chapter 7

"I saw you in my dreams again. It felt so real"

Monday came too soon for my liking. I grudgingly got up from my bed, and got ready for school. I exited the house after kissing my mother goodbye. Shivering slightly when the cold air nipped at my skin.

I reached skool in 15 minutes and Scar and me went hand in hand towards our lockers which were right next to each other. I was reminding her again about the Friday night and teasing her. She was pleading me to stop it when all of a sudden Blair-The school's queen bee and her minions appeared in front of us. We both stopped in front of them and glanced at each other with confusion dancing across our faces.

She smiled at us and I looked at her warily . She never spoke to us nor  smile at us. According to her talking to us would lead to the decrease of her position in the popularity ladder.Something was up. My suspicions were confirmed when she spoke. She turned towards Scar and hugged her . 

"It's been so long Scarlet, I missed you. Look at you all grown up.  Oh my goosssshhh I loovveee your outfit " she drawled.  She had a very fake smile.  Hearing her Scar just looked at her in shock with her eyebrows drawn together . After a second of staring at Blair to see if it was really a dream or not, she finally she replied as if talking to a small child. 

"It's just school uniform. Aren't you wearing the same thing?" Scar asked with a very puzzled look on her face. 

"It's true your uniform is umm-unique?" I looked at Scar's plain uniform that didn't look anything out of the ordinary and snorted at Blair's answer. 

"Cut to the chase will you.  I wont fall for your tactics so tell me what do you need " Scar said with an annoyed look on her face. All at once Blair stiffened probably on getting caught off guard . All of a sudden Blair started playing with her hands . In a fake sweet and innocent voice she asked 

"I was wondering if you could lend me your brother Sam's number "She batted her eyelashes at us . To this Scar burst out laughing. 

"You want that douchebag's number?. You are kidding right ?" She asked trying to control her laughter.  When she looked up at Blair and realised that her expression was serious she straightened herself.

"I wouldn't even wish that my enemies would be with you. You can forget about getting my brother's number "

Blair sneered at us both . "You will pay for this bitch " saying that she turned around and walked ahead with her minions trailing behind her. 

"In cash or cheque " Scar shouted after her and I high-fived her looking at Blair's scowl.  

We checked the time and saw that we had only 3 minutes before class starts. Cursing under our breath we quickly took our necessary books and dashed towards our class which we both shared luckily .

School got over without me noticing it .school work was increasing day by day and there seemed to be only  shortage of time. Me and Scar made our way towards our houses. After much persuasions I convinced her to start her project which was due in a week. Knowing her she would have forgotten to do it and the previous night she would sit and do it . Calling me up and begging me to help her out.  Ya there's nothing wrong in helping ones best friend but in the end I would end up doing all her work.  Its Happened before .

I reached home to find my sister glued to the tv. I greeted my mom and went upstairs to finish my work .

I finished my assignment, and indulged myself with some me time with books and music. 

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It has been 3 months since school started and the amount of homework and assignment was increasing.  I was waiting for the Christmas holidays to start, so that I could get a break from this hellhole . Christmas was close and I was never so excited for Christmas. Mom had decided that we will spend this Christmas in Holden's snowy plains at our relatives house.  It never snowed in Westwood  and my sister  and me were very excited for the holidays . We had already started shopping for presents as there were only 20 days left for Christmas.

Scarlet herself was spending her Christmas in linfea with her parents after so many years . Most of the time during Christmas her parents would be out due to some business and Scarlet would end up celebrating at our place and Sam at his friends house. She was very excited to spend her holidays with her family after so long.

I felt bad for Scarlet and Sam . Their parents often put their jobs before their kids, not caring how they felt about this. Scar loved her family more than anything.  Even though Samuel would often snap at them for their nonchalany towards them, scar would always defend her parents. Even though she would pretend that she was okay with it, I could see right through her.

She searched for a family in my family. When she got accepted without any judgements she was beyond greatful, even though she never voiced it , it was crystal clear. During the start of our friendship she used to often feel out of place . Now the scenario is very different. She practically owns everything that belongs to me. Sometimes it appears that Scar is my mum's daughter. I am not jealous . Ok sometimes I get jealous, don't judge me on that. 

In the past month there were a few more cases of bomb blasts in different places. The ones in authority still couldn't find the ones responsible for it.  It was believed that it was some group of teenagers who were revolting for some unknown reason .  I never believed it . That was just not possible. Some bigger association was behind it for sure .

The next day while I was flipping through the channels I stopped at a news channel. They showed a blurry image of a guy with dark clothes with a hoodie covering his face , pressing a remote causing a building near by to burn into ashes . They zoomed the image and bought the guy into focus.  He looked oddly familiar . When I looked closer I realised that he was the same guy I had seen on my way back from the party . Even though the image was zoomed , I couldn't make out his facial features . He had a lean but muscular built and appeared to be around 6'2 in height . I quickly switched the tv off .

After informing mom that I would be going to the near by park, I stepped out of the house. It was only 5:30 in the evening yet the sky was slowly getting dark. Pulling my sweater closer towards my body, I started my way towards the park. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of my footsteps on the ground and the low whistling of the wind .

Reaching the park I saw that no one was seen in the park. Sitting down on the swing, i slowly started swinging myself back and forth. There was silence all around and I gazed up at the now dark sky, enjoying the moment and solitude. 

After around 10 minutes I heard someone approach the park . I looked up to see a guy. A shiver ran down my spine . It was the same guy I saw near the parking lot weeks ago , the same one that the  news channel had shown. His attire was same but I could make out a slightly tanned skin beneath the hood. I stopped the swing and approached the guy. Gathering courage I said 

"Hey I know you . You are the same guy that rudely bumped into me and left. And I guess I saw you in that news channel too." 

He looked up at me and I could see greenish blue eyes , the color of the sea. Jaw line so sharp that it looked it was able to cut through glass. High cheekbones, dark and long eyelashes, red plump lips and black hair spilling out of the hood. Up close he looked no older than 17 or 18 and even though we both were a foot away he loomed over my 5'4 height.  He simply smirked. 

"And tell me what will you do if I am the same guy. " 

"Don't you dare degrade me mister " 

"Well are you not the same girl I saw weeks ago. You surely are a smart girl to be able to recognise me so soon. But I am not stupid " 

With that he pulled out a knife and held it near my neck. My blood ran cold and the hair on my neck stood up. His eyes looked sinister and I was sure he wouldn't even blink once before killing me. I closed my eyes and braced myself to feel the knife cut through me.