Don't Let Him Get You

Chapter 11

There she was; standing before the driveway of that old house, staring up at it with an emotionless face. She was entirely oblivious to the world around her, especially the man in the dark blue car. He had been following her for several blocks, happening upon her as she walked around. Now, standing where she was, he knew it had to be her. The little girl all grown up. They remained motionless watching something; only he was watching something he wasn't meant to.

He saw her shoulders tremble as she breathed deeply. Giving one last look to the house, she turned around and walked in his direction. He quickly tilted his cap over his eyes, obscuring his face. His precaution deemed unnecessary as her tired eyes stared blankly at the pavement in front of her. Once she walked around the corner, he knew what he had to do; he needed a plan and he needed one fast, as she clearly remembered what happened all those years ago.

**

The Friday after the auditions, Kiara and her friends were waiting anxiously for the end of the day. Mr. DeWalt had promised to post the results by last period, including the schedule for rehearsals.

Kiara was sitting in art with Garrett and Devon, listening to Mrs. Zhao as she described the changes between Renaissance and Reformation artwork. Garrett bounced his knee, shaking the bench top he shared with both friends.

When Kiara made the third harsh line across her lined paper, she pressed down on Garrett's knee. "Stop bouncing around! Jeez, how much caffeine have you had?"

"Sorry," Garrett replied, blushing sheepishly. "I'm just anxious to find out about the play. I've always wanted to do Hamlet."

"I'm sure you did great. Everyone's gonna get the parts they want." Devon jumped in.

"You three! I know the cast list is coming out for the play, but I still have you for ten minutes." Mrs. Zhao tapped the watch strapped to her wrist, smiling at the excitable youths in her class.

They mouthed their apologies. Her smile grew as she turned back to her presentation, finishing up her labeled diagram. "For the last five minutes, I want you all to label your own diagram that I am handing out now. Please make sure you don't miss anything; this will be on a test in the near future." She winked as she handed out her last paper and walked to her desk.

Kiara took out a colored pen and began labeling her diagram, adding arrows and small notes as she went along. Garrett messily and quickly labeled what he had to, forgetting to be as accurate as Mrs. Zhao wanted. Devon paid great attention to his labels, wanting to get a high grade in this class to help his average.

As Kiara drew an arrow for her last label, the bell rang and Garrett sprang out of his seat having already packed his bag. He then stood impatiently by the door, while Devon waited for Kiara. Once all three said their goodbyes to their teacher, they quickly sped down the hall towards the auditorium.

A large crowd assembled outside the auditorium doors, and as the three of them came closer, Dani, Austin, Alisson, Michael and Kat joined them. They eagerly waited for their turn to read the paper. Kiara could see that Marissa had pushed her way to the front, nagging at people who tried to push her back.

She dramatically rolled her eyes as Marissa let out an elongated, high-pitched squeal. "I'm Gertrude. Naturally." She smirked as the group of friends made it to the front of the dissipating crowd. "Kiara, what did you get? Oh right, you're only a talentless stage hand."

"A stage hand that could make a set piece fall on you if you don't back up," Michael said as he stepped in front of Kiara.

Kiara gently grabbed his arm, pulling him away from a wide-eyed Marissa. "It's okay, Michael. Let's just ignore her." Marissa scoffed at her audacity, squinted at Kiara and turned away with a huff.