Chapter One
I was going to be late for school.
“But Mom, I told you I had to be early today. I have something very important to do at school!”
I’d awoken before my alarm went off and planned my morning with almost militant precision. I’d jumped into the shower and scrubbed every inch of my body. I even took extra time to loufa my feet, knees and elbows because today I needed the confidence of super soft skin. Today was the day I would get Aiden Reynolds to ask me to Homecoming, but only if I got to school early enough to flirt with him before Trig class.
“Colby, I have a showing and your father had to leave early because of the visiting Orthodontists. Remember he’s presenting his new technique this morning? So you have to take the bus to school today. Sorry.”
Mom stood inside my bedroom doorway to deliver this dire news. She didn’t sound particularly sorry, just harried and behind schedule. Taking me to school was just one of those pesky details that took up her precious work schedule.
“Mom! You should have told me last night. I didn’t get up early enough to take the bus!”
“Guess you’ll have to hurry.”
“Fine, I’ll just walk to school,” I huffed.
“No you won’t, young lady. Not with that crazed attacker on the loose. You’ll take the bus.”
I looked up at the ceiling in exasperation.
“Don’t you roll your eyes at me, little Missy.”
“Seriously Mom? I’ll just take the back trail along the ravine and get there in no time.”
“I said no Colby and that’s final. Take the bus.” Her phone rang.
“Marilyn Blanchard Reality, this is Marilyn,” she answered, walking away. I stared at disbelief as her sensibly heeled shoes led her down the hall, away from my objections.
I stifled the urge to slam my door behind her. She was so infuriating! Instead I did a quick check of my appearance in the full length mirror on the back of the door. When I got flustered, my skin turned blotchy and I suddenly feared my face had broken out in hives. After careful scrutiny I sighed in relief and mentally shook off the argument with my mom. It was a Game Day after all, and if our underdog football team could take on last year’s state champions, I could overcome a little transportation adversity.
Taking a deep breath I looked at my reflection and declared “Today will be a great day. I, Colby Blanchard, will execute all of my dance routines and cheers perfectly. I will ace my Trig exam and I will get Aidan to ask me to Homecoming.”
Suddenly, I smiled at myself. Confident that daily affirmation was the best way to start new day. No matter what anyone else said or thought.
I decided to wear my long hair back in a French braid and tie it off with scrunchies in gold and purple to maximize school spirit. Since it was a game day, I already had my cheerleading outfit ready. How could I shave another couple of minutes off of my morning?
I could hardly forgo makeup and I’d already modified my hairstyle, so I felt I didn’t have much choice but to the back trail through the woods to school. It was much faster than taking the bus and really, how many sixteen-year-olds rode the bus? I would be the laughingstock of school if I did such a thing.
For the millionth time I crossed my fingers that my upcoming seventeenth birthday would result in a car, like I planned. I felt like the only licensed teenager on the Eastside who didn’t have her own transportation.
Mom and Dad were already gone when I grabbed a bagel and swabbed it with fat-free cream cheese. I wanted to lose six pounds so I could stay on top of the pyramid. I’d overheard Allison talking about a weight check so she could take my place. That was so not gonna happen. I wasn’t about to let her squeeze me out of my spot. I simply switched to diet soda and cut down on my meals. Sure, it was tough when everyone around me was munching chips and stuff, but I liked to be the smallest one on the squad, the one who got to be on top of the pyramids and do all the stunts.
I pulled my phone from its charger in the butler’s pantry and checked the time. From out the kitchen window, I watched the school bus drive past my house.
See? I would have missed it anyway, I thought, slowing down a bit. Now I had to walk to school so I was technically ahead of schedule. Sitting down at the kitchen table, I munched quietly, thinking about the day ahead.
I checked my phone for messages. There were texts, social media updates and photos to peruse when I remembered I didn’t put my Trig notecards in my backpack last night.
I looked around the table, trying to find them when I found a computer printout of a local newspaper article instead.
EASTSIDE ATTACKER STILL AT LARGE
Beneath the article was a scribbled note from my mom, warning me to ride the bus.
Great, this stupid “attacker” was out there scaring parents half to death and keeping game attendance to a minimum, while my mom tried to use his existence to control my every move. Truthfully, I didn’t understand why he was such a big deal. Here was some loser who liked to follow women around and scare them. He hadn’t hurt any of them—well, except for the last girl a week ago. But he only pushed her down. How incompetent were the police that they couldn’t catch this guy? He didn’t sound like such a huge threat to me.
Checking my phone again, I decided it was time to go. I found my notecards and shoved them into my backpack. I slipped on my letterman jacket (second year of varsity cheer squad, thank you very much) and slung my backpack over one shoulder. It was mid-October in the Pacific Northwest, which meant the mornings and evenings were cool but the days were still warm. I headed out the door.
I walked toward the bus stop but veered right onto a trail that was blocked off by cement posts. This was the back route to school, through a wooded area alongside a ravine that featured a seasonal creek.
Just ahead of me I noticed my neighbor, Piper Prescott. Piper and I were best friends in elementary school but we drifted apart in junior high when she discovered black eyeliner and somber clothing, and now we just exchanged nods in the hallway. Odd thing about growing up. Location creates best friends and then fashion, culture and cliques divide them again.
Piper glanced behind her and slowed down when I waved. We might not hang out in high school but we could walk together in the woods. Anyone could walk together in the shadow of trees. It was in the bright glaring sunlight that cliques stayed with their own.
“It’s a game day. Where is your school spirit?” I asked, reviewing her black hooded sweatshirt, torn jeans and black combat boots.
“I am loaded with team spirit.” She smirked and pulled her hoodie up to reveal a very faded T-shirt emblazed with our school mascot, the Eagle.
“I stand corrected. For a minute there I was afraid you had an eagle tattooed on your stomach.” Which wasn’t such a far-off thought considering Piper had a row of piercings in her ears and one in her nose. She may even have had her tongue pierced, but I couldn’t be sure.
“Tattoo the memory of this lame school on my skin forever? Hah!”
“What’s wrong with our school?”
“It creates a bunch of zombies that just go with the flow and don’t have an original thought in their heads.”
It was an ancient difference of opinion that stemmed from the beginning of the end of our hanging out together. That and the fact that I didn’t own anything black.
“Ah yes, you’re battling ‘The Man,’ ” I retorted. “I keep forgetting how oppressed you are, what with living in the poor part of town and all.”
This was a sore point with Piper. Her parents were loaded. They were die-hard Republicans and she lived in the nicest house on the golf course.
“Humph.” Piper snorted and kicked the fallen leaves as we walked. It was tough to debate the facts when I had eaten so
many snacks in her kitchen overlooking the greens of the fourth hole.
“So, pretty weird about all those attacks, huh?” I asked after a moment of silence.
“I’m not supposed to be walking to school anymore.”
“Yeah, me neither.” I thought about the printed article and hand written note, forbidding me from using the trail. We continued to walk, side by side.
“Aren’t you a little worried?” I ventured.
“Me? No way. You should be, though. All those other girls were Barbie dolls, just like you.”
I nodded at her. “Nice one. Didn’t even see that coming.”
“I try. Seriously though, the last three girls to be harassed all had long blonde hair.”
“Yeah, but they weren’t seriously hurt, though. Someone was just messing with them.” I tried to sound confident.
Piper rolled her eyes at me in that superior way of hers that bugged the crap out of me.
“You are so clueless,” she said and kicked a rock out of the way.
“I’m sure that summer in Europe with your parents last year has matured you more than any of us at this lame school,” I snapped back icily. Maybe walking with Piper was a mistake. I picked up the pace to pass her.
“He’s building up his courage,” Piper murmured softly.
I slowed down and looked at her. “What?”
She cleared her throat and replied, “He is building up his courage. First he just scares them but then he’ll get bored with that and take it to the next level.”
“Like pushing someone down?” I asked, thinking of the last girl attacked.
She nodded. “Exactly.”
“So now you’re an expert on attackers?” I said derisively, maybe because it frightened me that she was actually making sense.
“It’s what they all do.” She stopped, pulled her backpack off and opened it. I peeked inside and saw a stack of books. On the top was one about serial killers.
“A little light reading before going to bed?” I asked her, eyes wide with surprise.
She zipped the pack shut and swung it back on.
“I like to be informed.” Her eyebrow arched delicately as she said it, as though to imply, “Unlike you.”
We started walking again.
“Hey, I’m all for education but isn’t that a little morbid thinking? After all, no one has been seriously hurt.”
“Yet,” she pointed out.
We walked a couple of more paces while I absorbed that bit of information.
“When did you get so dark?” The question I was thinking popped out before I knew what I said.
“When did you get so stupid?” She looked at me meaningfully.
“I’m a 4.0 student, taking all advanced placement classes, Piper. I am far from stupid.” I glared at her, more offended that she thought I was stupid than ignorant.
“You are book smart. But you’re completely clueless about life.”
She said this with such a patronizing tone, as though she had seen all the world had to offer and could get by just fine, but I would be gang fodder on the streets in mere minutes.
“Thank you kindly for your psychoanalysis. Next time I need the opinion of a Emo burnout, you’ll be the first one I call.” It was unfair and childish of me, but she made me so mad sometimes.
She just smirked and I resisted the urge to kick her.
The back of the school yard came into view and she surprised me by saying, “Seriously, you should be more careful.”
I answered her in my most snarky voice. “I’ll take it under advisement.”
She muttered, “Whatever,” and crossed the trail to the school. We both knew I wasn’t going to stop walking to school via the backwoods. Nor was I going to run to our library and check out the Green River Killer’s biography. I firmly believed I was no more likely to get attacked walking to school than any other person. Blonde hair be damned. This morning I walked with Piper. There was safety in numbers. And besides, there was no way I would risk my reputation by arriving on school grounds emerging from a big yellow bus. Nada. None.
Once I was sure Piper was far enough away from me, I turned toward the school as well. The length of a football field separated us. I would arrive at school through the back door and she would arrive using the side entrance. No one would know we spoke and I was fine with that. Not that I considered myself too good for Piper. At least she wasn’t like that awful Rebecca Conway, the self-appointed leader of the Emos.
Rebecca, who currently referred to herself as Diva Raine, was my arch nemesis. Raine had inky black hair, white skin and probably bought more black eyeliner and lipstick than anyone in the Eastside. Walgreen’s had to give her a frequent buyer discount.
I shared advanced creative writing with her and every assignment was the same thing from her: death. Death is beautiful, death is release, death is another state of the living, blah, blah, blah. IMHO, if she liked death so much she should do us all a favor and take it to the next level so we wouldn’t have to hear her jabber about it anymore.
I reached my locker by the first bell and glanced around for Aidan. Lots of students were jostling about, laughing and getting ready to start their day, but no Aidan. I checked my reflection in the locker mirror and decided to touch up my lip gloss. Just then Raine walked by with her lemmings and purposely bumped into me, hoping to smear my gloss. Luckily, I was able to avert disaster.
“Oops, Diva Raine didn’t mean to bump you, Cheesy.” I couldn’t figure out what was more annoying. The fact that she had nicknamed me Cheesy (which was hardly a far stretch since my name was Colby, after all) or that she referred to herself in the third person. The chick was weird. Out-and-out weird.
“No problem, Rebecca,” I said, stressing her full name. “I can’t imagine you see very well with all that black eyeliner. Reminds me of our football team.”
I brightened with dramatic delight. “Why, what a wonderful way of showing your school spirit on game day, Rebecca.”
I applauded her with a huge grin on my face. Others watching the exchange began applauding too. Pretty soon Raine’s face was no longer white, but red from outrage. She hissed at me and stormed off amid the laughter.
I don’t know what she was thinking, trying to one-up me on my own turf. Was she truly that delusional? I took one last glance around for Aidan, then at my locker clock. There would be no opportunity for flirting this morning. I would try to find him at lunch. If I couldn’t flirt with him, how could I expect Aidan to ask to drive me home after the game tonight? Or better yet, take me to an after-game party?
I grabbed my trig book and notebook before shutting the locker door to go to class. I passed Raine by her locker and pretended I didn’t see her. Her eyes practically bore holes in my back. If looks could kill, I would have been a goner. But then, if that were true, I would have died a thousand times by now. Piper wore black and could be morose, but she didn’t hang with Raine’s crowd. She preferred her solitude and didn’t obsess about death.
It may seem cool to wax poetic about eternal sleeping and the undead but it took real courage to embrace life and actively seek out success. What was life if one didn’t live it fully? Seemed like a big waste to me.
I sat down in trig next to my best friends Marci and Rachel. Both were cheerleaders and both took AP classes too. Marci was a brunette with soft curls and Rachel wore her auburn hair short and chic. We made a pretty impressive sight when we were shopping at the mall or cheering. In fact, no matter where we went, we attracted a lot of attention.
“Where were you last night? I kept texting you.” Marci demanded as I sat down. “I didn’t get your homework e-mail until really late. Look at these dark circles.” She gestured to her sparkling brown eyes and flawless skin. She looked fine to me, so I shrugged.
“I did the homework last night. It was just a little tougher than I planned.” It took me an extra hour to do, which really messed with my study schedule.
“Fine, at least I got it,” she grumbled and I had to stamp down a little annoyance. I was flattered at first when Marci asked me to tutor her, but when we got together we would end up going shopping or rearranging each other’s closets. It was easier just to let her review my homework so she could see the work on any problems she didn’t understand. But now I think she was blatantly copying all my homework and not even trying to do it on her own.
Rachel was asking my opinion on her new eye shadow when Aidan walked into class. Everything else sort of melted away and all I could see were his broad shoulders and highlighted hair. His eyes were so blue, where mine were closer to gray. We would make such a perfect Homecoming King and Queen.
I turned away from Rachel to smile at him as he walked by.
He nodded to me with a half smile. “’Sup?”
He passed by and slid into his seat at the back of the class.
My classes went by in a blur, and I finally came across Aidan at the end of lunch. I was sure my smile was brilliant and food-free since I wasn’t eating much these days and I always brushed my teeth after lunch, no matter how little I ate. It kept my breath fresh and my smile sparkling.
When you live with an orthodontist, the first thing you learn to do is keep your smile in great shape. My father tended to stare at my teeth when I was talking. I learned when I was twelve and first started wearing braces that Dad’s intense focus when I talked had nothing to do with what I was saying and everything to do with analyzing how quickly my teeth were being corrected.
If I had to quote advice from my father to take into the “real” world it would have to be, “Don’t forget to floss.” Yeah, flossing is big with my dad.
“Hey, Aidan.” I smiled as I leaned against my locker.
“Hey.” He nodded toward me and I almost sighed when he raked his hand through his blond hair to keep it out of his clear blue eyes. We’d hooked up at several parties and now it was time to make our “relationship” more official. At least, that was my plan.
“Big game tonight. You guys ready for it?”
Okay, so I sounded kind of dorky. I wasn’t used to small talk. I’m a person who likes to get to the point right away but high school is not like that. There are rules.
“Yeah! Those Bulldogs are goin’ home with their tails between their legs. We’re gonna kick ass!” His fellow players, who usually surrounded him, whooped and hollered while chest-slamming each other in excitement. A chorus of “Go Eagles” echoed down the hall.
“Go Eagles!” I reciprocated to the mob and turned my attention back to Aidan.
“So, what’s the plan for after-game festivities?” I tried to sound nonchalant. I wanted him to think he’d already committed to hanging out with me after the game, though the activity was still up in the air. He looked momentarily confused. “Depends on if we win or lose. How about we hook up after the game and go from there?”
I nodded coyly, but inside my stomach was doing flip-flops. “That could work. We’ll play it by ear.”
“That’s cool,” he responded. In teen talk, we had just made our first unofficial date. Things were progressing right on schedule.
We won the game in overtime and spirits were high. Afterward, I waited outside for Aidan to make his appearance. Other players kept streaming out of the locker room. I finally lost my patience and told Brad McGraw, our star receiver, to let Aidan know I was waiting for him. Brad looked confused when he said, “Aidan’s not in there, Colby. He left a half hour ago with Allison.”
I tried not to scream “What?!” in poor Brad’s face. Instead I nodded weakly as Brad shrugged and left me alone.
I don’t know how long I stood outside with my mouth hanging open like a complete fool, but I imagine it was a while. When I finally pulled myself together I noticed I was the only one left from my cheer squad. Marci and Rachel were nowhere to be seen. They must have headed off when I assured them that Aidan was giving me a ride home. Now what was I going to do?
Mom and Dad were already home, having left at half-time. I assured them I was getting a ride with Aidan as well. I wondered who I hadn’t told I was riding back with Aidan. My humiliation on Monday would be huge if I didn’t do some damage control this weekend. Maybe I could save face at DeLynn’s party tomorrow?
I should have been clearer when Aidan and I had talked earlier today. He probably took my “we’ll play it by ear” to mean “not interested,” and before I knew it, Allison had usurped my position and wheedled her way into Aidan’s evening plans and his car. Now I would have to walk home.
I tightened my backpack over the bulk of my letterman jacket and headed in the direction of my house. I would use the trail behind the school that Piper and I had used this morning. It meant walking alone in the evening without any lampposts, but the football stadium lights were still on and I was hoping they would stay that way for the next fifteen minutes.
I was grateful that it wasn’t too cool that evening. However, the dew was already playing havoc with my cheer shoes, not to mention the difficulty I was having walking at a brisk pace with a backpack over a letterman jacket. The smell of wet leaves and sound of the seasonal creek was my only company. I could feel the sweat seep into the acrylic fibers of my cheer sweater. It would definitely need a trip to the ol’ dry cleaner before our next game. I didn’t even want to think about the BO issue.
It was these thoughts—sweaty sweaters and stinky armpits—that kept me distracted enough not to hear the sound of footsteps in the leaves. When I realized someone else was on the path, they were literally right behind me. Big dope that I am, I was busier thinking about my clothes than my surroundings.
I picked up the pace and adjusted my backpack, nonchalantly peeking over my shoulder to catch a glance behind me. I was surprised to see absolutely no one. The stadium lights still glowed so the path was fairly well lit. I breathed a sigh of relief. Guess it was a rabbit or something. I took off my jacket and tied it around my waist for the rest of the trip home. It would keep my legs a little warmer. I was just starting to put my pack back on when the stadium lights went out, leaving me in total darkness.
“Crap,” I muttered, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the evening. There was still a moon out, so I could see down the trail, but without the glowing overhead lights, I was feeling a lot more vulnerable.
“Colby.” I thought I heard my name whispered when a slight breeze stirred up the leaves.
“Piper?” I whispered tentatively.
Silence. I waited another moment. I must have imagined it and took another couple of steps.
“Don’t leave.” The soft voice rasped again.
I spun around and nobody was there.
At this point, in all major horror movies, the stupid, solitary cheerleader (that part to be played by moi) would run away from the voice and trip over some lame obstacle so the killer/monster could attack her easily. Not being a fan of the genre, I stood my ground and said, “Okay, enough screwing around. Come out.”
It wasn’t bravery or bravado that compelled me to confront this unseen tormentor. It was really the immortality of youth. I didn’t believe for one minute that the Eastside Attacker happened to be on the same trail in the backwoods as I was on a Friday evening. The odds were extremely unlikely. Also, those types of things didn’t happen to me. I was the one who won first place in debate and trophies for cheer squad. I was not attacked by some loser in the dead of night. That happened to other people. Not to me.
So imagine my surprise when a familiar-looking guy stepped out of the darkness to stand in front of me. I should have been afraid. I should have screamed and run and did all that stuff, but oddly enough, I wasn’t scared. After all, this was just a kid, hardly older than I was, nondescript with soft brown hair and eyes, wearing jeans and a sweater. It was like walking down the mall and running into every guy I ever met rolled into one. I was sure I’d seen him at the football game.
“Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
He looked mildly surprised and shook his head no.
“What are you doing here?” I asked him, still irritated.
“Following you,” he said simply, still keeping his distance.
“Why?” I demanded, now starting to feel a prick of unease.
“Because you’re walking alone in the dark and it’s not safe,” he replied.
I let out a whoosh of air, surprised I was holding my breath. I couldn’t think of his name, but he did have a face that I was certain I knew. Maybe he went to my school. A lot of people knew who I was because of cheer squad so it wasn’t unusual that I wouldn’t know his name.
“Oh, that’s nice of you but I’m okay really,” I assured him as I started walking again.
“I’ve heard a lot about you,” he said softly, matching my pace.
Great, I have a new admirer.
“Really? That’s nice,” I said, mentally trying to figure out how close I was to the main street.
“No, not nice stuff at all.”
And this was the point I started to get the creepy chills up my back and neck.