Forks

Class couldn’t end fast enough for me. I stared at the clock, watching the second hand tick by slower than it should. I already handed in my quiz and our paper. Now we were supposed to be reading. The bell rang finally and I gathered my stuff. Viola was in front of me blocking my view of Viktor. She was talking in hushed tones to him and I couldn’t hear what she was saying. Viktor leaned over and glanced at me. She slammed her hands on his desk and stormed out of the room.

  “Hey,” Viktor said, standing, lifting his books.

  “What’s her problem?” I asked, stepping up to him.

  “Got me,” he said, and shrugged.

  “Oh—kay,” I said slowly and pulled my bag up on my shoulder.

  “You ready?”

  “Yeah, I just need to stop by my locker.” I looked down and adjusted my bag.

  “I’ll meet you outside.”

  “You wanna come with?” I asked, lifting my head but he was already gone. “Dang—that was fast,” I mumbled and made my way to my locker which was on the lower level. The school was four stories high, kind-of, if you counted the roof and basement. My locker was on the lower level and usually I never used it except for some of my larger books I didn’t want to carry with me. The halls were pretty deserted, everyone already having left school when the final bell rang. There was water on the floor so my converse made a funky squeaking noise as I headed down the hall. The lights flickered from the heat kicking on. I could hear the echo of footsteps headed down the hall. At first I didn’t pay much attention to them but as I moved further down the darkened hallway, the footsteps kept in time with me. I stopped in front of the glass case that held some art projects at the end of the hall and waited. The footsteps stopped too. I looked over my shoulder but I didn’t see anyone. I turned back toward the case and saw a reflection in the glass that did not belong to me. I whirled around but no one was there.

  Getting freaked, I took a deep breath. “Calm down, Amber,” I told myself. I turned to leave and screamed.