I will always be there for you

Chapter 3

Sky's POV (Friday) 7:10am

I felt Mum gently shake me awake. I was still a bit tired.

"Come on Sky, it's time to get up."

I sighed then went to get dressed. When I went downstairs, I found Mum making breakfast.

"You want toast?"

"Yeah ok."

"Are you alright?"

"Just a bit tired."

"Don't worry. It's Friday. Almost the weekend."

Break time...

I was sat will all of my friends. I didn't want them all to know about Riley threatening me with a knife.

I wanted to tell Alice because she'd understand. She's my bff.

I was certain I saw her. I had no idea why she wanted to hurt me.

We had English third. We were doing an essay. Halfway through, our teacher, Mrs. Lee, sent me to run an errand. She needed a pack of A4 lined paper.

On my way back, I almost had a heart attack because I saw Riley.

"Oh Hello Sky."

"Ri... Riley."

"Did you enjoy my appearance last night?"

"How did you get my phone number?"

"I won't tell."

"How did you not show up on the selfie we took?"

"I hacked your phone. I won't say how."

"Why do you want to kill me?"

"I don't want to kill you. It's just threats, because, I used to go to school here. But then YOU came along and got me kicked out."

"They wouldn't do that. There's enough room in this school for the two of us."

"Well they did. Leave this school so I can return. Otherwise, I'll make you leave."

"This don't explain why you claim to be in my class and keep running off."

"Oh that's just to make you look like you're crazy. It's working."

"Can you leave me alone? It's not my fault you were kicked out, ok?"

"Yes it was. I was kicked out, the week after, you started."

"I'm going back to class now."

"By the way, my name isn't Riley."

"Who'd have guessed?"

She stayed silent.

"How did you even get back into the school if you were supposedly 'kicked out' then?"

"I have my ways. Now leave this school."

"No. You won't succeed. I'm staying in this school and you're just crazy."

"No one will find your body once I'm finished with you."

"You wouldn't..."

"Oh but I would. Unless you do what I say and leave this school."

"I'll call the police." I muttered.

"I heard that. My old best friend, Alice, do you know her?"

"She's MY best friend. Not yours."

"I'm going now. Do as I say."

She ran off. Then I quickly walked back to class. I sat back down as if nothing had happened.

"Sky, what took you so long?" Mrs. Lee questioned.

"Oh, I, Uh, bumped into a friend and we started chatting. Sorry miss."

"Amusing."

The afternoon, 2:45pm

We had computers last. We had a free lesson. I decided to tell Alice about my recent run-in with Riley.

"Alice... I saw Riley outside my house last night..."

"Oh? What happened?"

"She threatened me. With a knife. I saw her whilst getting the paper for Mrs. Lee. She said she used to go to this school but was kicked out to make room for me."

"The school wouldn't do that."

"She claims to be your old best friend."

"Well lets see, I was bffs with Faith, then we drifted apart when she went to a different comprehensive. I was supposedly bffs with Katie, but she disappeared. Then I was bffs with you. No one called Riley though."

"She says her name isn't really Riley."

"Well I don't know sorry. I'm sure all this will get sorted soon enough."

"I hope so."

Mum picked me, Rani and Clyde up from school. Luckily, they were talking about what they did in school. No one asked about Riley, then again, they didn't believe me.

I had the whole weekend to figure this out.

I did all of my homework as soon as I got in. I decided to do some research on "Riley" with Mr. Smith.

Mum wasn't in the attic, which was helpful because I could do this privately.

"Mr. Smith, I need you!"

"Hello Sky. What can I do for you?"

"Search through Park Vale school records. Find a girl my age, who was supposedly 'kicked out' a week before I started."

"Searching."

"Search complete. I have one possible match. Here's a photo."

Oh... my... god...

The girl had different hair to Riley, she had a different appearance in fact, but her face... it was the same.

"Can you give me the full details on her please?"

"Eliza Clarke. Age 13. She was expelled from Park Vale because she had done many bad things including, setting off the fire alarm, swearing badly at teachers and hurting many students."

"So... if she's really Eliza, why is she pretending to be Riley?"

"I have a theory. She may be faking her identity to get back into school. She is scaring you into leaving because she thinks you took her place in Park Vale. No other schools are accepting her because of her violent behaviour."

"She is human though. Isn't she?"

"Of course."

"Now I know who she is... maybe I could confront her?"

"That may not be wise. She may hurt you. I suggest you talk to Sarah-Jane about it. She can help you."

"You really think so? Will she believe me? She didn't yesterday."

"If she does not, I can show her the evidence."

"Ok. Thank you Mr. Smith."

I went to find Mum. She was in the living room, doing work on her laptop. At first, she didn't notice me come in.

When she did, she placed her laptop on the coffee table and turned her attention to me.

"Are you ok Sky?"

"I have found out more about 'Riley.' Mr. Smith helped me."

"Not this again. Are you sure she's real? What did Mr. Smith say?"

"He found out who she really was. What she wants. Why she's being like this. There's a lot to it, but it's real."

"Ok then. Please tell me everything."