Josh knocks on the door and then barges in. "At least you knocked," I mutter and roll my eyes.
"I'm going to hang out with Luke, Skylar and Kaden. Wanna come?" he asks. He leans against the wall.
"Sure. Where are you planning on going?" I ask. I mean it's not like I'm doing anything else. I would just sit here in my room. Plus, Josh usually likes to bring me to hang out and my best friend will be there.
"The park," he says casually. He runs his finger through his dark hair.
"Okay let's go." Jumping off my bed, I grab my phone. We head down the stairs and leave a note for our parents, saying we'll be back later. Even though they are both at work, we usually just leave a note just in case they are back before us. Our parents don't really mind where we go as long as we aren't doing anything bad. Being 16, I think we are old enough to go out alone. Our parents both work a lot and aren't usually home. They spend all their time at the hospital, since our dad is a doctor, and our mom is a nurse.
The park is only a five minute walk away. As we approach we can see our friends sitting at one of the green picnic tables under a tree. I decide to leave Josh's side and take off running towards our group of friends. I run up to my best friend, Sky, to give her a great big hug. I practically collide into her and we fall to the ground laughing. The ground is warm from the sun. Sky brushes her blond hair out of her face, her bright blue eyes look into mine.
"Alicia!" she laughs, "you caught me off guard."
"Oops," I say, smiling innocently. Sky nudges my arm and rolls her eyes at me. Josh walks up beside me.
"You aren't gonna say hi to your favorite person?" Lucas says looking at me. He is Sky's boyfriend and is completely whipped. It's adorable. He will do anything for her.
"Awe Lukey," I say with a smile, ruffling his hair, "you missed me." He hates that nickname as much as I hate school. He fixes his blond hair.
"I told you not to call me that," he whines. I laugh in response.
Kaden, Josh's friend, is sitting there quietly. He looks up at me and I give him a smile. He smiles back, his baby blue eyes bright as ever. He turns away and starts talking with Josh about guy stuff. I think he has a crush on me. Kaden is really outgoing, but when I'm around he is more on the quiet side. He has sandy blond hair. He's really cute, but not my type. I'm not really attracted to blondes, no offense to them. I could see him with a nice blond girl who has the same personality as him.
We sit there talking about the weirdest topics. I take a look around, children are playing on the playground with their parents nearby. Then, I notice the white van I saw earlier driving by slowly.
"Does anyone else see that creepy van?" Josh asks. Lucas, Sky, and Kaden look over.
"I saw that same van on my run this morning," I mutter, "it's probably one of the neighbors new work van." It is a gated community, only people who have the code can get it. Although, it isn't too hard to have someone tell you or look over someone's shoulder. I know the passcode, it's simple. It's not too easy to guess though. It's two, two, four, four, six, six. They make it simple enough to understand and remember. I don't think someone could just guess that passcode, unless they have inside information.
"Maybe you shouldn't run alone from now on," Sky says.
"I'm sure it's fine," I respond, "I run alone all the time." Sky gives me an uneasy look. "The van is gone now. Nothing to worry about."
We continue talking about random subjects and making jokes. By 4:30p.m, we are all lying on the ground and staring at the bright baby blue sky.
"I think we need to get going, Josh" I say breaking the silence, "we need to spend a few minutes with our parents before they head out of town." Everyone agrees. We all get off the ground.
I give Sky a hug goodbye. "I will see you later." I wave bye to Lucas and Kaden.
Leaving the park, I make Josh give me a piggy back ride home. As we reach our front door, he drops me. I shriek, giving him a dirty look.
"You've gotten heavier," he groans.
"Are you calling me fat?" I fake gasp, knowing he's kidding.
"Yes. Yes I am." I lightly hit his shoulder. Opening our front door, I instantly smell chicken. "Mmm. Mom is making dinner."
"Really? I couldn't tell," I tease.
"Dinner's ready," Mom yells. Josh and I take off our sneakers and race towards the kitchen. As my foot touches the cold hardwood floor, I fall instantly on my stomach. Luckily, I stopped my head from hitting the floor. Josh trips over me and and lands beside me. He groans and brushes himself off. I look up at him.
"Are you okay sis?" he asks.
"That was fun!" I say chuckling. Josh rolls his eyes and grabs my hand, helping me up. We walk over to the kitchen table.
"Okay kids," My dad says, "your mom and I need to get ready to head out and leave for the airport, we'll be back in two weeks."
Our parents have a business conference in Chicago, then they are heading straight to Florida to see my mom's parents. My grandfather had open heart surgery last month, so they want to go see him and make sure the doctor's down there are taking good care of him. This will be the longest time they ever leave us, but unfortunately Josh and I are unable to go since we both have summer jobs and aren't able to take the time off. Plus, they know that our Aunt Amy will check in on us each night after work and will spend the weekend with us. She's not coming over tonight, luckily. Our Aunt can be a little crazy.
We say our goodbyes and they get into the car. "Don't forget to lock up and set the alarm!" they exclaim as they head down the driveway.
Dinner is really good, probably because the only time we can eat in front of the television is when are parents are out of town. Otherwise, it is a rule that we eat at the dinner table as a family. After dinner, I help Josh with the dishes. We decide that since there is a only a few, we would just hand wash them and not load them into the dishwasher. He is washing, while I am drying. After we finish, I head upstairs to get ready for bed. I get changed into pajamas and brush my teeth. When I'm done, I make my way to my bed and get under my big soft warm black comforter. Josh sticks his head into my room, startling me. He knows I scare easy. He smiles with a little grin, he knows that he got me.
"Goodnight," he whispers.
"You're a jerk! See you in the morning," I mumble.
He shuts off my light and closes my door quietly.
Chapter One
Start from the beginning
