My eyes flutter open. My hand immediately flew to my stomach. I feel nauseous. I run to the connecting bathroom and release all the contents in my stomach into the toilet. Once I'm confident that I can stand up I flush the toilet and stand directly in front of my mirror.

  I look like a mess. I'm as pale as a ghost and my eyes are red and puffy from crying all night.

  Shakily, I return to my room and look at my alarm clock on my nightstand. My eyes almost pop out of their sockets when I realize it's 2:50. School will be over soon. I groan and lay back in my bed.

  Last nights events come flooding back to my mind now that I'm awake. The song dedication, the break in, and the note cause my stomach to churn. I can feel the burn of tears at my eyes, but none fall. I used all of my tears last night.

  I decide that since I'm up I might as well eat and get a drink. I slowly make my way downstairs to the kitchen. I grab a water from the fridge and a pear from a bowl.

  I sit on one of the stools that surround the counter. I prop my head onto my elbow and allow my mind to consume me. I was like this for a brief moment when the a loud knock brings me back to reality. I feel my heart beat faster. I'm home alone. What a better time to attack.

  I force my feet to move and focus on putting one foot in front of the other. The hall seems to go on forever. Once I reach the door I peak out of the side window. It's just Vicky. She sees me and gives me an impatient look. I offer her a shy smile and whip the door open.

  She doesn't waste a minute before entering. "Wow you look like crap."

  I do and I know that. I hadn't slept properly because my mind was drifting into terrifying situations that were on constant replay. I have dark circles under my eyes and my hair is sticking up in random places. I sigh "Yeah, tell me about it."

  She must have picked up on my negative attitude. "You missed school which, like, never happens. I knew something was up. I came over as soon as the bell rang to perform my best friend duties. I take it upon myself to ensure you are healthy."

  She waltzes over to the couch in the adjoining room and pats the cushion next to her. I follow her and plop down next to her.

  "I felt sick all day. I have a pounding headache and my stomach feels like it's doing somersaults. I just couldn't bring myself to go to class, so I stayed home," I explain briefly. Yeah all because of this stupid freak who's watching me I think but don't say. She nods to tell me she understands.

  "Not to worry. Me being the awesome friend I am brought you all your notes so you could catch up!" She chirps. I was actually glad she brought my books. They could distract me from all the thoughts in my head.

  "Thank you," I mumble. She looks at me and stands up.

  "I have to go. Wouldn't want to keep my step mom waiting."

  "No!" I cry. "Please don't go. I don't feel like being alone right now."

  She doesn't move or say anything. She silently contemplates whether or not the trouble she will receive for being late is worth it. I have my fingers crossed that she will stay.

  "Alright. But only because you asked so nicely," she says. "Besides my step mom won't mind if I'm with you. You're like her second daughter. She thinks you're good for me." She lays on the couch. She pulls the remote out from underneath her and starts flipping through channels. She finally decides on a marathon of Survivor re-runs.

  I wave my phone in the air. "Want to order a pizza?"

  She mumbles a yes and I begin to dial the number in the kitchen.

  "No olives!" She yells from the room over.

  Once I've ordered the pizza I return into the room to find it empty. The TV is off and the remote is neatly placed on the coffee table.

  "Vicky?" I call. I hear a shuffling of feet on the level above me. I take the stairs two at a time. My bedroom door is open and Vicky is laying on my bed. I run and flop beside her. We both laugh. I roll over and turn the tv on. We get comfortable, laying side by side, and continue the Survivor marathon.

  The doorbell chimes. I look over to Vicky who is to engrossed in the show to notice. I roll my eyes and stand up. "Please let me get it after I ordered it and paid for it," I say sarcastically.

  "Thanks. I was going to offer but seeing you want to then who am I to stop you?" I realize she's dead serious and I huff downstairs. I pull the door open to see a guy my age standing there with the pizza box in his hand.

  He's got a few inches on me. He smiles once he sees me and I watch as his eyes rake over my body. Feeling a little self conscious, I cross my arms over my chest. His eyes meet mine and his smile widens.

  "Here's your pizzaz. It's hot just like you," he smirks.

  Oh God don't laugh Marley, I say to myself. I have to bite my lip from laughing at his terrible attempt at a pickup line. Instead I ask, "Does that line ever work for you? It's cheesy. Pun intended."

  He simply shrugs. His smile never wavers. "More often than you'd think."

  I nod once and turn to get the money. I laugh when I get to my purse and pull out $20. I hand him the money in exchange for the pizza. He winks at me. I put my hand on the door and push forward. His hand intersects and pushes it back to being open.

  "Wait!" He kneels down and picks up a note that was tucked under the door mat. "Here you go."

  I snatch it out of his hand harshly. "Thanks." I watch as he walks down the driveway to his car and drive away. I close the door and drop the pizza box in front of Vicky. I run into the bathroom and pull out the note.

  Are you excited for the party? I know I am

All the fear that was within me had vanished. The only thing running through my mind was anger and annoyance. This person wasn't violent. They were playing mind games. And I didn't want to play. I ignore the words and move on.

  I drop the pizza box beside Vicky. She starts to rummage through the box and picks up numerous pieces and shoves them in her mouth. I walk into the bathroom to check my appearance. I don't need her questioning me.

  I run my hair through my hair and tuck the wavy blonde strands behind my ears. I exit the bathroom and join Vicky on my bed.

  "You alright?" She questions sounding genuinely concerned. I wave my hand in the air dismissively.

  "Yeah, I'm fine. I just felt my stomach turn and went to make sure I'd be fine. Let's watch the show." She shrugs her shoulders, but drops the subject.

  We eat the pizza and continue the marathon. The front door opens and closes and I assume my dad is home. I roll over to check my clock and realize it's already 8:20pm. I flip so my back is to the clock.

  "Vicky," I whisper.

  "Mmm?"

  "Are you staying the night?" I question. I'm okay with her staying over, but she needs to ask her step mom. She pulls out her phone and sends a quick text. Her phone beeps and she nods her head.

  "I'm in."

  "Okay," I mumble. She isn't done talking yet.

  "Are you sure you're feeling better? The last time you missed school was when your..." she trails off leaving the sentence incomplete. A wave of sadness fills me thinking of the last time I had missed school.

  *Back story*

  I was only 13 at the time. My family and I were close. We had family night where my adoptive parents and I would play games and watch movies just to spend time together. This was before he became indulged with work. Part of me thinks it's because his wife died and he wanted to busy himself instead of facing the hard truth. Another part thinks he loves work too much.

  My mother was amazing. She was kind and always saw the best in people. It wasn't fair what happened to her.

  She would brush it off and act as if she was fine. She didn't want people to fuss over her. She would hide in her room and unintentionally push people away so they wouldn't see her be consumed by her disease.

  She had a cough that never went away. Even when she was locked away in her room it echoed through the house. No amount of cough medicine would make it go away. She would cough up blood the times I saw her out and I became concerned. It wasn't normal. She wouldn't eat no matter how much you tried to persuade her and she was losing a lot of weight. She was frail and anorexic. She couldn't walk without help because she was too weak to even support her own weight and was always tired.

  My dad was a doctor even when he was this young and diagnosed her with lung cancer. The shock that I went through when I found out was incredible. We tried everything we could but nothing worked. Everyday we watched as she would struggle to remain alive. Finally it was time to let her go. We didn't want her to suffer any more because it hurt us just as much as it hurt her.

  She died a year after being diagnosed. Her family had come and people had left notes saying sweet things about her. I had met Vicky a few months before and she taught me how to cope with the loss of a loved one after she had just lost her own birth mother. I had missed several days of school to grieve with my dad and to attend the funeral.

*End of back story*

  I'm pulled back to reality when Vicky soothingly rubs her hand on my arm. I didn't realize I was crying until she ran her thumb across my cheek. She presses the power button on the remote.

  "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring back the awful memories."

  I smile sadly at her. "It's fine. I'm tired now. Maybe we should go to bed and rest up for the party tomorrow."

  She yawns and pulls the comforter up to her head. Within minutes she's snoring. I turn off the lights and crawl in to the Queen sized bed. I roll over and keep my back to her. Having Vicky here brings me comfort because I doubt they'll attack me with another person in the room..I drift peacefully into sleep despite the notes threat and the thoughts of my mother.

***
A/N- this chapter was more to give an insight as to what happened to her adoptive mother and a bit of back story.
~Mar