The Broken Date

¥14¥: Part 1

Jack’s POV:

“Jack, you’ve got to call the police!”

“I know, I know.” I yawned loudly, unable to fully wake up. I hadn’t been able to fall back asleep after the horrifying nightmare and the threatening phone call.

We walked past the Hofflers’ house. Mrs. Hoffler was already out weeding around the patio. She stopped to wave a rubber-gloved hand as we passed by her front yard.

“How come we’re walking to school?” I asked. “I thought you were going to pick me up in your car.”

An exaggerated look of shock spread across Felix’s face. “My car? Oh, good lord! I forgot it!”

“Very funny,” I said, frowning. I didn’t have the strength to laugh at Felix’s jokes this morning.

“Sorry,” Felix said, shifting his book bag onto his other shoulder. “My dad’s car is in the garage. So he needed mine this morning. I was just trying to cheer you up.”

“What’s the point?” I asked sullenly.

We walked on toward Cloverhill High in silence. The morning sun was pale, and the air was still cold. A bank of dark clouds rose to the west. I noticed that the rows of red and yellow tulips in the Winklers’ garden were already starting to droop and fall away. Spring was nearly over, but the weather didn’t seem to realize it.

“We could go to the police if you don’t want to call them,” Felix suggested as we crossed Waverly and turned onto Welch. “I’d go with you.”

“Yeah. Maybe we should,”  I said, not really listening to Felix, listening instead to the threatening voice from the call the night before, repeating again and again in my mind.

“I mean, this is serious,” Felix said, stopping abruptly in the middle of the street as two fifth graders on bikes petaled by. “You are an eyewitness to a crime. You can get in serious trouble for not reporting what you saw.”

“How could I be in any more serious trouble?” I groaned. “My life is ruined forever. That’s enough serious trouble.”

Felix could see there was little use trying to reason with me. But he continued to try anyway. “You’ve been physically threatened. You’ve been chased. You’ve been grabbed. And the phone calls. . .Are you sure it was Mark?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” I groaned. “It sounded like him, but it didn’t. It sounded like him if he tried to disguise his voice. But in a way, it didn’t. I’m just so confused, Felix. If only I could talk to him.”

“Well, did you---”

“I called him right after the threatening call. It rang and rang. There was no answer. They were still upstate, I guess.”

“Did the threatening call sound like it was long distance?”

“I couldn’t tell. No. I don’t think so.”

“Well, this is too scary to keep to yourself. I know you’re not going to feel great about it, Jack. But I really think you’ll feel a little better, a little relieved at least, if you tell the story to the police.”

I thought about it as the two-story, yellow brick high school came into view. “Ok,” I said finally. “I’ll go after school. Will you really come with me?”

“Sure,” Felix said. “It beats flute practice.”

I smiled. I stopped at the corner and squeezed Felix’s arms. “I just want to say thanks,” I said.

Felix looked surprised. It wasn’t like me to get mushy. “Thanks for what?”

“For believing me,” I said, suddenly embarrassed. I ruffled my bright green hair. “For believing me about everything that’s happened.”

“Well, of course I believe you,” Felix said quickly.

“That’s been real important to me,” I said, looking into the distance. “Because sometimes I haven’t believed myself.”

Word count: 621. Sorry it took so long to get out, I've been busy. Also what character do you think I should add? I've been thinking at can't really think of one. Any ideas?