Stuck in the Middle of a War

Chapter 1

       What would people think happened to me? I disappeared a month before spring break was about to start. No notice. The school knew but none of my classmates. None of them would believe me anyways. Shit part of my head thinks it was just a dream. If you saw what I did that day you wouldn't believe it either. A memory began to flash up, I pushed it down.
       I open my eyes back to face the mirror. My appearance had changed dramatically since I was last in school. What used to be beautiful blonde hair was now longer and bright green. I wondered if I should have changed it back before heading back to school. When my mom said it suited me when she saw me do it a week ago, so it stayed. I loved it, but I knew some of my friends would think I am weird. I started wearing more jeans rather than skirts. My heels were replaced with black combat boots. A lot more hoodies. Just more, covered. I stopped wearing a full face of makeup, wearing a light eyeliner and some maskera instead. I glanced myself up and down in the mirror. Jeans, boots and a green and black striped long sleeve shirt. I grab my backpack heading out of my room. I grab my keys and head to school.

       When I pull up to the school I feel my breath get sucked out my body. Lots of kids staring at my car. My car was well known as was I. My car was a cherry red mustang. I parked and stepped out and all the gazes turned shocked. Breathe. In... wait what now... fuck.. Out! I walk through the parking lot eyes following me. I finally make it in the doors only to meet more eyes. Breathe. In. out. I walk over to my locker. I grab my books and head to 1st period. I walked in as the bell rang. Everyone in the class looked up at me.
      "Madilyn?" The teacher said questionly. "I didn't..." He stopped himself.   "Welcome back." He finished giving me a forced smile.
      "Thanks, Mr.Hale." I said taking my seat by the window, looking out. Today is not going to be easy. I didn't really think it would be, but I didn't expect it to be this hard this early. I haven't even seen my friends yet, or my boyfriend.

      Before I knew it the first period's ending bell rang. I gathered my stuff and started to walk out when Mr.Hale called my name. I turn. "Yes?"
      "I didn't expect you back today." He started erasing the chalkboard.
      "Yeah.. Um. My mom called the school yesterday."
      "Look I understand if you need a few days to adjust, so I am giving you a 5 days grace period."
     "You don..." I start to say as he cuts me off.
      "It wasn't a question. All of your teachers already agreed." He set the eraser down and turned to me. "We saw the police report. This is our way of helping." I nod. "Get to class." He said smiling. I walked out. Breathe Maddie. You can do this.

       My next two classes were a lot like my first. Stares, teachers in shock, and repeat. Finally it was lunch, my most dreaded part of this day. I stepped into the very busy and loud cafeteria and it got dead silent, everyone staring at me. "Madds?" My eyes instantly lock on to his deep brown eyes. He got up and made his way over to me. "Madds." He took me into a hug.
      "Hey Jake." I said hugging him back. He broke the embrace keeping his hands on my shoulders. Jake had very short brown hair. He had a muscular build, which was fairly common with how much he plays sports.
      "Where the hell did you go?" He asked. I knew this would happen for everyone to want to know where I had been. There were whispers around the room. I felt like dying. I wanted to crawl back in bed and stay there. In.. Out..
       "My mom had to leave town for a while, so I went with her."
       "No text. No call. Just gone. I thought you were dead." He let go of me looking at me up and down. "I like the new look." He smiled.
       "Really." Said another voice. A girl strutted over to us. Amber. She was short with blonde hair and blue eyes. She always wore 3 inch heels. Today she was in a short pink dress. She always hated me. She played it off like her hate was love but I knew better.
       "Yes. It is a nice change." He said brushing some hair away from my face. Jake was about 5'8. I normally wore heels that made me about 6ft but without them I felt short. I stood at 5'6 so the height gap wasn't big but still left me feeling short. He took my hand and walked us past Amber, that was fueling with anger, over to our table. We sat down and the cafeteria slowly went back to normal. My friends surrounded me, asking a million questions. Where was I? What did we do? Why the change? Why green? I had prepared all the answers before deciding to come back but one.
       "I heard some of the teachers talking about a police report, were you arrested?" I looked over to see who had asked, Amber. Of course. I stayed quiet. "Why so quiet?"
       "Umm.." Think... My mind wandered trying to pull me into a flashback. I heard the sound of glass statter in the back of my mind. Breathe. I pull myself out before getting too deep. I shake out the thoughts. "My car got broken into. Nothing big. Didn't know they knew." I shrugged. Did I just play that off? They nodded satisfied. They started telling me all the stuff I missed. Amber stormed off. Now this feels normal. I smile.
      Apparently I missed a lot. Hannah's parents sent her off to boarding school because she had a boyfriend. Gavin dropped out to pursue music. Jake had apparently got into a lot of fights. "Why the fights? 16 fights in a month?" I asked. He got quiet and stared at the table.
Caleb spoke up. "They were all these guys talking shit about you."
       "Caleb. Shut up." Jake said. "I just stood against the vile shit people were saying." The bell rang and he got up and left in a hurry. I wanted to ask what people were saying but decided against it. My head did enough.

      The rest of the day was completely different from the morning. The teachers now all knew I was back and the students didn't all stare. Some people talked to me, some didn't. It all felt back to normal. Part of me wondered if this was a dream, the other part wondered why I was worried. When the final bell rang I headed home. When I pulled into the driveway my mom was getting ready to leave. She walked down the steps of the house as I got out of my car.
      "Hey! How was the first day back?" She asked hugging me.
     "It was good. Actually felt normal." I said smiling.
       "I am glad. I am off to work."
       "Bye mom. I love you." She yelled I love you back and pulled away. I went into the house heading back to my bedroom. I laid back on my bed staring at the ceiling. Today was almost normal so maybe, tomorrow it will be like nothing happened. Or that is what I hope. I got up and gathered my stuff for a shower. I take my shoes off before heading into the bathroom. I take my shirt off and look into the mirror.
       On my right side of my stomach was a 3 inch scar. It was dented in. I pushed back the tears moving focus to my left wrist where there was another scar this one ran down the inside of my arm 7 inches long. A tear escaped my eye. I wiped it away as I finished undressing and getting into the shower.

      I let the water wash over me. My vision flashed to a view of a street. "No." I try to push it down but the memory drags me down. I stood up against a wall in a dark alley sweating and out of breath. The heavy rain washed away my tears. I look at the entrance to the alley way and see a figure step in to view. The one figure starts to walk towards me and then turns into two. I turn and book it down the alley coming out onto a street. I see my reflection, my blonde hair plastered to my face. The fear in my eyes I turn to see the guys round the corner. I ran again.

      The flashback slowly starts to break. I lean against the shower wall trying to catch my breath. In.. Out... In. They can't find you. You are safe. I open my eyes and finish showering before getting out. I get dressed and head into my room grabbing my hoodie and putting it on before climbing into bed. I am safe. Everything is back to normal.