or something!"

I raised an eyebrow, amused. "It's nearly November. No thanks."

As I opened the cafe doors, Charlie tried giving one last pull and yelled, "Mia!", causing everyone to look at me. People watched nervously in silence as I made my way to my table. I looked around; May and her followers were grinning evilly and watching my every move. The more I looked, the more I noticed how people were scared or nervous. With one final turn, I found myself looking at Daniel's table.

Daniel seemed just as confused as I was but wasn't looking at me. He was looking at the blonde boy next to him. My eyes made their way to the blonde's, and once they locked, I couldn't move.

"Andrew, please! Help, please! He's after me, Andrew, he has a knife! I running towards the park, he's chasing me! Please!" I heard the footsteps getting closer to me and quickly shoved the phone in my pocket to continue to run.

"Mia! Get the f*** back here! You WILL regret this!" He yelled. When I made it to the park, I hid under the play-set stairs. I let out slow quiet breaths so I wouldn't be found.

'He won't find me. He'll stop looking. He'll leave me alone.' A giant rough hand grabbed onto my shoulder and tried pulling me back, but I quickly shoved him away and continued running.

I found myself at the park, gasping for air. I crouched down and buried myself in the shadows. Hoping he would just leave me alone, I hid under the slide. Everything was dead silent, the warm wind wrapped around me like a blanket but still gave me the chills.

I was trembling in fear. He has never pulled a knife on me before. It was just the hitting and verbal abuse. Tears slid down my face as I let out silent sobs. Would he really do it? Is this how I'm going to die?

A rough hand grabbed my shoulder and yanked me to the ground. The knife dropped to the floor as he got on top off my shaking body. Straddling me, he began slapping my face. "Remember last time you ran from me, bitch? Remember the fun we had? Well, fun for me. Pain, for you. Let's do that again, shall we?" His hands made their way to the bottom of my shirt and lifted. After it was completely off, they headed towards my pants. Throughout my pleads and screams, my thrashing around, he still managed to do something I wasn't prepared for.

Pain erupted through me as his body thrusted against me. "James! Please! Get off me!" I cried and cried but he wouldn't stop. I just wanted it to stop, all the pain, the suffering. I wanted it to all go away. My body became numb, I didn't move, I didn't fight him. My eye lids became heavy and the world around me moved slower.

Suddenly, James was knocked down beside me. I was lifted into someone's arms and was covered by a blanket. Slowly, I looked over to him and saw police officers holding him down. They placed handcuffs on him while others led me to an ambulance. I looked up to who ever was holding me. Andrew looked down also, giving a sad smile. Tears weld in his eyes, but never fell. He said something to me, but I couldn't hear. I managed to get one last look around before the world fading to black. Charlie held my mother, crying on the side. Kids from the party took pictures and panicked about the situation. And finally, James. He was being shoved into a police car. But once he saw me looking, the only thing I heard was his voice. "I'll be back, and you'll be sorry!"

"James." I gasped as I felt a hand on my shoulder. Charlie looked at me, pleading me to follow her. And I did. But once I got through those cafeteria doors, I couldn't hold back any longer. I broke out into tears. I was scared. I wasn't safe anymore. Just as I was getting back to normal, he comes back to ruin my life again.

I began to hyperventilate, thinking of all the things that could possibly happen again. I fell to my knees, Andrew sat on the floor holding me while Molly screamed panicking and Charlie pulled out her phone.

"I'll be back, and you'll be sorry!"

The words repeated in my mind as I continued to sob. Soon enough, my parents, principal, and nurse ran up to my shivering body. The nurse helped with my breathing while my parents and the principal argued.

"Why would you let that piece of shit back here, knowing what he's done!?" My father shouted.

"Why didn't you even warn anyone!?" My mom cried.

The principal just stood there watching me, with guilt and shame in his eyes. He said nothing; he had nothing to say. "Mom, Dad, guys," they looked at me concerned, "I just wanna go home." They helped me off the floor and made our way out of the school, just in time to hear the bell ring and all the students flood the halls.

Daniel's POV

As I sat at the lunch table with my usual friends, the new kid came to the table. While the gang glared, I smirked and made a spot next to me. The cafeteria was unusually quiet and everyone would occasionally look to James.

Everyone's head shot to the doors as Mia walked in with a smile on her face. Her hair flowed around her as her walked to her table, her friends nervously staying behind. She stopped and looked around, confused. It was then that I realized, everyone else was watching her too. She finally noticed and looked around, taking in the faces near her.

"The moment I've been waiting for, for a year." James said to himself; his voice low and intimidating. He watched Mia, like a predator in the wild. Flabbergasted and confused, I just looked at him as he smirked. I looked back at Mia, who seemed to be in her own world.

As she stared at James, her complexion went pale. Her eyes glazed over and tears brimmed the edges. She started to shake as her friend slowly came up behind her. When her friend placed a hand on her shoulder, she gasped and quietly whispered something. She was dragged out and still, things remained quiet. Until James and the bitchy blonde girl, the one who picks on Mia, started cracking up. The peers around us watched in shock, along with me, but unlike mine, theirs turned to hatred and disgust. Comments were made, names were being called, but James laughed at every single one of them.

When the bell rang, I jumped out of my seat and ran into the hall searching for Mia. I ended up looking outside, only to find her family and friends leaving the parking-lot. I caught a glimpse of her face; her eyes filled with fear and tears stained her face.

What happened? Did she know James? Why were James and 'Blondie' laughing? And what did James mean by "The moment I've been waiting for..."?